Illinois Notes & Happenings (3)

Illinois Notes & Happenings (3)

Purdue added Texas Arlington guard Johnny Hill to its roster.  Hill a graduate of Glenbard East and he performed at Illinois State for 2 years.  The 6-3 180 pounder averaged 10 points, 3.6 assists in 21 games last season before suffering a season ending wrist injury.  Hill, a high-character individual will provide instant leadership to the Boilermaker program.

Geneva’s silent assassin Nate Navigato will take his services to University Toledo, the decision came after retrieving his release from Buffalo a month ago.  He brings some intangibles to the floor as well as off that are hard to find in this modern era.  “Winning is a special trait.”

Illinois seems to be locked in on hot-shot Ohio 2016 lead guard Xavier Simpson.  The Lima, Ohio native has become a well-known commodity playing along the Nike EYBL circuit, Simpson is regarded as a top 65-70 recruit by most national scouting circles.  He’s lured offers from Illinois, Iowa, Purdue & Xavier.

Former Brother Rice stand-out Bobby Fraser has returned to his alma-mater as the newly appointed head-coach.  The 2005 grad and former McDonald All-American brings with him an impressive resume, his senior year he was named Chicago Catholic league’s player of the year, he won a national championship in 2009 as the starting point-guard for North Carolina.  Then he played in Europe for seven seasons before returning to North Carolina to take a job as the assistant video coordinator, Fraser moved on to Alabama-Birmingham where he held the position of director of basketball operations.  “He will do wonders for enrollment and basketball at the south-side school.”

St. Cloud State picked-up six foot guard Gage Davis from IPFW-Fort Wayne.  The Bolingbrook alum had a heck of a summer going into his senior season, which enabled him to carve out some Div I offers.  Davis will have 3 years at the D2 program.