By Dominic Scianna

The 2024 Wendell Phillips Academy boys basketball team held a mid-day pep rally in honor of the team’s recent IHSA Class 2A boys basketball state championship win on Wednesday, March 13, at the school’s Southside campus.

A boisterous crowd made up of students, families, school administrators, former Wildcats star athletes, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson all packed their way into the school’s new gymnasium to celebrate this monumental accomplishment as Phillips brought home a state title for the first time since 1975. 

Coach Paris Martin’s team won a thrilling 54-47 championship matchup over downstate foe Benton High School at the University of Illinois’ State Farm Center in Champaign-Urbana on March 9. The victory has bonded this Bronzeville community together and athletic director James Daniel IV has high hopes that this will be a sign of things to come in the future for Phillips Athletics.

The Wildcats (25-9) were the only team left standing from the Chicago Public League (CPL) that headed downstate for the IHSA semi-finals after losing to Kenwood in the city championship semifinals at UIC’s Credit Union1 Arena on February 8.

That’s when the season took a dramatic turn. Wildcats guard E.J. Horton stood up in the Phillips locker room after the emotional loss to Kenwood and addressed his teammates stating that “We’re not losing another game this year.” And the junior guard’s words were prophetic, as he and his Wildcats squad rolled through the state tournament and into the finals playing with a renewed sense of urgency.

“It was a long road. That loss in the city hurt but we kept our heads high and concentrated on bigger things in winning the state,” said Horton, a transfer who relocated from Bartow, Florida to Phillips. “It feels good that they (some of the 1975 team) are telling us we remind them of their team. That’s a good feeling and we were able to make history (like they did).”

Two 1975 Phillips alumni basketball champions, Robert Byrd, and Marty Murray were in attendance at the pep rally and Murray passed the torch by presenting the new 2024 championship hardware over to Coach Martin in a historic gesture that got a standing ovation from the overflow crowd in attendance.

“It feels great to pass the tradition on to the young people from our school, and it shows the great things we (Phillips) can accomplish in the Chicago Public League,” said Murray, a three-sport all-state star in not only basketball, but football as the Wildcats quarterback, and baseball in the mid-70’s.

“These young men remind me of our ‘75 team because we played man-to-man – and only man-to-man – just like they do. It was important for us (the alumni) to come out and support the kids today.”

Byrd was also very happy to get the call from Phillips to attend this victory celebration.

“It’s a joy for me to be here and come home and celebrate these young guys,” said Byrd, who went on to play at Marquette for Al McGuire and win an NCAA championship in college.  “I learned discipline at Phillips and that basketball was an opportunity to do other things in life. 

“It’s taken a while for all this to sync in for me, being in a new gym and seeing all these changes. It’s a great thing for these players and the school.”

The principal of Phillips, Rashad Talley, is in his second year at the school and grew up in Chicago. He understands the importance of the school’s place within the community and the great history it brings as one of the first African American schools in the Chicagoland area.

“I grew up in this community along with our coach and a lot of the alumni that are here today. There’s a synergy that this community has about the pride and connection we all have to the school,” Talley said. “It bodes well for building morale and changing the narrative of what it means to be a Wildcat. The community sees the work that we’ve put in to support our school needs (both academically and athletically), and they all want to get behind something that is great and share our vision for the future.”

Some of those resources included a new gymnasium and Athletics Hall of Fame wing added to their campus with a sign that resonates for those Phillips loyalists that reads, “Wildcats 4 Life.” That is Phillips mantra, and Coach Martin couldn’t be happier to have taken on this dream job in leading the Wildcats program. 

Martin admits that it took he and his team a while to understand what it had just accomplished as time ran off the clock in the title win over Benton.

“I couldn’t believe it was happening. We did it,” said Martin. “It was something we had to build on to showcase our team’s talents. Being born and raised here, it means everything to me to give back to this community. When I got the job our principal didn’t know me and those around me told him this is the right guy for the job. He took a chance on me and I appreciate that.”

Martin’s coaching philosophies kicked in this season when he virtually took a team of several transfers and blended them into a competitive unit to get to where he believed they could go competitively with a talented roster of new Wildcats. 

 “It’s the grit and grind like the 1975 team had, and I told the boys if we can bond together from all that we’ve been through and all we’ve overcome then we can do great things as a team,” noted Martin about his team’s title run this season.

Several guests joined the pep rally celebration highlighted by Mayor Johnson, U.S. representative from Illinois’ 7th congressional district,  Danny Davis, and a host of other dignitaries who all shined a light on the Bronzeville school that captured the hearts of a city champion worthy of high praise.

That support, visibility and exposure hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Phillips administration who welcomed a media throng of attention to its pep rally festivities that will long be remembered.

“I believe in the old saying history always repeats itself and you have the narrative to change it – whether it’s going to be positive or negative – and I’m just so happy our current team has carried on the tradition,” said a confident Daniels. “And we look forward to more championships to come (for all of our sports). And, to have the torch passed from the 1975 team to our team today was just tremendous to see.”