Irvin proud to still call Elgin home

This weekend will mark a very sweet homecoming for Corry (Carter) Irvin. The former Larkin basketball great and current Whitney Young girls basketball coach will be inducted into the Elgin Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday at Villa Olivia.

"I'm excited," Irvin said. "It took me by surprise a little bit because I didn't know I was up for it. It was a nice surprise."

Irvin's enshrinement will also further cement her family's growing sports legacy in Elgin. Irvin's younger sister, Katy (Carter) Potts was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year for her time as a star softball player with Larkin and DePaul and her younger brother, Deryn, has returned to Larkin to guide the Royals as head basketball coach.

"I've always loved Elgin," Irvin said. "I grew up there and all three of us played sports, between basketball and softball and baseball and track. It's just been home for us. It's kind of nice with Katy being inducted and she has stuff to do with the committee. Deryn was really excited to be able to come back and coach at Larkin.

"Even though I don't have any direct ties myself with Larkin, I try to bring my own team back to do different stuff in Elgin. It's my home."

Irvin's earlier memories of basketball came with her father, Deryl, who now assists her on the bench at Young. She looks back fondly at her time improving her game at the Elgin YMCA.

"I used to play there all the time with the boys, with the youth basketball league they had," Irvin said. "Those were probably my fondest memories as a kid. There used to be two girls and a bunch of boys."

Irvin went on to have a tremendous career at Larkin, where she was twice named to the All-Upstate Eight Conference team and became the Royals all-time leading scorer.

In her senior season, Irvin was named Courier-News Player of the Year and the team won a regional title.

"That was our most successful year and a lot of the girls were really close off the court," Irvin said. "We had fun together. I know we beat Cary-Grove that year, we upset them. We had a couple big games. We beat Lake Park at home. The first couple years were a lot of work but the last year was a lot of fun."

Irvin gained a scholarship to Fresno State and by the time she was done, sat in the top 10 in school history in both rebounds and blocks.

After graduation, Irvin thought her basketball career had come to a close.

"I took the whole first year off from doing anything and I totally missed the game," Irvin said. "I really thought I wasn't going to miss it. When you're done playing you're kind of ready to just be done playing and my attitude was like, 'OK, I'm done with basketball.' I just really missed the game that year.

"So, I just got into coaching so that I could stay around the game."

This year will be her ninth at the helm for Whitney Young and she's already guided them to four state trophies and a championship.