While others will waste their time and try to look bigger than life at an event that has become relatively insignificant and meaningless (otherwise known as the Chicago Public League playoffs), we have decided to concentrate on more important matters--the Illinois state tournament to be exact. The regional and sectional pairings are out, and it is now time for us to make our predictions on those teams that we believe will advance to the state finals in Peoria in both the Class 3A and 4A ranks.

Over the past several years, Illinois high school basketball coaches have lost a tremendous amount of influence over the recruitment of their top players. While we are not going to debate the merits of those who do have influence, this blog is going to offer an in-depth analysis of what this declining influence means to college coaches, parents, and the prospects themselves within the recruiting environment.

While nothing that occurs in the Chicago Public League surprises us any more, the recent wave of activity surrounding the high school basketball scene in the Windy City during the past two weeks has been more than we can take. From the Troynell Adams saga to the rash of fights at games to Wayne Blackshear's recent decision to transfer from Curie to Morgan Park, the situation is out of control. There is no question that something needs to be done, and once again we believe that we have the answer--in fact it is the ONLY answer--when it comes to fixing the problem.

The seedings meetings are still about three weeks away, but with the sectional assignments for the class 3A and 4A state tournament for boy's basketball already drawn up, it is never too early to begin analyzing which sectionals shape up to be the strongest and which teams could be playing well into March. In this blog we do just that, as we break down what we consider to be the top three sectionals in both class 3A and 4A.

In our 25 years of being in the basketball scouting business, we have seen plenty of sleazy activity when it comes to recruiting. However, what the men's basketball staff at Carl Albert State College in Poteau, OK recently pulled in their attempt to lure Troynell Adams away from Farragut Career Academy absolutely takes the cake. It paints a sad picture when it comes to the public perception of junior college basketball and is yet another example of why we cover the JUCO ranks as little as possible.

We still believe that from an overall talent standpoint the class of 2011 in Illinois is absolutely loaded. However, after seeing more than our share of holiday tournaments throughout the state last month, we are not ready to say that the 2011 class deserves to be mentioned in the same breath with the two best basketball recruiting classes in recent memory--the class of 1979 and the class of 1998. The biggest reason for this is simple. A recruiting class can't be considered the best of all-time if it doesn't have a bona fide #1 player. And at the present time we believe that is the case when it comes to the 2011 class.

There may be no player in the state who has been more scrutinized from the time he was in eighth grade until now more than Schaumburg's Cully Payne. In fact, the debate will probably forever linger on regarding how good of a college player he will be at Alabama. However, after watching him turn in two clutch performances at the prestigious Pontiac Holiday Tournament, we wonder if anyone else is thinking what we are thinking.

The basketball recruiting world today is largely controlled by handlers and people who often times have nothing but their own self-serving interests at heart. As a result, they overhype recruits primarily for the purpose of feeding their own egos and trying to put additional money in their pocket. That is why it is so refreshing to see players who don't buy into the hoopla, recognize their true level of ability and turn out to be successful without the outside influences. Such is the case with Michael Black and Xavier Humphrey, who are both class of 2009 recruits from Fenwick. As a result, we believe that they made outstanding college choices.

The persona of De LaSalle's Dre Henley began to rise this past summer when he earned an invitation to the prestigious Reebok All-American Camp on the basis of an outstanding performance at Reebok's underclassman camp in June. But even then, there were still people who were questioning whether or not he was worthy of the invite. However, make no mistake about it--after watching Henley last night at the Windy City Showdown, there is no doubt that he has hit the big time.

We told everyone in a previous blog back in October that Jerrance Howard and the University of Illinois had completely turned the tables in the recruitment of Tracy Abrams. Right then and there we knew that the Illini were the leader for Abrams' services. What we did not know was that the Illini coaching staff would be able to close the deal so quickly. With that in mind, we firmly believe that the dominos are just beginning to fall into place regarding Bruce Weber's recruitment of the 2011 class. Quite frankly, while we don't know what the time frame will be, we would be surprised at this point if other prized 2011 recruits don't ultimately pledge their commitments to the Illini.

While we never base an overall scouting evaluation of a player on one game, there are some things that you can immediately conclude after watching a prospect for the first time. Such is the case with 6'10 class of 2010 center and University of Illinois commit Meyers Leonard. After taking in Leonard's performance yesterday at the Shootout At The Hall in Champaign, we believe that it is a no-brainer when we say that he is the best big man in Illinois right now regardless of class. Illinois Prep Bulls-eye offers further commentary on Leonard as well as other impressions from yesterday's event at the Assembly Hall in this blog.

The glut of high school basketball shootouts in the state of Illinois during December may be greater than the holiday shopping rush. There are three in particular that stand out--the Shootout At The Hall on December 13, the Loop Capital Markets Shootout on December 14 and the Windy City Showdown on December 20. They are all must-see events and should be among the highlights of the month.

Don't get us wrong--every single player that University of Illinois head coach Bruce Weber has recruited in both the classes of 2009 and 2010 will be a vital piece to the puzzle when it comes to Illini basketball two or three years from now. However, we are thoroughly convinced that no player will be more influential in determining the Illini's future success than Jereme Richmond. We will even go as far as to say that it begins and ends with him. Anyone who saw Richmond play at the Waukegan Thanksgiving Tournament this past week should know exactly what we mean.

The Illinois high school basketball season is now in full swing, but it is still early and nothing has really stood out just yet. Therefore, in this blog we offer up small portions of everything, some Thanksgiving leftovers if you will. Included on the plate are our comments on what is happening off the court, observations on what we have seen in the way of Thanksgiving tournaments thus far, as well as a couple of recruiting notes.