Full Text of HR0319 101st General Assembly
HR0319 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Fourteen young men represented the Kaskaskia | 3 | | College men's basketball team, the Blue Devils, at the 2019 | 4 | | National Junior College Athletic
Association (NJCAA) national | 5 | | tournament in what some
would call a "Cinderella season" that | 6 | | ended in Hutchinson, Kansas; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The 20-10 regular season record earned the Blue | 8 | | Devils a #5 seed in the Region 24 tournament and
matched them | 9 | | in the first game against #4 seed Olney Central College, a team | 10 | | that had defeated Kaskaskia
College only once during the | 11 | | regular season; the game ultimately ended in a 94-91 Kaskaskia | 12 | | College victory; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The second opponent the Blue Devils faced was the | 14 | | #1 seed Vincennes University, the
Trailblazers, and with one | 15 | | second left, a missed lay-up was tipped in to give the Blue | 16 | | Devils a 78-76
victory over the Trailblazers; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, The Blue Devils met Wabash Valley College in the | 18 | | championship game, and there were
ten lead changes and nine | 19 | | ties before the game ended with a 68-66 Kaskaskia College | 20 | | victory; this was
the third victory in a row over a nationally | 21 | | ranked team in which all three games were won by a total of
| 22 | | just seven points; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The Blue Devils secured an automatic bid for the | 2 | | NJCAA national tournament by
being District 16 and Region 24 | 3 | | champions; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, In preparation for the national tournament, the | 5 | | Blue Devils practiced two days at SIU Carbondale
and stopped on | 6 | | the drive to Hutchinson to practice at Kansas State University | 7 | | in Manhattan,
Kansas; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Kaskaskia College opened the tournament as the #20 | 9 | | seed and faced #13 Sheridan College
from Wyoming; Sheridan | 10 | | finished the regular season as the #11 nationally-ranked team | 11 | | with a 31-3
record; the two teams faced off on Monday, March | 12 | | 13th at 6:30 pm, the game started fast and finished
strong, | 13 | | ending with a 92-80 Blue Devils victory; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Kaskaskia College's next game was played on | 15 | | Wednesday, March 20th at noon against
Coffeyville Community | 16 | | College, Kansas, which finished the season as the #3 | 17 | | nationally-ranked team; the
Blue Devils trailed 76-73 with 4.4 | 18 | | seconds left and executed a play with an open look at the top | 19 | | of the
key; the attempted shot was half way down and spun out | 20 | | as time expired; that buzzer brought an end
to a well fought | 21 | | season, and Kaskaskia College finished the season at 24-11 with | 22 | | a Sweet 16 showing
at the national tournament; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Notable games throughout the season include the | 2 | | December 9th overtime against Vincennes
University; although | 3 | | it ended in a 98-92 loss, this game played a key role in | 4 | | preparing the Blue Devils for
what lay ahead of them in the | 5 | | remainder of the season; the team learned more about themselves | 6 | | and
what it would take to become champions as they moved | 7 | | through the remainder of the schedule; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Their resolve showed as they handily defeated | 9 | | Shawnee Community College by a score of 91-71, and they | 10 | | finished the regular season with a 20-10 record; this was a | 11 | | critical win as the Blue Devils earned
the #5 seed in the | 12 | | regional playoff and got a bye on Monday, March 4th; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Highlights of this season include, defeating | 14 | | three nationally ranked teams in the regional
tournament to | 15 | | secure an NJCAA bid, defeating the 11th ranked team at the | 16 | | national tournament, being
ranked first in the NJCAA Tournament | 17 | | in assists per game at 22, having a 11-7 record in the Great | 18 | | Rivers
Athletic Conference, and ranking 5th in the Region 24 | 19 | | Tournament; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, The Blue Devils scored over 100 or more points in | 21 | | five games, December 1
against Lake Land College with a 104-94 | 22 | | victory, December 6 against
Lincoln College with a 102-77 |
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| 1 | | victory, January 5 against Olney Central College
with a 103-98 | 2 | | victory, January 26 against Southeastern Illinois College with | 3 | | a 112-64 victory, and February 16 against Lincoln Trail College | 4 | | with a
101-86 victory; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, The 14 member team demonstrated poise and maturity | 6 | | on the national stage, as they kept
coming back time after time | 7 | | and did not quit; the team members represent 11 home towns in | 8 | | Illinois,
including Champaign, Chicago, Grayslake, Joliet, | 9 | | Salem, Patoka, East St. Louis, Centralia, Okawville,
Milford, | 10 | | and Cahokia, with four members being from the Kaskaskia College | 11 | | District; other players came
from Missouri, Florida, and New | 12 | | Jersey; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, All players on the team played exceptionally well; | 14 | | Thomas Bell was recognized for his performance
and chosen to be | 15 | | an All-Region and All-Conference player; Parker Dortch was | 16 | | recognized for his
performance and chosen to be an | 17 | | All-Conference and All-Region player and the MVP in the | 18 | | Regional
Tournament; Quin Nottingham was recognized for his | 19 | | performance and chosen to be an All-Conference
player; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Coach Brian Hancock was recognized as Coach of the | 21 | | Year in the Region 24 Tournament and the District 16 | 22 | | Tournament; he was recognized by the Illinois Basketball | 23 | | Coaches
Association (IBCA) Men's Collegiate as the Co-Coach of |
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| 1 | | the Year; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Blue Devils were supported by the Odin Pee Wee | 3 | | basketball players, which consisted of a
group of 3rd and 4th | 4 | | grade basketball players; the Odin Pee Wee basketball players | 5 | | parents and families
began following the Blue Devils after the | 6 | | team volunteered to coach and referee the 3rd and 4th All-Star
| 7 | | basketball tournament on February 24, 2019; the Odin team and | 8 | | their families cheered the Blue Devils on to
their regional | 9 | | tournament victory and were in the front row of the gym | 10 | | cheering the team on in
the national tournament; a mother of an | 11 | | Odin Pee Wee basketball player stated "For Parker Dortch to
| 12 | | invest his time to make my children and many children feel | 13 | | special is a phenomenal feeling as a mother.
Parker is a true | 14 | | inspiration for our youth. He is a wonderful role model. | 15 | | Kaskaskia College truly has an
extraordinary athlete and | 16 | | student who is truly a special person"; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, The Blue Devils are Parker Dortch, Quin | 18 | | Nottingham, Stone Parker, Jamal Thomas, Ryan Saunders, Dawson | 19 | | Linder, Garrett Belcher, Jordan Maines, Jalen Williams, Shane | 20 | | Ganz, Ifeoluwa Shoyoye, Jacob Thompson, La-Quiem Walker, and | 21 | | Thomas Bell; therefore, be it
| 22 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 23 | | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |
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| 1 | | we congratulate the men who composed the Kaskaskia College | 2 | | men's basketball team, the Blue Devils, and Coach Hancock and | 3 | | Assistant Coach Sparks on an outstanding season, as the Blue | 4 | | Devils won the hearts of many fans who cheered them on until | 5 | | the very end; and be it further
| 6 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 7 | | presented to Coach Brian Hancock, Assistant Coach Dan Sparks, | 8 | | and all 14
members of the Kaskaskia College basketball team.
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