New ChicagoHoops.com rankings for 2009

[Da Coach]

2009 prospects ranked by ChicagoHoops.com.
What is interesting is that despite the fact that Chris Colvin, Brandon Paul, and Jack Cooley have had tremendous starts to their senior seasons, they now have moved Darius Smith from #5 up to #1 for the Illinois class of 2009. Jordan Prosser remains #19.--

http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/2009rankings.html

Darius Smith also leads the list of the 6 best unsigned 2009 prospects-

http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/topuncommitted.html

[tornado]

He has played his cards right...he will get offers from Duke by spring...

and I am a bit troubled by the inclusion of Angus Brandt with those other kids...

Just try to find the kid's age, you can't...it is a closely guarded secret.

He is reported to be 19, but he was also said to be 18 in some Australian articles from 2006.
He graduated from Blaxland HS, Cairns, Australia in June of 2007, so rumors exist that the guy may be older than 20

http://74.125.77.132/search?q=cache:Ieo1Dtk3clEJ:www.blaxlandhigh.com.au/download2.php%3Fid%3D8%26c%3D0%26PHPSESSID%3Dc83c4f56455fc20191b1778c55dfa788+%22angus+brandt%22+and+%22cairns%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us

http://64.233.183.132/search?q=cache:8z7tf3yhYncJ:theshire.sportslive.com.au/index.pl%3Fpage%3D1890+%22angus+brandt%22+and+%22Springwood+Scorchers%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=18&gl=us

This link says he was a junior in high school in 2006...and was possibly 18 in 2006.

http://64.233.183.132/search?q=cache:eQulSC46yvsJ:springwood.basketball.net.au/fs_newsitem.asp%3Fid%3D74345%26orgID%3D339%26Oname%3DSPRINGWOOD%2B%2526%2BDISTRICTS%2BBASKETBALL%2BASSOCIATION%26O1c%3D6%26O10c%3D6+%22angus+brandt%22+and+%22Springwood+Scorchers%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us

http://64.233.183.132/search?q=cache:vZ0AuwNF9owJ:users.on.net/~grobinson/basketball/2006reps/2006scorchers_final_team_lists.pdf+%22angus+brandt%22+and+%22Springwood+Scorchers%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us

hardly fair to compare a 20 year old at prep school to a list of 17-18 year olds...

[Jayboy]

Those don't confirm a whole lot

He has played his cards right...he will get offers from Duke by spring...

and I am a bit troubled by the inclusion of Angus Brandt with those other kids...

Just try to find the kid's age, you can't...it is a closely guarded secret.

He is reported to be 19, but he was also said to be 18 in some Australian articles from 2006.
He graduated from Blaxland HS, Cairns, Australia in June of 2007, so rumors exist that the guy may be older than 20

http://74.125.77.132/search?q=cache:Ieo1Dtk3clEJ:www.blaxlandhigh.com.au/download2.php%3Fid%3D8%26c%3D0%26PHPSESSID%3Dc83c4f56455fc20191b1778c55dfa788+%22angus+brandt%22+and+%22cairns%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us

http://64.233.183.132/search?q=cache:8z7tf3yhYncJ:theshire.sportslive.com.au/index.pl%3Fpage%3D1890+%22angus+brandt%22+and+%22Springwood+Scorchers%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=18&gl=us

This link says he was a junior in high school in 2006...and was possibly 18 in 2006.

http://64.233.183.132/search?q=cache:eQulSC46yvsJ:springwood.basketball.net.au/fs_newsitem.asp%3Fid%3D74345%26orgID%3D339%26Oname%3DSPRINGWOOD%2B%2526%2BDISTRICTS%2BBASKETBALL%2BASSOCIATION%26O1c%3D6%26O10c%3D6+%22angus+brandt%22+and+%22Springwood+Scorchers%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us

http://64.233.183.132/search?q=cache:vZ0AuwNF9owJ:users.on.net/~grobinson/basketball/2006reps/2006scorchers_final_team_lists.pdf+%22angus+brandt%22+and+%22Springwood+Scorchers%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us

hardly fair to compare a 20 year old at prep school to a list of 17-18 year olds...

He could have been 15 or 16 and still played on the under 18 team. Hard to prove he is considerably older than his graduating class by any of those articles. IIRC, by IHSA rules he cannot turn 19 before March Madness to maintain eligibility.

Conversely, I notice the same deficit of D.O.B. information to be true of Mac Koshwal of DePaul. The rumors were (are) he entered college as a 21 y.o. freshman. Also, you will find can't dig up any information on the age of B.J. Mullens of Ohio St. Very Interesting.

[tornado]

IHSA rules don't matter....Lake Forest Academy is not a full IHSA member - they are an associate member....
they are not eligible for the state playoffs but can schedule against other IHSA schools
.... it is a prep school and they can do what they want.
Anyway...I showed he actually was a junior in high school in 2006..

"Ten junior players from....Manly-Warringah, Gosford, Brisbane and Hawkesbury ...The 2006 tourists were:..Angus Brandt.."

http://64.233.183.132/search?q=cache:eQulSC46yvsJ:springwood.basketball.net.au/fs_newsitem.asp%3Fid%3D74345%26orgID%3D339%26Oname%3DSPRINGWOOD%2B%2526%2BDISTRICTS%2BBASKETBALL%2BASSOCIATION%26O1c%3D6%26O10c%3D6+%22angus+brandt%22+and+%22Springwood+Scorchers%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us

my point was that just like most foreign prep schoolers, they are quite a bit older than the kids they are playing against...

[Jayboy]

That's doesn't prove any

IHSA rules don't matter....Lake Forest Academy is not a full IHSA member - they are an associate member....
they are not eligibble for the state playoffs but can schedule against other IHSA schools
.... it is a prep school and they can do what they want.
Anyway...I showed he actually was a junior in high school in 2006..

"Ten junior players from....Manly-Warringah, Gosford, Brisbane and Hawkesbury ...The 2006 tourists were:..Angus Brandt.."

http://64.233.183.132/search?q=cache:eQulSC46yvsJ:springwood.basketball.net.au/fs_newsitem.asp%3Fid%3D74345%26orgID%3D339%26Oname%3DSPRINGWOOD%2B%2526%2BDISTRICTS%2BBASKETBALL%2BASSOCIATION%26O1c%3D6%26O10c%3D6+%22angus+brandt%22+and+%22Springwood+Scorchers%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us

my point was that just like most foreign prep schoolers, they are quite a bit older than the kids they are playing against...

That's doesn't prove anything. Just because he's in a particular graduating class does not prove his age. For example, Mike Tisdale of UI entered his junior year at 15 y.o. of age.

[tornado]

what it proves is a consistent pattern of the Euro and other foreign kids who come to the US, they know they are not going to be eligible in ordinary high schools, so they go to prep schools, they hide their ages or in the Mac Koshwal case, they even falsify documents and lie about it.
The evidence is overwhelming to all who want to see, that Brandt was a junior in high school 2 years ago, he graduated last year and now he is at least as old as most college freshmen, and I wouldn't doubt that he is even older.
If someone on chicagohoops wants to count the kid as a high schooler, then that's his option, but many rating sites do differentiate between regular high school kids and the older prep school 5th year seniors.

[tornado]

I found a little followup in the Chicago area for ex-BU coach Al Biancalana.
he is head coach still at Elmhurst York.
Since he took over at York he had one good season (he took over when the cupboard was not bare - ),
then they have struggled since.
This season York has started off 1-5, with their only victory being over a non-IHSA magnet school in Chicago named Michele Clark Academic Preparatory High School.....a school that I have never heard of and which probably is not a very quality win for them.
Their losses were to Hersey, Neuqua Valley, Cicero Morton, Oak Park River Forest, and St. Viator....and it doesn't get any easier as they play Hinsdale and Proviso West next.

http://www.micheleclark.org/

Michele Clark HS has only been a high school since 2002 and is named after a CBS News reporter who died in a plane crash in 1972.

http://www.micheleclark.org/history.jsp?rn=2265918

In an interview last night after York got beaten pretty badly
by St. Viator...York coach Biancalana calls out his own players
for how badly they are playing..........
"We can't get five guys who want to play and we have absolutely no soul right now,"
said York coach Al Biancalana. "We're playing incredibly individualistic and
we have no team unity. We're at a crossroads here right now."

http://basketball.dailyherald.com/story/?id=257051

[BU ICEMAN]

Wow, those are some pretty strong comments for a high school program....

[tornado]

Al B is a college coach at heart...

[bu fan 9]

Al is a nice guy just not a basketball coach.