One of the top 2010 players in Illinois- BU recruit Alex Rossi- commits to Pac 10

[Da Coach]

A player Bradley has recruited- Class of 2010 star Alex Rossi of New Trier High School, has just committed to the University of California and head coach Mike Montgomery.

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

ChicagoHoops.com had him ranked as the #18 player in the 2010 class of Illinois, but he could move up the next time they update their rankings-

http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/2010rankings.html

[SFP]

Berkeley should have a pretty good team this year. Mike Montgomery is building a good program and he has some talent coming back and he seems to be getting some pretty good recruits. The problem with Berkeley though is that there really is not that much passion for sports out here, except maybe for football. It would be nice to see BU play them out here because it would be easy to get tickets.

[tornado]

I have seen Rossi play and can understand the appeal...
he is a tall, athletic shooting guard........with a lot of potential.
he reminded me a little of Jeremy Crouch, but time will tell if he will be able to get his shots to go at the D-I level.


Cal seems to go after a Chicago kid just about every year...
They did cash in on one of the better ones a few years ago with Jerome Randle, but back in 2004, they landed Eric Verneisel, the 5th rated kid in Illinois in 2004 - right behind Shaun Livingston, Shaun Pruitt, DeAaron Williams, & Jamarcus Ellis.
But they kinda struck out with Verneisel, who averaged only 3 ppg & 1 rpg over his career.

[DannyCooksey]

I
They did cash in on one of the better ones a few years ago with Jerome Randle, but back in 2004, they landed Eric Verneisel, the 5th rated kid in Illinois in 2004 - right behind Shaun Livingston, Shaun Pruitt, DeAaron Williams, & Jamarcus Ellis.
But they kinda struck out with Verneisel, who averaged only 3 ppg & 1 rpg over his career.

Depends on your definition of 'struck out' T. At least against the names you listed. Livingston didn't play in college and has been an injury-plagued, disappointing NBA washout. Pruitt had problems with the law and was an underachieving player at Illinois. Williams and Ellis? They didn't spend enough time on a D-1 campus to even be worth mentioning and when they were there-they weren't there. By those comparisions I'd say Cal did ok and Verneisel did fairly well in Berkeley. No? I mean at least he was present and accounted for and I assume he earned a degree from one of the finest institutions in the country.

[Da Coach]

One time BU recruit Alex Rossi, who was one of the top rated recruits in the state of Illinois back in 2010, initially went to Cal. But then when Mike Montgomery was fired, he left and transferred to Valparaiso. His career has been plagued by injuries, and he has only played in a handful of games in his 33 year career so far.
Now he has transferred again, this time to Illinois Wesleyan University, where I think he'll have 2 years of eligibility left.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/51025/alex-rossi

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/roster/2012-13/5987/alex-rossi/

[tornado]

Rossi was a really hot commodity in summer of 2008 - after his sophomore year - Northwestern, DePaul, Iowa all offered...and he claimed at least a dozen other BCS-types were all strong after him...
and Rivals had him as the "Top shooter in the state" and ranked him in the Top 5 players... calling him a "high major prospect".

He was hotter than Nate Taphorn ever was and had a number of legit power conference offers...
BTW - Rossi not only played for Rick Malnati in high school - he says Malnati is his "Godfather" who he trusted in his recruiting decisions - but....Malnati left New Trier after Rossi's sophomore year and he ended up aiming way too high & making bad decisions.

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=898070

[valleyclimber]

Yet another example of an Illinois going to the Pac whatever Conference and bombing. Then Rossi bombs at Alpo, so now it's D3 ball at IWU. Even though The Titans have a nice program, it is what it is....D3 hoops.