The Top 10 Performers at the Event

The Top 10 Performers at the Event

1. Micah Bradford    6-0    SR    PG    MM    Bradley Bourbonnais – “He showed why he will be one of the top unsigned seniors in the state come spring.  He dazzled the audience.”
2. Nare Kennell    6-5    SR    WG    MM    Metamora – “Shot the piss-out-of-it in big games, the Bradley recruit led his team to the title.”
3. George Willbourn    6-3    SR    WG    MM    De LaSalle – “Did everything for his team, but drive the team bus, he averaged close to 25 each outing.”
4. James Jones    6-3    SR    WG    MM    Chicago Bogan – “Against East St. Louis he demonstrated why he is often considered one of the top 10 players in the 2016 class.”
5. Tajuan Agee    6-7    SR    WF    MM    Chicago Hyde Park – “The lanky late bloomer showed versatility & the ability to score outside or inside, he’s vastly underrated, his value will increase as the season approaches.”
6. Caleb Coleman    6-6    JR    F    MM    Hammond High (IN) – “A highly regarded athlete in Indiana.  He is one entertaining performer with a bright future.”
7. Marcus Latham    6-2    SR    PG    MM-LM+    Alton H.S. – “One of the more unknown commodities in the 2016 class, the lefty torched the open division field.  He’s a pure scorer OVC, Summit, MAC Conferences should take a look immediately.”
8. Matthew Brown Jr.    6-0    FR    G    ?    St. Joseph-Kenosha (WI) – “This 14 year-old phenom was spectacular, he can score in a variety of ways, he looks to be a special talent.  He was blowing by defenders.”
9. Darrius Martin    6-6    JR    WF    MM    Bettendorf (IA) – “A one-time Moline H.S. prized prospect; Martin is a finisher he played well in some marquee match-ups, shot the ball well, handled it and had about 8 dunks at the event.  A Missouri Valley recruit.
10. Deshawn Jackson    6-3    SR    G    LM+    Peoria High – “An unknown prospect who we first saw in early March, Jackson is a solid-all-around prospect, finishes with both hands at the rim, very good on the ball defender.  A combo now but his future could be at PG and he’s a respectable outside shooter.  Murray St, Eastern IL, Western IL have started to take notice.

Lemont’s terrific junior guard P.J. Pipes out dueled Alton’s Marcus Latham in one game where he went for 27 points, Latham blistered the nets for 24 points.  Pipes was just off a visit from Northern Illinois on Saturday.  Unknown 6-2 guard Demitric Young a junior from Sterling H.S. had 23 in a game versus Latham’s group also.  One of the bright surprises of the open division was the play of Peoria Central combo guard Deshaun Jackson a wiry performer who plays at a good pace & has a solid understanding of the game.  He was a top 10 nominee.  Zion-Benton’s six foot three junior guard Rod Henry was impressive in his only game, he came for one but had a school commitment at Orr H.S.  Former Moline player who now suits-up at Bettendorf High-School in Iowa Darrius Martin a six foot six versatile wing was really good.  Skilled, capable of being utilized in multiple roles at both ends.  Martin can score as well as finish plays at the rim.  Brandon McCombs, Jacksonville 6-7 front-courter played well, he rebounded, ran the floor and finished plays at the rim.  I hadn’t seen him before, but he’s now on the board in a talented 2017 class.  Brandon looks like a low division one recruit.  Sophomore Daylan Williams from Danville a chiseled 6-5 well rounded scoring threat, this kid is certainly a top 10-15 player in the 2018 class.  We will view him again soon.  I hear he’s a gym rat.  Josiah Wallace from Marshall (IL) one of my favorites in the 2017 class was off the mark in one of the games with his shooting particularly when he was matched-up against Micah Bradford, but he was stellar in his other three ball games.  Proviso West junior gunner Emanual Cross shot a lot of balls and looked like he was enjoying himself, he’s a kid I need to see again.  We were impressed with Marquan “Bay Bay” Williams’ leadership skills and his ability to make shots.  He was hurt after the second game.

Special Mention Top Performances:  Cameron Gross 6-4 JR Oak-Park, Brice Barnes 5-9 SR Bogan, Jaylan Catledge 6-3 JR Richards, Noah Persich 5-9 JR Metamora, Michael Adams 6-4 SR Metamora, Rafael Cruz 6-2 JR Von, Marquise Chairs 5-8 SR East St. Louis, P.J. Pipes 6-1 JR Lemont, Logan Windeier 6-8 JR Manteno, Jamal Nixon 6-4 JR Fenwick, Josiah Wallace 6-3 JR Marshall (IL), Brandon McCombs 6-7 JR Jacksonville, Daylan Williams 6-5 SO Danville, Conner Fuller 6-4 SR Oak-Park, Dwayne McClendon 6-5 JR Hammond High.

We would like to recognize some guys who helped make this event successful.  They are the real crime fighters of grass-roots basketball and they demonstrate it on a regular basis with their passion for helping student athletes in their respective areas.  Jeff Duncan, Steve Lamberti, Marlon London, Corey Taylor, Dexter, Max, Verdell Jones.

Open Division Showcase -Continued

The open division showcase was head-lined by some dazzling performances, right at the top of it all was Bradley Bourbonnais ultra smooth point-guard Micah Bradford, labeled by many as one of the top attractions at our 22nd Annual Showcase and he proved it immediately draining 26 points with 4 treys against a talented group of juniors who challenged him defensively.  Josiah Wallace, Darrius Martin & Co. then he went 20 pts in his last outing.

Six foot eight junior Logan Windeier was impressive, he continues to show signs of being a legitimate division one mid-major recruit, the smooth left-hander is considered be in the top 8 slot with strong forwards in the 2017 class, he can play on the perimeter or interior effectively and recorded 21 points in one contest.

Bishop Mac’s Jalen Chavers sparkled; Zac Hollywood was his usual self, steady and crisp the 6-9 slenderly build forward has James Madison in Virginia as one of his top choices; 6-8 freshman T.J. Wicks looks like a diaper dandy, he hails from Kankakee H.S.

Example Sports CEO Barry Bradford has done a tremendous job of solidifying/securing the top players in the Kankakee & South of the I-57 Corridors.

With the B group comprised of kids from Central Illinois, Champaign Central’s smooth sophomore guard Bailey Dee, he performed with so much poise & experience, he’s going to be a dandy.  6-5 junior Zac Griffith was an intriguing prospect, he goes to Fisher H.S., we need to see him again.

Champaign Centrals’ Calogeno Dawson a 5-5 mighty-might stunned viewers with his play, he ran the team while making good decisions.  He consistently knocked-down his mid-range jumper.
“The lil fellow has mad squabbles.”  Fellow Central mate Kamron Reaves was solid, the six foot one rapidly improving junior is a good mid-range shooter, plays under-control and has nice speed & quickness.  We need to see more of him.  Now Doug Wallen is a 6-5 junior south-paw from St. Thomas More  H.S. out of Champaign who we feel might be one of the sleepers in the deep 2017 class has a knack for scoring particularly 15 ft & in.  He’s a modern-day-reincarnation of Baltimore Bullet’s Jack Marin a 6-7 small forward from Duke who played in the NBA late sixties and early-mid 1970’s, Marian finished his career with 12,451 points (14.8 –career average), he now practices sports law in the Richmond, VA area (Yes, I saw him play a lot). Wallen, possess some of the same resemblances as a young player and he’s a bright student.

Will Clausel out of Newark a tough minded 6-4 utility player showed the ability to knock-down shots & provide clutch plays, he’s likely a division two recruit, certainly a scholarship athlete.

Dante Hemsouvanh a 5-9 guard from Champaign Central caught my eye with his quickness and strong ball-handling as well as his court awareness.

More 2015 Showcase

More 2015 Showcase

North-Side Lincoln Park will always hold a special place in my heart, they have a new direction in the arrival of enthusiastic head-coach Pat Gordon who was a one-time assistant at the Lincoln Park where he witnessed the glory days when they regularly produced Division One talent.

The Lions were competitive at the 2 day event, mustering up 5 games, winning two, while dropping a couple of close ones.  The team featured a cast of Ibrahim Dosunmu a 6-6 senior and a small college gem, junior silky-smooth Alec Brent, super quick junior point-guard Marco Lewis 6-4, junior scorer Bryce McGill and promising sophomore guard Julius Francellino and the powerful lefty Jalen Louie now a senior, this line-up gives Gordon something to build on.  Von Steuben another Red North Division foe performed well on Saturday, the Panthers only played 3 games but in all honesty the group was likely looking ahead to their Whitney Young fall opener in the more camaraderie environment.

Von Steuben got heated over some officiating issues particularly in their close game versus De LaSalle when they lost a double digit lead in the second half.  Junior guard Rafael Cruz was dynamite, he nabbed 11 pts vs Metamora, 25 in a victory over Lake Park 37-28 and finished with 11 markers in a loss to De LaSalle 50-49.  I’m hoping for nothing but wonderful things for Von’s longtime coach/GM Vince Carter who I consider my friend and one of the finer ambassadors we have for our game at the grass-roots level.  When Carter hurled some ref issues at me after the game “I’m like oh geez”, but it just goes to show no one is exempt from emotionally harboring ill feelings with officials at times.  5-10 junior guard Tyrus Jenkins played well as did fellow junior Edward Nwakego a 6 footer, part of the trio of scorers in their talented back-court.

Lake Park a perennial contender in the DuPage Conference, many local hoop diehards don’t realize the Lancer’s were a minute away from beating Geneva to advance downstate 4A.  Coach Josh Virostko consistently has his troops battle tested late in the season, that’s a mark of a good coach.  It ain’t-like-he-has-division one dudes every autumn.  His kids play hard and get better as the season progresses, we are always excited to get Josh’s Lake Park squad, he’s the 2nd call we make as we start to prepare for this event.

I’m proud to say Coach Josh Virostko is alum of the storied Illinois Warrior program many people aren’t aware of his profile, he’s from Paris (IL) was a 4 year starter for his high-school team, performed in the back-court with Morgan Park’s Nick Irvin for the Warriors powerful summer of 1996 squad that featured the likes of Melvin Ely(6-9 Fresno State), Marcus Griffin(6-9 Illinois), Sergio McClain(6-4 Illinois), Rich Beyers(6-8 Illinois/IL State), La Darryl Billingsley(6-6 Tulane), Lonnie Holland(6-5 Southern U.), Mark Veshaw(6-8 Wisconsin), Jason Jenkins(6-6 Valpo), Kevin Jones(5-9 Nebraska-Omaha), and Springfield native 6-4 Steve Dixson (one of my all-time favorites and one of the most exciting finisher we’ve seen in recent memory in Illinois).  Virostko went on to play college ball at Lewis University where he was a 3 year starter, “blah, blah, blah”.

Kenny Bogus a 6-4 senior swingman and 6-3 Bailey Vance bring senior leadership to a tough team.  Wendell Jeffries’s East Aurora team made their fourth consecutive appearance to our fall event.  His kids play hard and are well coached and I’ve valued my relationship with him, he’s managed to stay relevant since the post Ryan Boatright era.  Jeffries boasts a line-up of a trio of jet quick guards Michael Stewart a 5-11-JR, Immanuel Palmer 5-11-SR and Maurice Nichols a promising 6-1 slashing scorer he’s a junior while freshman Treavon Brown looks like he will be the next stud in the proud tradition of the East Aurora program.

The Plainfield Central team are in the reinventing stages with their program, Steve Lamberti every few years has a hidden gem that surfaces such as a Derrick Marks (2011 grad played at Boise State).  Junior guard Sedrick Brooks always looks solid as does senior Eric Davis and 6-4 veteran Justin Windt.  We are very appreciative of our friends at Plainfield Central.

2015 showcase Continued

2015 showcase Continued

Capping off-the-rest of the high-school division results, there were some teams as well as individual performances that left a mark on observers during our 2 day event, Hammond High out of Indiana guided by Larry Moore Jr, a former All-Catholic league stand-out at St. Francis DeSales had his team in the thick of things despite of a slow start dropping his first 2 games to Fenwick 22-18 and Hyde Park 45-35 but redeemed themselves nicely to finish 2nd in the pool and advance to the semis before bowing out to De LaSalle.  Hammond High showed-up with some players led by the athletic tandem of highly regarded 6-6 junior Caleb Coleman a high-flying leaper who can ignite an audience with his high-wire-act (4 dunks vs. Richards on Sunday) and 6-5 junior Dwayne McClendon, in addition to six foot seven senior John Wilson.  Coleman had a stellar performance versus Richards H.S. where he registered 20 points and several highlight reel dunks.  McClendon is a deadeye perimeter shooter, while the rapid rising Wilson will need a junior college after the season.  Oak-Lawn’s Richard’s High-School came in relatively unknown but left Plainfield with a respectable identity.  Former H.F. grad Javon Mamon led his unheralded group that lost to Hammond 52-46 in the highly contested playoff game.  6-3 junior swingman Jaylan Catledge was superb in 4 games, he recorded 14, 17, 18, 17.  The silent assassin averaged 17.8 as a sophomore, Div I, mid-majors are starting to take notice of his athletic feats.  Mamon, one of our bright young coaches we have in the area will have this program at the top of the South-Suburban Red division in a short period, watch for freshman point-guard Sean Willis.  Bogan who has been one of the cities elite programs the last 6 or 7 years brandished their noted trademark, tough hardnosed team play.  East St. Louis had them on their heels early in the heated battle Saturday night, but Bogan prevailed forcing the flyers into numerous miscues, the Bengals finished them off 52-40.  The only game Bogan lost was a quarter-final match-up to eventual tourney champion Metamora 53-35.  Some of us suspect the Bengals had a prior engagement at the Whitney Young fall league, so bouncing out of the Plainfield area was a priority, but we’ve always appreciated Arthur Goodwin’s & his crew’s support.  James Jones, Bogans six foot three guard was terrific, he had his arsenal on full display in the East St. Louis contest demonstrating why he is one of the top ten players in the 2016 class.  His jumper was deadly off-the-bounce, something he worked hard on over the summer as well as his ball-handling.  Bryce Barnes was brilliant, quarter-backing his team, and he looked awfully confident.  I hope he finds the right fit at the next level.  East St. Louis made the track in with newly appointed head-coach Phil Gilbert a one-time Flyer star who graduated in 2000 with famed team-mate Darius Miles.  Gilbert had a dynamite career with the Bradley Braves.  The local son will push the program to thrive for excellence, I see him being nothing but successful at his alma-mater.  The Flyers have an abundance of gifted athletes led by point-guard Marquise Chairs and senior swingman Antonio Johnson.  Highly acclaimed big-man Jeremiah Tilmon, the no. 1 2017 prospect in the state didn’t make the trip.  He was on an unofficial visit in Illini Country, no qualms regarding that.  These guys have a world of talent in which they displayed, it’s just a matter of sharing the ball and eliminating mistakes.  Gilbert had them playing hard, they lost by one to De LaSalle 47-46 in the quarters.  Hyde Park migrated to Plainfield with a talented laden line-up and was impressive all weekend, but suffered a heart-breaking loss to Metamora 53-52 in the semis in which they spent an awful amount of time sulking about officiating.  Coach Samuels and his staff do a good job but have to dig a little deeper with building a culture that exhibits discipline and heady play while establishing a foundation for winning, but also developing their players and eliminating the stigma of being snake-bitten in big games.  Thunderbirds have a future stud in late bloomer Tajuan Agee a 6-7 senior who is multi-talented and showed it with 15 points and stellar floor-play versus Hammond High in pool play.  Fenwick made their appearance at the event opening some eyes in Saturday’s action.  Jamal Nixon and Ivy League recruit Mike Ballard were superb, but 6-7 forward/center Charlie Boyle was a surprise, he was mobile, ran the floor, finished plays at the rim, made some face-up baskets and showed some athleticism.  “Mike Smith was a no show.”  Nixon appeared both days, the six foot four junior guard played well each outing (He’s a great kid).  Farragut came out and joined us after playing in the storied Nike Back to School bash that Forrest Harris operates, they’d already played 2 games prior to their arrival.  Even though they were fatigued, they came out and supported us.  Dulan Scott a six foot two senior guard and 6-8 senior Tawon Keith played fairly well in spurts.  We will have to evaluate them at another time.  Even coaches Nelson & E were tired!  “Now six foot two junior guard Darnell Jones caught my eye in a contest that the Admirals lost to Oak-Park at the buzzer 50-48.”  Jones is skilled and knows how to play and has a strong body.  We will view this group again soon.  Oak-Park-River-Forest was the surprise team in my eyes, Cameron Gross is vastly underrated in a deep talented 2017 class, he has a powerful built at 6-4 and he’s a versatile athlete that can play inside or outside.  Conner Fuller hit a buzzer beater against Farragut, he’s a 6-2 combo guard that’s being courted by Roosevelt College as well as a few other division threes.  6-2 DeAndre Enoch was also a player to watch, he has good length and some nice skills.  Oak-Park was playing without several of their players who suits-up for football they will be a surprise team this season.   

Tomorrow we will continue the top team performances in the high-school division and then proceed to the top performances in the open individual play headlined by Micah Bradford and Darius Martin and young 14 year old phenom Matthew Brown Jr.

Illinois Spot-Lite’s 22nd Annual Fall Showcase

Illinois Spot-Lite’s 22nd Annual Fall Showcase

Championship Game

Metamora  53  -  De LaSalle  48

In a competitive spirited final, Metamora Red-Birds from Central Illinois out-lasted Catholic league under-dog De LaSalle in the inaugural 16 team school division title held at Plainfield Central High.  The Metamora squad avenged a Saturday lost to the Meteor’s when they got trampled 68-55.  Metamora was led by Bradley recruit Nate Kennell who showed he’s more than just a long-distance marksman.  He handled the ball effectively while driving by defenders, distributing to open-mates when the defense converged on him, he also rebounded well.  Kennell finished with 20 points in the final, Noah Perisch a junior transfer from Peoria Heights was impressive as well running the show for the Red-Birds.  De LaSalle’s George Willborn, a six foot three unsigned senior was terrific the entire event averaging close to 25 points in six games during the event, he tallied 21 in the final.  Senior Cristian Hayes chipped in with 15 markers.  Metamora played without highly touted transfer Dallas Morgan a 6-1 guard from Dunlap who averaged seventeen points an outing last season, he’s going through some red-tape issues with the IHSA.  The Red-Birds defeated Hyde Park by 55-53 in the semi-finals, a nail biting marred by sketching officiating both ways.  Metamora beat Bogan in the quarters 53-36. Kennell recorded 32 points.  De LaSalle advanced by knocking-off Hammond High (IN) 50-34 in the semis and dropping East St. Louis in a one point contest 47-46 in the quarters.  Congratulations to both teams for their sportsmanship and competitive play in light of some poor officiating the sensitivity of some of the refs in the western suburban area is something that needs to be addressed at another time.

More results and event updates to follow tomorrow!