The Mantis family is synonymous with basketball in northwest Indiana.  Chris Mantis a 6’6” forward from Lowell HS carries on the family legacy quite well indeed.  Chris grandfather Nick Mantis was an outstanding player for East Chicago Washington graduated in 1955.  Nick was a parade all American who received over 150 college offers eventually playing for Northwestern.  He also played for the Minneapolis Lakers, St. Louis Hawks and the Chicago Zephrys in the NBA.  Mantis also spent several years playing for the Grand Rapid Tackers, a semipro team in Michigan. He played against legends like Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Jerry West and Oscar Robertson.  

Chris father Angelo starred at Lake Central HS and also Northwestern Illinois and his mother Annette (Peters) Huseman, was inducted into the Hammond Hall of Fame in 2012. She earned 13 varsity letters at Gavit and was an all-conference volleyball player at Purdue Calumet.  Chris slightly older brother Nick was a standout for Lowell earning 2-time all-state, 3-time all-area and scored over 1300 points.  Chris is now playing with D2 Cedarville University.

As they say, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree with Chris Mantis who is putting up 24 points and 9 rebounds per game his senior campaign.  Each season, he has gotten progressively better scoring 10ppg as a freshman and 19 as a sophomore while putting up nearly 1,200 career points.  Chris currently holds D1 offers from Ball State and Incarnate Word also has interest from Valpo, Bellarmine, Loyola Chicago, Drake, Purdue, IPFW, Florida Atlantic, Miami Ohio and Toledo (plus a D2 offer from Cedarville).  One would have to imagine the conversations around the family dinner table during the years, if a crescent roll could talk boy what a tale it would tell.  I can just picture Chris having to box-out older brother Nick for the last piece of pizza!  Judging from his size and stats logic tells me he holds his own in that battle.  “Obviously my family is a sports/basketball family.  My mom was a 3-sport athlete, my dad was a great basketball player who played D1 and his dad went to Northwestern and played in the NBA” said Mantis.  “My brother, who went to Lowell, was a celebrity in the region for about 3 years straight.  So, me following him around he really taught me more off the court than he did on.  His character was out of this world, he was great with the little kids and fans around our area.  He definitely paved a path for me coming into high school.  On top of that, my step has helped me since I could remember”.

What a path that has been laid-down for Chris Mantis through decades of family before him.  This legacy continues on and is sure to bring even more stories around future dinner tables at the Mantis household.