Injured Connolly continues to contribute for Grayslake North

It's been a rough six months for Grayslake North star guard Ryan Connolly, who tore his ACL in a summer league game prior to the season.

The three-year varsity starter, who is Grayslake North's all-time leading scorer (1,525 points) and averaged 24 points per game last season, has been out of basketball since then. But he's still playing a vital role on the team.

"Ryan has such a voice now, way more than he ever did when he was playing," said Grayslake North coach Todd Grunloh, whose team is 6-10 on the season. "He's always talking to his teammates from the bench, encouraging them, calling out screens, everything. He stands at the end of the bench for the entire game and is always saying something. Ryan is usually such a quiet kid. I joke that if he had been talking like this all along on defense, we probably wouldn't have had to have so many stern conversations over the years.

"But he talks all the time now. He's become like an extension of the coaching staff."

Connolly helps the mangers, too.

"Ryan gets everyone water too," Grunloh said with a chuckle. "He does as much as he can for his teammates. He is all in when it comes to helping the team."

Oh, brother: When Grayslake North guard Ryan Connolly tore his ACL over the summer, it instantly brought back memories of his older brother, James.

James, who is two years older than Ryan, scored 1,000-plus points at Grayslake North, and is now playing in college at St. Mary's in Minnesota, blew out his ACL in his final game of his senior year.

"Ryan's injury was kind of a fluke. He was going half-speed and turned and something just didn't feel right to him," Grayslake North coach Todd Grunloh said. "But when James did it, it was violent. We were playing Zion-Benton and he had scored 25 points already and he jumped stopped and you just knew instantly with the way he looked that something terrible had happened. Our guys went white. You could tell it was bad and it was so tough for everyone because James was the heart and soul of our team that year."

Senior savvy: Although he is technically younger than some of the juniors on the team, Grayslake North senior point guard Jamon Thomas is showing some senior savvy.

A three-year starter, he's evolved his game over the years to include better decisions and shot selection.

"Sometimes in the past, Jamon would get himself in some trouble with trying to do too much," Grayslake North coach Todd Grunloh said. "He took some constructive criticism from us and really developed his skills to take better shots, to pull up when a taller defender steps into the lane to help, and to take care of the ball better."

Thomas recently made 10-of-11 field goals in a game against Grant. And he has 30 more assists than turnovers on the season.

"He's more under control, he's taking better shots," Grunloh said of Thomas. "He's been a great leader for us, and a great point guard. It's been so awesome to see how he has grown and developed. He's gotten much, much better over the years."