So he was further enforcing my point then.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (November-December 2016)
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blackdog
- Champaign
Something I've noticed watching his tape is he seems pretty comfortable finishing with his right hand even if he is driving left. Thats not an easy thing to do at all.
IlliniFan12
- Cedar Falls, IA
Holy smokes. Iowa's largest class (4A) is comprised of only 48 schools (hence why Harrison Barnes, Marcus Paige, McDermott, etc. were basically treated like celebrities). The competition among 178 schools must get exhausting.
In Illinois it is known as" America's Original March Madness" a term used in 1939, decades before the NCAA used it.
Lonzo is one of my favorite non Illinois players and he does have special court vision. Speaking of Chino Hills, his younger brother LiAngelo had games of 72 and 56 points last week
Exactly. That guy is waaaay off. The best high school team in the country is located in Florida, Lord Snow. Atlanta consistently produces NBA talent. Plus, if consider the Carolinas in the south, tons of good players from there too.
chief78
- Florida
I would suggest there is plenty of good competition in Florida. My son's team played Pine Crest last Friday and they had two 6'8" kids that were pretty good, not to mention Scotty Pippen Jr (soph) and a very quick PG. Pine Crest is not even close to being the best team in Broward County. University School has a 7'1" kid and Vernon Carey Jr (6'10") both whom will be actively recruited (both sophs) and Calvary Chrisitian has a 7" kid (Victor Uyaelunmo), his brother at 6'8", and another 6'10" kid. CCA will play Montverde this Friday evening. Neither CCA or U School is the best team in Broward county (most likely defending Class 9A champion Blanche Ely or defending 6A champion Ft Lauderdale Dillard). Trent's team happened to play two weaker teams in the recent highlights, but they will play tougher competition soon. Trent's team is not as good as it was the last two years, so Trent will shoulder much of their scoring.
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People in Dallas and Houston might disagree. The talent in the Dallas area is particularly insane. Duke currently has 2 players on its roster from the same Dallas area school. One of them is Burger Boy marques bolden. The other is burger boy Matt Jones. Not too far from there is burger boy jawun Evans. And right down the road, former top recruit Elijah Thomas.
Talent in Texas>Talent in Illinois recently.
Regarding classes, I liked the two classes that Illinois used. There seemed to be a clear distinction between the truly small schools (many rural) and the larger schools (city, suburban) schools. The 4 class system has taken away some good match up between the 3A and 4A for state championship in the past. There have been many times where the 3A team would of been favored over the 4A team.
When I first moved here Texas had 5 classes. 250 schools in the bigger ones. Now 6 classes, and still around 250 in the biggest classes. (32 districts with anywhere between 6 and 9 teams)
When Illinois split, AA probably had around 350 or so schools? Maybe more. It was great competition, but man that is a lot of schools when one class. 88 in 8A in fla is kinda embarrassing. But in Texas, the class line is huge. Good teams from a lower class aren't even competitive with mid-level teams from a higher class where I am. Maybe it's like that there too.
When Illinois split, AA probably had around 350 or so schools? Maybe more. It was great competition, but man that is a lot of schools when one class. 88 in 8A in fla is kinda embarrassing. But in Texas, the class line is huge. Good teams from a lower class aren't even competitive with mid-level teams from a higher class where I am. Maybe it's like that there too.
In Illinois it is known as" America's Original March Madness" a term used in 1939, decades before the NCAA used it.
Cool tidbit, thanks for sharing!!! Is it safe to assume you were their when they coined the term
.I don't see how anyone can view the south as having poor talent... Just Texas alone is a hotbed for blue chip talent. Florida is underrated and Georgia and the Carolinas have consistent talent. i think the biggest issue with finding Southern talent is the fact that football is king, taking away a lot of the kids with potential. Much more than in the midwest and east.
When I lived in Raleigh six years ago, they were still lamenting the fact that "their boys just didn't fight hard enough" against the Union, and one woman was shocked that my wife was "a Yankee". Trust me, they're still southern, just ask them.
TownieMatt
CU Expat
- Chicago
That's insane. I personally preferred the two class system we used to have Illinois. I like to see the best teams play each other in Peoria and we definitely got that in the old 2A finals. 9 classes is nuts. I wonder if they set that up for football (where it makes more sense) and then just kept it for basketball too.
Seems like the West is surprisingly low outside if Cali (obviously).
Attachments
Really, it more or less comes down to the population of the state as the determining factor for producing talent. The one that stands out is Indiana, but I doubt anybody is actually surprised that Indiana outproduces their population when it comes to basketball.
It really does. Again though, I didnt say there wasnt talent, the team level of basketball is just simply not as good. Yeah there are exceptions for the private schools that bring in the best players. Also, I dont count Texas as the south. Texas is its own place. I know theres good ball being played there. Usually(key word there) its just the physical nature of play that guys in the south cant handle. They just cry and wine and give up. Ive seen it over and over again. Take an average team from Illinois or Indiana or Ohio and put them against an average team from anywhere in the south, TN, MS, AR, FL, Ga, AL SC, KY, LA and I bet the Midwest team blows them out more times than not.
I agree. Im a big fan of Frazier. His control over the ball when taking it to the rack and finishing is unmatched.
Maybe everyone who likes physical sports in the South is playing football year-round.
chief78
- Florida
I can assure you there are high school basketball teams in South Florida that would be more than happy to be physical on the basketball court.
I've heard that all before. Once they got a taste of Midwest ball they always cry about it. Of course there's exceptions around.
I actually think this is part of it.
I know people that work at Edwardsville High School and Jamal Walker was there today after school to see 2017 G Mark Smith. Iowa stopped by today as well.
BananaShampoo
Captain 'Paign
- Phoenix, AZ
I was actually curious based on the graph you posted what regions were strongest for producing top-level basketball players. I looked at # of NBA players produced for each state, then looked at the population of each state and ranked them according to "Population Per NBA Player Produced", then combined into regions. Here it is:
As expected, the Midwest is best at producing NBA players, followed by the Pacific region, Northeast, and South (all very close together), with the Plains/Mountain West states bringing up the bottom. FYI, I included Texas in the Plains states. Interestingly, outside of the Plains states, the other regions produce pretty close to the same amount of NBA talent.
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