What do NIU assistant coach Donald Whiteside and high school student Frank Clair have in common?

Whiteside is 16 years older and Clair is eight inches taller. They both love basketball – but that’s the obvious answer.

Whiteside, a former NIU star and NBA player, and Clair, a 6-foot-6 athletic wing forward, both are from Leo High School on Chicago’s south side.

Even though Whiteside graduated 17 years ago, he said nothing major has changed at the small Catholic school with the tiny gymnasium on the school’s third floor.

“It’s your typical home-court cracker-jack-box gym,” Whiteside said. “I knew everything from the dead spots in the floor, which still remain, to the northwest corner where people would walk across the court in the winter and it would be slippery.”

Clair also is from the same neighborhood, the Englewood area, where Whiteside grew up.

“We were always named the poor school in the Catholic league,” Whiteside said. “Any urban child has always got something to prove, especially coming out of Leo.”

Clair is appreciative of his opportunity to play at NIU next year and looks forward to the opportunity.

“We have four big-time players coming in next year,” Clair said. “I am really looking forward to playing with all those guys.”