Illinois
Ms. Basketball of Illinois Kloe Froebe now in a league of her own for central Illinois’ best players
Since the Central State Eight Conference began play in 1993, it’s been the home of some of the best girls basketball players in Springfield-area history.
But Lincoln’s Kloe Froebe can boast something none of her predecessors could: A state championship.
Froebe, the Ms. Basketball of Illinois winner, according to the Chicago Tribune on Friday, and The State Journal-Register’s Large School Girls Basketball Player of the Year recipient for a second year in a row, led the Railsplitters to an undefeated record and a Class 3A state title with a win over Chatham Glenwood at Illinois State University’s CEFCU Arena last month.
Her efforts culminated in the awards mentioned above — as well as the Gatorade Illinois Girls Basketball Player of the Year award. To many of us, it seemed like destiny after Froebe and Lincoln suffered their only loss of the 2022-23 season in the season finale, a 63-52 setback to LaGrange Park Nazareth in the 3A title game. Froebe finished second in Ms. Basketball voting her junior year.
Perfection: Lincoln girls basketball romps to first state title over Chatham Glenwood
Along the way, her feats surpassed even the best of the area’s best, including Taylorville’s Allison Curtin, Southeast’s Alex Harden and Springfield High’s Zahna Medley. Just being among those CS8 legends is quite an accomplishment, but her state championship and an undefeated season put her on a pedestal all by herself.
Arguably, the best player in CS8 history is Taylorville’s Allison Curtin, who guided the Tornadoes to a second-place finish in the 1997 Class AA state tournament, losing to Wilmette Loyola back in the two-class system. Curtin was a junior and that loss — like Lincoln’s last year — was Taylorville’s only blemish on an otherwise dominant season. Curtin became the first Ms. Basketball of Illinois winner from the area in 1998. She played collegiately at Illinois and Tulsa before being drafted by the WNBA’s Detroit Shock, but she retired after sitting out her only season with an injury.
Zahna Medley led Springfield High to four consecutive Class 3A Final Fours from 2009-12. Though the Senators never broke through for a title game, Medley, a three-time winner of our Central State Eight Girls Basketball Player of the Year award, was the catalyst for an unprecedented four-year run. She went on to star at TCU, which named the women’s locker room in her honor.
Southeast’s Alex Harden had an amazing career, played at Wichita State and was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, where she played for two seasons.
Angela Perry twice helped Rochester finish second in Class 3A, with losses to Morton in the state title game in 2015 and 2017. Perry was The State Journal-Register’s Large School Girls Player of the Year in 2017, then had a distinguished career at Bowling Green.
There are so many more stars that have emerged from the CS8 — including Lanphier’s Marke Freeman, Shatonia Levy of Springfield High and Lincoln’s Steph Reichle — but Froebe stands out from them all.
If it wasn’t impossible to stop her, no coach in Lincoln’s path found a way. She set scoring records at Lincoln and in the state tournament. She rebounded, defended and dished to her numerous capable teammates. She seemed effortless on the court and quickly displayed her dimpled smile in every postgame interview.
Even when she had to have her nostrils plugged after a bloody nose in February’s sectional semifinal, she was able to laugh it off while chatting with reporters after another win.
Her next stop is Colorado State University. The Rams are getting a winner and will undoubtedly provide Froebe with more curveballs and obstacles as the quality of competition and coaching grows.
But one thing in her favor is her relentlessness. She does it all and, despite being undersized at 5-foot-8, she wormed her way into the paint, tussled for every loose ball and defended bigger players to force turnovers or missed shots.
Women’s basketball has never been more popular. With Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, the women’s collegiate game has more eyes on it than ever before. More and more talented players are getting the attention of first-time fans of the game. Viewership is through the roof.
We’ve had four years to catch just how special Kloe Froebe is. Now, the rest of the country might get a chance to learn what we already know.
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
After taking a tackle in Round 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Patriots traded up on Day 2 to address their other major need – edge rusher. On Friday night, the Patriots selected Illinois edge rusher Gabe Jacas 55th overall.
Moving up from the 63rd overall pick, the Patriots sent that pick along with Picks 131 (fourth) and 202 (sixth) to the Los Angeles Chargers. This is the second time the Patriots have moved up, after going from 31 to 28 on Thursday night.
Jacas, who turns 22 next month, was a four-year starter for the Illini and team captain in 2025. Over the past two years he has 26.5 tackles for loss and 19 sacks in 25 games, plus three forced fumbles in each season. That includes 11 sacks in 12 games last year.
At 6-foot-4, 260 pounds Jacas is one of the most violent edge rushers in the draft – a trait this Patriots coaching staff has highlighted a lot since being assembled last year. He was a two-time state champion wrestler at Fort Pierce Central High School in Florida, and that wrestling background shows up in his play style.
As a rusher he has heavy hands and plays with a relentless motor, delivering big hits when he gets into the backfield against the run and pass. He should only improve as his pass rush toolbox continues to develop. During the pre-draft process, Jacas met with the Patriots on a top-30 visit.
In New England, Jacas joins an edge rusher rotation highlighted by Harold Landry and free agent signing Dre’Mont Jones, with Landry working his way back from a knee injury that limited him for much of last season. 2025 UDFA Elijah Ponder projects as one of the top rotational players, with Bradyn Swinson and Jesse Luketa likely competing for depth spots. The Patriots finished last year’s regular season with 35 sacks as a team, tied for the 22nd most in the NFL.
Jacas is the first Illinois player drafted by the Patriots since they took guard Ted Karras in the sixth round in 2016. According to Pro Football Reference, he’s the 12th Illinois player ever drafted by the Patriots.
The Patriots still have one pick remaining on Day 2. They’re scheduled to be back on the clock with the 95th overall selection, at the end of the third round.
Illinois raised the age limit for its ABLE savings program from 27 to 47, making about 250,000 more residents eligible. The accounts allow people with disabilities to save for expenses like housing and medical bills without losing Medicaid or SSI benefits.
Fox – 32 Chicago
A group of suburban mayors is concerned legislation meant to expand affordable housing in Illinois could take away local control over what gets built and where.
“We don’t believe that it’s been thought through. It doesn’t take into account how communities were created,” said Nicole Milovich-Walters, the mayor of Palos Park.
Instead of leaving zoning regulations up to local communities, the package of bills would make a series of changes that would affect housing statewide, including allowing small apartment buildings in residential areas and smaller second homes, like backyard cottages and granny flats, on lots that already have single-family homes.
Illinois is short roughly 142,000 housing units and will need to build over 225,000 units in five years to keep up with growing demand, according to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s office.
Because of that shortage, Pritzker introduced the Building Up Illinois Developments, or BUILD, plan as part of his “State of the State” address in February.
The governor’s office sees the legislation as a way to create more starter homes and cut red tape, so developers can build faster. But many suburban mayors have registered against the bills, in large part because they think zoning decisions should be left up to their individual towns and cities.
Some cities, including Palos Park have even drafted sample letters for residents to voice their concerns to Pritzker and lawmakers.
“We were developed intentionally over the last 114 years to keep open space. And giving up the idea of giving up our zoning rights and how we do things, it could be detrimental in many ways to Palos Park,” Milovich-Walters said.
Housing advocates voiced their support during a committee hearing Thursday.
“Everyone is struggling with a lack of affordable quality supply for people to buy homes, whether it’s a single family home or a condominium,” said Bob Palmer from Housing Action Illinois.
Jim Dodge, the mayor of Orland Park, said the legislation “needs some work.” His primary concern is how it would impact infrastructure.
“If we start adding a lot more housing, that’s going to impact flooding and stormwater management and other public services. So, we need to think those things through,” Dodge said.
He also added, “Is there a place for multifamily housing? Sure. Where to put it and how do you fit that into the design of your town is the open question, and that’s why every town in Illinois is different, which is why they’re going to get a lot of different opinions from every mayor in Illinois.”
There are concerns about impeding local control from officials and residents like Jay Vincent.
“In the end, we want to have a say in what is built in Palos Park,” Vincent said. “We just updated our code here in Palos Park, and we had great public participation throughout the community, and we really appreciate having a say on what gets built in our community.
Olivia Ortega, director of housing solutions for the Governor’s Office, responded to concerns during the hearing, explaining that communities would still guide the design of their neighborhoods.
“If your community is used to duplexes or four-flats, you can design standards to support those forms. If your neighborhoods are primarily single-family (homes), you can shape how smaller-scale options like cottage homes fit into those areas,” Ortega said.
What else is in the bills?
Changes would also be made to the the timelines in which housing permit reviews and inspections have to be conducted to prevent project delays. If deadlines are missed, third-party review would be allowed.
Another bill would limit how much parking cities in Illinois are allowed to require for new housing. For multifamily buildings, cities can require no more than half a parking space per unit.
Currently, buildings taller than three stories must have two separate exit stairways, but one of the bills would allow apartment buildings up to six stories to have a single exit stairway. The governor’s staff said that would expand the types of housing units that could be designed.
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