Montgomery gave Northern Iowa an oral commitment Monday night after a weekend visit. He chose the Panthers over Northeastern and Cleveland State.

"It's a nice academic school and I really liked the campus," Montgomery said. "They have a lot of the things I was looking for. It's going to be a good fit for me."

Montgomery is the third Lincoln Park senior to pick up a scholarship, following Michael Thompson (Northwestern) and J. J. Henley (Wisconsin-Green Bay).

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Simeon star Derrick Rose wrapped up his prep career last weekend with a state title and a wave to the crowd. His future seemed settled, he would play in a couple of all-star games this spring and then head off to Memphis.

That could be changing.

Tubby Smith’s resignation at Kentucky could have a significant effect on Rose’s future. Memphis coach John Calipari is considered one of the top candidates for the Kentucky job. Rose signed a National Letter of Intent with Memphis in November. He could ask to be released from his letter of intent if Calipari leaves, but those requests aren’t always granted.

‘‘I feel that if Calipari did leave that the university would show us respect and release Derrick from the letter of intent,’’ said Reggie Rose, who is Derrick’s brother.

According to Reggie Rose, Derrick’s recruiting would be re-opened if Calipari left Memphis.

‘‘We would sit down with the new coach and give him a chance,’’ Rose said. ‘‘You never know, Derrick might buy into the new coach. He really liked it down there.’’

As of Thursday afternoon, the Rose's hadn’t heard anything from Calipari. ‘‘I think if he was considering leaving he would give us a call,’’ Rose said.

It’s too early to speculate about which schools would be in the running for Rose if Calipari left Memphis, but Reggie Rose did let something slip. ‘

‘We may have to get back on the highway and head down to Champaign,’’ Rose said.

Reggie Rose didn’t mention it, but it is also possible that Derrick would follow Calipari to Kentucky.

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Thomas, who won a city title at Westinghouse, will sign with the Hoosiers in April. He will join former Westinghouse teammate Jamarcus Ellis, Crane's Brandon McGee and Indianapolis North Central phenom Eric Gordon at Indiana next season.

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Stevenson 57, Rockford Boylan 41

Stevenson led by eight at the half and then held the Titans scoreless in the third quarter.

Lee scored 17, Dylan Richter added 13 and junior guard Kevin Stineman had 12 points.

Stephon Valentine had 10 for Boylan and UIC recruit Tori Boyd added seven points and seven rebounds.

Stevenson and O'Fallon will play in the first semifinal game tomorrow.

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O'Fallon 48, Lockport 45

PEORIA—Bruce Durham, Lockport’s 5-11 guard, isn’t the best shooter or the best athlete on the team. But for the past three seasons, he’s been the heart of the Porters’ program, helping them grow from a fledgling eight-win team into a 22-win squad that came within one shot of playing on the last day of the season.

So it’s only fitting that Lockport’s fate rested in Durham’s hands. He had two shots to tie the game, a floater in the lane with 15 seconds to play and a three-point shot from the top of the key with three seconds left on the clock. Neither shot would drop as O’Fallon defeated the Porters 48-45 in the first state quarterfinal at Carver Arena in Peoria on Friday.

The Porters trailed most of the game before roaring back in the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run to take the lead.

Sexauer led the Porters (22-8) with 14 points and Durham scored 13. The team shot only 35 percent from the field.

The Panthers (27-7) only made two jump shots in the entire game. The first was a three by Mike Malat with 1:58 to play in the third quarter. The second was another three from Malat with 28 seconds to play that put O’Fallon ahead 47-45.

The Porters were expecting O’Fallon to try to work the ball into the post and were unable to adjust.

Jared Woolfolk led the Panthers with 16 points. Leverette finished with 14 and Brad Copelin, a 6-7 senior, added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Brian Bradley, Lockport’s leading scorer, was held to just seven points and seven rebounds. He didn’t score until late in the third quarter.

The Porters turned the ball over 18 times, leading to 19 points for O’Fallon.

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Panthers 26, Porters 17...

Leverette, a 6-3 junior, is being recruited by Southern Illinois and Marquette.

Lockport allowed too many transition baskets in the first half, as the Panthers were off to the races. They didn't hit a jump shot in the first half, but lead by nine points.

6-7 center Brad Copelin has been a force with nine points and five rebounds.

Mark Siwa leads Lockport with six points, he drained two three pointers.

Posted by Michael O'Brien at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Live updates coming from Peoria all weekend long...

Lockport vs. O'Fallon, the first quarterfinal, is about to tip off.

The starters:

Lockport
Mark Siwa
Bruce Durham
Ayman Atieh
Doug Sexauer
Brian Bradley

O'Fallon
Mike Malat
Brad Copelin
Keith Burton
Kenny Leverette
Brock Conley

Posted by Michael O'Brien at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Joe Henrickson of the City/Suburban Hoops Report sets the record straight...

From Henrickson's blog:

If I hear one more time, just one more quote coming out of the IHSA saying "this is what the membership wanted," I am going to lose it. What in the world are they basing this on? Is it the ridiculous survey the IHSA sent out to schools around the state with many other topics and questions packed into the very same survey? Is it that same survey that only 38 percent of the roughly 800 IHSA member schools responded to?

This has been pointed out time and time again by the Hoops Report. And it will continue to be pointed out as long as statements like "this is what the membership wanted" are spewed out of the mouths of the people that, deep down, want four classes. Think about it. If we're talking 38 percent of 800 that is right around 300 schools that responded.

Of the 38 percent that did respond, 64 percent of those schools (64 percent of 300 schools) voted in favor of expanding to four classes. That means that of the roughly 800 member schools in this state, right around 192 of them were definitively in favor of expanding from two to four classes. That is less than 25 percent of the schools! So how can we be so positively sure that "this is what the membership wanted?"

Check out Henrickson's entire post here: http://citysuburbanhoopsreport.blogspot.com/2007/03/four-class-hard-feelings-wont-go-away.html

Posted by Michael O'Brien at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

Curran resigned Monday. Next season he will likely take over the program at the new Lincoln-Way North high school...

“I resigned [Monday] from Thornwood,” Curran said. “It’s not 100 percent sure with Lincoln-Way yet. It still needs to go through the school board, they have to approve it.”

Curran was an assistant under head coach Kevin Hayhurst in 2001 when Thornwood, led by Eddy Curry, lost to Schaumburg in the Class AA state title game. He became head coach when Hayhurst resigned after the 2002 season.

“[Lincoln-Way North] is closer to home, it just seemed like a good move,” Curran said. “It allows me to still coach and spend more time with my family, so it’s a good fit.”

Curran, considered one of the top young coaches in the state, led the Thunderbirds to a second place finish in the Class AA state tournament in 2003, his first season on the job. Thornwood lost in the title game to Peoria Central, led by current Los Angeles Clipper Shaun Livingston.

“Bob has been a great coach for us,” Lagesse said. “If the money you see at the college level trickled down to the high school level, he'd be a $3-4 million coach. He did a tremendous job here. I just walked around all day thinking about the loss."

The Thunderbirds also advanced to the state quarterfinals last season and finished fourth. Curran’s overall record over six years was 103-48.

“It’s a great move for Bob and his family,” Lagesse said. “I have two years left and wish he would have stayed.”

Thornwood lost to Thornton on Friday in the Thornton sectional championship game to finish the season 23-7.

The Thunderbirds were a senior-laden team this year, but the school has produced a steady stream of talent over the past twenty years.

“As far as a replacement, we don't do anything without talking to the district office,” Lagesse said.

Posted by Michael O'Brien at 12:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The last games of the season in high school gyms, with everything on the line...

GLENBARD WEST vs. EAST AURORA: Who is Tramell Weathersby? The freshman scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds last night against Wheaton North. Apparently, the Tomcats have been underrated all season long. Shaun Collins can shoot it and Justin Tiner is scoring in bucketloads as well. The Hilltoppers counter with 6-7 John Shurna. I haven't seen either of these teams this season, so it's tough to make a prediction.

NEUQUA VALLEY vs. LOCKPORT: I like the Porters in this one. Neuqua is fundamentally sound, a very fun basketball team to watch, I just don't think they have the talent to keep up with Bruce Durham and Brian Bradley. Doug Sexauer, a 6-6 center, is a monster on the boards.

STEVENSON vs. BUFFALO GROVE: Speaking of underrated, Stevenson is the real deal. Jong Lee has a deadly midrange jumper.

WARREN vs. ZION-BENTON: It's easy to smell upset in this won. There is no reason Warren shouldn't be playing for the state title eight days. They have it all. Stud point guard/leader: Ceola Clark. Deadly sharpshooter: Logan Derrick. Defensive stopper: Shannon Adams. Inside presence: 6-7 Julian Jones. Bench strength: 6-4 soph sensation Brandon Paul. The problem is, the Z-B's just might have their number. In late January, the Blue Devils beat Z-B 55-54. If anything, Z-B is much better since then. They are stocked with a number of talented freshman and sophomores that are starting to mature. Keep a close eye on this game.

LAKE PARK vs. CONANT: The Lancers pretty much owned Conant in the matchup earlier this season. However, the game was in Roselle and the Cougars were without Matt Collins. Lake Park is playing brilliantly, Andre Lewis and Mike Balleto are scoring forces. But I like Conant in this one.

CRANE vs MARSHALL. A West Side war. This one should be exciting. Can Crane keep up their magical playoff run? The game is bound to be close, but if the Commandos play with the same spirit they did on Wednesday night, there are very few teams in the state that can keep up with them. Expect to see Ryan Hare, Mike Stovall and Darius Smith in Peoria.

NEW TRIER vs EVANSTON: Evanton smacked around New Trier the last time out. But the Trevians basically dominated Loyola, one of the area's top teams on Tuesday. This battle of Central Suburban rivals should be a nail-biter.

THORNWOOD vs THORNTON: When will people finally start to learn? Every year in February all the Thornwood doubters come out of the woodwork, then every March, Bob Curran and Co. are in the state quarterfinals. Thornton is talented. They could pull this one off, but something tells me the battle-tested, experienced play of Reggie Hamilton, Trey Blue and Cameron Snelling will be too much for the Wildcats to handle.

HILLCREST vs BLOOM: I don't think anyone in the state thought as highly of Bloom as I did in the preseason. I ranked them #5, behind only Simeon, Marshall, St. Joseph and Thornwood. Then the Blazing Trojans went out and had a disappointing regular season, dropping out of the rankings altogether. Now, all of a sudden, they are making a run. Bloom beat Joliet by 20 points and knocked off Homewood-Flossmoor last night by nine. They will face Hillcrest tomorrow in the sectional final at Joliet. All the pieces are there with point guard Jamal Daniel, 6-8 center Jawan Nelson, Western Illinois recruit Larry Dumas, 6-8 Delvron Johnson and 6-4 senior Jamal Farmer.

ST. JOSEPH vs. PROVISO EAST: The Chargers won the first two, but I like the Pirates in the one that matters. St. Joseph just turns the ball over too much to go on a deep March run. As usual, the game will probably come down to the final shot.

SIMEON vs LEO: This could be a lot more interesting than expected. The Lions will not be intimidated by the top-ranked team in the state. Stan Simpson needs to have a monster game, Tony Topps and Kevin Woods need to be red-hot from outside. A lot has to go right for the upset to happen, but it isn't inconcievable.

Posted by Michael O'Brien at 09:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Forget the rumors, the freshman phenom is staying at North Shore...

Ever since North Shore's loss in the Class A state playoffs, rumors have swirled that Richmond was transferring. According to Jereme's father Bill, it's just rumors and you can expect Richmond back at North Shore next season.

Richmond, who averaged 31.7 points and 14 rebounds per game, was named to the Sun-Times Class A All-State first team. The entire team will be announced in Friday's paper.

Posted by Michael O'Brien at 09:57 AM | Permalink |