By Joe Henricksen

I opened my Time magazine this week to find yet another article on the hot topic in basketball recruiting:

courting eighth-graders. East Aurora's Ryan Boatright was the featured athlete in the story, with

two full-page pictures of the 138-pound 14-year-old in this national magazine. When the Boatright-to-

USC commitment was announced last June, more than two months prior to even taking a high

school class, I looked at it as a sign of the times. Heck, it wasn't that bad, Arizona offered

Matt Carlino of Scottsdale, Ariz. two years ago when he was just in 7th grade.

By Joe Henricksen

The record is within reach. Legendary coach Dick Van Scyoc is the all-time leader in coaching
victories in Illinois high school basketball history with 826 wins. St. Joseph's Gene Pingatore and
Rockford Boylan's Steve Goers are both closing in, with Pingatore sitting at 793 wins and Goers
at 790.

The whole concept of high-profile transfers in the Illinois prep basketball world began several years ago. This year

is no exception, with an abundance of high-profile transfers that will play a major impact on the season ahead.

Jereme Richmond's arrival at Waukegan and Marcus

Jordan's move from Loyola Academy to Whitney Young are about as

high profile as you will find. But there have been plenty of others.

By Joe Henricksen

Who will be the next assistant coach for Bruce Weber at Illinois? The best hire

in high school basketball this past offseason was? Who landed the best high school job? Who will have the

toughest new job? Who has the best chance to win? The Hoops Report provides a rundown of all these coaching

topics in this latest blog entry.

By Joe Henricksen

Wow! Can there be any more recruiting drama out of Champaign? The latest, however, is absurd, bordering crazy.

There are two certainties that come with the recent move of assistant coach Tracy Webster

from Illinois to Kentucky.

By Joe Henricksen

While Southern Illinois has been--and remains--the premier mid-major program in the country, another state school

is making its mark and is set to rebuild a proud basketball tradition. Thanks to a heavy focus on recruiting prep talent

in Illinois and a new head coach in Tim Jankovich who has pumped new life into the program,

Illinois State is on a fast track to becoming a player again in the Missouri Valley in the very near future.