May 2010 Archives

If you're an Illinois basketball fan, you know that the good times have been few and far between--like 1949, 1951 and 1952, 1963, 1984, 1989, 1998, 2001 and 2002, finally 2004, 2005 and 2006.

The past decade was the most successful in Illini history, 252 victories in 10 years, a record of accomplishment that even traditional national powers Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA, Duke and North Carolina had to envy.

The talent level of the program was racheted upward. In introducing a new recruiting policity, coach Bruce Weber began to secure the borders as Harry Combes had done in the 1950s. In a short period of time, Weber and his staff demonstrated that out-of-state programs can't recruit Illinois' top prospects without a fight.

I have been covering high school basketball for 50 years and I can't remember a player who has risen so rapidly from obscurity to national prominence faster than Anthony Davis. Neither can Bob Gibbons nor Van Coleman, the national recruiting analysts who have been closer to the subject than anyone else.

Davis, a 6-10 junior at Perspectives, a charter school in the Chicago Public League's Blue-West Division, has literally come out of nowhere, as if Kobe Bryant had been discovered on a playground on the West Side. No college coach or analyst or member of the media has ever seen him play in a high school game.

But Davis made an instant and compelling and eye-opening impact at three summer events in Virginia and Indiana and all of a sudden, as fast as you can say "Who is that kid?", he is ranked as the No. 7 player in the class of 2011 by one scouting service and No. 9 in another, one spot behind the heralded Wayne Blackshear of Morgan Park.

As always, some members of the lunatic fringe of Illini Nation are in denial. Their version of history is so skewered that they think the slush fund scandal had something to do with a flood in Boneyard Creek.

Now they insist Illinois never seriously recruited Derrick Rose because, they allege, his older brother Reggie already had worked out a deal with Memphis coach John Calipari. It was similar to the conspiracy theory they alleged when Sherron Collins opted for Kansas because Crane coach Anthony Longstreet worked out a deal with Kansas coach Bill Self.

In other words, Illinois doesn't lose players; they get stolen by other colleges. If you buy into that kind of paranoia, you don't have to be an alumnus to understand why Illinois has, until basketball coach Bruce Weber picked up on the same recruiting philosophy that Calipari used to lure Rose to Memphis, rarely been in the mix for some of the nation's top-rated prospects.

It didn't take ESPN college basketball guru Andy Katz' prediction that Illinois will rank No. 15 in the nation in 2011 to stir emotions in Champaign-Urbana. It all began four years ago when coach Bruce Weber changed his recruiting philosophy and persuaded highly touted freshman Jereme Richmond to commit to the Illini program.

Remember Weber, the Gene Keady disciple who could coach but couldn't recruit? Now, in the wake of his recruiting successes in the classes of 2010 and 2011 and perceived underachieving in the Big 10, he is being described as a great recruiter who can't coach. But if Katz is right, fickle Illini Nation will fall in love with Weber once again.

Katz is asking for a lot, however. Purdue and Michigan State are rated 2-3 in his preseason evaluations behind defending NCAA champion Duke. And Ohio State recruited one of the most talented freshman classes in the country.

This contribution to journalism doesn't have anything to do with high school sports. But I'm a sports fan--all sports--and I have said for years that there isn't anything more exciting that the Stanley Cup playoffs.

And they are more exciting this year than ever before.

Yes, the Stanley Cup playoffs are more exciting that the World Series, Super Bowl, NBA finals, World Cup, Final Four, Indianapolis 500, Kentucky Derby, Daytona 500, Wimbledon and the Masters.

Call me delusional but unless you have watched a Stanley Cup, you aren't in a position to make an objective comparison.

The Proviso West Holiday Tournament will celebrate its 50th anniversary in December and officials of the state's premier high school basketball event, including coordinator Joe Spagnolo, plan to recognize the 50 greatest players in its history.

Ten years ago, for its 40th anniversary, Proviso West selected the 40 most influential people in tournament history. The list included players, coaches, administrators and media.

The 50th anniversary will be reserved for players only, the top 50. It figures that 29 spots already have been taken, awarded to 29 players who were chosen on the original top 40 list. How could one of the original inductees be left out of the 50-year celebration? And how could someone who didn't make the original list supplant someone who did?

It is easy to see why college football coaches have stepped up the recruiting process in recent years. That's because such talented freshmen as Kyle Bosch of Wheaton St. Francis and Jesse Bobbit of Palatine already are making an impact.

Bosch is a 6-5, 260-pound defensive tackle who was moved up to the varsity from the sophomore squad for the state playoff last fall. In January, he made a big-time impression at the U.S. Army underclass combine in San Antonio. The 15-year-old is attracting interest from Notre Dame, Iowa, Kansas, Penn State, Arizona, Oregon and others.

Bobbit. a 6-1, 185-pounder who wears a size 15 shoe, was Palatine's best defensive back as a freshman. He started on the varsity throughout the 2009 season and accounted for four interceptions and a blocked punt. His older brother, Cody, is a highly recruited quarterback/athlete who will be a senior in 2010.

I was interviewing one of the leading football prospects in the class of 2011 in the Chicago area for an article in the Sun-Times. When the interview was concluded, he asked me when the article would appear in the newspaper. Then he asked me a strange question:

"Will I have to pay for the article?" he asked.

I guess it's not so strange after all. It just depends on who you are talking to and who has his hand out. Recruiting has become such a big business that even some analysts, scouts and recruiting services are eager to profit at the expense of the young, highly impressionable athletes.

Almost daily, I hear horror stories from parents whose sons have been ripped off.