Underclass Players of the Year Ben Simmons, Josh Jackson and Jalek Felton made a tremendous impact this season and are selected the nation’s top players among juniors, sophomores and freshmen, respectively. The next end-of-season honors squad published with be the 20th Annual Student Sports All-American team.
[Click to continue reading]
JBC: Okafor Closes In Style
Jahlil Okafor, a Duke-bound center and the most decorated player in the 2014 class, closed out his high school career with another national all-star game MVP award. The Whitney Young of Chicago standout had 29 points and 9 rebounds to pace the East to a 158-147 victory at the Jordan Brand Classic in New York. Mr. Basketball USA Cliff Alexander shines for West club.
RELATED: Okafor Powers West At McDonald’s | Overlooked High School All-Americans | Cliff Alexander Named Mr. Basketball USA
This year’s Jordan Brand Classic was the event’s highest scoring game ever. The two clubs in one of the nation’s most prestigious national all-star games combined for a whopping 305 points as the East club defeated the West Club 158-147 Friday evening at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
[Click to continue reading]
Cliff Alexander Named Mr. Basketball USA
Cliff Alexander named 2014 Student Sports Mr. Basketball USA, Illinois’ first honoree since the 1999-2000 season and the first from Chicago since Kevin Garnett in 1995.
[Click to continue reading]
Final 2013-14 POY Tracker
The final ballots are in and the closing to Jahlil Okafor’s spectacular season tightens the Mr. Basketball USA race. Cliff Alexander, Stanley Johnson and Emmanuel Mudiay are the three candidates to appear on every ballot.
[Click to continue reading]
POY Tracker: Closing The Gap?
Mr. Basketball USA front-runner Cliff Alexander’s high school career at Curie (Chicago) is over, but the race for national player of the year is far from done. We explain the factors that can close the gap between Alexander and the other top candidates and how it can be done.
[Click to continue reading]
POY Tracker: What It Takes
With Cliff Alexander leading the 2014 Mr. Basketball USA race by a record-tying number, we decided this week was a good time to explain what it takes to be a credible national player of the year candidate. Individual talent and team success are major factors, but less obvious forces come into play.
[Click to continue reading]
POY Tracker: Alexander A Slam Dunk
With his epic performance at the recent Hoophall Classic, power forward Cliff Alexander replaces point guard Emmanuel Mudiay as the top Student Sports National Player of the Year candidate. Besides Alexander, Jahlil Okafor and Cheick Diallo garner first-place votes.
[Click to continue reading]
Like Cliff: Memorable Individual Performances
Power forward Cliff Alexander put together a memorable performance to help Curie (Chicago) knock off the No. 1 team in the Student Sports FAB 50 over MLK weekend. It was the best solo performance on a big stage in recent memory. Naturally, we dug in our memory bank and archives for the other top individual performances against a top-ranked team since the turn of the century.
[Click to continue reading]
POY Tracker: Seniors Stand Strong
The top players in the class of 2014 take center stage in the national player of the year race as the underclass players lose traction. Emmanuel Mudiay and Cliff Alexander remain the front-runners, but Jahlil Okafor and Stanley Johnson garner the most first-place votes.
[Click to continue reading]
ICYMI: Preseason Preview Content
The high school season is in full swing and we give our readers a quick reference guide to all of our preseason content. We’ll also continue our team preview series this upcoming week.
[Click to continue reading]