Been taking a bit of a break the past few days after the
Generation Next All-Star Camp earlier this month, but lots of stuff has been
going down in recent weeks and here's a few items of interest...
Gotta give a big shot out to assistant coach Paris Parham at Illinois State who
put in some big time work this spring and summer and it really appears to have
paid off as Illinois State landed 3 solid prospects in recent weeks with the
commitments of PG Terry Johnson Jr.
(Illinois), Forward Jon Ekey (Missouri) and SG Justin Clark
(Missouri). Johnson was one of the
top available PG prospects in the state of Illinois and is a solid floor general
who should have an excellent career in the Missouri Valley Conference and with
pieces like Ekey and Clark rocking the Redbirds jersey with him Illinois State
continued to elevate their stock nationally. Ekey is a solid face up pick
and pop type forward with excellent range, solid court awareness, and the
ability to stroke the mid range shot and the trey ball with consistency.
The steal in the mix has to be Justin Clark though as the 6'4" SG out of William
Chrisman may very well be the best pure shooter in the country when left alone.
Clark's range extends beyond the NBA line with consistency (that's not a typo)
and the dude can flat out stroke the jumper from anywhere in the Western
Hemisphere. That's real talk and Illinois State really got it done with
these 3 guys.
Hawaii has expressed some interest in 6'5"
SF DeShawn Clay of Gary West Side.
Clay is an open court slasher with excellent athleticism who played with the SYF
Players this past spring/summer.
Speaking of the SYF Players, expect Class of 2010 6'3" PG Xavier Jones to see
his stock explode over the next 12 months. Jones is one of the best PG
prospects in the Midwest and I guarantee you that he can get to the rack on
anyone, anywhere, anytime. He's tough, physical and a big time talent on
the rise and still one of the highly underrated prospects nationally by some.
Penn State has shown a lot of interest in recent weeks and you can expect that
list to grow significantly over the next 12 months.
The 2011 class in Wisconsin continues to get more and more interest as a host of
kids in the state are generating looks from Division 1 programs both regionally
and nationally.
First and foremost is young forward Cinmeon Bowers
who continues to be overlooked by other "so-called experts" but not by schools
nationally (which is what really matters) as Wisconsin, Marquette, Illinois,
Indiana, St. Josephs, Washington State, and Wichita State have all expressed an
interest in Bowers after strong performances this past summer at the 2008
NY2LASports.com Next Level Invitational and the 2008 Chicago Summer Classic.
According to Playground Elite director Duane Wilson, Ohio State is rumored to
have an interest as well in Bowers. Bowers attended the Nike Hoop Jamboree
Camp this past June and followed that up with strong performances at the
tournaments mentioned earlier this past July with the Playground Elite program
based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Another prospect who's also getting some major looks is forward
Darnell Harris who's getting tons
of interest from Kentucky as well as interest from Wisconsin, Indiana,
Tennessee, Iowa State, and UW-Milwaukee. Harris competes on the grassroots
travel circuit with the Milwaukee Running Rebels and attends Milwaukee Bay View
and plays for Lou Chapman, one of the bright young coaching stars in the state
of Wisconsin. Harris is one of the top 2011 prospects in the Midwest.
Bowers and Harris aren't the only ones getting interest though as
6'3" 2011 G Jalonnie Parks is also
starting to collect interest from schools both regionally and nationally after
strong performances this past spring with the Playground Elite program.
Word on the street is that Pittsburgh, Illinois, Northern Illinois, and Bowling
Green have already expressed interest in Parks who should see his stock explode
over the next 12 months as he is one of the top 2011 prospects in the state of
Wisconsin.
Harris isn't the only Bay View 2011 standout getting interest though as
PG Charles Lee and
G/F Haki Stampley have also started
to get interest in recent weeks after some excellent performances this past
summer with the Milwaukee Running Rebels program. Lee has interest coming
from Iowa State, Butler, Akron, and UW-Milwaukee while Stampley is getting the
same from Butler, Akron, and UW-Milwaukee. Keep your eyes on Stampley as
he continues to improve daily and is making a push at becoming one of the top
2011 prospects in Wisconsin when it's all said and done. Both have
excellent grades and the ability to make things happen when they take the floor
so it should be nice to see them develop over the next couple of years.
Matt Vogrich
of the Full Package Select program continues to collect offer after offer as
U.C.L.A. is the most recent school to put an offer on the table for the
sharpshooting SG prospect. Vogrich kicked off his spring/summer campaign
with a monster performance at the 2008 NY2LASports.com Swish & Dish Spring
Warm-Up this past April and he never looked back as schools from across the
country have lined up to secure Vogrich. U.C.L.A. joins the likes of
Northwestern, Stanford, Wake Forest, Colorado, Baylor, Drake, Rice, Georgia
Tech, Valparaiso, Bucknell, Notre Dame, Oregon State, William & Mary, Miami
(OH), Western Michigan, and St. Louis as some of the schools with offers on the
table for Vogrich who is regarded as one of the top SG prospects available in
the 09' class.
Vogrich isn't the only one in Illinois as they have 4 solid SG prospects
available in the 09' class in Vogrich, Tony
Nixon (Mac Irvin Fire), David Brown
(Illinois Warriors), and Drew Crawford
(Illinois Warriors). All have been
getting tons of interest in recent weeks after solid performances this past
summer. Nixon captured M.V.P. honors at the Duel in the Desert after
exploding for 10 trey balls in one game and taking over the entire tournament.
Crawford saw his stock take off after solid performances at the the 2008 Nike
Peach Jam and David Brown has an exceptional spring before injuring his ankle
that saw him collect a host of high major offers as well.
Speaking of the 09' class, Notre Dame Prep and former Bay View standout PG Johnnie Lacy
continues to get interest from Bruce Pearl and the University of Tennessee.
However, Providence also inquired recently about Lacy and they've begun to show
interest as well in recent weeks.
Congratulations to Kameron Cerroni of Sussex Hamilton as the sharpshooting combo guard
prospect recently committed to UW-Green Bay. Cerroni has established
himself as one of the top 2010 prospects in the state of Wisconsin after an
exceptional year playing under his father Andy Cerroni this past winter.
Speaking of 2010, Josh Gasser and Chip Rank
continue to add schools to their list as St. Louis is the most recent school to
put offers on the table for the two. Gasser is the top PG prospect in the
2010 class in Wisconsin and Rank is one of the top 2010 prospect in the State.
Both had strong summers for the Wisconsin Swing Grassroots Travel program and
are set to have big years this upcoming season. Gasser attends Port
Washington while Rank attends Cedarburg.
Iowa State continues to show interest in
2010 G Chim Kadima of Milwaukee Lutheran.
Kadima had a solid performance at the Iowa State camp in June and as a result,
the Cyclones have been courtside for virtually every one of his games this
summer.
Iowa nabbed a big time steal this past weekend as
2010 G/F Chance Creekmur committed to play
for the Hawkeyes. Creekmur can really go as he has an excellent stroke and
was set to see his stock explode over the next 12 months after a number of big
time performances this past July with the Net Gain Sports program based out of
Minnesota. Creekmur may end up being the top recruit signed so far by the
new coaching staff at Iowa and is an absolute steal when you look at his
potential and upside in the coming years.
New head coach Rex Walters and the University of San Francisco are looking to
make a splash in the Midwest and it looks like the 2010 class will be the first
attempt as they recently put offers on the table to Alex Rossi, Ben Brust, and Fred Helding who played with the Rising Stars program based out of
Illinois. Walters is the former University of Kansas star and really one
of the bright young stars in the coaching ranks. He recently took over at
USF after being the head coach at Florida Atlantic.
Last but not least, while a host of 2011 prospects in the Midwest are getting
lots of hype in recent weeks, keep your eyes on the development of PG George Marshall Jr.
of Brooks College Preparatory Academy. He had an excellent spring/summer
with the Team Illinois Hawks programs and is easily one of the top PG prospects
nationally in the 2011 class. Expect his stock to soar over the next 12
months as he can really go.
