Chi-Town Tip Off: Illinois Under the Radar Guards

<p>As this weeks coverage has shown. The stars were out in full force at the Chi-Town Tip Off. But the depth of the field is what made it a must see event. Several non-shoe affiliated players turned in some outstanding performances. Following are five that caught my eye. </p> <p><b>[player_tooltip player_id="1048386" first="Jaloni" last="Johnson"] 6-4 Proviso East (pictured at top of article) </b>Johnson is a top-40 player in the state of Illinois. So I wouldn’t exactly call him “under the radar”. But for this particular weekend he was little off the beaten path. Played with Flee Club Hoops and was not listed in the program. But has the type of game that makes you take notice. A taller wing that had the ability to shoot over most defenders this past weekend. Also was an adept ball handler. These two factors combined allowed him to get to his spots easily on the perimeter. Got red hot in the second half of a Saturday night victory against Next Generation Gold. Second half 21 point outburst featured three straight from deep at one point. Finished with 29 points in the nail biting victory. Closed out the weekend with another impressive offensive outing against Wisconsin PG Elite. </p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/04/8983A73E-EAF0-4AEB-980C-FF3F7A91248B-rotated.jpeg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1435834" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/04/8983A73E-EAF0-4AEB-980C-FF3F7A91248B-225x300.jpeg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /></a></p> <p><b>Bryon Pullen 6-0 Proviso East </b>Another Proviso East guard. Younger brother of former Kansas St standout Jacob Pullen. That’s not why I put him here. That point will become constructive later. I’m placing him here simply because he played well for Illinois Drive Elite. Not a lightning quick point guard. But has a strong athletic frame. Penetrated at will in a victory over in a victory over Illinois Attack Moore. Absorbed contact well and finished through contact. Finished with 24 points in that contest. Followed that up by leading a come from behind victory against the Michigan Goonies early Sunday morning. While Pullen does not have a ton or recruiting momentum right now. I brought up the career of Jacob Pullen to highlight the point that this prospect could be a late bloomer.,While the Kansas St commitment indicates that you are highly sought after player. I don’t think many envisioned Jacob Pullen having the type of career he would go on to have in Manhattan. Byron Pullen has a long ways to go to get to that level. But if he improves his quickness and outside shot. He already has the physical pedigree that could make a college coach happy that he took a chance. </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="989271" first="Mekhi" last="Cooper"] <b>6-1 Bolingbrook </b>All around guard had strong weekend for Team Flight. Lanky frame makes him appear taller than his listed height. Also makes him a factor on the defensive end. Scored 11 points in a close lost to Peoria Pride. But it was his clutch play on the last game of the weekend that stood out to me. Keyed some big possessions both offensively and defensively as Team Flight held off furious come back by Team Iowa. </p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/04/Mekhi-Doby-PHC.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1433432" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/04/Mekhi-Doby-PHC-300x241.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="241" /></a></p> <p><b>[player_tooltip player_id="1215293" first="Mekhi" last="Doby"] 6-2 2023 Rockford Guilford </b>Doby had a good weekend playing for an Illinois Elite that featured players from national prep powerhouse Hillcrest Prep of Arizona. With players like <b>Xavier Harris </b>(Colorado) and <b>Malachi Wright </b>(Philadelphia). It would have been easy for Doby to get lost in the shuffle or fall into a complementary role. After getting off to a slow start on Friday. Really seemed to settle in on Saturday. Scored 21 points in his squads only loss on the weekend to Team Rose 3SSB. Then wrapped things up on Sunday with 13 points in a win over a very GRIII Elite (IN) unit. Defensively helped held the GRIII duo of <b>Kayden Vasko </b>and <b>AJ Lux</b> largely in check. </p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/04/3E939726-8391-4666-A75F-08A4F086EA6C-rotated.jpeg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1435830" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/04/3E939726-8391-4666-A75F-08A4F086EA6C-225x300.jpeg" alt="" width="225" height="300" />  </a><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/04/E9AD9697-A451-4344-8F4C-9E2548BBBBB7-rotated.jpeg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1435831" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/04/E9AD9697-A451-4344-8F4C-9E2548BBBBB7-225x300.jpeg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /></a></p> <p><b>Brayden Fagbemi 6-0 (pictured at Left) </b>and <b>Sam Driscoll 6-2 Benet Academy (pictured at right) </b>Had to list these two as tandem because of how well they played together for Illinois Attack Chapman. Needless to say when I was going through my program I was not surprised at all to find out they were high school teammates. Fagbemi is an aggressive pass first point guard with a solid handle. As God’s Gift 2023 staged a furious Saturday comeback. They keyed in on stopping his dribble drive game. This opened seams for Driscoll to exploit. Was an hard back door cutter. And Fagbemi was good at finding him. Showed good elevation at the rim and had a important high flying tip in. Fagbemi finished with 16 in that contest. While Driscoll finished with 11. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p>