Basketball Hall of Fame

Coached by Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Famer Chuck Buescher, Peoria High School won back-to-back Class AA state championships in his final two seasons at the helm.

Future NBA champion and Hall of Famer Shaun Livingston starred on both teams, but he had all-star support in 2002-03 from all-state point guard Daniel Ruffin, who would play for Bradley University, and in both seasons from defensive stalwart Brandon Lee, who signed with Northwestern.

In 2002-03, the Lions won 29 games in a row to finish 31-1 and were ranked No. 15 nationally by studentsports.com. In their final five tournament games, they avenged their only loss of the season, to Limestone, then knocked off Lincoln, Chicago Von Steuben, Evanston and Thornwood, with Livingston delivering the title-winning shot with 3.2 seconds left. Lee locked up each opponent’s leading scorer, allowing them a total of 44 points through those five games. Through all eight postseason games, no opposing team scored more than 48 points.