2019 General Recruiting Thread

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,089]

Belleville West defeated O'Fallon 71-41.  Senior Malachi Smith had 18 points, six assists and three steals to lead West. Junior EJ Liddell had 14 points and seven blocks.

[Demo 19,679]

17 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Belleville West defeated O'Fallon 71-41.  Senior Malachi Smith had 18 points, six assists and three steals to lead West. Junior EJ Liddell had 14 points and seven blocks.

I'm seeing Liddell tonight. They play Webster Groves, which has Cart'ere Gordon, who's a 6'8", kind of Swanigenesque, top 100 kid going to SLU. Talked to a few people about him and been told that the kid is just a complete warrior. Hypercompetitive. Really looking forward to seeing him. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,089]

28 minutes ago, Demo said:

I'm seeing Liddell tonight. They play Webster Groves, which has Cart'ere Gordon, who's a 6'8", kind of Swanigenesque, top 100 kid going to SLU. Talked to a few people about him and been told that the kid is just a complete warrior. Hypercompetitive. Really looking forward to seeing him. 

Pressure's on.  We're expecting a thorough and detailed scouting report!!    :-)

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,089]

Belleville West was unable to slay St. Louis power Chaminade in the championship game of the Chick-fil-A Classic at Belleville East on Jan. 17.

But the Maroons on Saturday made sure the Webster Groves Statesmen, ranked No. 1 in the Missouri Class 5 poll, weren’t as fortunate.

Junior EJ Liddell had a game-high 33 points and 10 rebounds and senior Malachi Smith dropped in 18 points and had four steals to lead the Maroons, ranked third in the Class 4A poll in Illinois, to a 78-67 victory in the finale of the Bank of O’Fallon Shootout.

[Demo 19,679]

16 hours ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Pressure's on.  We're expecting a thorough and detailed scouting report!!    :-)

Dude, you want it, you got it:

Wasn't charting, but I had him at 33/11 with 4 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Cart'ere Gordon didn't play(suspension), so Wedster didn't have a physical matchup for him. Compensated by constant doubling and playing really physically with him. 

Legit 6'7", probably 225. Great body. Strong lower half, broad shoulders, wingspan in the 7ft range. Physically, he could walk in and hold up today. Exceptional leaper, particularly for a kid that thick. Doesn't have to gather at all. Got 1 rebound by going up 3 times without gathering. Good lateral movement. Can really run and runs hard. Multiple times he rebounded, outletted, and ran himself into a secondary option on the break. Hands were pretty good but not his best quality. Physically, he is a complete pkg.

Skill-wise, he is an awful lot like JM. Good handle, can face up and straight line to the rim. Pretty good footwork on the block. Finished with both hands. Made a couple of nice passes out of doubles. Made good decisions with the ball all game. Jumper is very clean with good lift. Made a step back 3 to open the game. Very good rebounder. Undisciplined defensively. Tried to block everything and gave up multiple weakside offensive boards. Also went for a couple of steals and got out  of position. Easily correctable stuff.

Best quality: kid played HARD. Webster was really physical with him and Liddell gave as good, or better, than he got. When he anchored on the block, Webster couldn't move him with a crowbar. Played through a ton of contact and never got frustrated. 

Love him. He is a pleasure to watch play. I hope we're seriously involved here. Would take him over Brooks all day, every day. He's Juwan with a vastly superior athletic pkg. No chance there are 50 better players in '19.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,089]

3 minutes ago, Demo said:

Dude, you want it, you got it:

Wasn't charting, but I had him at 33/11 with 4 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Cart'ere Gordon didn't play(suspension), so Wedster didn't have a physical matchup for him. Compensated by constant doubling and playing really physically with him. 

Legit 6'7", probably 225. Great body. Strong lower half, broad shoulders, wingspan in the 7ft range. Physically, he could walk in and hold up today. Exceptional leaper, particularly for a kid that thick. Doesn't have to gather at all. Got 1 rebound by going up 3 times without gathering. Good lateral movement. Can really run and runs hard. Multiple times he rebounded, outletted, and ran himself into a secondary option on the break. Hands were pretty good but not his best quality. Physically, he is a complete pkg.

Skill-wise, he is an awful lot like JM. Good handle, can face up and straight line to the rim. Pretty good footwork on the block. Finished with both hands. Made a couple of nice passes out of doubles. Made good decisions with the ball all game. Jumper is very clean with good lift. Made a step back 3 to open the game. Very good rebounder. Undisciplined defensively. Tried to block everything and gave up multiple weakside offensive boards. Also went for a couple of steals and got of position. Easily correctable stuff.

Best quality: kid played HARD. Webster was really physical with him and Liddell gave as good, or better, than he got. When he anchored on the block, Webster couldn't move him with a crowbar. Played through a ton of contact and never got frustrated. 

Love him. He is a pleasure to watch play. I hope we're seriously involved here. Would take him over Brooks all day, every day. He's Juwan with a vastly superior athletic pkg.no chance there are 50 better players in '19.

Excellent report and greatly appreciated.  Feel free to give us these kinds of scouting reports any time.

[323SGrant 1,176]

Dude, you want it, you got it:
Wasn't charting, but I had him at 33/11 with 4 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Cart'ere Gordon didn't play(suspension), so Wedster didn't have a physical matchup for him. Compensated by constant doubling and playing really physically with him. 
Legit 6'7", probably 225. Great body. Strong lower half, broad shoulders, wingspan in the 7ft range. Physically, he could walk in and hold up today. Exceptional leaper, particularly for a kid that thick. Doesn't have to gather at all. Got 1 rebound by going up 3 times without gathering. Good lateral movement. Can really run and runs hard. Multiple times he rebounded, outletted, and ran himself into a secondary option on the break. Hands were pretty good but not his best quality. Physically, he is a complete pkg.
Skill-wise, he is an awful lot like JM. Good handle, can face up and straight line to the rim. Pretty good footwork on the block. Finished with both hands. Made a couple of nice passes out of doubles. Made good decisions with the ball all game. Jumper is very clean with good lift. Made a step back 3 to open the game. Very good rebounder. Undisciplined defensively. Tried to block everything and gave up multiple weakside offensive boards. Also went for a couple of steals and got out  of position. Easily correctable stuff.
Best quality: kid played HARD. Webster was really physical with him and Liddell gave as good, or better, than he got. When he anchored on the block, Webster couldn't move him with a crowbar. Played through a ton of contact and never got frustrated. 
Love him. He is a pleasure to watch play. I hope we're seriously involved here. Would take him over Brooks all day, every day. He's Juwan with a vastly superior athletic pkg. No chance there are 50 better players in '19.

Can you send your scouting report to CAM? Ha!


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[woodenshoemanHoosierfan 6,182]

Are we seriously recruiting this kid?

He would be a nice addition. However, I believe TJD, Hurt, Watford, Brooks takes priority. If he continues to improve like he has, he could make the leap with the afore mentioned.

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[Demo 19,679]

13 minutes ago, iufaninillinois said:

He would be a nice addition. However, I believe TJD, Hurt, Watford, Brooks takes priority. If he continues to improve like he has, he could make the leap with the afore mentioned.

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I would think you're right about this. Plus, I've been told he's one Illinois' high priorities, along with Okoro, who I also like a lot. Both Hurt and Watford feel a bit pipedreamish to me. TJD is obviously huge. Not a Brooks fan at all.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,089]

By ADAM ZAGORIA

USA Basketball and the NCAA have invited 24 of the top prospects in the Class of 2019 to attend the Final Four in San Antonio and compete in events surrounding the college games, ZAGSBLOG has learned.The Next Generation Sunday Program will run March 30-April 1 in San Antonio. “The NCAA has partnered with USA Basketball and the NCAA Academies to create a program that offers future student-athletes the experience of a lifetime,” reads a letter written by Dan Gavitt, NCAA senior vice president of basketball, that was sent to top Class of 2019 prospects and obtained by ZAGSBLOG. The program offers players an opportunity to have “a behind the scenes look at the Final Four from a player perspective, attend the games, be a part of engaging programming, play on the Final Four court and much more.”

“The goal of this program is to expose you to one of the greatest sporting events in the world and give you an education that is tailored to future college players,” the letter ads.  “We hope that the experience will benefit you during and after your time in college as a player, student and person.” Among the top Class of 2019 players invited were Cole Anthony of Archbishop Molloy (N.Y.), Bryan Antoine and Scottie Lewis of Ranney (N.J.), Vern Carey of University School (FL), Matthew Hurt of John Marshall (MN) and Josh Green of IMG Academy (FL), sources said.  The top players have already received invitations and the NCAA will provide hotel accommodations and plane tickets, sources said.The event’s itinerary indicates the players will be housed at the George Gervin Academy, and will be divided into two teams — USA1 and USA2. They will each play a pair of games against NBA Africa Academy and NBA Global Academy on March 31 at the Alamadome. Those games will be open to parents and media, sources said.The NBA has not yet informed its personnel whether or not they can attend the games and evaluate the players, one league source said.  “It’s the top kids playing against each other on a big stage,” one NBA scout said of the possibility of viewing the games.  “It puts you way ahead on the evaluation scale.”  “If I’m an NBA scout, I really don’t care about anyone that’s not in the top 24, so if you get a chance an an NBA scout out at the Final Four to watch these kids practice and play NBA Academies, you’re giving them a platform,” one AAU coach said.  The high school players will then attend the NCAA national semifinals Saturday night at the Alamodome. The players are scheduled to depart on Sunday before the NCAA championship game on April 2.  Representatives from USA Basketball and the NCAA declined comment on Monday because the program has not yet been officially announced.  A formal announcement is expected soon.

The event will not take place during an NCAA evaluation period so college coaches presumably won’t be permitted to scout the high school players. The first live periods are slated for April 20-22 and April 27-29, when Nike, Under Armour and adidas all begin their circuits.  It remains unclear if this signals the beginning stages of USA Basketball attempting to begin some type of American academy featuring its top high school players — or whether it is just a continuing evolution of USA Basketball developing players through camps and mini-camps.  USA Basketball frequently runs such camps in advance of FIBA U16, U17, U18 and U19 championships in order to evaluate players and ultimately choose rosters for competitions.  “This is a whole new thing the NCAA approved for these kids,” the AAU coach told ZAGSBLOG.  “Think about how times have changed, you’re giving elite kids Final Four tickets.”  The event does not compete with a live period, but if, and when, the time comes when USA Basketball runs camps that compete with live periods, it could signal a whole new foray by USA Basketball into summer basketball.  “Maybe they take over live sessions,” the AAU coach said.  A second AAU coach said there are several possible ways this could all unfold moving forward.  “One direction this could go is that nothing could change and this is just USA Basketball and the NCAA putting together a new experience,” the second AAU coach said. “USA Basketball has always done events in the spring, the only thing that’s different is they’re doing it on Final Four weekend.  A number of these kids are probably going to be in the Final Four in a year or two, so it does fall under the USA Basketball mission statement of preparing kids not just for the present but for the future.”  The second AAU coach pointed out that USA athletics have previously explored “an Academy format and they’ve done it with soccer and instead of creating a new academy, they used an exciting academy like IMG [in Florida] to house their USA Soccer kids.  Some of them, like Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley,never went to college. They did that and they turned pro. But the vast majority of those kids did the USA soccer academy and still went to college.  “So that’s certainly an idea and they could go in that direction, but they may not. Who knows?”  It’s also unclear how the NBA will involve itself going forward if the one-and-done rule gets changed and players like those mentioned above can go directly to the pros from high school.  “The NCAA and USA Basketball will always have to operate under a tenet of not violation anyone’s amateur status,” the second AAU coach said. “Because if five out of 24 [top kids] go to the NBA, then roughly 80 percent are still going to college.”

[BH33 596]

Below is from an article by Zags regarding the 2019 USA event at the Final Four this year. I saw mention of Keion in another thread, but this adds Matthew Hurt and Trayce Jackson-Davis to the event that IU is in contact with.

 

Among the top Class of 2019 players invited were Cole Anthony of Archbishop Molloy (N.Y.), Bryan Antoine and Scottie Lewis of Ranney (N.J.), Armando Bacot of Trinity Episcopal (VA), Keion Brooks of North Side (IN), Vern Carey of University School (FL), Tyger Campbell of La Lumiere (IN), Josh Green of IMG Academy (FL), Matthew Hurt of John Marshall (MN), Trayce Jackson-Davis of Center Grove (IN), Patrick McCaffery of West High (IA), Mark Watts of Old Redford Academy (MI) and Romeo Weems of New Haven (MI), sources said. The top players have already received invitations and the NCAA will provide hotel accommodations and plane tickets, sources said.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,089]

Belleville West defeated East St. Louis 73-54.   Junior E. J. Liddell had 18 points.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,089]

E. J. Liddell and Belleville West defeated Belleville East 82-54.  Liddell had 16 pts. and 7 blocks.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,089]

E. J. Liddell and Belleville West (23-2) defeated Collinsville 70-39.   Liddell with 16 pts.

[WayneFleekHoosier 47,985]

Old Fart. Major thanks for keeping up with these things. Super appreciated!!!!!!


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[GloryDays 5,913]

Old Fart. Major thanks for keeping up with these things. Super appreciated!!!!!!


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Same here.
They aren't taken for granted.Look forward to the updates.


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[woodenshoemanHoosierfan 6,182]

E. J. Liddell and Belleville West (23-2) defeated Collinsville 70-39.   Liddell with 16 pts.

Liddell would look good in candy stripes. He would be a good back up plan to Davis, Brooks and Watford.

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[Jam 278]

Liddell would look good in candy stripes. He would be a good back up plan to Davis, Brooks and Watford.

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It’s not clear to me that we are making much of an effort with Watford. The last article mentioned 8 or 10 teams showing interest and we were not included.


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[Stuhoo 79,806]

It’s not clear to me that we are making much of an effort with Watford. The last article mentioned 8 or 10 teams showing interest and we were not included.


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A better way of saying it might be that Trendon Watford does not have much interest in us having much interest.
I can’t blame him; a five star recruit doesn’t want to go where he’ll be primarily known as someone else’s little brother.
If he’s sent those signals I’m glad; don’t want us putting in time where we don’t have a strong chance.



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[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,089]

West's Liddell earns Gatorade Player of Year award

Belleville West High School Maroons IHSA boys basketball player EJ Liddell, from Belleville, IL, in Southern Illinois near St. Louis, MO, is the Gatorade Player of the Year. He has 13 NCAA college basketball scholarship offers.