Famous Alumni

Current NBA standout Devon Dotson (Homewood, Kansas) with the Chicago Bulls got his start in Small Fry Basketball. Other former NBA Stars Jose Juan Barea (Torrimar), Will Bynum (West Pullman Runners), Chris Quinn (Highwood), Nick Van Exel (Kenosha, Wis.), Kenny Anderson (New York), Charley Scott (New York), Tyler Ulis, Craig Hodges and Lloyd Walton (Chicago Heights, Ill.) debuted their talents in Small Fry Basketball.

Meanwhile, Highwood’s Kristi Cirone, a 3-time Missouri Valley Player of the Year at Illinois State, was a member of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun. Highwood product Veltra Dawson played on Villanova’s NCAA Champion team and Homewood, Ill. has produced two NFL quarterbacks in Donovan McNabb and Mike Tomczak, formerly with the Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears.

Other success stories include Small Fry alums leading their colleges to the NCAA Final Four. Dee Brown (Washington Jaguars) helped lead Illinois to the 2005 NCAA title game and Sean Dockery (West Pullman Runners) sparked Duke to the 2004 Final Four, as well as ACC Tournament titles in 2005 and 2006. Former Chicago Heights standout Ahron Ulis currently plays at nationally-ranked Iowa, while the Southern University roster features former Homewood Viking Micah Bradford.

The Windy City has produced several eventual stars, including Bynum (currently playing in Israel), who led Georgia Tech to the NCAA title game, and the Runners’ Cordell Henry, who sparked Whitney Young to the state title and Marquette to a Sweet 16. West Pullman Express product Earl Brown played in Switzerland and Zach Ramey played internationally as well. Ahmad Starks (And 1, state title at Whitney Young) played at Oregon State and Illinois.