As another March Madness marches on, Champaign-Urbana need not look back far to recall one of the greatest runs of success in Twin City boys' basketball history.

There was Champaign Central, making its first appearance at the state tournament in 39 years, finishing third in Class 3A in 2008.

There was Centennial, which had been waiting since 1984 to return to state, winning it all in 2009 to give C-U its first IHSA champ in 63 years.

And there was Centennial again, back in Peoria last March to claim fourth place in 3A.

Three years, three state trophies. C-U had not experienced such a reign among Illinois' hoops elite since the heyday of Harry Combes' Champaign High Maroons in the 1940s.

In the afterglow of this exhilarating streak, the question now is: Can C-U continue to produce teams that make their presence felt deep into March Madness? Can C-U remain among the legitimate contenders to reach the Final Four in Peoria regularly? Or will this extraordinary period be followed by the long drought that preceded it?

Brad Sturdy, whose job it is to keep close tabs on the Illinois prep basketball scene, is optimistic about C-U's hoops future.

"I wouldn't say every year, but every few years you're going to have a team over there that I think can make a run deep in the postseason," said the Springfield-based recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. "It's hard to predict the future, but if you look back the Champaign teams have done well at the junior high level. Maybe they haven't always been able to (translate) that into the high school level, but I think of late you've seen that success at the high school level.

"And I think that's got the younger kids more interested. And you've seen some programs that have gotten better and better."

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Any coach will tell you that a productive feeder system is one vital component of success at the high school level. As Sturdy points out, successful middle school programs don't always guarantee success at the next level. But they can be an indicator of a thriving basketball atmosphere in a community, where high expectations are set early and youngsters are motivated to develop their games for the high school spotlight.

There are signs such an atmosphere exists here. From 2008 to '11, five Champaign middle schools advanced to IESA state tournaments a total of 11 times. In that span, three different schools finished as high as second.

"Teams have been consistent at at least getting (to state)," St. Thomas More coach Todd Anderson said. "So I know the talent level is definitely there."

Urbana High School coach Vashoune Russell says C-U is fortunate to have a number of quality coaches in the middle schools who give their players a fundamentally sound base upon which to build.

"Give most of the credit to the middle school coaches," Russell said. "I think the middle school coaches have done a great job of keeping these kids involved, running great systems."

Scott Brown has coached teams at four grade levels at Champaign's St. Matthew School during the past six seasons, most recently guiding the seventh-grade team to the Class 2A Elite Eight. In that time, Brown's teams routinely have faced the other C-U middle schools. He says the current talent – particularly in the Champaign public schools – bodes well for the future of local high school hoops.

"I think the next three to four years are going to be pretty strong in Champaign," Brown said. "Based on what I've seen in the junior high level and the success they've had, I think they're going to be consistently competitive in the high school state tournament series. ... I know Edison's eighth-grade team this year was very, very talented. Jefferson was very, very talented. Had a lot of size and quickness."

However, Brown also sees a noticeable gap between the eighth- and seventh-grade teams, particularly at the public schools.

"There is an abundant amount of talented kids in the eighth-grade classes at the city schools," he said. "At the seventh-grade level, it's not very talented. I see a distinct dropoff."

Financial considerations also could impact the future of C-U hoops. The Unit 4 School Board is considering a proposal to cut the overall budgets at all Champaign schools by 10 percent. Whether that action would include – or have a significant impact on – sports programs remains uncertain. But Champaign Central coach Scott Davis has his fingers crossed that middle school basketball can avoid any reductions.

"It would be important if we're talking about our (high school) kids continuing to go to state," he said. "Having a feeder program with the middle schools is essential. Otherwise, as good as the AAU coaches are, you'd have a lot of teaching (of the game) when they're freshmen and sophomores."

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Involvement in Amateur Athletic Union travel teams can be another sign of a vibrant local basketball scene. During Champaign's run of state tournament teams, virtually all of the top players – Verdell Jones, Donald Stewart, James Kinney, Rayvonte Rice, Jeff Johnson – further developed their games with high-caliber AAU programs. That trend has continued with such current players as Purdue commitment Jay Simpson of Champaign Central and Josh Piper of Centennial.

"There's been an increase in kids from downstate Illinois – and specifically the Champaign area – that have gotten on AAU travel teams," Sturdy said. "They're getting to play against top-level competition, and I think that definitely improves those kids when they come back to the high school season. ... You have an advantage over the kids that haven't played that level of travel basketball."

Locally, travel teams exist for players as young as third and fourth grade, according to Brown. He's seen a major increase in C-U participation in travel teams of all ages.

"There's been a big boom to that over the last five to seven years," Brown said. "It definitely is something that's much more prevalent. That's really helped a lot of these kids get better, and as they go through the high schools creates more success for the teams they're playing for."

As local players reach high school age, the most promising typically have opportunities to join elite AAU programs – those that are sponsored and have budgets to cover the costs of shoes, uniforms and travel to regional – or even national – tournaments.

"If they're good, the bigger teams start picking them up," Sturdy said.

For C-U players, the closest elite AAU programs are in Chicago, Peoria, St. Louis or Indianapolis. However inconvenient and time-consuming the travel might be, the payoff can be great. As Sturdy points out, Simpson landed a scholarship offer from Purdue from his exposure with the Illinois Wolves.

"He basically has made more of a name for himself on the travel circuit than he did within the high school season," Sturdy said.

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The Champaign schools' run of Final Four appearances began the same season the IHSA expanded classes in the sport from two to four. It's possible those Maroons and Chargers teams would have made it to state anyway had the old format remained. During several of those years, there were those who argued the Class 3A Four Final fields were stronger than those in 4A.

What most observers can agree upon is that schools with enrollments the size of those in C-U have a better shot now of reaching state than they did in the old two-class system.

"The four classes has made it easier," Sturdy said.

Said Russell: "I think the way they've restructured everything really favors East Central Illinois."

Class expansion also brought a reduction – by one – in the number of wins a team needs to earn a state title. In the two-class format, the state tournament was an Elite Eight – with quarterfinals, semifinals and the final. Now, teams surviving the super-sectionals advance to a Final Four and straight into the semifinals.

And since the advent of class expansion, the IHSA's postseason map seemingly has been more favorable to C-U's 3A teams in at least one sense: They haven't been slotted into sectionals or super-sectionals that include the traditionally powerful Peoria schools. Instead, C-U schools typically have run into the Springfield and Decatur teams before super-sectional matchups against a survivor from southern Illinois. Not that any route isn't challenging.

"Those (southern) schools take a lot of pride in their basketball," Davis said, "so it's not going to be easy."

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While Champaign's two public schools enjoyed the bright lights of Peoria, their Twin City counterpart was a spectator to the recent state-title run. For Urbana, it's been that way since 1942.

Vashoune Russell is the latest Tigers coach to take a stab at ending that considerable drought. And since his promotion to head coach in 2009, Urbana's feeder system has the full attention of this UHS alum.

Russell says he immediately made it a priority to foster the closest ties possible between the high school and Urbana Middle School coaches and players.

Those ties come in multiple forms. Several times a season, Russell and his players will attend the games of the seventh and eighth grades. And his high school gym has an open-door policy when the Tigers are working out.

"The kids all know that if you're an Urbana basketball player, you're welcome to come and sit in on our practices," Russell said. "You are welcome to come shoot around."

The Tiger coach also encourages his players to volunteer their time with the city's younger players during the offseason by officiating Urbana Park District games.

"They can see (current Tigers), they can meet them, they can look up to them," Russell said. "Those kids are ... hopefully one day wanting to be in their shoes."

At the same time, Russell and the middle school coaches are working in unison to lay the groundwork for the transition to high school.

"I just want basically our terminology and principles to be the same," Russell said. "I'm not telling (middle school coaches) to do and run what we do because we run and do different things every year. As a coach, I think you've got to adjust to whatever talent you have."

Paul Douglas, in his third year at Urbana Middle School, says when he arrived negativity pervaded basketball at the school.

"But that's changing," said the former Quincy High player and nephew of ex-Illini great Bruce Douglas.

Paul Douglas pointed to a two-game sweep this season of Franklin by his eighth-graders and a split with Jefferson. At the seventh-grade level, Urbana split with all three Champaign public middle schools.

"When you beat a Champaign school, the mind-set changes," he said.

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In 2004, Todd Anderson guided Franklin Middle School's eighth-graders to a state title. Now, he's trying to reach the same summit at St. Thomas More.

"It's possible," the fourth-year Sabers varsity coach said. "It's just a matter of keeping kids interested. I could probably think of five kids right now that probably should be on the basketball team that aren't."

As it is, a program established in 2001-02 won its second regional title – and first since 2004 – this season. Did so mostly with young players.

"By the time they're seniors, the possibility (of reaching state) definitely, I think, could be there," Anderson said.

Unlike his peers in the C-U public schools, STM doesn't have a primary feeder school. Instead, the Catholic high school draws students from multiple communities. Although St. Matthew is widely perceived as a feeder school for STM, the reality is the high school draws fewer such students than you'd think, according to Brown.

"If we all went to St. Thomas More and stuck together, I think we'd have a very competitive Class 2A team. But a lot of kids go to the (public) high schools," Brown said. "If a kid from St. Matthew goes to St. Thomas More, he has a great chance to have a lot of success. But it's a different level of athleticism (at the public schools). A lot of them won't contribute extensively beyond their sophomore years."

It's Anderson's challenge to meld a diverse group that typically has not played together before entering STM.

"We're pulling kids from all different areas and we don't have the advantage of the other (Class 2A) schools, where their (middle school) athletes are coming up together through the same program."

Still, Anderson is encouraged by the ever-improving talents of recent incoming classes. When he arrived at STM, the Sabers coach recalls, the varsity roster was young out of necessity.

"Back then it was more out of not (having) enough kids," he said. "But this year, we moved kids up because of talent over older kids."

If the talent arrow continues to point up, perhaps STM can join the ranks of Champaign state qualifiers. Perhaps a rapidly improving Urbana program eventually will make that breakthrough. Perhaps Centennial or Central will revisit the Final Four sooner rather than later.

"I think we're poised to continue to do it," Davis said of sending local teams to Peoria. "We've got a lot of kids playing at an early age. A lot of kids are involved in basketball. I think there's no reason why we can't have our share of state qualifiers."