They may be buddies. They may share the same hometown. And they may love basketball.

But that doesn’t mean that they’re going to agree on everything.

“We dominated!” Northwestern forward Winston Blake blurts at teammates Jason Burke and Pat Towne as they argue over who went to the better high school. “I remember whooping their butt every single year. That’s all I have to say. The record shows it.”

Burke won’t have any of this.

“They did dominate, but we won the important games,” he fires back. “Plano East, we’re better in all sports. We’re better in school academically. The East Side is where you want to go to school – bottom line.”

The debate may never end. But for now, Blake, who went to Plano High, and Burke and Towne, both of Plano East, are teaming up on NU’s basketball squad to show the Big Ten that guys from Plano, Texas, know how to hoop.

“People always give props to Chicago and New York for being the basketball cities,” Blake says, “but Texas has a lot of talent and people don’t really recognize it.”

It looks as if NU has spotted that Texan talent. The trio comprises a quarter of the Wildcats’ 12-man squad. Blake leads NU in scoring, and Burke has been one of the Cats’ top contributors off the bench, while Towne, only a sophomore, is still waiting his turn to see significant minutes.

Yet the irony is that while Chicago is a renowned hub for high school basketball, NU’s roster boasts only one player from the Midwest’s largest city. The Cats also have just one player from the New York area.

But that doesn’t come as a shock to Plano High basketball coach Tom Inman.

“I hate to say this,” Inman says, “but I think Midwestern basketball is overrated. When it comes to nut-cutting, (Plano) kids are pretty tough.”

So, what is it about Plano that makes it a hotbed for NU basketball recruits?

For starters, the city, which is 20 miles north of Dallas, breeds athletes by emphasizing sports early.

“I remember back in elementary school they had the ‘Get Fit Day,’ when they encouraged all the kids to go out and do something physical,” Burke says.

Participating in high school athletics in Plano was a “big deal,” says Stephanie Struhs, a Weinberg sophomore who attended Plano High. Struhs says she remembers Blake as the basketball star on campus. People – especially the girls – noticed him as he walked around.

“Everybody just knew he was awesome at basketball, and a nice guy too,” Struhs says.

Although Blake was popular because of his work on the hardwood, Plano’s main attraction is football.

“You can play basketball if you want, but football comes first,” Towne says.

And what really brings this town of 236,539 to life are the Plano High/Plano East matchups. Inman recalls the 1994 basketball game between the teams, in which football players from each school taunted each other from the stands.

During the game, Plano East took a lead and its football players chanted “just like football,” referring to their gridiron win earlier in the year. But Plano High quarterback Scooter Asel responded by holding up a sign that read, “If you kick deep, you’ll lose.” He was referring to a playoff football game featured on ESPN in which Plano East lost to John Tyler High School on a last-second kickoff return.

“It damn-near started a war,” Inman says. “Scooter and those guys aren’t going to back off. They’re cocky little terds.”

But the rivalry isn’t the only thing that makes Plano a training ground for NU basketball players.

The Plano Independent School District (PISD) prepares its students for a school like NU, Mayor Jeran Akers says.

Plano has three senior high schools (grades 11-12). Plano West, just three years old, is the city’s newest. Along with Plano High and Plano East, it boasts standardized test scores that are above the national average.

“I’m not a bit surprised that a school that stresses academics would be attracted to our athletes,” Akers says. “The PISD stresses both intellect and body.”

Plano is producing more NU players than Chicago, but that doesn’t mean it is ahead of the Windy City in talent, Inman says.

“You can’t say that. That would be pompous as hell,” he says.

But Inman is happy to see Plano so well-represented at NU: “It’s a nice run. It’s a good honor for the town.”