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Perhaps you noticed that Illinois' prize basketball recruit, Waukegan's Jereme Richmond, wasn't named to the ESPN/RISE Boost Mobile Elite 24 roster for the fourth annual event on Aug. 21 in New York City's Rucker Park. It will be televised via tape delay the following day on ESPNU.
The 24-man roster features most of the top-rated players in the nation in the class of 2010, including Harrison Barnes of Ames, Iowa, Ohio State-bound Jared Sullinger, Florida-bound Austin Rivers, North Carolina-bound Kendall Marshall, Texas' Tristan Thompson, Tennessee's Josh Shelby and Memphis' Will Barton.
Why didn't Richmond earn a spot?
Recruiting analyst Van Coleman of Hoopmasters.com, who has been evaluating high school players for 30 years, isn't sure why the blue-ribbon committee of ESPN scouts chose to snub Richmond. But he offered an opinion.
"He still doesn't play hard all the time," Coleman said. "He was more aggressive this summer. But he still floats in and out of games.
"In addition, he needs to improve his ball-handling and outside shot. He might be better in college than in high school. He didn't get a big bounce this year. He needs to give a consistent effort all the time and improve his jump shot, which would make his dribble drive more of a weapon.
"And he needs to get stronger, especially to play in the Big 10. He is 6-7 and weighs about 200 pounds. He needs to be 215-220. Most people rate him among the top 10-15 players in the country, as low as 17-18. But he has a great upside."
Coleman insists Richmond still is a legitimate McDonald's All-American, one of the top 24 players in the nation. He has slipped a bit because other players have improved physically and technically while Richmond hasn't. If he does and shows it during his senior season, Coleman said, he'll climb back up the charts.
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HE PLAYS LIKE SCOTTY PIPPEN AND BY ALL ACCOUNTS HE HAS HAD A GREAT SUMMER, YOU HAVEN'T HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT HIS ATTITUDE, MARK MY WORDS HE WILL HAVE A GREAT SENIOR SEASON, AND HE WILL BE THE TOAST OF THE TOWN IN CHAMPAIGN!
IF YOU THINK HE IS THE ONLY HIGH PROFILED PLAYER LEFT OFF OF THAT LIST, THINK AGAIN, HE HAS THE WORLD BY THE TAIL, ALL HE HAS TO DO IS HOLD ON TIGHT, AND THE REST IS EASY!
ALSO THIS PROBABLY MEANS NO ONE FROM ILLINOIS MADE THE CUT!ASK THE FINE CITIZENS OF WAUKEGAN WHAT THEY THINK OF JEREME AND THAT HALF-COURT SHOT HE MADE LAST SEASON?
THE BIG TEN IS TAYLOR-MADE FOR MR. RICHMOND!
HERE ARE SOME FACTS ABOUT THIS GAME AND THE PARTICIPANTS, THIS ISN'T ABOUT JEREME RICHMOND!
1. THERE ARE NO PARTICIPANTS FROM ILLINOIS!
2. THERE ARE 14 PLAYERS FROM THE EASTCOAST IN THE GAME!
3. TWO ARE FROM OAK HILL ACADEMY AND TWO ARE FROM FINDLAY
PREP, AND ONE FROM BREWSTER ACADEMY!
4. ONLY THREE PLAYERS FROM THE WESTCOAST!
5. ONE PLAYER FROM AIMES, IOWA AND ONE FROM WICHITA,KS
ONE FROM MEMPHIS,TN AND ONE FROM COLUMBUS,OHIO
6. 4 PLAYERS FROM THE CLASS OF 2011
7. 2 PLAYERS FROM THE CLASS OF 2012
THIS COMMENT ABOUT JEREME RICHMOND HAS TO STEP UP IS A BUNCH OF GARBAGE, IT LOOKS LIKE EVERYONE IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS NEEDS TO STEP UP ACCORDING TO WHOMEVER IS RUNNING THIS ESPN SPECIAL, WHEN YOU HAVE 6 PLAYERS NOT EVEN IN THE CLASS OF 2010 GETTING THE NOD BEFORE JEREME AND ANY PLAYER IN ILLINOIS, SOMETHING STINKS, SO CANCEL THE NEGATIVITY ABOUT JEREME, BECAUSE THERE IS NO LOVE FOR THE STATE OF ILLINOIS ACCORDING TO ESPN/RUCKER PARK OFFICIALS, BUT REMEMBER JEREME IS STILL CONSIDERED A MACDONLDS ALL-AMERICAN BUT HE CAN'T PLAY IN THE PARK AUGUST 21ST!
SO TELL VAN COLEMAN TO KEEP HIS OPINIONS TO HIMSELF AND TELL THE TRUTH NEXT TIME, THIS IS AND EAST COAST AFFAIR, AND JEREME HAD NO CHANCE OF BEING INVITED IN THE FIRST PLACE!
NO REGGIE SMITH, NO CRANDALL HEAD, NO MACARI BROOKS, TELL THEM TO GO TO CHICAGHOOPS.COM AND LOOK AT ALL THAT TALENT THEY ARE SLEEPING ON BIGTIME!
I CAN'T WAIT FOR THOSE NEW YORK BOYS TO COME TO CHITOWN FOR THAT WENDY'S GAME, PAYBACK IS A DOG!
For the past 4 years we have been hearing how good this kid is, there is no doubt from watching him play and hearing of all the amazing things he does on the court that he has all the talent in the world and will probably be a great college and pro player one day. What gets to me is to hear that "He still doesn't play hard all the time" and "he still floats in and out of games". If basketball is your passion and what you live to do then playing hard should be the easiest thing in the world. Sports writers have been knocking this kid for not playing hard for as long as I've heard of Jereme. Before writers mention he needs work on his jump shot and he needs to get bigger they say "He still doesnt play hard". Does anyone know what the problem is? I've read in interviews that Jereme has had that he wants to go to the NBA, not playing hard will get you a spot on the bench in the league or a spot in the D-Leauge and Jereme is better than that. Jereme, You can be mentioned in the same sentence as Wade, Richardson, and Maggette, all NBA player and great IL HS basketball players. Play hard now because if you dont you will regret it later!!! Thanks for the post Taylor, Maybe being left off this elite team will wake Jereme up and bring the best out of him ALL THE TIME. Good luck to all the Lake County Area teams this coming winter.
Have any of you thought to do some research? Jereme probably wasn't chosen in the game because HE WAS CHOSEN LAST YEAR AND DECIDED NOT TO PLAY!!!!!!! The organizers probably didn't want to get burned two years in a row so decided not to pick him for this years game. RICHMOND will be fine and have a good career at Illinois(if he even goes to college). He needs to get some more weight and fine tune his jumper I agree with those assessments. But Jereme reminds me of George Gervin that it LOOKS like he's not playing hard but he's giving it an honest effort every time he takes the floor. I have watched him play since 7th grade and he'll be fine. Taylor doesn't like Jereme anyway so I am not surprised by this.
In all fairness to the kid, has anybody taken into consideration that the kid's inconsistent effort is due to the fact that he is tired, both physically and mentally? I saw him a couple of times this summer and that was my impression. We have to keep in mind that these kids are playing between 100 to 150 games during the spring and summer seasons. Couple that with the thousands of miles of travel and the steady diet of hot dogs and hot wings and it's no wonder that the play we see is at times lackadasical and uninspired. The NBA plays an 82 game schedule over the course of 7 months and these children are playing over 100 games in 4, what do we expect? As a scout, how do you get a good read on a kid playing his ninth game in 3 days? Has anyone asked themselves why a kid can look all-world one day and play the total opposite the next? They are tired!!!
I just spoke to a guy who told me that his 10-year old son recently played in a tournament and played ten games in two days!! The sad thing about it is no one sees anything wrong with pushing these children beyond normal physical and mental limits in hopes of getting a college scholarship. Personally, I feel bad for these kids when I take into consideratiion what they are missing out on in order to simply play a sport. We are sending our kids the absolute wrong message by focusing on solely developing physical talent. Unfortunately so many of them are going to learn the hard way that you can't make it in this world on talent alone.
Some very good comments here...politics is certainly part of the equation. Don't play in my tournament, event or on my team and I downgrade your rating....agree that guys like Richmond play way too many games in summer...tough to gain weight and muscle when you are playing 100-120 games in four months or so.
However, go back and look at the high school championship game against Whitney Young and you will see why people might question his passion. In the first half he looked totally out-of-synch, partly because of WY's defensive plan, but partly because JR wasn't dominating, wasn't playing his game. He wasn't playing up to the level of his competition. Top answer your question, Yes, I was at the game.
Certainly guys like JR are so athletic, so talented and so efficient that they may look like they are not playing hard when, in fact, they are. Perhaps that is the case here. Perhaps it is just the maturation process he is under going. I wish him the best this year and hope that he will dominate every game in which he plays. That is the best way for him to extinguish these criticisms.
MR. BELL,
I really enjoy reading your post, blogs and comments regarding the sport we (The Richmond family) have loved for a lifetime. As any fan of the game would agree, we don't always read what is real or truthful every time we read. However, we do expect the facts regarding certain things that are written. People trust and admire factual information
For the record, Jereme WAS invited to the ESPN/RISE Boost Mobile Elite 24 for the second year in a row. He didn't "SNUB" anyone. It's an honor to be selected to play at Rucker Park and Jereme would've loved to have been in such an environment. The IHSA has a rule that won't allow a Student Athlete with remaining eligibility to compete in this event. That's it Folks. Very simple but wrong. The IHSA should revamp the rule so that in the future, more Illinois Players can participate in events that recognize the gifts and talents these young men have. He was featured in the publication last year and keeps BOTH invitations and all the accolades associated with the event very close to his heart. Thank you ESPN/RISE and Boost Mobile for the invitationS to your prestigious event for two consecutive years. My Bell, Please call me next time, I'd be happy to clear things up for you. Or you can contact Nididi Massay/Event Coordinator @ ESPN/RISE for further validation. If you need to.
Respectfully submitted,
Bil Richmond