Pekin

[Grassman]

I attended the first 4 games at the Pekin tourney. 4 players REALLY stood out.
6'6" Isiah Nunn Sr. Moline Extremely athletic and versatile. he would even be better, if he had a better supporting cast.

6'9" Luke Fabrizius Sr. Arlington Heights Hersey. He is going to Dayton.
Nice jumpshot and shoots the 3. Athletic 6'9". . This is how Will Egolf must have looked ih High School. Needs muscle.

Matt Roth Sr. Washington. Roth is Roth.

Dyricus Simms-Edwards. WOW. 6'1" Jr. Washington.
Total package in his made for Division 1 body. Shoots the 3, nice medium range jumper.Penetrates, leaps, dishes. and he plays "D"
Did make some ballhandlig errors but,
I really like him.
So must BU and ISU as Judson and Little Buesch were there, and they were not watching the already committed Roth.
My only concern is, Washington was playing a really weak Freeport team.
Would like to see him against better competition

[BradleyBrave]

Looking forward to seeing Simms-Edwards tomorrow against Hersey.

[Da Coach]

A couple games from the Proviso West Tournament were on Comcast tonight. First, Chicago Whitney Young easily beat Glenbrook North. Young has a bunch of talented kids, Chris Colvin (who didn't play much because of discipline problems), Marcus Jordan, Anthony Johnson, and others. They play a little wild, but they are so quick and athletic, they wore Glenbrook North down.
Right now, New Trier is playing Westchester St. Joseph.


Bob Sakamoto, one of the announcers and a sportswriter for the Tribune, said that Crandall Head, one of the top 2010 kids (and brother of Luther Head) will announce for University of Illinois within the next week.

[BradleyBrave]

A couple games from the Proviso West Tournament were on Comcast tonight. First, Chicago Whitney Young easily beat Glenbrook North. Young has a bunch of talented kids, Chris Colvin (who didn't play much because of discipline problems), Marcus Jordan, Anthony Johnson, and others. They play a little wild, but they are so quick and athletic, they wore Glenbrook North down.
Right now, New Trier is playing Westchester St. Joseph.


Bob Sakamoto, one of the announcers and a sportswriter for the Tribune, said that Crandall Head, one of the top 2010 kids (and brother of Luther Head) will announce for University of Illinois within the next week.

Diamond Taylor, a 4 star guard that BU has been linked to, is playing for St. Joe's against New Trier. St. Joe's also features Demetri McCamey's brother, I think his name is DeAndre. St. Joe's is having a lot of trouble against former BU player Rick Malnati's halfcourt 1-3-1 zone. 16-6 Trevians, 2nd quarter.

[BradleyBrave]

Diamond Taylor, a 4 star guard that BU has been linked to, is playing for St. Joe's against New Trier. St. Joe's also features Demetri McCamey's brother, I think his name is DeAndre. St. Joe's is having a lot of trouble against former BU player Rick Malnati's halfcourt 1-3-1 zone. 16-6 Trevians, 2nd quarter.

25-14 New Trier @ halftime. Diamond Taylor has been completely neutralized, as has the entire St. Joe's team. Taylor seems very unselfish and doesn't force the issue. He also looks very long and athletic for 6'3". I can see why Wisconsin, Marquette, Illinois, and BU have all offered.

[BradleyBrave]

I just got back from Pekin, a few observations -

Donivine Stewart - OFFER HIM A SCHOLARSHIP NOW! I have never seen a freshman control a game like he did today against Boylan. I don't think I have ever seen a freshman so calm, so under control, and so mistake-free. He has 'it', the 'it' that you can't teach. He dropped 30 on an undefeated and well-coached Boylan team, after droppping 25 yesterday on Lanphier. It was a very unselfish 30. He took what the defense gave him, and only really forced one shot the whole game. He made several great passes to teammates that frankly didn't know how open they were. My peeps tell me he loves BU and that Dan Ruffin is his idol. We need to make him a recruiting priority NOW. I think he's probably going to get a slew of BCS offers, so I don't think our chances are good, but I think we need to at least make the effort before he explodes nationally. I'm tellin' ya, this kid is the real deal and would start for us all 4 years. If he grows at all in the next 4 years (generous 6'0" now), look out.

Dyricus Simms-Edwards - Decent player, pretty athletic, could probably play in the MVC. Understands the team concept, very unselfish, and runs the point well. I actually think he could have been a little more aggressive offensively, but Washington doesn't have much outside of Roth to take the heat off of him. Does a nice job of squaring up on the jumper, and can stop on a dime and pull up. He didn't wow me like Stewart did, but I think he's the best all-around player on Washington.

Matt Roth - Well, nothing has changed with my opinion of Roth. He's a very one-dimensional player who will struggle to get any playing time at Indiana, and probably would be nothing more than a role player at BU. He's a very good shooter, but I struggle to find anything else he does well enough to excel at the next level. In his defense though, Washington really has nothing outside of Roth and Simms-Edwards, and I mean nothing.

Luke Fabrizius - Very unimpressed with the Dayton commit. He was very lazy getting up and down the court, very soft, and shot the ball whenever he got it, wherever he got it. Washington starts 5 guards, and no one over 6'3", and yet Fabrizius shot 9 3's, making just 1. I probably fault Hersey's coach for not keeping Fabrizius around the basket on offense, because while his post moves consisted of nothing more than a fadeaway jumper, no one on Washington could contest the shot. He has a nice FT stroke, which is all the more reason he should never leave the paint.

All in all, a fun day over in Pekin. I'm still in awe over what I saw from Donivine Stewart, and I encourage anyone who has a chance to watch him play this year, please do so. You won't be disappointed.

[shaunguth]

I thought about getting over there for the Limestone game to see Stewart play and I'm sorry I didn't now. I'm also a Limestone grad so he isn't the ONLY reason I'd be there. Still might show up for tonight's game.

By the way, Limestone plays Mt. Carmel at 8:00 tonight. If they win tonight, they'll play in the Championship game at 6:30 tomorrow night. Richwoods plays Hersey at 6:30 tonight to determine which of those teams will play in the Championship game.

http://www.holidaytournament.com/pairings.html

[Grassman]

I just got back from Pekin, a few observations -

Donivine Stewart - OFFER HIM A SCHOLARSHIP NOW! I have never seen a freshman control a game like he did today against Boylan. I don't think I have ever seen a freshman so calm, so under control, and so mistake-free. He has 'it', the 'it' that you can't teach. He dropped 30 on an undefeated and well-coached Boylan team, after droppping 25 yesterday on Lanphier. It was a very unselfish 30. He took what the defense gave him, and only really forced one shot the whole game. He made several great passes to teammates that frankly didn't know how open they were. My peeps tell me he loves BU and that Dan Ruffin is his idol. We need to make him a recruiting priority NOW. I think he's probably going to get a slew of BCS offers, so I don't think our chances are good, but I think we need to at least make the effort before he explodes nationally. I'm tellin' ya, this kid is the real deal and would start for us all 4 years. If he grows at all in the next 4 years (generous 6'0" now), look out.

Dyricus Simms-Edwards - Decent player, pretty athletic, could probably play in the MVC. Understands the team concept, very unselfish, and runs the point well. I actually think he could have been a little more aggressive offensively, but Washington doesn't have much outside of Roth to take the heat off of him. Does a nice job of squaring up on the jumper, and can stop on a dime and pull up. He didn't wow me like Stewart did, but I think he's the best all-around player on Washington.

Matt Roth - Well, nothing has changed with my opinion of Roth. He's a very one-dimensional player who will struggle to get any playing time at Indiana, and probably would be nothing more than a role player at BU. He's a very good shooter, but I struggle to find anything else he does well enough to excel at the next level. In his defense though, Washington really has nothing outside of Roth and Simms-Edwards, and I mean nothing.

Luke Fabrizius - Very unimpressed with the Dayton commit. He was very lazy getting up and down the court, very soft, and shot the ball whenever he got it, wherever he got it. Washington starts 5 guards, and no one over 6'3", and yet Fabrizius shot 9 3's, making just 1. I probably fault Hersey's coach for not keeping Fabrizius around the basket on offense, because while his post moves consisted of nothing more than a fadeaway jumper, no one on Washington could contest the shot. He has a nice FT stroke, which is all the more reason he should never leave the paint.

All in all, a fun day over in Pekin. I'm still in awe over what I saw from Donivine Stewart, and I encourage anyone who has a chance to watch him play this year, please do so. You won't be disappointed.

B-Brave. How did Washington lose to Arlington Herhsey if Fabrizius did not dominate?.
I thought Washington would handle them easily, if Fabrizius did not control the game.
Lets get greedy and get both Stewart and Simms-Edwards.
I did not see Stewart, but I really liked the Simms -Edwards I saw yesterday.

[BradleyBrave]

B-Brave. How did Washington lose to Arlington Herhsey if Fabrizius did not dominate?.
I thought Washington would handle them easily, if Fabrizius did not control the game.
Lets get greedy and get both Stewart and Simms-Edwards.
I did not see Stewart, but I really liked the Simms -Edwards I saw yesterday.

Washington has nothing outside of the Roth and Simms-Edwards, and Hersey was bigger. Fabrizius was far from dominant, especially offensively. He mostly roamed around the perimeter chucking 3's as soon as he touched it. It was only when he started playing inside (which wasn't much) when he had an impact. He had a lot of defensive rebounds, and a couple of blocks, but was far from dominant. He was 6-19 from the field, including 1-9 from 3's. The only thing I really liked about him was FT touch, he was 6-6 from the line.

[basketball nut]

Washington has nothing outside of the Roth and Simms-Edwards, and Hersey was bigger. Fabrizius was far from dominant, especially offensively. He mostly roamed around the perimeter chucking 3's as soon as he touched it. It was only when he started playing inside (which wasn't much) when he had an impact. He had a lot of defensive rebounds, and a couple of blocks, but was far from dominant. He was 6-19 from the field, including 1-9 from 3's. The only thing I really liked about him was FT touch, he was 6-6 from the line.

I saw the 1st 2 games and would agree w/ your observations on Roth & Simms-Edwards-the one thing that cost Wash. the game was Simms-Edwards can not shoot freethrows- He missed as least 5 or 6 and 2 or 3 were front enmds of one & one's. Roth is very one dimensional (great shooter but not much else) and I see him only polaying when they need to break down a zone D or if they are needing points in a hurry. He is more athletic then JC but will be guarded by bigger quicker players in the Big 10
I wish I would have seen the other kid you mentioned get to play.
Well, right now we need to get a BU win this afternoon

[BradleyBrave]

I saw the 1st 2 games and would agree w/ your observations on Roth & Simms-Edwards-the one thing that cost Wash. the game was Simms-Edwards can not shoot freethrows- He missed as least 5 or 6 and 2 or 3 were front enmds of one & one's. Roth is very one dimensional (great shooter but not much else) and I see him only polaying when they need to break down a zone D or if they are needing points in a hurry. He is more athletic then JC but will be guarded by bigger quicker players in the Big 10
I wish I would have seen the other kid you mentioned get to play.
Well, right now we need to get a BU win this afternoon

I disagree with you saying he's more athletic than JC. Maybe he can jump a little higher, but JC has deceptive quickness with the ball that allows him to get to the basket against DI competition. I don't see Roth ever being able to do that, both from a ball-handling and athletic perspective.

[bu fan 9]

I agree with you BradleyBrave.

[Old Coach]

I don't think Roth is nearly as athletic as J.C.

Jeremy is a much better defender and rebounder at the college level than Roth will be.

[Moshington]

Man if Roth would only be a role player at BU then that is really saying something. They score 9 points in the first half of a game... who cares if the kid plays "d" which he does well, you need scorers!

[edmondo15]

If you've seen more than one half of BU basketball this year then you would know that scoring is not this teams problem...