2011-12 High School Basketball Thread
 

LaTulip had a quiet night as Prospect lost its opener to Oak Park River Forest 77-65. LaTulip scored 17 on 4 field goals and 9-10 at the free throw line.

Nothing wrong with that stat line!

I thought I read he was injured as of last week, and that kept him from practicing.

Are you thinking of Orris? He hurt his ankle.

Yes. Thanks.

LaTulip had 15 points last night against St. Patrick on 4 field goals and 7 - 9 at the free throw line.

http://basketball.dailyherald.com/story/?id=429829

LaTulip had 19 Saturday night against Senn. Three 3-pointers.

Prospect Tops Elk Grove 73 - 42
 

Mike LaTulip scored 21 points, including 4 three pointers, and handed out 6 assists.

Any more info on that Vassar story? I think it was you Dbruck who first posted about it. Is it anything we should be worried about if we're going to put the full court press on him?

From what I've gathered personally, it's not something to worry about or lose sleep over for that matter. Johnnie is still in that tough transition period at the moment so when further information comes out, I'll let you guys know. Vassar told me last week that DePaul is going after him the hardest at the moment but Illinois is definitely still in the mix.

This is probably not fair to Johnnie, but I am having flashbacks of Jereme Richmond's high school issues.

Doesn't appear to be of the same magnitude.

Let's shift gears for a moment. Here are the 1st round pairings for the McDipper Holiday Tournament. Best opening round game will feature a pair of talented underclass guards in Bolingbrook freshman Prentiss Nixon (who the Illini are recruiting) and Marian Catholic soph Tyler Ulis (who the Illini should also be recruiting). Surprised Ulis has not gotten more mention on this board--we have done our part.

http://ilprepbullseye.com/McDipper_Pairings.html

I am curious if the Illini are hot on any future big men. I have to assume that Leonard has 1 maybe 2 seasons left with the Illini. That leaves us with Griff, Egwu, Ibby as true bigs and Shaw filling in some spot minutes at the 3/4. I keep hearing of a contingency plan if Leonard bolts for the draft. Any thoughts on who we are targeting to fill his spot?

Schilling, Hamilton, Parker, Devin Williams in 2013.

Okafor and Alexander in 2014, though I think those two are real long shots for us.

paul white,, along with okafor and alexander, white is top 40 recruit..2014 is loaded

I know who we are after, I'm more curious if anyone knows if we are putting extra efforts in on any one or two of these guys. I have to think that the staff wants to land a 2013 big. If we wait till 2014 we will be awfully thin on big men.

From what I've read, they thought they were close to landing Schilling but he's since started to get more attention and isn't ready to choose. He seems to be the top priority for 2013. Not counting Parker because he's clearly the top prospect but is going to be really tough to get, IMO.

Ryan Boatright
 

Did we ever go after Ryan Boatright, who's now at UCONN, and why not if we didn't?

You must be reading the same articles as me lol. Any insider info out there anyone??? Has Illinois fast start taken notice with any recruits? Will we have any recruits in the house at the U.C. when we destroy UNLV?!

Good.

On an unrelated note, whatever happened to that Roosevelt Smart kid? I want him in Orange and Blue, purely because of his fantastic name.

But seriously, any updates on him?

A very messy recruitment, grade and eligibility issues as well. Committed to USC, then someone else, then UCONN.

cant hurt being ranked and getting some chicago pub..

i think??? recruits have to pay their own way to the UC game..We cant have their visit be at a pro areana... maybe some will go,most will be playing high school ball i would think..

http://rivals.yahoo.com/illinois/bas...e-Haney-112119

http://illinois.scout.com/a.z?s=169&p=8&c=1&nid=5107284

West Virginia

So many not so good reasons. Better to have stayed out of that one.

If ML becomes a lottery pick in 2012 or 2013, that could only help attract future bigs.

Pretty much what I've heard and read. Was told BW covets Schilling for his size, athleticism, skill set and motor, but he's not alone, unfortunately, and GS didn't pull the trigger when the staff pressed him for an early verbal knowing his recruitment would heat up otherwise.

Very quiet on the recruiting front. No one considered an imminent verbal. Next summer and fall should be very interesting, though.

After the St. Bonny game, I say he needs to stay at least one more year. He was totally out played on the defensive end. He evens needs to work on getting better position on the offensive end too.

Wasn't BW the "big man" coach at Purdue? Some good ones there while he was there, I think you can see some good progression from the bigs his entire time here, from when they are freshmen to seniors, he is a good teacher.

Hopefully recruits see that and say, he can make me better, I'm going to Illinois.

Ironically, a lot of fans wanted him to hire a big-man coach like Deon Thomas a year or two back because they thought BW couldn't develop quality bigs.

I wanted Deon Thomas because I would have liked his enthusiasm for our school. BW's teaching should never be called into question.

Agreed, though another thing that would help him is if we had a PG who could regularly drive the paint, draw defenders and dish or alley-oop to him for finishes at the rim -- create a few shots for him.

ML has so many tools -- can jump hook with either hand, lay it in with either hand, run the floor for FB buckets, face up and shoot out to 18 feet, pick and pop, get open on the screen and roll, hopefully learn to slip screen. Hope we use him early and often as a focal point of the offense all season.

I'm sure that somewhere on this board there is an explanation of this already, but it is too hard to find.

Why would we not have an offer out to Kendrick Nunn, ranked #6 SG in 2013 and a teammate of Jabari Parker, #1 player in the nation? Wouldn't recruiting one help with the other? I see that we have offered to Xavier Rathan-Mayes, by all accounts a very good SG in his own right.

Does Nunn have academic issues? Attitude?

Thanks. I know that some of you already know the underlying logic and I'm too lazy.

They both have offers.

So Scout is wrong?
We need Brubacher's (I think that spelling of name is wrong, which is why I can't find him to ask him to post) grid of scholarships and offers.

What will matter is how he finishes the season. If he finishes strong, no one will care about that game.

Scout is hit and miss honestly. Rivals does a little better job with keeping up with the offers.

A bit of a search . . . I found him.
RBachhuber
Sent him a message asking him to post his current grid.

We have a lot of big time competition for Parker, any idea on what our chances really are at landing him? According to Rival is has Washington listed as his top team. I don't know how often those pages are actually updated though. Anyone with a little more insight into our recruiting of Parker would be awesome. I'm sure I could find my answer in the old thread but I don't have all weekend to sift through and find it haha.


:chief: - :illinois:

Washington's underwhelming season can't help them with Parker.

Let's hope this will play a factor in his decision when it comes to Washington. His uncle is on the staff and the head coach is a long time friend of Sonny. And the program is as clean as they come. That a lot to over come.

http://www.illinoisloyalty.com/Forum...&postcount=242

Here it is:

http://www.illinoisloyalty.com/Forum...1&d=1323468382

LaTulip Goes Down with Knee Injury
 

I hear LaTulip is mobile today and has an appointment with a doctor. The trainer suspects the ACL.

http://dailyherald.com/article/20111...rts/712089678/

Thanks !!

Like the Jabari Parker touch a lot, btw :)

Bummer. Hope he recovers quickly.

Haha good eye! :thumb:

I believe Comcast Sportnet Chicago is playing, "High School Lites" at 10:30pm tonight. They are suppose to be doing a story on Simeon. It's something to watch if you have time. I'm going to try to watch it but not sure if I can.

Prepbullseye,

How many times have you seen Ulis play? He seems like an intriguing 2014 PG name, very quick and a good penetrater.

2013 - Solid Veteran Players & one superstar "one and done" player = Championship. I just see Melo and Syracuse all over again.

Well we can eliminate 1 of about 300 D1 school for Parker. Odds are going up!!!

Dan P

Well, since you put it out there, we saw him quite a bit throughout the traveling team season this past spring and summer and watched him with his HS team recently at the Chicago Heights Thanksgiving Classic. He can play in the Big Ten and it is our opinion that the Illini should be recruiting him.

On that note, surprised that he hasn't gotten more play on this board. How about someone else linking the Player Watch story that we wrote about him on our site?;)

:thumb:

http://ilprepbullseye.com/Ulis_Player_Watch.html

Sounds like you guys are very high on him. It was a good write up. He definitely seems like one to keep an eye on. Any highlight footage anywhere?

Not unusual for UW to soil themselves early in the season against legit competition -- particularly away from home -- and then gain a lot of momentum going into March by beating up on a lame Pac Ten. They usually perform fairly well in the tournament, or at least they're rarely the victims of upsets. .

Sounds like a legit prospect. I'm sure his height (5-8) is the only thing hold people back. He must be really quick. Something Illinois hasn't had since Dee Brown. If he can grow a few more inches that would be a huge plus.

I heard we can over recruit by 1 player in case somebody leaves early. Is that correct? Since we know Meyers wont be here 4 years, my guess 3 years. I think Mr. Nunn and a big, preferably Gavin Schilling would be my christmas wish. Oh and since I am wishing, Mr. parker why don't you come down for one year as a walk on, so we can get the others who will be here for more than one year. You will be able to pay your college bills off, with the money you make, from just one game,in the pros. OH Please Santa!

High School Lites just did a story on Jubril and Jawad Adekoya of Andrew. These kids are very impressive. They are putting Andrew's on the basketball map.

Does anybody know how his game compares to Lewis Jackson's? Both are sub six feet tall and are D1 talent.

Which coach is Parker's uncle on that staff? Raphael Chillious or Paul Fortier? I had heard some talk earlier about Romar hiring Parker's brother for some job out there, but I don't think that ever happened. Who is the uncle? Nothing is mentioned in either of their biographies about being related to Sonny Parker.

After talking to some people I really respect, they also threw out Maurice Acker, former Marquette guard who was from Hazel Crest, IL as well.

Another comparison that was made by a college coach and we agree with completely is Jerome Randle, former Cal guard who played his high school ball at Hales Franciscan.

Paul Klee said on the radio last week that Jabari will be tough to get, but that he is seriously looking for reasons to stay in his home state if Illinois will just give them to him. He said winning is the single most important reason and our good start to this season certainly helps. My question is, if you believe what Klee says, what level of winning this season might get the job done? Certainly Sweet 16, but possibly higher?

Obviously a Sweet 16 appearance would be helpful and at least realist (a little optimistic for this team). I would also hope he looks at the progress of the team. If there is good progress you would have to believe he could see himself providing us that special player that takes you to the final four. These freshmen as juniors when he arrives will be very good. If you look at their development over the past 5 months when they set foot on campus, you really do have to be pleased.

Again, not trying to start anything, but it is the same situation with DePaul right now with respect to Jabari's recruitment. And before anybody starts with comparing programs, the point that is most important to remember is that either school's chances with Jabari have far more to do with what they are doing on the court right now and could do in the future as opposed to what they have done in the past.

Valid point. I hope Parker sees it the same way if this year's Illini get in to the tourney but don't make much noise (fall short of Sweet 16 or second round).

I think next year's squad is only ML staying and steady PG play away from being a Final Four team.

Good point. Illini just need to take care of business on the court and rest will take care of itself if the latest from Klee holds true.

DePaul appears to be pretty bad once again, so that can't help.

They had a very bad loss to UWM the other night, other than that, their other two L's were very close. It's still early in the season but it looks to me, that they are improving, so they might be only bad.

Interview with 2014 Darius Austin (Cahokia - IL)

http://goinbaseline.squarespace.com/...ahokia-il.html

I'm not sure. Maybe it never happened then. I figured it was a done deal.

It's early but KenPom has them at the bottom of the Big East. And they are struggling to beat Chicago St at this very moment.

depaul held Chicago State to 95 points today. :)

Illinois vs. Chi State 91 - 43

Depaul vs. Chi State 102 - 95

Chicago State averages 57 pts/game (326th in the nation).

Thanks for posting this. It would be great to have a kid from my hometown in the O&B, although I can't help but think he should have found a way to go to one of the jesuit schools across the river.

Didn't see any comments on Indiana signage saying across the scorer's table "Kenn Nunn loves IU basketball"
Sneaky
Smart

I'm fine with IU being up because it's good for the conference, but if Crean starts beating Weber head to head for Illlinois talent, I'm going to be very disappointed. And probably angry. It's bad enough with Matta.

Like many have alluded to Depaul is not in the same universe as UI in anything other than the state they are located. If as you say success on the court is the most important thing, then Depaul has no chance with him. If you eliminate them based on that then UI does have a location advantage over all teams that fit the first criteria.

How tall is he currently?

Pretty sure that is against the rules. Schools can no longer acknowledge players at games. The fans can do it, of course. But for them to have that scroll is a violation.

it was HUGE. About 10 minutes to go in first half. If I didn't delete the game, I will post a screen shot

no way you could miss it if you were viewing the game while it was displayed. I figured it was some love note to IU from a local booster. It did say "Ken Nunn loves IU", right?

Yep. That's what it said. NCAA should be notified.

sorry, buti did not keep the game. might be a way to recover (probably on dvr somewhere) but i don't know how

Based on your comment and my excitement that I was about to a whistle blower (HOW exciting !!), I did a little more research. Evidently, Ken Nunn is a local attorney who uses the IU banner as advertising. It is not a recruiting pitch, although it does look like one. The site I tagged below indicates that a number of people don't think too highly of Ken either, but that probably won't help us to land Kendrick Nunn. Won't hurt either, I guess.

http://www.tmnews.com/stories/commen...U0Njk5MS50bXM=

The game was an "instant classic" so I'm sure it will be replayed several times.

http://ilprepbullseye.com/Early_Season_Performers.html

http://ilprepbullseye.com/Turner_Purdue_Offer.html

I have not heard much about Paul Turner lately, but he has been accumulating quite a bit of high major offers in the past year or so.

If this team makes a sweet 16, they will start the season ranked in the top 10, even without Leonard. Egwu is not slouch and would step into that spot. Parker would have to take notice of Illinois.

This team without Maniscalco and without Leonard probably doesn't have a winning record. I can't possibly see them as Top 10 to start next season.

I think you can't overstate the importance of adding Maniscalco to this team. I've always liked Tracy Abrams, but I don't think he was ready to come in and play 30+ minutes per game at a high level. And I don't think you want Paul playing more than spare minutes at PG.

Agree but seeing Abrams get lots of tic has made me cautiously optimistic about next season, senior DJ and Griffey don't hurt either.

This team would have seniors in BP, DJ, and TG as starters. TA is a player and will be as good or better than Sam. He does stuff Sam cannot. Egwu is no slouch and will improve a bunch. Just like ML did. The whole bench is back. Make a S16 run and they start out very high.

I've always assumed that our interest in Paul Turner depends in large part upon what happens with Kendrick Nunn in 2013. It's similar to the situation with Darius Austin, who becomes very attractive if, but only if, we don't get Paul White. It's not a perfect analogy because Paul White and Darius Austin are both in the class of 2014, whereas Kendrick Nunn is a 2013 recruit and Paul Turner is a 2014 recruit. But I'm sure you get my point. ;)

SamMan has the heart of a lion and he's money under pressure, but he's not an elite talent. Most of our young guys are MUCH more athletic than SamMan. So what we lose in experience, we gain in athleticism when SamMan leaves. And by next season, our roster will be much more experienced, so we ought to be able to thrive even without SamMan. Meyers Leonard, on the other hand, is pretty much irreplaceable. If he leaves after this season, it will be a significant hit to next season's squad.

FWIW, there's no reason whatsoever to be concerned about our recruiting classes in 2013 and 2014 because it's such a target-rich environment. The dream scenario includes Jalen James, Malcolm Hill, Kendrick Nunn, and Jabari Parker in 2013. (I'm assuming Meyers Leonard will be gone so we'll have four to give in 2013.) The more likely outcome in 2013 involves James, Hill, a rock-solid 4, and the best other recruit available (which could be a point guard, or a scoring 2-guard, or even a true center).

It's still too early to tell about the class of 2014, but I'm not confident that we're going to land either one of the two in-state monsters - Okafor and Alexander. I feel pretty good about Paul White, though, and he would be one heck of a way to start that three-man class.

The only problem is that the B1G is upgrading talent at a breakneck pace. It's beginning to look like the B1G will return to the glory days of the late 1980s and early 2000s with the massive influx of elite talent. IU is putting together back-to-back monster classes, Michigan State is going to be as good in 2013 as any team in the country talent-wise (they're going to have Gary Harris and, in all likelihood, Drake Harris running the wings together and Adriean Payne in the middle :eek:), and Ohio State is . . . well . . . Ohio State, one of the premier destinations for five-star talent.

Man! And to think I thought Malcolm Hill was the start of a great class, I can't even imagine how good you think it will be if Malcolm isn't considered a great start! ;)

He was talking about the 2014 class. Malcolm is in the 2013 class, IIRC.

Well, if we're not getting Okafor or Alexander in the '14 class, it would behoove us to get a solid big in the '13 class (as well as looking for bigs other than those two in '14). What a shame those two don't seem that interested in Illinois. Maybe a couple of impressive seasons will change their minds?