Michael O'Brien's Super 25 high school basketball rankings for Dec. 7, 2025

Curie doesn’t have a headlining senior who has signed with a Division I school or one of the highly touted young players in the area.

Condors coach Mike Oliver might have something better: a hard-nosed, battle-tested group with chemistry and guts.

Curie’s core players — Justin Oliver, Saquan Commings, Mike Oliver Jr., Kendall Holiday and Joshua Hurley — are seniors. Mike Oliver Jr. is the coach’s son, and Justin Oliver might be the most underrated player in the state.

The Condors beat Warren on Saturday at the Chicago Elite Classic.

‘‘Everybody knows their role on this team,’’ Justin Oliver said. ‘‘We are better vocally and better defensively than last season. It’s a better team overall.’’

Curie lost to Kenwood in the Public League title game and the sectional finals last season. This season, the Condors are clearly the team to beat in the Public League. They rose to No. 2 in the Super 25 this week and picked up the No. 2 seed in the Pontiac Holiday Tournament on Sunday. They are behind DePaul Prep in the rankings and at Pontiac.

‘‘We want to be Pontiac champs, city champs and state champs,’’ Justin Oliver said. ‘‘That is what we are coming for.’’

Homewood-Flossmoor’s hot start

It would have been perfectly understandable if Homewood-Flossmoor had opened the season with some ups and downs. Sophomore point guard Darrius Hawkins Jr. was the Vikings’ only returning starter, and Brandin Brown, an assistant at H-F the last several seasons, is a first-year head coach.

But H-F handled a weaker-than-usual field at the Chicago Heights Classic in the first week of the season, then opened eyes with a major victory Saturday against Bolingbrook at the Chicago Elite Classic.

‘‘I can’t say I’m surprised with how we started,’’ Brown told the Sun-Times. ‘‘But you never know how they are going to react the first time experiencing the environment [at the Chicago Elite Classic] and the first time playing on a college court. But I knew they were going to play hard.’’

Marvin Douglas, a 6-4 senior forward who has waited his turn to play, has stepped into a leading role along with senior guard Ethan Jackson, a transfer from Leo.

‘‘We challenged them both to lead as much as they could,’’ Brown said. ‘‘They’ve been doing a good job, and a lot of what they both do doesn’t show up on a stat sheet.’’

The Vikings replaced Simeon at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament, which released its bracket Sunday. H-F will open against Bloomington on Dec. 20 and could face New Trier in the quarterfinals.

Team Rose Shootout

Mount Carmel will host the Team Rose Shootout this weekend. There are 13 games over two days, with Oswego East vs. Curie the headliner Saturday and DePaul Prep vs. Kankakee wrapping things up Sunday.

Super 25 updates

The top of the Super 25 had a rough week. Five of last week's top six teams picked up losses.

DePaul Prep remains on top. There's no great shame in losing to prep school powerhouse La Lumiere, although ideally the game would have been more competitive.

Curie is the biggest gainer of the week, jumping from No. 9 to No. 2 after knocking off Warren.

Homewood-Flossmoor and Thornwood join the rankings. Thornwood, led by two sophomore guards, has already knocked off Brother Rice, Joliet West, Riverside-Brookfield and Crete-Monee.

Lincoln Park and Barrington drop out. The Lions lost to Hyde Park and Barrington lost to Fremd. Both teams are poised for solid seasons and will likely be back in the rankings relatively soon.

Overall, the current state of the Super 25 is flimsy. There are preseason ranked teams without significant wins hanging around while (likely better) teams have dropped out after playing some challenging opponents.

It's early in the season and things will shake out eventually.

Super 25 high school basketball rankings for Dec. 7. 2025
With record and last week's ranking

1. DePaul Prep (5-1) 1
Lost to La Lumiere

2. Curie (2-0) 9
Older and better

3. Kankakee (4-0) 4
Faces DePaul Sunday

4. Marist (4-1) 3
Lost to Sidwell, DC

5. Warren (2-1) 2
Lost to Curie

6. St. Ignatius (6-0) 7
Handled Young

7. Benet (7-1) 8
Won 3 in Philadelphia

8. Fremd (5-0) 11
Beat Evanston, Barrington

9. Loyola (6-1) 5
Lost to DePaul

10. New Trier (5-1) 10
Hosts Deerfield Friday

11. Waukegan (5-1) 15
Beat Evanston

12. Homewood-Flossmoor (5-0) NR
Off to a quick start

13. Bolingbrook (4-1) 6
Lost to H-F

14. Oswego East (5-0) 14
Huge weekend ahead

15. Evanston (4-2) 12
Young group hit a bump

16. Glenbard East (5-0) 16
Beat St. Charles North

17. Simeon (4-1) 17
Lost to St. Louis Chaminade

18. Kenwood (4-0) 18
At Hyde Park Thursday

19. Young (4-1) 19
Solid in loss to St. Ignatius

20. Neuqua Valley (4-1) 21
Handled Lake Forest

21. Kaneland (4-0) 22
Beat West Aurora

22. St. Laurence (6-0) 23
Beat Rich on Saturday

23. Thornwood (7-0) NR
Young and dangerous

24. Geneva (5-0) 24
Hosts WWS on Wednesday

25. Deerfield (6-1) 25
Lost to Evanston