Chicago area duo Blake Peters and Caden Pierce help take Princeton Tigers to Sweet 16
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament might not have any Illinois teams left, but there are a bunch of Chicago players to follow, especially for one surprising team.
The Princeton Tigers are the story of the Sweet 16, and a couple Chicago area guys are helping lead the way. Evanston Township's Blake Peters, a sophomore, and Glenbard West's Caden Pierce, who's only a freshman, are playing key roles for the Tigers, and their high school coaches aren't surprised.
"Blake was a coach's dream. I mean, the minute he walked into our school, from day one as a freshman, he had a goal to play varsity; and not only did he play varsity, he started the first game of his career, and started his entire career. So Blake's a special player, and we always felt like he was going to go on to great things. We just didn't know it would be so soon," said Evanston Township head coach Mike Ellis.
"We're just proud of where Caden's at, and from day 1, we knew he was a winner. He won at the Under Armour Circuit National Championship. He won at the state championship level in Illinois. And now he's in the Sweet Sixteen with potential to win a national championship. So it's fantastic, and the town of Glen Ellyn is rooting him on," said Glenbard West head coach Jason Opoka.
Peters' and Pierce's coaches might not be surprised, but of course it is surprising that No. 15 seed Princeton is in the Sweet 16, just the 4th team seeded 15th or lower to make it this far.
The Tigers followed up their shocking win over No. 2 seed Arizona with a dominating performance against No. 7 seed Missouri. Not surprisingly, both coaches have liked what they've seen from the Princeton staff.
"I love the way they're playing. Coach Henderson does a great job. It's great to watch them play with passion and poise, and you can just tell that he's got good pulse on their team, and they're in a rhythm right now. We're just hoping Blake comes in and contributes the way he has been the last few games," Ellis said.
"Everybody as a coach loves to see guys sharing the basketball, and playing with joy. That's the other thing I see out of these Princeton Tigers is the amount of joy that they have for each other, and the pride they have walking on that court," Opoka said.
Peters scored 17 points in Princeton's win over Missouri, while Caden was dominant on the glass, grabbing a new career high 16 rebounds.
"We always knew that Cade was an elite rebounder, offensively and defensively, because he goes to pursue the ball, and that was one of the characteristics that got us to state championship is his unselfishness," Opoka said.
And if you're worried about the moment being too big for the Princeton Tigers, Peters can maybe teach them about what it's like to be in the limelight.
"It seems like it's déjà vu, because his freshman year, as a 9th grader, he had a game-winning shot off a missed free throw that ended up being an ESPY nomination. So not too many 9th graders in high school are sitting next to professional athletes and collegiate athletes in Los Angeles at the ESPY's. It just seems like the stage and the bright lights fit Blake," Ellis said.
And now Blake, Caden, and the rest of the Tigers hope they can stay on the big stage for one more week.
Princeton faces 6th seeded Creighton Friday night at 8 p.m. in Louisville.
Peters and Pierce are just two of a handful of Chicago area natives in the Sweet 16.
