Peoria 1A/2A basketball playoffs

[real fan]

The Seaton team was not only way better but they were very well coached.

[leebiddlecome]

I love it. One private school team, Seton Academy, wins the 2A title only because they recruited and got kids who were "hand picked" from other schools.

Meanwhile, another 2A team, Peoria Christian, is a private school and ranked highly all year in the 2A poll doesn't do anything like this. Both schools obviously had very good basketball teams. Yet everyone blames the former for cheating its way to the top while the latter would never do such a thing and only has kids who go there for strictly academic or faith based reasons. Seton Academy is certainly a newcomer to the elite of IHSA hoops but Peoria Christian is as well.

To me, I don't care one way or the other. Private schools recruit. I only use Peoria Christian as an example because they are local and compete with Seton. They do it for athletics, they do it for academics, they do it to raise money, etc. It doesn't really bother me. But to say one cheats and the other(s) don't stinks of jealousy and hypocrisy.

[mrcoachdude]

lee...I have been a part albeit a small part of Peoria Christian since 1993.....

1...are you saying they cheat and recruit athletically?
2....because Seton recruited their players we are jealous? hypocrosy?


Peoria Christian has been a part of the IHSA since 1998...

[Da Coach]

Seton had a number of kids who played at other schools last year, and then this year, they all coalesce at Seton to give them a great team. They had 6 or 7 kids who will end up at D1, and many played AAU ball together, too. Quite unusual for that to just happen by chance at a school the size of Seton.

Peoria Christian- I don't think they had any of their regular players who weren't at the school from grade school all the way through high school.
And it is possible not one of them will end up being a D1 player, and most never even played AAU ball. They were just a good team, well coached, who played together for years. Huge difference from what happened at Seton.

Now if you are suggesting that PCS recruited those kids when they were 5 and 6 years old because they knew they would become good basketball players when they reached high school, I think that is quite a stretch.

[real fan]

You can"t compare what happens in the Chicago area with what happens downstate because more recruiting goes on in both the public and private schools in Chicago strictly for sports where kids that attend private schools in the Peoria area do it mainly for academics and religious beliefs.
Had Limestone been in the Chicago area they would not have been penalized.

[leebiddlecome]

lee...I have been a part albeit a small part of Peoria Christian since 1993.....

1...are you saying they cheat and recruit athletically?
2....because Seton recruited their players we are jealous? hypocrosy?


Peoria Christian has been a part of the IHSA since 1998...

I am not saying Peoria Christian cheats. I have no idea if they recruit for athletes. I do think a lot of privates do this. Some more openly than others.

I am saying this however---to say that one private 2A basketball power cheats while the other private 2A basketball power doesn't seems off-base to me.

I respect those on the board, like yourself, with ties to Peoria Christian. But we are all also coming down pretty hard on Seton Academy--while Seton Academy doesn't get the same somewhat biased representation on the board.

Is that a fair statement? That Peoria Christian is represented with greater attachement than Seton Academy?

[leebiddlecome]

I have documented, the public schools do most of the cheating....
9 of the last 10 rulings by IHSA against a school for a recruiting violation has been against public schools - not privates.

Actually you only proved that public schools get "caught" more often.

It is a 100 times easier to prove "cheating" on the public school level than private schools. Come on now. We all know this. It's not a shot to anyone or saying any school in particular "cheats".

When a kid leaves one public school and goes to another without moving into that district there are flags raised--correct? There has to be some sort of documentation proving the move legit.

What documentation does a kid/family have to prove if they go from a public school to a private school? They are allowed to do so freely correct?

For the record--before I get labeled a "hater" or "basher" of any school let me say this. I am, philisophically, pro-public schools. I admit this openly. Both of my parents were teachers for 30+ years in the public school system. That being said, it doesn't bother me if a private school "recruits" kids for athletic, academic, or extracirricular reasons. As a private school I feel they have that right. I don't sweat it.

I'm not ripping on any school. Not Seton Academy. Not Peoria Christian. Not Sacred Heart Griffin.

[Da Coach]

Is that a fair statement? That Peoria Christian is represented with greater attachement than Seton Academy?

This is probably true, there will be more people here connected to PCS because they are local.

But they don't recruit athletes to put together a better basketball team, as opposed to Seton, who does. That is why posters here appear to be picking on Seton.

PCS may have an advantage some private schools have, because their kids play together for many years, and don't get split up when they move from grade school to junior high to high school. But that's not the same issue.

[leebiddlecome]

This is probably true, there will be more people here connected to PCS because they are local.

But they don't recruit athletes to put together a better basketball team, as opposed to Seton, who does. That is why posters here appear to be picking on Seton.

Has Seton been caught cheating and recruiting by the IHSA?

[RedbirdFan21]

I'm not ripping on any school. Not Seton Academy. Not Peoria Christian. Not Sacred Heart Griffin.

Gotta love the 'ol Private vs. Public debate...NEVER ENDING!!!

(I am an SHG grad)

[leebiddlecome]

Gotta love the 'ol Private vs. Public debate...NEVER ENDING!!!

(I am an SHG grad)

Ha. True. Redbird--I wasn't ripping on SHG or any school for that matter. I only listed private schools mentioned. I went public in high school and private in college.

We all make those choices. My point was about the cheating aspect.

[mrcoachdude]

I am not saying Peoria Christian cheats. I have no idea if they recruit for athletes. I do think a lot of privates do this. Some more openly than others.

I am saying this however---to say that one private 2A basketball power cheats while the other private 2A basketball power doesn't seems off-base to me.

I respect those on the board, like yourself, with ties to Peoria Christian. But we are all also coming down pretty hard on Seton Academy--while Seton Academy doesn't get the same somewhat biased representation on the board.

Is that a fair statement? That Peoria Christian is represented with greater attachement than Seton Academy?

Not sure that PCS would be in an elite group like Seton. And I am not sure that PCS is a POWER.....but they (PCS) have NOT recruited players. Their current group of kids have been together since grade school and in fact have lost a couple of players to other schools.

To have a Seton player admit to being recruited. And a Coach admittting to going and watching Jr high games to find talented players?

I am not sure I have given Seton a super hard time.....they were sure fun to watch...

[cpacmel]

one last example...in BOTH A and AA...50% of the schools making the finals in Scholastic Bowl were privates. This surely has to be way too many for the public school people to stomach.
Maybe it'll force them to boost the multiplier to 5.0 so the publics can compete.

http://www.ihsa.org/activity/scb/index.htm

Scholastic Bowl Finals

Class A
Chicago Latin (private)
Litchfield (public)

Class AA
Carbondale (public)
Rockford-Auburn (public)

1 of 4 is 25%

[leebiddlecome]

sorry, I thought it was Rockford Christian in the finals, but still a greater percentage than would be expected statistically


anyway...using the logic expressed above, how about if I made this statement..

"to say that one baseball slugger cheats using steroids while another slugger doesn't seems off-base to me"

or

"to say that one BCS school breaks thousands of recruiting rules like IU or UConn while other ones don't seems off-base to me"

Has Seton Academy been caught or punished for recruiting violations by the IHSA?

[leebiddlecome]

nope but I offered some pretty significant quotes and evidences that perhaps they have...while nobody has yet offered any evidence concerning PCS.

Ok then. Question answered. That's why my comments were justified. Indiana was found guilty of cheating--that's why your example didn't jive.

Im guessing if Seton Academy has cheated the IHSA would have or will have done something about it. Until then, they haven't cheated. Neither has PCS. I don't see Seton any worse than PCS in this scenario.