MaxPreps 2014-15 Illinois preseason girls basketball Fab 5, presented by the Army National Guard

1. Whitney Young (Chicago)
2013-14 finish: 30-3
Coach: Corryne Irvin

The Dolphins have averaged 30 wins a year for the past three seasons, including a 34-0 state championship season in 2012 and a 30-3 season that ended in a state championship in 2014. Young lost just three players off of last year's squad and returns two of the top players in the state in guards Tanita Allen and Madinah Muhammad. Allen is a 5-10 small forward who has yet to declare her plans for next year while Muhammad is a 5-9 shooting guard who is headed to Ole Miss. The Dolphins also have one of the nation's top juniors in point guard Kiara Lewis.

View last season's Illinois girls basketball rankings, presented by the Army National Guard

2. Marian Catholic (Chicago Heights)
2013-14 finish: 28-5
Coach: Dan Murray



Marian Catholic reached the Class 4A semifinals last year before dropping a 60-20 decision to eventual champion Whitney Young. Despite the loss, Marian Catholic figures to be one of the top teams in the state, thanks to the return of All-American candidate Teniya Page, a 5-7 guard who is headed to Penn State next year. Page averaged 15.1 points and 4.9 assists per game in earning all-state third team honors by the Chicago Tribune. Marian Catholic also has another highly-coveted player in Kauai Bradley, a wing who has committed to play at Pittsburgh next season.

View last season's Illinois girls basketball playoff brackets

3. St. Thomas More (Champaign)
2013-14 finish: 33-2
Coach: Chris Mennig

The Class 2A champion returns one of the state's top players in 6-foot-4 forward Tori McCoy. A second team all-state selection by the Chicago Tribune, McCoy averaged 18.6 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game. Just a junior, McCoy is considered one of the top 10 players in the class of 2016, according to the Tribune.

View last season's Illinois girls basketball stat leaders

4. Joliet Catholic Academy
2013-14 finish: 29-3
Coach: Kenny Battle



While Joliet Catholic Academy had four seniors on last year's Class 3A state runner-up team, the bulk of the squad was made up of sophomores and freshmen, including one of the best players in the class of 2016 in Nicole Ekhomu. A 5-9 junior, Ekhomu is rated as one of the top juniors in the country by HoopGurlz. Joliet Catholic also has a pair of Division I recruits in sophomore forwards Ty Battle (6-0) and Jnaya Walker (6-0). Battle is the daughter of former NBA player Kenny Battle. He replaces head coach Ed Schodrof, who moved on to a coaching position at the college level after just one year as head coach at Joliet Academy.

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5. Homewood-Flossmoor (Flossmoor)
2013-14 finish: 19-3
Coach: Anthony Smith

The Vikings figure to have one of the top guard combinations in the state in All-American candidate Faith Suggs and point guard Bria Stallworth. Suggs will play at Duke next season while Stallworth has committed to Massachusetts.