Whitney Young’s basketball programs hosted an media day in November. Noah Poser and Michael Wojtychiw were able to attend and find out more about what to expect from this year’s squads.

Boys basketball

Antonio Munoz’s growth, team’s ability to ‘ignore’ among headlines ahead of 2024-25 season

By Noah Poser

Three years ago, Antonio Munoz made the Whitney Young varsity basketball team as a freshman. He didn’t play much, but as each new season arrived, his role on the court grew.

Now a senior, Munoz is one of the top high school basketball players in Illinois. He enters the season with Division I offers at the Power Five level and substantial expectations, serving as a fixture on preseason All-State teams and Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year watchlists, while being mentioned as a contender for numerous other elite honors.

But as he gets set to embark on his senior season, Munoz is no longer just a star player for Whitney Young, as he now holds the keys to a Dolphins team entering the 2024-25 season having lost 10 players to graduation or transfer. The losses leave Munoz as one of just four remaining players from last year, and one of only three seniors on this year’s roster.

In his new role there have been some additional responsibilities, but so far, Munoz has yet to be phased. Instead, he was relaxed as he talked at Whitney Young’s media day, clarifying that adapting to a bigger role off the court “isn’t a challenge” as much as it is “different.”

“It shows you a different perspective,” Munoz said. “It shows how quickly the game of basketball changes and how quickly the game can change for you. I’ve learned being a leader means more than being a leader to the varsity team. It includes being a leader to the JV and freshman guys and making sure they know what’s right. The seniors before me taught me how to lead and how to be better. 

“Now it’s my turn.”

More importantly, Munoz’s teammates have begun to recognize these changes, none more clearly than classmate Damajay Richardson, who has been on varsity with Munoz for the past two years.

“He’s matured a lot since I first met him,” Richardson said. “He gets better (as a leader) every single day and he’s becoming a vocal leader as well, not only leading by example, but also by telling everybody what the right thing to do is and making sure he does those things himself. 

“He’s leading us in the right direction and keeping his head on tight.”

Ignoring Public Perception

Munoz stepping into a leadership role is one of many potential keys that could help unlock a successful season for the Dolphins, who as mentioned above lost plenty of star power and experience off last year’s team. All the while, they are trying to improve on last season’s 18 wins and fourth-place finish in conference play with a roster of just 10 players, six of whom are new to the team.

However, the leadership of Munoz, along with the play of highly-recruited junior Marquis Clark and Richardson are some of the reasons cited in Chicago Sun-Times’ Michael O’Brien’s decision to place Whitney Young at No. 17 in his preseason Super 25 high school basketball rankings, despite the slew of questions remaining regarding the Dolphins’ ability to withstand their personnel losses.

These continued questions surrounding the program are why the players are making it a point of emphasis this season to ignore all outside noise, both good and bad. 

“To be honest, we need to tune them out,” senior Gabriel Aragon said. “We understand we need to stay in our group and stay in our family and trust one another. That’s all we can do at the end of the day. If we play our game and ignore what others have to say, we’re going to be able to do what we want to do.

“Whatever anybody else says doesn’t matter to us.”

Recruiting Noise and Team Expectations

One thing from the outside that is a bit more difficult to block out is talk of recruiting, especially when there is so much of it surrounding a couple of players on the Dolphins’ roster.

The recruitment of Munoz is a central talking point as he enters his senior season, and isn’t likely to quiet down as offers continue to roll in. Thus far, California, Duquesne, Illinois and Loyola-Chicago are some of the notable schools to offer him. 

But Munoz isn’t the only one garnering a high level of attention on the recruiting trail, as junior Marquis Clark is also of high interest to numerous Division 1 schools, including a few at the Power Five level in California, DePaul, Illinois and TCU.

When it comes to balancing the off-court tasks that go with being recruited with the effort required to continue to put their best foot forward on the court, Clark said it’s best to keep it simple and remember the end goal.

“This season and this team come first,” Clark said. “We lost a lot of players, but our goal this year is still to win cities and win states. People think we’re not going to win because of the number of players we lost, but we still got it.”

On the recruiting trail, Clark, like Munoz, is still in the process of taking visits and exploring schools more in-depth, saying he “wants to enjoy the process” and “see where he fits in the best” but on the court, he has a clear message for those daring to doubt Whitney Young basketball this upcoming season. 

“Y’all are going to see, we’re coming for everybody.”

Girls basketball

Underclassmen looking to be key pieces in hopeful state run

By Michael Wojtychiw

The Whitney Young girls basketball team returns the entire lineup from last season.

That’s just one reason the Dolphins’ coaching staff is excited for the season. Armed with numerous hopeful collegiate basketball players, led by five-star recruit and Illinois-bound Destiny Jackson, Young is looking to make it first trip downstate since the 2015-16 season.

Upperclassmen like Jackson, Lysa Jones, Alana Shields and Kiaya Johnson (who is out until the end of December with an injury suffered in the summer) will lead the way, but it’s the underclassmen, such as sophomore Gaby Domercant and freshman Jordyn Ellis.

Domercant played in 33 games on the varsity level, getting her feet wet, while Ellis is one of two freshman on the school’s top team and expected to play a large role during her first season with the Dolphins.

Even though she didn’t get a ton of playing time last year, Domercant feels it was a valuable tool that will help her this year, especially with Johnson still rehabbing her injury.

“I had really supportive coaches and teammates who helped me adjust quickly,” she said. “I got in a lot of games last year and the encouragement and advice all of them gave me is something I’ve been able to build on.”

Coming into her high school days, Domercant was known as a prolific shooter and she didn’t disappoint, shooting 43 percent from the field and 40 percent from the 3-point line.

While she’s happy with how she hot last season, Domercant is looking forward to showing how her game has improved since the end of last season, including being more than just a spot-up shooter.

“I’ve stayed in the gym a lot, working hard, working with my team and being able to learn from everyone around me,” Domercant said. “The adjustment has been great. If you want to take the next step, and I do, you have to spend a lot of time in the gym. Whatever the team needs me to do I’m going to do it.”

Something that Young has been known to have, especially in recent years, is really strong guard play.

But the one thing that has been missing is a strong inside presence.

Insert 6-foot-3-inch freshman Jordyn Ellis.

While she has played all over the court previously, because of her height she may be asked to play more of an inside role for the Dolphins.

Ellis is more than happy to play wherever coach Krissy Harper wants – or needs – her to.

“What I bring is versatility…all of the positions,” Ellis said. “Whatever they need me to do. I’ve always been taught all the positions, because with my grade schools team, that’s what I had to do. If I had to be the point guard one time, the post the next.”

For some players, getting used to playing on the varsity level is something that can be extremely hard and scary.

But playing with the Dolphins during the summer helped Ellis not only somewhat ease into playing with her new team, but also help her get the confidence she needed as an incoming freshman.

“It was really fun for me, because I got to bond with the team and see what they do,” she said. “Playing on a team like tis, where everyone is coming back, is really good because you get to learn from everybody. They’ve all experienced this before and been through this, so it’s been good to take in.

“The big advice was really to not get in your head too much because it’s easy to get yourself down when you’re not meeting your own expectations.”

“Jordyn is someone who we’ve really seen improve in practice,” Harper said. “We saw her in the summer, but the way she has attacked being a freshman on varsity…her work ethic is insurmountable. She’s going to show you a lot of what she can bring.”

Travel Miles Rising

The Dolphins will be quite the domestic travelers this season. Included in their schedule are the Capital Invitational and She Got Game Classic in Washington D.C., Tampa Invitational in Tampa Bay, the Mac Jelks Invitational in Indiana and Sophie Cunningham Classic in Columbia (Mo.)

“Playing in all these tough games is going to be huge for us,” Domercant said. “The schedule is tough, but we’re ready. I really feel like we can handle.”

Big Emerge

Ellis has made a big jump but so has Lysa Jones.

“We’ve always had strong guards,” Harper said. “But in the past, we’ve had to go with a smaller lineup because our post play was not there.

“If Lysa can bring it like she has been in practice, her paired with Jordyn Ellis…that’s a crazy hi-low mix. They play so well together.

“Now that we have posts that can rim-run…we can start implementing more hi-lo action, pick-and-roll action.”