St. Ignatius senior Phoenix Gill signs with Northwestern, navigates college basketball's evolving landscape
There wasn't a big ceremony at Rich Central when Kendall Gill signed his National Letter of Intent with Illinois in 1985.
“It was me and my dad in the Toyota on the side of Rich Central,” Gill said. “I signed in the car, gave it to my dad, and he mailed it.”
Signing Day has evolved into a major event. Wednesday at St. Ignatius, Gill’s son Phoenix signed with Northwestern. The school held a ceremony for the nine winter sports athletes signing with colleges. Each posed for photos with parents and friends. Gill’s mom, Wendelyn, shed some tears. It was a special moment.
“It feels amazing to see all the hard work pay off,” Phoenix Gill said. “It’s so important to my parents. My mom gets very emotional about this stuff. It just shows how proud she is of me. Northwestern is her alma mater.”
The NCAA eliminated the long-running National Letter of Intent program in October. This year, high school students are signing financial aid agreements with colleges for one or multiple years. The agreement is binding for the school; they have to honor the scholarship, but it is not binding for the player.
The NCAA is dealing with pending lawsuits, and everything is in flux. Parents, coaches and athletes are confused.
“I hate that they changed it up now, and Phoenix has to be the first one to deal with whatever this new situation will be,” Kendall Gill said.
Wednesday was the first day that students were allowed to sign. It’s unclear how long the signing period lasts. Some reports say it runs until the student graduates from high school, and others say a player can sign until the college school year begins.
“It is an evolving landscape that this 2025 class is going through,” Illinois Wolves club basketball coach Mike Mullins, whose son Bryan is an assistant coach at DePaul, said. “The biggest changes in the history of college basketball are in the last three years. Kids have refused to sign the NLI and just signed [financial aid agreements] before this too; that has happened before.
“We are heading for standard employment contracts. Without collective bargaining and unionization, [the NCAA] is still violating antitrust laws. The kids need legal advice. The parents need to be educated on what this means for both sides.”
Athletes are not supposed to contact other schools after the agreement is signed. According to multiple sources, it is the same agreement that current college athletes sign in the transfer portal.
Phoenix Gill signed a four-year financial aid agreement with Northwestern. Rolling Meadows senior Ian Miletic signed with Marquette on Wednesday. They are the only local players heading to high-major schools.
Talent decline
Only 13 local players signed with Division I colleges on Wednesday. It’s the lowest amount anyone can remember. There are nearly 400 high schools in the Sun-Times’ coverage area.
Two local players, Bryce Heard and Jeremiah Fears, skipped their senior year of high school and headed to college. Others transferred out of state to prep schools over the past four years.
Only one Public League player, Lane’s Dalton Scantlebury, is heading to a DI school. There are multiple factors for the Public League’s talent decline, including raw numbers. In 2000, CPS enrollment was more than 430,000. This year’s enrollment is 324,311.
“The percentage of high school kids going to a DI school is at an all-time low because of the transfer portal,” Mullins said. “And then a lot of the top kids are leaving. That has been happening regularly, and you don’t just replace that. The exodus is real and it has affected the talent level.”
Last year, 14 local players signed with Division I colleges on Signing Day, including six with high-major programs. By the end of the season that number surpassed 20. There were 34 Division I players in the class of 2023 and 27 in the class of 2022.
“It’s a combination of a few things,” Thornton coach Tai Streets, who runs the prominent Mean Streets club basketball program, said. “Kids left for prep schools, and we are just in a downward trend right now. That won’t happen every year. It will eventually pick up.”