In addition to the articles posted in the Illinois H.S.toric, we receive frequent inquiries looking for books about the history of Illinois high school sports. Here is a bibliography, with links to pages where the books can be ordered (most link to amazon.com).
Interscholastics: A Discussion of Interscholastic Contests, by Charles W. Whitten. Illinois High School Association, 1950. A comprehensive summary of IHSA philosophy as the association grew from a disorganized band of principals, interested primarily in purging "ringers" from high school football games, into the overseer of statewide athletic competition in several sports. Whitten served from as the first chief executive of both the IHSA and the National Federation of State High School Athletic Associations. A few new copies of the book remain. Available in the IHSA Store.
The Rise of American High School Sports and the Search for Control: 1880-1930, by Robert Pruter, Syracuse University, 2013. A groundbreaking study of American interscholastic sports during its formative period, with special emphasis on trends in Illinois. By prolific Illinois H.S.toric contributor Robert Pruter.
Why Mascots Have Tales: The Illinois High School Mascot Manual, by Fred Willman. Mascot Publishing, 2005.
One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, An Unlikely Coach, and A Magical Baseball Season, by Chris Ballard. Hyperion, 2012. The dramatic story of the Macon high school baseball team of 1971 who shocked the Illinois high school baseball world by playing in the then one-class tournament to eliminate a string of large school opponents to reach the championship game, where they took second to the powerful Waukegan team by a close score of 4-2..
The Amazing Appleknockers: Illinois' Cinderella Basketball Team of 1964, by Teri Campbell and Anne Ryman. Lusk Creek Publishing, 2010.
Classical Madness: A Celebration of Class A and AA Boys Basketball in Illinois, by Shawn Powell, Jeff Lampe, and Bob Leavitt. Illinois High School Association, 1996. Summaries of every Class A and Class AA boys tournament from the start of the two-class system in 1972 through 1995, plus dozens of fun lists assembled by basketball expert Shawn Powell. Over 100 photos. Now out of print, but superseded by 100 Years of Madness (see below).
Courtside Memories: A History of Remembrances, compiled by Mel Roustio. Creative Ideas, 1998. A collection of anecdotes submitted by many Illinois high school basketball coaches and edited by veteran coach Roustio, who headed teams at Jacksonville and Decatur.
Dike Eddleman: Illinois' Greatest Athlete, by Diana Eddleman Lenzi. Sagamore Publishing, 1997. Dike Eddleman, a four-sport star at Centralia High School, led the Orphans to a state basketball championship in 1942. Eddleman's daughter chronicles the career of the state's first athletic superstar, from high school to an equally stellar career at the University of Illinois.
The DuSable Panthers: The Greatest, Blackest, Saddest Team from the Meanest Street in Chicago, by Ira Berkow. Atheneum, 1978. DuSable didn't win the state championship — the Panthers finished second to Mt. Vernon in 1954 — but Illinois high school basketball was never the same after DuSable's run-and-gun style turned the state tournament on its head. Berkow, now at the New York Times, saw it all as a teenager.
Fast Break to Glory: Marshall High School's 98-Game Winning Streak, by Red Mottlow. N.p., 2002. In the first half of the 20th Century, basketball wasn't just for the tall. Marshall's "junior" team — for boys 5-foot-7 and under — made headlines from 1939 to 1944 with the longest winning streak in Illinois history.
Glory Days: Legends of Illinois High School Basketball, by Taylor Bell. Sports Publishing, 2006. The author chronicles the evolution of Illinois high school basketball from the previous five decades with profile of the careers of 50 of the state’s best high school basketball players, all based on interviews..
Grass Roots and Schoolyards: A High School Basketball Anthology, edited by Nelson Campbell. Viking Penguin, 1988. Stories from across the nation, including a handful from Illinois.
A History of the Illinois State High School Basketball Tournament (1908-1971), by Randall Rene Rodgers. Master's Thesis, University of Illinois, 1971. The only publication that documents (with sources) the inception of the tournament in 1908 and summarizes in text each tournament in the single-class series, which was abolished in 1971. A good starting point for research; someday someone will write the complete story. Available by interlibrary loan only.
Here's Johnny Orr, by Gene McGivern. Iowa State University Press, 1992. The longtime coach at Michigan and Iowa started out as a schoolboy star at Taylorville, where he played for Coach Dolph Stanley and the legendary 1944 Tornadoes, Illinois' first undefeated state champions.
Hoop Dreams: A True Story of Hardship and Triumph, by Ben Joravsky. Harper Publishing, 1995. Direct from the big screen to print, a retelling of the award-winning documentary about two Illinois high school basketball players, Arthur Agee of Marshall and Williams Gates of St. Joseph.
Illinky: High School Basketball in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky, edited by Nelson Campbell. The Stephen Green Press/Pelham Books, 1990. A series of stories from the heart of high school basketball.
Inner City Hoops: A History of Chicago Basketball, by Calvin Davis. Outskirts Press, 2006.
March Madness, by Jim Enright. Illinois High School Association, 1977. Articles on some of the great teams and interviews with the great personalities in Illinois tournament history. Also includes scores and records from state final tournaments from 1908 to 1976, and photos of the championship teams. No longer available from the IHSA.
Men of Granite, by Dan Manoyan. The story fo Granite City High School''s state championship run in 1940.
Once There Were Giants: How Tiny Hebron Won the Illinois High School Basketball Championship and the Hearts of Fans Forever, by Scott Johnson and Julie Kistler. Illinois High School Association, 2002. Only one "small school" ever won Illinois' one-class tournament, which makes Hebron the state's most memorable champion in many eyes. The story of how the "Little David" school of just 98 students overcame all the odds is the Illinois version of Hoosiers. Over 100 photos. Available in the IHSA Store.
100 Years of Madness: The Illinois High School Association Boys' Basketball Tournament, by Scott Johnson, Curt Herron, Pat Heston, Jeff Lampe, and Bob Leavitt. Illinois High School Association, 2006. Summaries and statistics of every boys' basketball tournament from 1908 to 2006, with a photo of every championship team, plus many interesting features and hundreds of action photos. In softcover and hardcover. Available in the IHSA Store.
Sweet Charlie, Dike, Cazzie, and Bobby Joe, by Taylor Bell, University of Illinois Press, 2004. In sixty stories covering the 1940s through the 1990s, the dean of high school sportswriters covers the players, coaches, and teams that put IHSA basketball on the map. From small towns to the big city, Bell traveled the state to collect these fascinating tales.
Trout: The Old Man and the Orphans, by Don Schnake. Richview Press, 1992. Arthur Trout was an Illinois legend, leading Centralia High School to state basketball championships to 1918, 1922, and 1942. Schnake, who played on Trout's 1946 squad (which finished second to Champaign), paints a rich portrait of the "Old Man" as coach, teacher, and leader of men.
Vicarious Thrills: A Championship Season of High School Basketball, by Paul E. Bates. Southern Illinois University Press, 1995. Bates chronicles the 1993-94 season of the Carbondale Terriers, southern Illinois' best hope for a (large-school) state championship since 1957. The team came up one win short, losing to Peoria Manual in the title game.
Thornridge: The Perfect Season in Black and White, by Scott Lynn. AuthorHouse, 2009. The story of the Thornridge state basketball champions of 1971 and 1972, in which the 1972 undefeated team is considered by many as the beat Illinois state basketball champion in history.
Aurora's East-West Football Rivalry: The Longest Running Series in Illinois, by Steve Solarz. History Press, 2014. The history of the East Aurora and West Aurora storied football rivalry from 1893 to 2013, and which also gives the history of each school's football program and yearly record.
Dusty, Deek, and Mr. Do-Right: High School Football in Illinois, by Taylor Bell. University of Illinois Press, 2010. Drawing on dozens of personal interviews, the author shares the stories of the greatest players, toughest coaches, most memorable games, and fiercest rivalries in Illinois history.
The Ghosts of Wheaton: How the 'Red Grange' Tigers Conquered Illinois High School Football, by Thom Wilder. Indianapolis, Dog Ear Publishing, 2015.
Red Grange and the Rise of Modern Football, by John M. Carroll. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999.
The Red Grange Story: An Autobiography, by Red Grange as told to Ira Morton. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1953.
The Right Kind of Heroes: Coach Bob Shannon and the East St. Louis Flyers, by Kevin Horrigan. Algonquin Books, 1992. The author takes the reader through the East St. Louis Flyers' 1990 and 1991 season while telling the remarkable story of Coach Bob Shannon's fifteen years building the legendary football program.
A Century of Greatness. Illinois High School Association, 1994. The commemorative program for the 100th boys state track and field meet contains 144 pages of articles, photos, trivia, lists, and a rundown of every meet starting with the first one, way back in 1893. Available in the IHSA Store.
Virgin Territory: The Story of Craig Virgin, America's Renaissance Runner, by Randy Sharer. 2017.
Mat Madness: 60 Glorious Years of Illinois High School Wrestling, by Rob Sherrill. Center Mat Press, 1996. An encyclopedia of wrestling in Illinois, featuring articles, interviews, lists, and a rundown of every state meet from the inaugural in 1937 through the 1996 meets.
Tales From the Mat: Illinois High School Wrestling at 75, by Rob Sherrill. Center Mat Press, 2012. Not listed on Amazon -- may be available from publisher.
Mighty in Heart: Morton's Lady Potters Win It All, by Dave Kindred. Kindred Spirits Publishing, 2015. Not listed on Amazon -- may be available from publisher.
A Kind of Grace: The Autobiography of the World's Greatest Female Athlete, by Jackie Joyner-Kersee with Sonja Steptoe. New York: Warner Books, 1997.