While it's hardly fair, a small portion of their prep basketball career -- in this case, a couple of weeks in July -- can make all the difference for a high school senior-to-be in the eyes of college coaches and national talent evaluators. After watching the Class of 2009 the last few years and throughout the spring and early summer, here is how the City/Suburban Hoops Report sees the class stacking up prior to the pivotal July evaluation period.

While taking in action at the DeLaSalle Summer League and watching a loaded Seton Academy play, you ask yourself this: "Seton is going to be Class 2A?" This team, with the addition of point guard D.J. Cooper (and possibly Jordan Walker?), is absolutely loaded.

While watching the IBCA All-Star game at Illinois Wesleyan University Saturday night, a casual observer of basketball who came out to watch the top seniors in Illinois, asked, "Where is he going to play at in college?" The answer was Southern Illinois. Just moments later the fan asked, "What about him, where's he headed?" The answer, again, was Southern Illinois.

After a busy few days of basketball over the weekend, the City/Suburban Hoops Report had a chance to get out and see different teams, players and events -- and hear a little of this and that around the high school basketball scene.

Jereme Richmond has been evaluated, gawked at, talked about, written about and analyzed almost as much as any high school player in the history of this state has been in his first two years of high school. That's what happens when you are 6-6 and your skill level far exceeds those your age and you commit to a major Division I university as a freshman. It's sometimes hard to believe he has yet to even start his junior year.

Simeon's Jeremy Jones is obviously not the prospect Derrick Rose was or even as hot of a commodity as teammate Stan Simpson was last year. But the little-known 6-1 guard is one of the most under-the-radar players in Illinois and a legitimate Division I prospect.

Kudos to Indiana State and Illinois State, the only schools to have offered Richards big man Shaun Pratl. And shame on all the other schools that have been so slow to pull the trigger. In this day where big men are at such a premium and so often over-recruited, it's a mystery why the 6-8, 220-pounder has just the two offers.

A whole bunch of random thoughts from the Riverside-Brookfield Shootout....

In what is always one of the top high school basketball events of the summer and, without question, the best run and organized event, it was nice to see the host school, Riverside-Brookfield, win the R-B Shootout. No, a summer shootout doesn't mean a whole lot in the long run, but in this case it's a big step and confidence builder for the players in this program.

You tend to forget he's just a freshman in high school. Mount Carmel's Tracy Abrams opened eyes in March with scintillating performances in state tournament play. Now he has people drooling. And when you combine these three elements -- raw talent, unlimited potential and current productivity -- he's really unmatched and the best of a ridiculously loaded Class of 2011.

I am personally not a fan of publicly hyping or being quoted on the future of 6th, 7th and 8th grade basketball prospects. It's been the rare occasion when I have, most recently so in regard to Thomas Hamilton, Jr., a talented 7th grader with the talent, size and bloodlines that peaks people's interest. But the trend of actually ranking junior high players makes no sense.

As the Class of 2008 graduates this spring, the City/Suburban Hoops Report takes a look back at the 10-year anniversary of arguably the best and deepest high school basketball class the state of Illinois has ever produced. The class had it all with true difference-makers at the top, size, superior depth and future NBA first-round picks.

Forget the 8-22 record of last year for a moment. Forget the fact Northwestern went just 1-15 in the Big Ten a year ago and are a combined 3-29 in league play over the past two years. Believe it or not, strides have been made in Evanston despite the recent results. But has the program, which has struggled so mightily in recruiting and falling short in luring top Illinois prospects, turned the corner in the recruiting game?

Whether it's college coaches watching one weekend or talent evaluators/recruiting gurus watching the next, all eyes are on high school basketball players in the exposure events played throughout the spring and summer. There is no question that there can be too much stock put into a weekend's performance, especially when it comes to national talent evaluators. Nonetheless, reputations are built, scholarships offers are made and stock can fall -- fairly or unfairly -- for prep players in these events.

There are a pair of hard-nosed, productive players who come to play every day and are players you win with in the Class of 2009 in Illinois that have had solid springs, yet are sitting with one scholarship offer between them. Have no fear, D.J. Cooper and Conrad Krutwig, the offers will be coming.