Waukegan's Jereme Richmond wasn't named to the Sun-Times' All-Chicago Area basketball team.

A lot of people are upset because they can't understand why one of the nation's top-rated sophomores, arguably the best player in Illinois regardless of class, a player who already is committed to the University of Illinois, wasn't included among the top 20 in the city and suburbs.

I didn't have a vote. But if I did, I would have done exactly what the panel of judges that selected the team did. They benched Richmond.

He is the poster child for what is wrong with high school basketball today, a spoiled brat who thinks the game is all about scoring and shooting and dunking and styling. Is basketball a T-E-A-M game or what?

Richmond has been reading his press clippings and you can blame the media for that. Who can say who the best freshman or sophomore in the country is? Who has seen them all? And even if Bob Gibbons or Van Coleman have seen everybody from Florida to California, does it really matter?

Is Richmond as good as Quinn Buckner was as a sophomore? As good as Ronnie Fields? Glen Grunwald? Roger Powell? George Wilson?

If he is one of the two or three best sophomores in the nation, as most recruiting analysts are projecting, does that mean the 15-year-old will be as good as a senior as Cazzie Russell? Kevin Garnett? Isiah Thomas? Bobby Joe Mason? Tommy Hawkins? Jamie Brandon? Deon Thomas? Marcus Liberty?

I can't recall any stories about those players being benched or dismissed from their teams for arguing with their coach over how many touches they got in a game or why the offense wasn't revolving around them or why they hadn't been interviewed by ESPN.

Here's a kid who started with good intentions, as a student at prestigious and academic-minded North Shore Country Day in Winnetka. But somebody whispered sweet nothings in his ear, about why he should go to school in hometown Waukegan where he could play against better competition from week to week, and he began spinning on the AAU merry-go-round.

Now he might be headed for his third high school in three years. That's a red flag for any college coach. Richmond has two years of eligibility remaining in high school and already he has earned a reputation as a malcontent, an ego-driven youngster who thinks only of himself. The NBA is full of those characters.

Let's hope he looks in a mirror, stops listening to those outside demons, keeps his mouth shut, listens to his coach and begins to play the game as it was meant to be played, as a team sport. Talent isn't his problem, his ego is.

Posted by Taylor Bell at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (20) | TrackBacks (0)

I don't know about you but I'm a sports fan. Any sport, any level.

I enjoy watching the best compete against the best, boys or girls, high school or college or professional, Tiger vs. Phil, Memphis vs. Tennessee, Notre Dame vs. USC, Giants vs. Patriots, Manchester United vs. Arsenal, Federer vs. Nadal, Marshall vs. Farragut.

And I enjoy watching good entertainment, Flanagan vs. Newark, Warsaw vs. Rochester, 17-year-old kids playing their hearts out and hustling from one end of the basketball floor to the other like you wish so many professionals would do.

So I spent last weekend with my trusty channel-switcher in hand, catching brief and sometimes longer snippets of everything on the television screen that caught my fancy--golf, high school, college and NBA basketball, NASCAR and soccer.

Do you know what I enjoyed the most? Sure, the Mempis-Tennessee game was a classic, everything that it was hyped to be. Indiana-Northwestern was a thriller, too. And Tiger Woods' exciting semifinal victory over Henrik Stenson in the match play.

But I enjoyed the girls Class 1A and 2A semifinals and championship games most of all.

For those critics who predicted the girls' playoff in the smallest of four classes would be dull and boring and unworthy of a state tournament setting, check the tapes because I'm sure you weren't watching.

The folks in Flanagan and Newark and Warsaw and Rochester couldn't care less. While they were hoisting their state trophies in Redbird Arena, do you think they were wondering what basketball fans in Chicago were thinking? Do they celebrate any less in Warsaw than they do in Flossmoor?

When you watch a girls' game, do you make frequent comparisons to the boys? Was Anna Jones' record 39-point performance in the Class 1A final any less spectacular because she didn't execute a tomahawk dunk? Were those last-second three-point shots any less dramatic because a Chicago kid didn't make them?

The problem with sports today, in my view, is too many people only watch the games they can bet on. There is so much else out there. I don't have any kids playing in high school. I once walked the cobblestone main street in Warsaw all the way to the Mississippi River but I don't know anybody in the town. Rochester, either. Or Flanagan or Newark.

I just enjoy watching high school kids play the game hard and with spirit and enthusiasm, the way it should always be played, not because a college scholarship is at stake or somebody has five dollars on the line. I can only hope that the boys' tournament is as exciting.

Posted by Taylor Bell at 06:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Illinois is recruiting a pure point guard. And, if they get him, they won't have to wait a year or two to get him in the lineup.

He is 6-0 senior Ruben Cotto of Alton, a transfer from Miami, Fla., by way of Puerto Rico. He flew under the radar until he emerged as the most valuable player at the Centralia Holiday Tournament in December. Afterward, college coaches began to take notice.

According to Alton coach Layne Bennett, Cotto is being recruited by Illinois, Iowa, Purdue, Bradley, Southern Illinois and St. Louis University.

"He may be the most gifted player in th St. Louis area," Bennett said. "My only concern is if he goes to the next level and plays hard at both ends of the floor. There is no doubt in my mind that he can play in the Big Ten. He is physically capable of playing anywhere in the country."

Cotto has been MVP in three tournaments this season--Alton, Centralia and Chatham-Glenwood. He is averaging 23.5 points, 3.5 assists, four steals and five rebounds for a team that has won 21 games and is contending with Edwardsville and O'Fallon as the leading team in southwest Illinois.

But will he be eligible? That's the only sticking point. He hasn't taken the ACT exam yet.

"His strongest asset is his shooting range," said Bennett, who pointed out that Cotto converts 38 percent of his three-point attempts. "He handles and passes and finishes with either hand. And he is very strong."

Illinois coach Bruce Weber has landed oral commitments from some of the best underclass guards in the state, including Warren's Brandon Paul, Peoria Central's D.J. Richardson, Sterling's Joe Bertrand and Rich South's Crandall Head. But none of them is a pure point guard, a commodity the Illini desperately need.

Posted by Taylor Bell at 06:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Democracy may not be the most perfect form of government. But it's better than the alternative.

So is the Illinois High School Association.

In the last five decades, I've had issues with the IHSA. I've criticized some of its decisions. But most of the time I have been supportive as the IHSA launched an extensive girls sports program, adopted a two-class basketball format and kicked off a state football playoff.

Don't forget that the IHSA in 1952 was the first state to provide live television coverage of its basketball tournament. And Illinois was the first state to provide live television coverage of its football playoff.

Next fall, the IHSA will become the fourth state to initiate a random drug testing program for athletes.

Sure, the IHSA has had to negotiate many potholes and lawsuits along the way. A bureaucracy that includes more than 700 high schools in one of the nation's most populous states can't avoid controversey like Vermont or Nevada or North Dakota.

The IHSA's treasury was drained when it lost a lawsuit against the NCAA over the rights to the "March Madness" logo. The IHSA had used the term exclusively for years before the NCAA and CBS stole it to fit their advertising and promotional needs. But the courts ruled in favor of Black Rock.

Now the IHSA is taking more hits from media and other critics who oppose the organization's new four-class basketball plan and its controversial decision to prohibit the resale of photographs taken at state series finals by newspaper photographers.

Well, the media and other critics lambasted the IHSA's decision--with a not-too-gentle nudge from Chuck Rolinski and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association--to introduce a two-class playoff in 1972.

But it was an overwhelming success. Small schools achieved an identity that had been lost. College coaches realized that Class A players were good enough to compete in the Big Ten, even the NBA. Lawrenceville's Jay Shidler gave the tournament a much-needed boost of enthusiasm and attendance.

Folks in Chicago are spoiled. They ought to attend a game at Quincy or Pinckneyville or Lewistown or Warrensburg-Latham or Okawville or Madison or Nashville or West Frankfort or Pleasant Plains and discover how Downstate communities spend their Friday nights.

I would suggest that all of the critics who think the IHSA isn't providing for their needs and isn't adequately promoting sports should visit other states to see how their programs are run. Illinois may not be a perfect system--but it's better than the alternative.

Posted by Taylor Bell at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Evaluating high school football and basketball players is a cottage industry, an inexact science that is certain to fuel heated debates on Internet message boards from coast to coast.

In football, does anyone ever agree with Tom Lemming, Allen Wallace, Max Emfinger, Rivals, Scout, ESPN and CSTV?

In basketball, don't invite Bob Gibbons (All-Star Sports), Van Coleman (Hoopmasters), Clark Francis (HoopScoop), Roy and Harv Schmidt (Illinois Prep Bulls-Eye), Brian Stinnette (ChicagoHoops), Joe Henricksen (City/Suburban Hoops Report), Bill Flanagan, Rivals, Scout, ESPN and CSTV to the same party.

Want to start an argument?

Quarterback Terrelle Pryor was rated as the No. 1 football player in the nation by Lemming, Rivals and Scout. But he was No. 4 according to ESPN.

Defensive lineman DaQuan Bowers was rated No. 1 by ESPN, No. 2 by Rivals, No. 9 by Scout and No. 14 by Lemming.

St. Rita's Darius Fleming was No. 31 by Lemming, No. 63 by Scout, No. 89 by Rivals and N. 94 by EPSN.

Mount Carmel's Steve Filer was No. 35 by Lemming, No. 74 by Scout, No. 116 by ESPN and No. 143 by Rivals.

Marian Central's Sean Cwynar was No. 86 by Lemming, No. 159 by Rivals and No. 190 by Scout.

Montini's Garrett Goebel was No. 64 by Rivals, No. 73 by Scout and No. 93 by Lemming.

Lemont's Graham Pocic was No. 94 by Lemming, No. 208 by Scout and No. 211 by Rivals.

How about basketball?

Everyone agrees that Farragut's 6-10 Mike Dunigan and Oak Park guard Iman Shumpert are the two best prospects in the senior class in Illinois.

But ChicagoHoops.com rates 7-footer Aziz N'diaye of Lake Forest Academy as the No. 3 player. Illinois Prep Bulls-Eye doesn't even rank him among their top 150.

ChicagoHoops.com lists Alton point guard Rueben Cotto as the No. 24 player in the class of 2008. But Cotto, who was MVP of the Centralia Holiday Tournament and is one of the leading scorers in the state, isn't listed among Illinois Prep Bulls-Eye's top 150 seniors.

Illinois Prep Bulls-Eye rates Young's Marcus Jordan as the No. 3 player in the junior class. But he is rated No. 18 by ChicagoHoops.com.

ChicagoHoops.com rates North Lawndale's 6-10 Paul Bunch as the No. 4 player in the sophomore class. But Illinois Prep Bulls-Eye doesn't list Bunch among its top 37.

Nobody has a patent on how to accurately evaluate a prospect. College coaches frequently overlook high school players. NFL scouts miss on college players every year.

Two recruiting analysts can attend the same game and evaluate the same player and come away with opposite views. It's all about what you are looking for and how you project a player in a year or two, how you believe he will fit into a program at the next level.

Some analysts aren't looking for the same thing. Some rate players only on senior performance. Who is the best high school player? Some rate players according to how they project them for college? Who will be the best college player? Some even try to project to the NBA or NFL.

Some watch more film than David O. Selznick. Some attend so many games that they get blisters on their behinds. Some rely on opinions from other analysts and high school and college coaches, even sportswriters, people they trust. Everyone has their own system.

Unfortunately, some have ulterior motives. They favor certain colleges or certain conferences. They favor players who attend their summer camps or combines or buy their premium packages on the Internet.

In the end, however, the good guys stay in business and the others fade away. The fans are the big winners. They can enjoy the best of all worlds, comparing Brand A to Brand B to Brand C. Just so long as they don't take it all too seriously. Remember, it's still only a game.

Posted by Taylor Bell at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Nobody knows Downstate basketball better than Bill "Flash" Flanagan, who has been observing and evaluating players from his base in Bloomington for more than 35 years. A former high school and college coach, he has a handle on the haves and have-nots, the contenders and the pretenders.

For example, Flanagan doesn't buy into the more popular theory that Warren's Illinois-bound Brandon Paul is the No. 1 prospect in the junior class.

"Paul is a two-guard in a point guard's body," Flanagan said. "He isn't big enough to be a shooting guard in college."

Flanagan insists the best player in the class of 2009 is either guard D.J. Richardson of Peoria Central, guard Joseph Bertrand of Sterling or point guard Dyricus Sims-Edwards of Washington, Ill.

But that's not all.

Flanagan also calims that 6-8, 230-pound junior Jordan Prosser of Eureka "can start at Illinois right now. He is better than any big man that Illinois has at the moment."

Curiously, Illinois hasn't offered Prosser a scholarship. He has nine offers, including Indiana, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Xavier, Bradley, Southern Illinois and Illinois State.

In a recent game, Prosser scored 27 points in a 50-42 victory over Mahomet-Seymour. Another promising junior, 6-8, 215-pound Nick Washburn, had 21 points and 14 rebounds for Mahomet-Seymour.

Looking for a point guard? Illinois coach Bruce Weber is. Or should be. Of all the talented underclassmen who are committed to Illinois, none is a pure point guard. So how about 6-0 freshman Donivine Stewart of Bartonville Limestone?

Stewart scored 45 points in a recent 85-75 loss to highly rated Washington, Ill. Indiana-bound Matt Roth scored 34 for Washington.

Another talented junior is 6-9, 220-pound Zeke Schneider of Metamora, who had 35 points and 14 rebounds in a recent victory over Pontiac. Schneider is being recruited by Illinois, Kansas, Bradley, Indiana State and Illinois State.

Posted by Taylor Bell at 07:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

There was a time, many years ago, when a newspaper reader could call an editor and request a photograph that had been published in the paper and be relatively certain to receive it free of charge. It was viewed as a courtesy. What is good for the read is good for the paper, right?

Well, things have changed. Today, it's all about money, not public relations.

A few years ago, when I was writing my first book, "Sweet Charlie, Dike, Cazzie, and Bobby Joe: High School Basketball In Illinois," I received permission from the then Sun-Times sports editor Bill Adee to go into the library and gather old pictures that could be used to illustrate my book.

The pictures were stacked in mounds. They weren't classified or categorized according to date or even sport. There wasn't even an identification on them. Some were 30 to 40 years old. They had never been used and there was no intention of ever publishing them. I was the only one who had a clue as to who and what they were and when the pictures were taken. In many cases, I was there.

But there was a backlash. When I returned a year later to gather pictures for my second book, "Legends of Illinois High School Basketball," I was informed that I had to pay $40 per print.

"Hey, remember me?" I said. "I worked for this paper for 33 years. And the last time I asked for pictures, I didn't have to do anything but give the paper proper credit."

It didn't matter. What used to be public relations had turned into business. Pay $40 a print, please.

I responded "thanks, but no thanks" and proceeded to gather photographs for my second and third books--and for my fourth book on high school football in Illinois that I currently am writing--from the sources themselves, pictures they have saved in their scrapbooks.

All of this comes to mind as I read Monday's lead editorial in the Chicago Tribune about the controversy between the Illinois High School Assocation and newspapers over the use of photographs taken at IHSA events. Other newspapers also have editorialized against the IHSA.

I think they are dead wrong. From my understanding of what the IHSA is doing, I see no reason why they can't conduct business in their own way--just as the newspapers do. They ask for money to resell images that their photographers take. Why can't the IHSA?

In the past, newspapers covering IHSA events took pictures for their editions and also resold those pictures and others that weren't printed in the paper to the public for a price. Now the IHSA wants to prohibit the newspapers from reselling the pictures, not from taking them for tomorrow's paper.

The IHSA has entered into an exclusive contact with a Milwaukee-based company, VIP, to take pictures at all of their events and then resell them to the public upon request. VIP also provides pictures to the IHSA to use in its programs and for other promotions.

This isn't a First Amendment issue, as some critics have argued. The IHSA isn't restricting newspapers from attending events and taking pictures and publishing as much pictures as they want in the paper.

The issue is secondary use and what happens to the photograph after it has been taken. The IHSA believes it has the right to control the contract for selling images from its own event.

My first question to an IHSA official was: "Who's taking the pictures that you are selling?" When I learned it was a private company, not the newspapers, I said the newspapers have no reason to complain.

Clearly, this is a money issue. I don't think the Illinois legislators who are sponsoring bills to prohibit the IHSA from restricting the newspapers from selling their pictures understand it at all. They've been cutting deals for years. Surely, they know a deal when they see it.

But the newspapers think they can do as they please while waving the U.S. Constitution in somebody's face. A VIP photographer recently attended the IHSA's state chess tournament and took pictures of every participant. Not a single newspaper showed up.

It seems to me, as a retired sportswriter for the Chicago Sun-Times, that newspapers have more serious issues to deal with these days.

Posted by Taylor Bell at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)