Chi-Town Tip Off: Illinois Storylines

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Annually the Chi-Town Tip Off is a must attend event for competition and coverage for Illinois teams.&nbsp; This year was no different.&nbsp; PHI had all five of our scouts in the gyms for this event.&nbsp; In my final breakdown of the event we look at the themes from the event here in <strong>Chi-Town Tip Off: Top Storylines</strong>!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mt. Carmel Next Group Emerges</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With the graduation of [player_tooltip player_id='2105179' first='Grant' last='Best'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1385307' first='Cameron' last='Thomas'] Mt. Carmel needs some players to step up next year next to senior to be guard [player_tooltip player_id='1845357' first='Noah' last='Mister'] and potentially football All-American [player_tooltip player_id='2323290' first='Claude' last='Mpouma'].&nbsp; We found multiple players that will be making an impact for the Caravan.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='2440187' first='Adam' last='McBrearty'] is a sharp shooter with size that lit it up from three for [program_tooltip program_id='2452456' first='Mac' last='Irvin Fire'] 16U in one game.&nbsp; On [program_tooltip program_id='2414566' first='Mike' last='Glennon Elite'] 17U they boast two players that should contribute in [player_tooltip player_id='2832909' first='Charlie' last='Wingate'] and Luke Seagroves.&nbsp; Wingate is a plus shooter as a two guard with a good overall skill package.&nbsp; Luke Seagroves is the coaches son and will be a floor stretcher as a 6'6” face up four that can shoot and pass.&nbsp; On the 16U Mike Glennon team it was 6'3” thick wing [player_tooltip player_id='2490487' first='Torrey' last='Barrett'] who lit up the nets from three along with cleaning up points on the boards.&nbsp; The last one we saw was 2028 small forward [player_tooltip player_id='2877491' first='Marshaun' last='Thornton'].&nbsp; He is an elite national football recruit, but we saw him with the Fire 15U and he is more than capable of providing defense, rebounding, athleticism, and slashing.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>AyoDosElite 15U Big Weekend</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was a big weekend for the AyoDosElite going 4-1 on the weekend with their founder Bulls star Ayo Dosunmu on the sidelines helping coach the team.&nbsp; They got top competition in Pool A and lived up to the billing winning 3 games and then a thriller in their cross pool matchup.&nbsp; It was a weekend that saw their three guards [player_tooltip player_id='2834186' first='Nigel' last='Moore'] (Peoria), [player_tooltip player_id='2834050' first='Jaivyn' last='Richardson'] (Whitney Young), and [player_tooltip player_id='2531995' first='Eze' last='Nwagwu'] (St. Rita) all play at a high level.&nbsp; Big man [player_tooltip player_id='2384522' first='Elijah' last='Shim'] also showed a lot of promise.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>So Many New Names Emerge</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The number of players with notes to add them to our next rankings update in my notebook was easily over 50 throughout the weekend.&nbsp; This is my favorite part finding emerging talent that will be making an impact on the high school basketball scene.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2531961' first='Amarion' last='Smith-Holley'] Ranked Too Low at #4 in 28?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We were extremely aggressive ranking Richwoods point guard [player_tooltip player_id='2531961' first='Amarion' last='Smith-Holley'] at #4 overall.&nbsp; It was clear he was the top point guard in 2028, but how high in the overall?&nbsp; He backed up his strong freshman season with a dominant weekend where he was perhaps the best overall prospect outside of Cleveland and Williams we saw.&nbsp; Dynamic three level scorer that has a burst with he ball and plays with tremendous pace.&nbsp; Got others involved while consistently scoring.&nbsp; Next question can he jump into the top 3 which was a pretty strong tier coming into the spring.&nbsp; There was buzz in the gym he made a case for as high as #2.&nbsp; One thing is clear the Big 3 in 2028 is now a Big 4!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2028 Class Continues to Get Stronger</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With the guys from AyoDosElite, Smith-Holley, and the plethora of ranked prospects on Fire 15U this 2028 class continues to get better.&nbsp; St. Ignatius point guard [player_tooltip player_id='2531962' first='Amir' last='Tucker'] made a strong case to continue to move up the board with his play for 16U [program_tooltip program_id='2414566' first='Mike' last='Glennon Elite'].&nbsp; His high school teammate [player_tooltip player_id='2194657' first='Josiah' last='Hall'] creates buzz with his play for Geek Squad putting up big numbers.&nbsp; [program_tooltip program_id='2078374' first='Full' last='Package'] 16U teammates [player_tooltip player_id='2834508' first='Halil' last='Pekovic'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2125684' first='Tej' last='Johnson'] each impressed our scouts in different games.&nbsp; M14 Gold had a trio of intriguing front court players in [player_tooltip player_id='2465620' first='Brandon' last='Otten'] (Benet), [player_tooltip player_id='2393606' first='Cole' last='Jansons'] (Oswego), and [player_tooltip player_id='2819731' first='Solomon' last='Morrison'] (Metea Valley).&nbsp; The list keeps going on!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='2078374' first='Full' last='Package'] 17U Wealth of Sleepers</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There is not a go to player for [program_tooltip program_id='2078374' first='Full' last='Package']'s 17U group like last year when they had South Dakota commit [player_tooltip player_id='2105166' first='Vincas' last='Buzelis'].&nbsp; This team is extremely balanced on the perimeter while having a legit D1 post in Benet's [player_tooltip player_id='2105376' first='Colin' last='Stack'] inside.&nbsp; Lake Forest Academy's [player_tooltip player_id='2632005' first='Levente' last='Tallos'] was the most consistent performer for them throughout the weekend.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='1552461' first='Ethan' last='Matz'], [player_tooltip player_id='1552439' first='Logan' last='Luxem'], [player_tooltip player_id='2834460' first='Tommy' last='Moffett'], and [player_tooltip player_id='1552419' first='Ryan' last='Walsh'] each had their moments and all will be playing at the next level.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='2075532' first='Illinois' last='Bears'] Big Men Emerge</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two big men that were known coming in took their stock to another level at Chi-Town Tip Off in Pinckneyville's [player_tooltip player_id='2383971' first='Tyler' last='McConnell'] and Murphysboro's Kemmeon Hale.  McConnell was a role player as a sophomore for Pinckneyville who was one of the top 2A teams in Illinois.  He looked like he could develop into a D1 prospect in 2027 with the way he played in Chicago.  The 6'6” strong and athletic face up four took it right at legit 6'10” plus big men in two games we saw including scoring 19 against Stack.  What we really liked was how confident he played taking it to the rack, letting it fly when spot up opportunities were there, and protecting the rim at a high level.  Touch around the hoop and rebounded well.  Hale is a wide bodied 2026 that played the best basketball of his career.  He went head to head with D1 posts and held his own.  Was physical on the boards and defensively.  He scored in the mid-range and displayed nimble footwork and touch on several nice post moves while also finishing out of the dunker spot.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->