By Dominic Scianna
Payton College Prep head basketball coach Reggie Bates has a young team this season and after 17 games the Grizzlies find themselves with an overall record of 10-7 and 3-1 in the Chicago Public League’s (CPL) Red Northwest Division. Last season, Bates and his 2023-24 squad came into its own at the end of the year with a talented roster of upperclassmen led by Jakob Blakely (now an NCAA Division I guard for LeMoyne College in the NCAA’s Northeast Conference).
Blakely was one of the senior catalysts for Payton, along with Myles Townsend and Kai Fogelson, who helped the Grizzlies advance to the Illinois High School (IHSA) sectional final last spring.
This season, Bates has a team still trying to find that kind of chemistry with a freshman point guard in C.J Pittman, and junior forward Patrick Irivin, Jr., to go with returning senior starter Grant Gugino as a core to build on.
“The more we play together the better we’re going to be,” admitted Pittman. “The varsity speed of the game and going against bigger and stronger players is what I have to adjust to.”
Bates knows this team has the potential and feels the team needs to come together and find its true identity, which will become a positive sign once February and March approach to begin the CPL and IHSA playoffs.
“This team, I think, benefits from being young. We’re going through these experiences early on and that makes us very optimistic of what the future looks like, because we’ll be more seasoned as the year goes on,” Bates said.
At the Elgin Holiday Tournament this past December, the Grizzlies finished their four-game stretch with a 2-2 record with wins over CPL foe Lake View and Harvest Christian, to go with tough losses to state competitors Sycamore (Elgin runner-up) and Shepard High School. Pittman was the lone player to make the Elgin Holiday “All-Tournament” team for his solid play.
“C.J. is a gifted, cerebral player who is a quick learner,” Bates acknowledged. “He’s one of the better freshmen in the State of Illinois who is that young (and is being asked) to run a team at point guard. He’s a very even-keeled, level-headed player who doesn’t process the so-called adversity. He just plays hard and I’m proud of his play thus far.”
Irvin, Jr. along with fellow juniors Desmond Opoku-Ware and Keller McGovern, also chipped in with key contributions as the Grizzlies made it to the quarterfinals winner’s bracket at Elgin amid a tough 16-team field.
“Pat (Irvin, Jr.) is a heckuva player and in a lot of ways is our team leader. He covers up so much for us in so many areas and will be a future college basketball player (because of his versatility). He always steps up and does whatever we need him to do,” Bates added.
Gugino, a senior starter, sees promise in Pittman and in this team, admitting that their youth has given pause to what could be an exciting second-half stretch to come in trying to regain some of the Grizzlies’ past magic.
“He’s (Pittman) got a ton of talent and has a great feel for the game,” said Gugino. “It’s so early in the season, but the more he grows he’ll definitely help us move forward. But as a team, we need to be more disciplined and get more consistent on a night-to-night basis to have the kind of success we expect.”
The Grizzlies have been on a roll since the holidays riding a three-game win streak with their next test coming on Sunday, January 19, at Thornton Fractional North.
Payton will need Pittman and its veteran core down the stretch in the regular season to make some noise and prove they are contenders with meaningful conference games later in January and early February.
“Coach (Bates) lets me know when to switch gears and go from point guard to scorer, so I’ll know (in game situations) what I need to do to help us win,” admitted Pittman.
The current stretch of success in the near year (3-0 in 2025 thus far) bodes well for Payton and Coach Bates as the team seems to be finding its groove at just the right time with city and state playoffs implications within sight.
