Illinois 2019 Class Outlook
The sophomore class is beginning to make their imprint on the state’s high school basketball scene and are getting early recruiting attention. Let’s look at the strengths and weaknesses of the 2019 class as a whole. Strengths Depth of…
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Continue ReadingThe sophomore class is beginning to make their imprint on the state’s high school basketball scene and are getting early recruiting attention. Let’s look at the strengths and weaknesses of the 2019 class as a whole.
Strengths
Depth of Potential Top 100 National Prospects. Right now there are only two consensus top 100 players in the class with Francis Okoro (Normal West) and Markese Jacobs (Uplift). We believe that multiple others will get consideration once this group is seen on the national circuits including Perry Cowan (DePaul Prep), Terrence Hargrove (East St. Louis), EJ Liddell (Belleville West), and Bryant Brown (Waukegan).
Point Guards. Like the depth at the point guard position. Kansas commit Markese Jacobs leads the way, but Kejuan Clements (Simeon), Marquise Walker (St. Joe’s), and Joseph Yesufu (Bolingbrook) are all getting D1 looks already. There are also about 10 more after them that could be in the D1 mix before it is all done.
Big Time Athletes. A ton of great athletes in this class. Anthony Fairlee (Springfield Southeast) is one of the most electric pure athletes in the state. Other elite level athletes in 2019 include Okoro, Jacobs, Hargrove, Brown, Yesufu, Chris Payton (Bloomington), LJ Johnson (Morgan Park), Isaac Stanback (Hillcrest), Karl Wright (Springfield Lanphier), and many more.
Weaknesses
Power Forward Depth. EJ Liddell from Belleville West is the only sure thing at this stage. Chris Payton is an elite athlete with upside. Spencer Boehm is very skilled. After that there is a lot of clay that needs to be molded.
Chicago Public League Stars. There are only four prospects ranked in the current top 20 from the Chicago Public League. That doesn’t mean that won’t change in the future as more prospects emerge or kids transfer, but it is a down class early on from that standpoint.