ILLINOIS PREP REPORT
by Clark Francis, Editor & Publisher of the HOOP SCOOP; G.J. King, Publisher of The Recruiter Online and Illinois Prep Basketball Web Site;   et al.

THE HOOP SCOOP RANKS 'EM: RANKING OF THE TOP PLAYERS IN ILLINOIS

THERE'S A NEW KID ON THE BLOCK IN ILLINOIS

by Clark Francis, Editor & Publisher of the HOOP SCOOP

                When Larry Butler parted ways with Mac Irvin and adidas three years ago, the balance of power in the state of Illinois shifted dramatically.  Sure, Irvin had his share of the top players, like Leon Smith, Steve Hunter, Reo Logan, 6'2 Imari Sawyer from Chicago (Martin Luther King) IL, 6'11 Chris Alexander from Harvey (Thornton) IL, and 6'2 Jr Levar Seals from Chicago (Providence-St. Mel) IL, but at the same time Butler was establishing the Illinois Warriors as one of the premier AAU programs in the nation.   Among their accomplishments were the championship at the Spiece Run'N-Slam at West Lafayette, IN three years ago, the championship at the NIKE Peach Jam in Augusta, GA two years ago, the championship at the NIKE Tournament Champions in San Diego, CA two years ago, and second place finishes in the National 17-Under AAU Tournament in Orlando, FL, the Five-Star Tournament in Staten Island, NY, and a semi-final  finish in the NIKE Tournament of Champions in San Diego, CA all last summer.
                But now it looks like there is a new kid on the block, as Illinois Gold head coach Stan White has done the same thing to Butler that Butler did to Irvin three years ago.   He's broken off and taken one of the premier player in the nation - 6'11 Jr Eddy Curry from South Holland (Thornwood) IL-  with him.  He also has a tremendous supporting cast, which includes 6'6 Jr Najeeb Echols from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL, 5'10 Jr Jason Straight from Chicago (Dunbar) IL, 6'5 Jr Marcellus Sommerville from Peoria (Central) IL, all of whom rank among our top 100 nationally.  However, unlike Butler, White didn't jump ship to a rival shoe company.  Instead, he simply had a falling out with Butler and took most of his best juniors with him.  As a result, it looks like the adidas ABCD Camp will be the big winner, because that's where all of White's players are going.  As a matter of fact, two of our competitors, Roy and Harv Schmidt of the Illinois Prep Bulls-Eye Report and All-Star Sports, think adidas will be so well stocked with talent from Illinois that they plan to bypass the NIKE All-American altogether and will spend the entire week at adidas.
                But the balance of power may shift again back to Butler or Irvin after this year, because White doesn't have a feeder program to sustain is program over a long period of time, which might explain why neither NIKE or adidas has signed him up with a long term contract.  However, there are rumors that White intends to approach Chicago (Crane) IL head coach Anthony Longstreet about helping start a younger team, which would be centered around his outstanding group of freshman, which includes 6'7 Frosh Lorenzo Thompson, 6'1 Frosh Tremel Gilot from Chicago (Crane) IL, 6'5 Frosh Florentino Valencia from Chicago (Crane) IL, 5'7 Frosh Carl Marshall from Chicago (Crane) IL, all of whom rank among our top five freshman in the state of Illinois, as well as among our top 30 freshman nationally.  As a matter of fact, Longstreet has brought in such a talented freshman class that many feel he has overtaken Chicago (Martin Luther King) IL head coach Landon "Sonny" Cox as the premier recruiter in the Chicago.
                    Speaking of the Class of 2003, the freshman class appears to be the best class in the state of Illinois.  Better even than the senior class, which features 6'9 Darius Miles from East St. Louis (H.S.) IL, 6'3 Cedrick Banks from Chicago (Westinghouse) IL, 6'8 Andre Brown from Chicago (Leo) IL, and 6'2 Imari Sawyer (Martin Luther King) IL, all of whom rank among our top 20 seniors nationally.  It may not be as deep as the junior class and it doesn't have a potential NBA superstar, like Curry, but the junior class only has one other player (Echols) who ranks among our top 25 nationally.  The sophomore class in Illinois features 6'2 Soph Sean Dockery from Chicago (Julian) IL, who has had a monster spring and, as a result, still ranks among our top five sophomores nationally.   But after Dockery, the sophomore class Illlinois is weak at best, as a number of guy, like 6'8 Soph Michael Thompson from New Lenox (Providence) IL, 6'7 Soph Marcus White from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL, nad 6'7 Soph Stanley Gaines from Chicago (Providence-St. Mel) IL have yet to live to there earlier reputations.  As a result, 5'10 Soph Dan Brown from Maywood (Proviso East) IL now is ranked as our #2 sophomore in the state almost by default