Takeaways from State Finals

The high school basketball season is officially over! What were our takeaways from the final four in Champaign?   Yorkville Christian Schedule Prepared for 1A State Title Run It would have been easy for Yorkville Christian to schedule easy small school opponents and go undefeated this season. They are not in a conference and can schedule whoever they want. Having the top senior in the state in [player_tooltip player_id="863582" first="Jaden" last="Schutt"] along with a ton of other college prospects they traveled the state playing in high profile shootouts and scheduled regular games against 3A and 4A powerhouses along with top competition from out of state. The analogy I like here is when you swing a weighted bat in the on deck circle and then at the plate your swing goes much faster. That was them in the playoffs. They won every game by double digits and other than the championship none were really in question ever.   2A Games Were Low Scoring Nashville won the 2A state championship by scoring a combined 63 points in 10 periods of basketball. They did it their way. They made up for their lack of offense with stellar defense. Most outside of the 618 don’t realize it but Nashville made the championship game in football and is an all-around southern Illinois small school power in all sports.   Could We See Rematch in 3A Next Year? In the 3A championship game central Illinois foes Metamora and Sacred Heart Griffin treated fans to a classic double OT game with a game winning three at the buzzer. Guess what you could easily see if again next year as the cores are back for both squads. SGH won it behind the play of juniors [player_tooltip player_id="1113521" first="Zack" last="Hawkinson"], [player_tooltip player_id="989267" first="Jake" last="Hamilton"], Keshon Singleton, and Will Hamilton. Metamora will return stars [player_tooltip player_id="939065" first="Ethan" last="Kizer"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1371068" first="Tyson" last="Swanson"] to go along with up and coming role players in Drew Tucker, Tyler mason, and Matthew Zobrist.   2022 Glenbard West or 2013 Simeon…..Who Ya Got? Glenbard West did what they were expected to. They rolled everyone in the state tournament including national power Whitney Young in the championship game. Now that it is complete where does this 37-1 team stack up against past historic teams? I have been covering Illinois hoops as a profession since 2011. I would say this team is right there with the best I have ever seen along with 2013 Simeon. That group was stacked with future NBA players Jabari Parker and Kendrick Nunn to go along with high-major players Jaylon Tate, Russell Woods, and Kendall Pollard in the starting five. It also had future college standouts Zack Norvell, Ben Coupet, DJ Williams, Josh Thomas, Donte Ingram, and Ed Morrow who were reserves or barely played. Obviously this Glenbard West group only has one high-major player in [player_tooltip player_id="925183" first="Braden" last="Huff"] and the ’13 Wolverines had five high-major seniors. The thing that this group has in common with that one is they were so good as a unit. Glenbard West shared the ball. Didn’t care who had the big night. They stepped up to the moment every single time. I think if you put Huff, Caden Piece, [player_tooltip player_id="863598" first="Bobby" last="Durkin"], [player_tooltip player_id="1106936" first="Ryan" last="Renfro"], and [player_tooltip player_id="996070" first="Paxton" last="Warden"] on the floor with that Simeon team it would have been an all-time classic.   Biggest Stock Boosters? There were several players that will get bumps off their performances at state. The senior who stood out the most was Brarrington’s [player_tooltip player_id="1106946" first="Will" last="Grudzinski"]. The Wash U commit is a player we have seen quite a bit, but the way he performed against Whitney Young as an inside/outside threat will earn him a boost in the final rankings. Nobody helped themselves more than Sacred Heart Griffin junior [player_tooltip player_id="1113521" first="Zack" last="Hawkinson"]. We have him way too low right now in the rankings. Powerful combo forward that plays with physicality around the hoop. Need to see his perimeter game improve this summer as a shooter but loved his double double play in Champaign. Bolingbrook 2023 point guard [player_tooltip player_id="989271" first="Mekhi" last="Cooper"] showed he can play with the big boys hitting shots against the length of GBW and made several nice passes even in a loss.   How Were Top Uncommitted Prospect? The top available prospect on the board in 2022 is [player_tooltip player_id="863598" first="Bobby" last="Durkin"]. The Glenbard West forward reopened his recruitment about a month ago. He put college coaches on notice as the 6’7” combo forward bombed in a state record seven threes in the semis for 30 points. He will play out the spring during the lives and we expect him to end up at a mid-major. Simeon’s [player_tooltip player_id="771517" first="Jaylen" last="Drane"] was the other highly ranked D1 uncommitted prospect. He had a nice stretch in their semi final game against Metamora doing what he does best taking it to the rack with athleticism. Will be interesting to see how his recruitment plays out over the next couple months after a big senior season.   Lots of Small College Talent Still on Board There are a ton of small college coaches that attended the state finals. Some of the players who helped their stock and should see their recruitments start to elevate include Michal Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook), [player_tooltip player_id="1106938" first="Saxton" last="Hoepker"] (Nashville), [player_tooltip player_id="1049101" first="Zack" last="Schroeder"] (Metamora), and [player_tooltip player_id="1106932" first="Daniel" last="Hong"] (Barrington).   Race for #1 in Final 2022 Rankings? Only one thing left for us with the 2022 class and that will be the final rankings. They will be unveiled in the next couple weeks. The top two players in the class [player_tooltip player_id="863582" first="Jaden" last="Schutt"] and [player_tooltip player_id="925183" first="Braden" last="Huff"] both won state titles. Huff made a compelling case to jump Schutt with his play this season in a Player of the Year campaign. Will it happen?   Chicago Catholic League and Public League Schools Struggle It was not what the Chicago Catholic League or Chicago Public League basketball fan was hoping for at state. They were favored to come home with three championships. Instead they saw three of their teams lose in the semis and other in finals. Without counting the third place games the CCL and CPS teams went 1-4.   Central Illinois and Suburbs Teams Shine On the other hand there was great representation across the state with teams from all over winning championships. Southern Illinois small school power Nashville took home the 2A crown. Sacred Heart Griffin edged out fellow central Illinois school Metamora in a double OT championship for 3A. Chicago western suburban schools Yorkville Christian and Glenbard West nabbed 1A and 4A.   Rating New Format and City What did we think of the new three day format? I liked it overall. Having the four championship games with a small break in between on Saturday was a nice feel. I liked having the semis back to back days. The biggest issue remains having the 3rd place games in primetime slots on Thursday and Friday. Doesn’t seem like that would help getting locals with no rooting interest in the seats on those days. As far as the move to Champaign most believe it was a success. Good crowds on Saturday for the championships. Centrally located across the state for everyone to get to.