Carmel girls hoops may face Class warfare

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Kathleen Felicelli is one of nearly a half-dozen talened sophomores and freshmen who could make Carmel a major factor in the Class 3A state tournament in two years ... if they get the chance. | SUN-TIMES MEDIA FILE

Updated: March 28, 2012 8:01AM

News you can use ... or maybe not.

† The enrollment multiplier for private schools such as Carmel that the IHSA tinkered with last summer is about to become a slippery slope for those with an interest in Corsair girls basketball.

Under the old rules, Carmel basically had to play up one class in the state-tournament series as its “penalty” for being a school without geographic boundaries.

So, in football for example, Carmel’s school size is 6A, but it has to play 7A.

In girls volleyball and boys and girls basketball, Carmel was a 3A-size school forced to play 4A.

But then, last summer, the rules changed.

And the new rule is this: If a private school like Carmel has virtually no success in state-tournament play over a six-year period, it can request to play “down,” so to speak.

That is, the multiplier will be waived.

But here’s the hook. “Virtually no success” is defined as zero or one regional title in a six-year period and zero sectional titles in a six-year period.

Last fall, Carmel’s girls volleyball team took advantage of the new rule and got to play at 3A instead of at 4A.

The immediate result was that the Corsairs won regional and sectional volleyball titles in the 3A tournament.

The other result is that Carmel will be back playing Class 4A volleyball with the big teams like Stevenson for the next five years.

That’s how the rule works.

Now, fast-forward to the present — Carmel’s girls basketball team.

Having had zero success playing 4A ball, the Corsairs took the option to play in this year’s 3A tournament and parlayed that into a regional title last week.

Now, here’s where it gets really interesting.

First off, Carmel does not figure to win the sectional this week at Grayslake Central — a result which would immediately push Carmel back into the 4A tourney for the next five years.

But assuming the Corsairs don’t win the sectional, they CAN play in the 3A playoffs next year once again.

The question is: Do they want to? Or, would the program be better off playing 4A next year, and then returning to 3A for the following (2013-2014) campaign?

Yes, it’s complicated.

But three of the best players on Carmel’s girls basketball team right now — and probably five of the best seven — are four sophomores and a freshman.

In two years, that squad should be loaded and ready to carve up the 3A competition.

But, if they play 3A again next year and win another regional, that would be two regional titles in a six-year period and the team would be a 4A club for the season when it figures to be well-positioned for a deep 3A run.

By the way, Carmel’s boys basketball team is playing 3A this year for the same reason the school’s girls team is playing there: No success at the 4A level.

As for baseball, Carmel will, of course, be a 4A team because it’s long been a powerhouse in that sport.

That’s how the new system works.

† The Fox Valley Conference really needs to figure out a new tiebreaker to determine which school will play in the league’s Championship Game in boys and girls basketball, if there’s a tie for the division title and the teams split their regular-season games.

Currently, the tiebreaker is fewest points allowed in 12 division games.

Which, of course, could lead, some season, to a bizarre final regular-season game in which a team needs to hold an opponent under 15 points to win the tiebreaker.

That could lead to a club jumping out to a 22-8 lead after one quarter, and then holding the ball the rest of the game to win the division tiebreaker.

The Central Suburban League rule is simple: The team that went most recently to the Championship Game is eliminated.

The North Suburban Conference rule also is solid: It’s most wins in division games by six or more points.

The “six” rewards a team for being a clear-cut winner without encouraging trying to run up the score to win by 30.

† Been following the basketball career of Iman Shumpert, since he was a player at Oak Park-River Forest.

He then played three seasons at Georgia Tech, and then got drafted 17th in Round 1 of the NBA draft by the New York Knicks.

He worked his way into the starting lineup, but has since surrendered his spot to phenom Jeremy Lin.

That said, there’s no way Shumpert’s a better basketball talent that Jereme Richmond.

† Compare and contrast.

Last year, the Mr. Basketball award in Illinois was shared by Ryan Boatright of East Aurora and Chasson Randle of Rock Island.

This year, Boatright has been in the eye of the NCAA eligibility story at Connecticut, while Randle is a starter and team’s leading scorer at Stanford.

Waukegan’s Jereme Richmond and Warren’s Brandon Paul have also won the Mr. Basketball award.

This year, Simeon’s Jabari Parker is a lock to win it.