Breaking News: School's out

The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Governor J.B. Pritzker is expected to announce the closure of schools until August during his daily Covid-19 briefing today or tomorrow.

The closure will affect some 2.2 millions students around the state and will break the hearts of hundreds of athletes, particularly seniors, who will not be able to participate in high school sports. The Illinois High School Association has yet to tip its hand, but after the governor makes the official announcement the state's athletic organization will probably make the official announcement soon after.

Illinois will join 27 states that have either ordered or recommended the same action according to Education Week.

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* * * UPDATE * * *

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During today's briefing Gov. Pritzker officially announced the end of in-school instructions for all schools in Illinois.

"My decision are hard ones but they will follow the science. The science says our students can not go back to their normal routine. Therefore, I am suspending in-person learning in schools for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year," the governor announced following the decision of other state leaders around the country like in the states Tennessee, Wisconsin and California. "I know many felt this was inevitable but trust me when I say this was not a decision I made lightly."

By 2:50pm, the IHSA released their statement.

"As we previously indicated, the cessation of in-person learning will make it difficult for the IHSA to conduct spring state tournaments this year. More information will be provided following Tuesday’s Board meeting."

The Board of Directors will meet on Tuesday to make their final determination on the spring sports tournament series the release said.

Trimble signs with Lindenwood University

After three seasons at the University of Wisconsin Parkside, Spartan basketball standout Brandon Trimble is on the move.

Yesterday, the 2017 St. Joseph-Ogden graduate sign on the Lindenwood University program in St. Charles, Missouri.

"I think Brandon is a great fit for our style of play," said head coach Kyle Gerdeman. "He is a guy who can score in a variety of ways, and his three years of experience at the DII level adds even more experience to our roster."

Trimble was named as the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference North Player of the Week in January. He scored 20 or more points in seven of the games he played this season and amassed 320 points during his 661 minutes on the floor for the Rangers. He played in 24 games while making 14 starts.

After redshirting his freshman year, Trimble played in 27 games during the 2018-19 season for UWP. He averaged 11 points per game and 3 rebounds per game.