Hide Article Text (OCR)
FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2004DailyHeialdTo report your scoreBy telephone(847)573-2765By fax(847) 6800189© dallyheraid.comSports ExtraSECTION ABoys basketball2003-04 All-Area teamToday we present the Lake County boys basketball All-Area team, including roster and player profiles — Page 2.Boys basketball / All-Area honorary captainMatt Coming’s selfless approach to basketball made him a leader on his Mundelein team and the Daily Herald’s choice as honorary captain for our Lake County All-Area team.Coming has a passion for winningMundelein star puts his team first,and Mustangs reap the rewardsBy Patricia Babcock McGrawDaily Herald Sfxtrts WriterAs the credits for “The Passion of the Christ roiled on and on Sunday night, Matt Coming and the rest of his family barely moved a muscle.“We just sat there and didn’t speak a word to each other,” said Corning, a nondenomina-tional Christian who says religion is an extremely important part of his family life. “It was such an intense movie — so real, so graphic. It’s probably the most graphic movie I’ve ever seen. But that’s the reality of what happened.”And what happened, according to the movie and to whatChristians like Coming believe, is that Jesus Christ was brutally tortured and crucified. His death on the cross represented God's sacrifice of his only son for mankind.As it turns out, Coming, a star forward for the Mundelein boys basketball team, knows a thing or two about sacrifice.Compared to the movie and the Bible, of course, his seems miniscule. But in his everyday world, it was significant to him.Corning was, by various measures, the top player in Lake County this year. His statistics 21.7 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per game _ wereamong the best in the area. And many opposing coaches routinely sang his praises, marveling at his athletic ability and talent.His season was so impressive that the Daily Herald has selected him to be the honorary captain of the 2003-04 Lake County All-Area team.But, believe it or not, this is kind of a bittersweet time for Coming.All the statistics, compliments and awards haven’t been enough to entice big-time college recruiters to take a serious look at Corning. And that’s where the sacrifices that he’smade come in.At 6-foot-4, Corning would be a nice-sized shooting guard at the college level. And he believes that he has the skills to play at that position.But Mundelein needed Coming to play in the paint. And with his aggressiveness on the boards and his array of solid post moves, Coming was able to do so masterfullyBig-time college coaches weren’t necessarily impressed, though. At their level, 6-foot-4 players don't generally play inside. So if they saw Coming in action or heard about him through the grapevine, theyusually moved on.It's just frustrating because I really never got to show that I could be a perimeter player from game to game in high school,” Coming said. “I talked to a coach from (the University of) Wisconsin once and he told me that at my height, I had to be a certain kind of player and that’s not what I was in high school. I just thought to myself that if my high school career had been a little different, I would have been that kind of player.“But it would have been selfish of me to tell (Mundelein) Coach (Perry Wilhelm) that Iwouldn’t play inside because 1 wanted to try and get recruited by some huge university.”Of course, Coming’s best chance of playing at a huge university would probably be as a walk-on.Because at this point, only a few Division III schools — like New York University, University of Chicago, University of Rochester and Illinois Wes leyan — are showing interest in him.“I would say that Matt definitely made a sacrifice for the better of the team,” said Mundelein guard Jake Gaebler, who teamed up with Corning on the varsity for the last twoSee CORNING on PAGE 3
Newspaper Details
Arlington Heights Daily Herald Suburban Chicago
Arlington Heights, Illinois, US
Fri, Mar 12, 2004
Page 282
Full Page
Clipped by
Thomas C.
USA 21 May 2025
Other Publications Near Arlington Heights, Illinois
Arlington Heights Daily Herald Suburban Chicago
Arlington Heights Herald
Daily Herald
Arlington Heights Day
Arlington Heights Sunday Herald
