When they were growing up in Hinsdale, Ian Bunting and Thomas Ives went to the same grade school and middle school and became teammates in football and basketball at Hinsdale Central. Bunting still has a picture of a memorable athletic moment against Hinsdale South in 2013.
“Thomas was actually playing quarterback at the time,” said Bunting, who was a year ahead of Ives in school. “He threw a tunnel screen to me and there was a picture of me catching the ball and him in the background with the follow-through. That was pretty cool.”
While they still cherish those great times, their friendship has reached another level that previously existed only in their daydreams — as teammates on the Bears.