Palos Heights, IL – As the College season
beckons, Junior College Hoops can be a way of life, where second chance
opportunities prevail for some athletes.
JUCO guys generally are resilient in their quest for a Division One or
D2 scholarships, manufacturing ways to forge through rough patches to achieve
their dreams, not every ones journey takes a smooth route. This past Saturday during one of my
reflective moments I had a first hand viewing of animated Player’s as well as
spirited play from teams ready to carve out a successful start to open their
season. As we prepared for the tip-off,
Jimmy “In-the-gym” Smith wired the gymnasium with fresh lyric’s and some chic
dialogue, which energized the opening contest between Rend-Lake, from southern
Illinois and Kishwaukee residing in the northern part of Illinois, coached by a
successful tactician, Rob Buss. This
match-up was pegged to be a rumble; it was for the first ten minutes, then
Rend-Lake unleashed a herd of wiry shot-blocker’s negating any up-set thoughts
Kish may have pondered. Kish Sophomore
point guard Bryson Butler (11 1st half points) and forward Jovonte
Peals 17 for the game were all the ammunition they could muster, Butler,
finished with 16 points. The Rend-Lake
squad came in with five or six Division One hopefuls; they clearly had more
talent than anyone at the event. Six
Foot one-combo guard Cory Thomas from Louisville paved the way for the Warriors
in the first game with 20 markers versus Kishwaukee. Randy House has his program headed upward
with a collection of talented player’s.
Adrian Smith, 6’3” guard from East Aurora was terrific, he looks to be a
Division One Mid-Major recruit. Will
Presson a 6’10” post from Belleville West is a Division One recruit; Anton Ivy
(Peoria Manual) was a shot-eraser and hit the glass with authority. Dwayne Ward (Marine Academy) had a couple of
breath-taking slams in traffic, while creating some buzz for himself. Rend-Lake is a program to follow this
season. Moraine Valley came into the
event without a lot of fanfare, but left with a fleet of admiration. I should have had Moraine and Rend-Lake lock horns;
it could have made for some interesting viewing. Six Foot seven all-purpose South-Paw Tommy
Demogerontas (Sandburg HS) really flourished, his floor game and athleticism was
exhilarating at times. This kid poses
problems with his versatility and length.
Northern Illinois Head Honcho Mark Montgomery appears to have serious
interest in the Euro fella. 6’5” sophomore
stud Joseph Ruzevich (Brother Rice) was a chiseled lad with penchant for
hitting the glass with vengeance and finishing plays at the rim, while Frosh
Nick Sims (Stagg) scored in double figures both games, he displayed an
acrobatic way of finishing plays.
Sophomore playmaker Jordan Radcliff (Columbus Int, OH) was an
instinctive performer, smooth, graceful, played at a good pace, feeding his
teammates the ball in a timely fashion.
Highland Community rolled in with an arsenal of weapons led by Mid-Major
recruit D’Angelo Jackson (Racine Case); the six foot four guard has a knack for
getting buckets, which he demonstrated during his two outings. Hot-shooting wing Auston Rushing was a potent
threat on the perimeter, as well as three point-specialist Nate Bethel. Six foot ten freshman post Ante Sustic showed
flashes of where his potential could lead to within a year. Highland Coach, Tone Boyle has the program
rock solid. The Cougar’s have long been
one of the area’s premier Junior College programs. Athletic Director Pete Norman is the
architect behind the programs long sustaining success. First year Coach, Sean Stochl had his Harper
College program amped-up and ready for competitive play. He’s in the building stages, but never the
less there are some nice pieces to build around, starting with scoring guard
Isaiah Butler and promising post-player Chimaobim Oduocha a six foot eight
little used performer at Conant HS.
Things could be looking up for Oduocha as well as the Harper College
program in the next year or two. Two of
my city college’s rounded-out the events with an impressive debut, Kennedy-King
and Olive Harvey have their respective programs on the brink of something
special. Both schools work hard to
sustain long-term success as they continue to build the blocks to compete at a
high level every night with a backdrop of hoping not to veer into any financial
roadblocks, as the state goes through a fiscal crunch. Brandon Moore’s program at Olive Harvey has a
roster comprised of players from Baltimore, Atlanta, Michigan, Colorado, Tampa,
Jacksonville FL, Indianapolis, and they play hard for him. He’s got things moving in the right
direction. Sturdy guard Keshawn Gibbs
leads Moore’s squad from Atlanta (Decula).
He can flat-out fill-it-up! This
is a program to watch. Da’veed Dildy,
another one of our area’s bright young coaches entered the event with his
Kennedy-King contingent ready to hoop as expected, they had a collection of
athletes noted as stout defender’s and operated with a team oriented
attack. We were impressed with their enthusiasm
and spirited play. Their future is awful
bright. Gateway Legacy a Christian Prep
School which resides in Glen Carbon, Illinois and coached by former Indiana
State and SIU-E assistant Deryl Cunningham (St. Joes Alum) entered the
Spot-Lite event with little buzz, but left with gloating reviews. Brandon Danowski a 2016 grad from Loyola
Academy orchestrated their attack with heady play and respectable outside
shooting. Yannis Erembert was an intriguing
prospect; the 2017 guard should be a player we keep our eye on. Cunningham was missing Euro guard Kyrylo Abramstov;
he should add some offensive punch to Gateway’s offense.
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