2025 Chicago Sun-Times All-City boys basketball team

Kenwood’s excellence this season was unexpected. The Broncos opened the season No. 9 in the preseason Super 25 rankings. Sophomore Devin Cleveland and senior Aleks Alston were poised for major years, but a dominant regular season and city championship didn’t seem likely when their head coach resigned in early November.

Assistant principal Joseph Mason took over as coach and two transfers, Amari Edwards and TJ Seals, added significant leadership and firepower.

It all fit together better than anyone could have imagined. The Broncos lost just one game all season, on the road at Rich, captured their first city championship and have now won 16 consecutive games heading into Friday’s Class 4A regional championship against Oak Lawn.

More than anything, the success is due to unselfishness. Kenwood may be the most talented team in the state, but many gifted teams in the past have failed to win. Cleveland, Edwards, Seals and Alston don’t force things. The Broncos move the ball and trust the open man. They play like a team that has been together for years, not a group hastily assembled in the fall.

That’s why all four Kenwood stars were selected for the All-City team. It’s difficult to claim that a team’s fourth-best player is more deserving than the best player on another team, but that is the case this season. Edwards, a senior who transferred from Phillips, helped lead the Wildcats to the Class 2A state championship last season when he earned an All-City Honorable Mention.

Cleveland and Alston are joined on the first team by St. Ignatius senor Phoenix Gill, Mount Carmel senior Grant Best and Dalton Scantlebury of Lane.

Gill averaged 20 points and seven rebounds this season and Scantlebury, a Penn recruit, was the best big man in the city. He averaged 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

Best, an Air Force recruit who averaged 18 points and eight rebounds, is one of three selections from Mount Carmel. Cameron Thomas, the city’s breakout senior this season, makes the second team and junior point guard Noah Mister is a third-team selection.

DePaul Prep’s balanced team made decisions difficult. The defending Class 3A champs were led by junior guard Rykan Woo early in the season and 6-7 junior Rashaun Porter has emerged over the past two months.

Porter was the best player at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament and led the Rams to the championship of the prestigious event. He joins Woo on the second team. Senior Makai Kvamme, a Western Illinois recruit who has spearheaded much of DePaul Prep’s winning over the past three seasons, is an Honorable Mention selection.

Players on teams in the Chicago city limits are eligible for All-City. The All-Area team, comprised of players in the Sun-Times’ entire coverage area, will be released next week.

2025 Chicago Sun-Times All-City Team

First Team

Aleks Alston, Kenwood, 6-10, Sr.
17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks

Grant Best, Mount Carmel, 6-3, Sr.
18 points, 8 rebounds

Devin Cleveland, Kenwood, 6-3. So.
21 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals

Phoenix Gill, St. Ignatius, 6-3, Sr.
20 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals

Dalton Scantlebury, Lane, 6-9, Sr.
16 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks

Second Team

Marcos Gonzales, Brother Rice, 6-3, Sr.
19 points, 6 rebounds

Rashaun Porter, DePaul Prep, 6-7, Jr.
13 points, 7 rebounds

Lorenzo Shields Jr., Simeon, 6-2, Sr.
20 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals

Cameron Thomas, Mount Carmel, 6-3, Sr.
19 points

Rykan Woo, DePaul Prep, 6-1, Jr.
16 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals

Third Team

Phoenix Childs, Perspectives-Leadership, 6-4, Sr.
22 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block

Marquis Clark, Young, 6-2, Jr.
No stats provided

Noah Mister, Mount Carmel, 6-2, Jr.
17 points, 9 assists, 2 rebounds

TJ Seals, Kenwood, 6-6, Sr.
14 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks

Chayse Turner, Lincoln Park, 6-4, Sr.
19 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals

Fourth Team

Amari Edwards, Kenwood, 5-10, Sr.
15 points, 6 assists, 2 steals

Darien Green, Christ The King, 6-3, Sr.
20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals

Justin Oliver, Curie, 5-11, Jr.
No stats provided

Nasir Rankin, Morgan Park, 6-2, Jr.
23 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds

Marquis Vance, Marist, 6-3, Sr.
11 points, 9 rebounds

Honorable Mention

Brad Blackman, Crane, Jr.
Julien Doyle, Simeon, Sr.
Patrick Irvin Jr., Payton, Jr.
Brad Johnson, Curie, Sr.
Makai Kvamme, DePaul Prep, Sr.
Antonio Munoz, Young, Sr.
CJ Thomas, Hyde Park, Sr.
Jack Weigus, Brother Rice, Sr.
Kaydin Williams, Lincoln Park, Jr.
Rokas Zilys, Marist, Jr.

Looking back:
2024 All-City Team
2023 All-City Team
2022 All-City Team
2021 All-City Team
2020 All-City Team
2019 All-City Team
2018 All-City Team
2017 All-City Team
2016 All-City Team
2015 All-City Team