Illinois HS Basketball News: Issue 25

Week of December 6, 2020

Dec 06, 2020

In case anyone had any hope of a season starting in 2020, the IHSA made it official this week that won’t be happening. At least that door has officially been closed.

Without games, this was quite the slow week. Sportswriters from around the state (yours truly included) have pivoted to telling more ‘local star in college’ stories than ever before. Still, college commitments continue to roll in, and news of a few more transfers out of state came through as well.

Reminder: To send me story ideas, recruiting news, or anything else, find me on Twitter or email rudnik.jakub@gmail.com. And if you like the newsletter, please share with others who would like it!

You can find an archive of all newsletters here.

Let’s get to basketball!

Commitments

Wheeling 2021 SF Jaden Terrell announced his commitment to D2 Davenport in Michigan.
Mt. Carmel 2021 SF Jake Harris announced his commitment to D3 Central College.
Grayslake Central 2021 SG MK Drevline announced her commitment to D3 Denison in Ohio.
Libertyville 2021 SF Marianna Morrissey announced her commitment to D3 Carthage in Wisconsin.
Downers Grove North’s Jack Mielke “Trusts his instincts” in his commitment to Southern Indiana. (Bob Narang, My Suburban Life)
Mattoon 2022 guard Mallory Ramage committed to Loyola. The numbers from her first two high school seasons are unbelievable. Kaleb Carter has the story for llinois-Basketball.com
Guilford star Kate Dennis is skipping her senior season to play at Ohio this year. She’ll get an extra year of eligibility, and she’s likely to play meaningful minutes, Alex Gary reports for the Rockford Register Star.
Here are our list of 2021 girls college commitments and 2021 boys college commitments. Please notify me of any players we’re missing.

Transfer News

Thornton 2021 guard Sean Burress and TF North 2021 guard Julius Byrd both transferred to Hammond (Indiana), per PrepHoops Illinois’ Scott Burgess.
Glenbard North forward Jerry Abushanab is transferring to Link Year Prep in Missouri and will reclassify to 2022, per Burgess.
That brings the list of Illinois high school basketball players to transfer out of state to at least 42 players since the 2019-20 season ended.
Isaiah Stafford, a 2021 unsigned shooting guard who transferred from Bolingbrook, had 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in his debut for Crispus Attucks in Indiana.

Boys Recruiting News

Simeon 2023 point guard Jalen Griffith received an offer from Arizona State.
Cobden 2021 small forward Noah Franklin received an offer from D2 Southwest Baptist (Missouri).
O’Fallon 2021 guard Chris Porter received an offer from D2 McKendree.
Elk Grove Village 2021 shooting guard Brandon Burns received an offer from D3 Hope (Michigan).
AJ Storr (former Kankakee, now AZ Compass Prep) talked to Zach Shumaker about his recent recruiting interest (including Illinois), transferring out of state and more (YouTube). He also spoke to Stock Risers.
Sports Illustrated put out its top 99 boys basketball recruit list. Three Illinois players made the cut, and the top-ranked from the state is Rolling Meadows’ Max Christie. (Dion Martorano, Journal & Topics).

Girls Recruiting News

Carmel Catholic 2023 forward Jordan Wood received an offer from Penn State.
Bolingbrook 2022 point guard Kennedi Perkins received an offer from DePaul.
Loyola Academy 2022 guard Angelina Giordano received an offer from D2 Illinois-Springfield.
Waubonsie Valley 2022 point guard Amari Banks received an offer from D3 Concordia University Wisconsin.
Bolingbrook 2021 point guard Makayla Ashford received an offer from D3 Rockford.
Bishop McNamara's Dolliger mulls scholarship offer during busy pandemic, writes Mason Schweizer for the Daily Journal.

Coaching Stories and News

LaSalle-Peru head boys basketball coach Jim Cherveny got into coaching from his playing days at Streator. (Kevin Chlum, News Tribune)

COVID-19 Updates and News

IHSA confirms it won’t resume sports until 2021. A coach told Pat Disabato, “I just think they’re kicking the can down the road.”
Indiana and Wisconsin are playing high school basketball, but it hasn’t gone without challenges. John Radtke has the story for the Daily Herald.
The Chicago Elite Classic was officially cancelled, Michael O’Brien reported on Twitter.
The Plano Christmas Classic was officially cancelled. (Joshua Welge, Kendall County Now).
The Marseilles Shootout was officially cancelled, says its Twitter account.
The Eldorado Holiday Tournament was officially cancelled, according to the Spyder Dann at the Harrisburg Register.
Dunlap’s Gabe Calhoun has both basketball and football offers. What has it been like being recruited during a pandemic? Jim Mattson has the story for NBC News 25 (video).

Illinois Players in the Pros

Evan Turner, a St. Joseph graduate, retired from the NBA and will join the Boston Celtics as an assistant coach. The high school all-stater turned into a National Player of the Year and All-American at Ohio State. He was the No. 2 overall pick in 2010, then went on to score more than 7,000 career points in 10 NBA seasons. According to Basketball-Reference, he earned more than $98 million in his career.
Stagg and DePaul graduate Max Strus signed with the Miami Heat. He played last season for the Chicago and Windy City Bulls, and says he’s fully recovered from an ACL tear that ended his season.
Martorano has a story for the Journal & Topics about Notre Dame (Niles) grad Matt Mooney being named to the Cleveland Cavaliers training camp roster.
St. Rita alum Charles Mathews signed with the Cavaliers as well.
“Phoenix Suns forward Abdel Nader commiserates with Niles North players on how to cope without basketball during COVID-19 pandemic.” (Steve Sadin, Pioneer Press)

Illinois Players in College

Illinois high school players have thrived in the Missouri Valley Conference, writes Joe Henricksen for the Sun-Times. He wrote about 10 players to graduate since 2008.
Lanphier graduate Xavier Bishop earned Big Sky Player of the Week honors after his debut for Montana State.
Saint Viator alumni and William & Mary freshman Connor Kochera was named Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Rookie of the Week, writes Martorano. His collegiate debut was one of the best among the boys 2020 recruiting class.
St. Charles North’s Connor Linke talked about making his college debut for Bradley (Dave Eminian, Journal Star).
“For starters, freshmen Jenna Badali, Taylor Gugliuzza and Kathryn Schmidt ‘grow up a little bit faster’ in debut for Lewis.” (Tony Baranek, Daily Southtown)
Jenna Badali stars in Lewis opener, Tim O’Brien writes for the Beverly Review.
Three Rockford East graduates are playing junior college basketball this season with dreams of eventually playing Division 1. (Alex Gary, Rockford Register Star)
How Connor Serven, “a small-town farm kid from central Illinois, overcame injuries to land a walk-on spot with the Illini,” from Rebecca Jobe for The McDonough County Voice.
Westinghouse graduate Hersey Hawkins is headed to the collegiate hall of fame for his career at Bradley. (Wes Huett, Journal Star)
Duke freshman DJ Steward (Whitney Young, Fenwick) put someone on a poster.
Tulsa freshman Christian Sh (Bloom, Plainfield East) is still making almost comical blocks.
We created a list of D1 men’s basketball players from Illinois, and a list of D1 women’s basketball players from Illinois. More than 400 Illinois high school basketball players are playing Division 1 in total. Morgan Park is the most represented boys program; Montini is tops on the girls side. We’ll have other college levels this week.

Illinois High School Basketball News

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