Downey received the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor in 1963 for his achievements in both academics and athletics. Career highlights: 3x NBA all-star, 2x NBA champion Aguirre was voted both the AP and Naismith Player of the Year his final season at DePaul (1979-80) and was the first overall selection in the 1980 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks. Still, at the pinnacle of their game, Illinois doesnt show any signs of slowing down anytime soon in producing exceptional athletes and its a matter of time before another star athlete comes out of Illinois. The final spot in the state championship game for the IHSA 3A Tournament is set between second-ranked Lincoln (35-0) and fourth-seeded Deerfield (29-5) today. Fred Van Vleet, who starred at Rockford Auburn, made the third team. Altenberger was. We grouped our selections in four 16-team divisions: the top champions from the city, from the suburbs, from downstate defined as anywhere in Illinois other than the city and suburbs and the 16 best girls state champions. Has turned into an intelligent floor general who is comfortable commanding an offense. And being a good shooter these days is about the quickest path for a young player to get on the floor in college. Buzelis averaged 11.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.2 steals for Brewster in 2021-22 and played for the World Team at the Nike Hoop Summit following his season. With a BVM Sports account, submitting content to appear on our website is easier to keep track of and share. 0. In addition to being a McDonalds All-American, Parker won the Morgan Wooten National Player of the Year. The number in parentheses is the player's number of years in the NBA. With 177 blocks, Thomas blocked more shots than any Illini player ever. Douglas had a stellar career with Illinois, where he was a statistical leader in numerous categories. FB Recruiting Home; News Feed; Team Rankings; Commitments; Decommitments; Scheduled Commits; 100 best Illinois high school basketball players ever Rnk: Athlete: POS: Rookie Yr: School: Overall Rank: 1: George Mikan: C: 1947: Archbishop Quigley (Chicago) 12: 2 . Here is a look at the 10 best Illinois High School Athletic Association (IHSA) boys basketball players in the Class of 2023. Darius Hawkins Illinois. The basketball team Phillip captained was undoubtedly the best in the country and served as its unofficial captain. For 20 years, his 40-point outburst as a sophomore would stand as the school record. Plus, Ethan Happ and Keita Bates-Diop were second-team All-Americans. He averaged 17.4 points as a senior and finished his career with 1,786 points, 446 rebounds and 491 assists. San Ysidro (San Diego CA) 4. The point guard, who was 6 feet 3 inches tall, averaged 14 points per game. His career average of 8.3 rebounds per night matched him for eighth place on the schools all-time list. As a senior he averaged 20.2 points and 9.3 rebounds while shooting 63 percent from the field. In 2004, he was chosen for the Illini Mens Basketball All-Century Team. Williams was selected as one of the 100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament in 2007, in honour of his outstanding play during that tournament. The Fighting Illini team came to be known as the Flyin Illini. The Denver Nuggets then selected him in the second round of the 1990 NBA Draft, 42nd overall. In 2004, he was chosen for the Illini Mens Basketball All-Century Team.. AinsworthSports.com . Youngs Jahlil Okafor looks to move inside, as St. Rita fans scream from behind. Here are the 50 best Illinois basketball players of all time. Nick Anderson Garris was the Fighting Illinis second-highest scorer as a freshman in 199394, trailing only Deon Thomas. 12. Richard Keene gave 459 assists during his career at Illinois and he ranks eighth in its history. Both Yorkville Christians Jaden Schutt and Glenbard Wests Braden Huff are nipping at his heels with both of their individual recruitments heating up. A ranking of the 2004 Best NFL Basketball Players in Illinois. During the 200910 NCAA Division I mens basketball season, he became the first Fighting Illini to average more than seven assists per game throughout an entire season. Ulis, who has played in 133 NBA games but has battled some injury issues, recently signed with the Sacramento Kings. 2023 Illinois HS Basketball Player Rankings | Prep Girls Hoops Illinois 2023 Rankings WL indicates Watch List Access all of Prep Girls Hoops Subscribe for access to all premium articles and rankings. These are the best high school boys basketball players in every state headed into the 2022-2023 season for the midwestern states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin. 64 greatest Illinois high school basketball teams ever Mar 07, 2018 at 8:30 am Expand Autoplay 1 of 64 Chicago's first state champions. The Manual and Simeon four-peat teams got two each. The Philadelphia Warriors selected him in the fifth round, 36th overall, of the 1958 NBA Draft. Gatorade State High School Players of the Year All rights reserved. 2022 Illinois High School Girls Basketball Player Rankings | Prep Girls Hoops Illinois 2022 Rankings WL indicates Watch List Access all of Prep Girls Hoops Subscribe for access to all premium articles and rankings. Luther Head of the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) photo byKeith Allison Wikimedia commons. Moments after Jereme Richmond stunned the crowd with a game-winner from half court in the 2009 Class 4A sectionals. Co-captain of the 2005 team that finished with a record of 37 victories and competed for the national championship, Brown was unstoppable, scoring 1,812 points, dishing out 674 assists, and maintaining 231 steals. West Des Moines Dowling Catholic ends the party for Davenport North 52-38 Bettendorf Pleasant Valley sinks West Des Moines Valley with solid Polling Place: Is Patrick Kane the greatest Blackhawk ever? 10 Greatest High School Basketball Teams of All Time He graduated from Illinois as the schools seventh-highest scorer ever. 2 Indiana. Best High School Girls Basketball Player in Every State 2022: Midwest Gill attended the University of Illinois after being named to the six-player All-Tournament team while attending Rich Central High School in Olympia Fields. From 1941 to 1943 and again from 1946 to 1947, Philip attended the University of Illinois. Nick Weatherspoon. When he graduated, he ranked third in school history for games played with 138 and was second all-time at Illinois in terms of rebounding (909), scoring (1,279 points) at number 22, and games played 138 which put him at third. , a second-team All-American as only a freshman last season, was a standout at Simeon in Chicago before making her way to the collegiate level. Garris led the club in scoring and free-throw percentage for the following three seasons. He did not achieve much success in the NBA after being picked 19th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1987 NBA draft. After graduating from high school, Winters was accepted to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he played varsity basketball from 1982 to 1986. Thompson (41), Tyrone Johnson (17). Oak Forests Robbie Avila (21) maintains possession of the ball during the game against DePaul Prep at the Riverside Brookfield Summer Shootout. He was a member of Bill Selfs back-to-back Big Ten championship teams in 2000-01 and 2001-02. Vernon was the City/Suburban Hoops Reports No. Basketball Players Born In Peoria (IL), United States - RealGM One year after graduating from high school, Davis went No. IL High School Basketball Scores Today 23 Games Tomorrow 3 Games Marian Catholic26-7 Lemont27-6 Today 7:00pm Geneva24-9 Wheaton-Warrenville South27-5 Today 7:00pm C Calvary26-7 Madison17-12 Today 7:00pm Saint Ignatius College Prep21-11 Westinghouse19-10 Today 7:00pm Sacred Heart-Griffin29-3 Normal West19-14 Today 7:00pm Post-high school career:As a sophomore at Kentucky, Ulis was the SEC Player of the Year and a consensus All-American. 1 and No. He was selected by Illinois supporters as one of the top 20 basketball players for the Fighting Illini in the teams 100-year history. The Fighting Illini were led by junior Gill to 1989 Final Four, where they fell to Michigan on a last-second shot. Tisdale concluded with 176 career blocks to place second in school history and 1,243 points to rank No. IHSA girls basketball state finals:Predicting the champions | WATCH: TV schedule, * Tied for the final spot on a five-player team; ** Unanimous. March 01, 2023 5:30 AM. Read more: 10 Famous Basketball Players who played for UNC. WNBA standouts Candace Parker, Tamika Catchings and Yolanda Griffith once took the hardwood at the high school level in the state. 1 ranked Benet in the sectional. 100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament High School: Waukee Senior High School (Waukee, Iowa). To finish off a career in which he scored 1,415 points, which ranks as the 15th-best total for an Illini player all-time, he helped lead a conference title run in 1998. The Portland Trail Blazers acquired him in the NBA draft as a third-round pick. He managed to achieve 1,271 career points and subsequently held a three-point shooting percentage of .472 through the four seasons he was at Illinois. Welcome to Stadium Talk's picks for the best boys basketball players in every state headed into the 2022-2023 season. Best High School Boys Basketball Player in Every State 2022: West, Best High School Girls Basketball Player in Every State 2022: West. There were some individual magical moments throughout Brunsons career, highlighted by the record-setting 56 points he scored in the state semifinals loss to Young as a junior. Ken Norman game worn Los Angeles Clippers away uniform from the 1991-92 season photo by Amin Eshaker Wikimedia commons. High School: Pewaukee High School (Pewaukee, Wisconsin). There certainly wasnt a player who was as electric or more entertaining during the past decade than the dynamic Boatright. Period. He was also a monster when it mattered most, putting up big numbers in Belleville Wests biggest games. Curies Cliff Alexander screams with teammates after defeating Simeon. IHSA girls basketball: What Rockford-area star made the Illinois AP all Bottom Line: Darik Dissette was named Class A All-State after leading Minot High to a 27-2 record and the Class A state championship as a junior in 2021-22. There were six players from the state who went on to become first-team college basketball All-Americans: Davis, Parker, Okafor, Kaminsky, Brunson and Tyler Ulis. The career Liddell put together is pretty remarkable. As a senior in 19921993, Kaufmann averaged 17.3 points per game. Over his undergraduate career, he averaged 4.7 assists per game and led Illinois in that category in 19811982. girls basketball players and the programs that have landed recruits from the state are keenly aware of this fact. Looking back, the individual high-level talent that highlighted the past 10 years can stack up against any decade in Illinois high school basketball history. With that being said, here is the Illinois high school basketball All-Decade first and second teams. 9. With two years of high school basketball still left to play, Freitag's stock continues to rise and he could be a Top 50 national recruit soon. Nick Anderson, Kendall Gill, Lowell Hamilton, Kenny Battle, and Marcus Liberty were among the other starters on that team in addition to Bardo. Coach: Spin Salario how interested you are in the Fire, whose season begins Saturday against New York City FC at Soldier Field. Kerr scored 1,299 points in his three varsity seasons, averaging 18.6 points per game overall. Avila is a coveted mid-major target. The game and show will be a chance for Clark to showcase her . In his senior season, he led Illinois to the NCAA Tournaments Final Eight. We may all come from different walks of life but we have one common passion - learning through travel. Weatherspoon was chosen in 2004 for the Illini Mens Basketball All-Century Team.. A spark-plug scorer and safe bet to be a productive offensive player at the next level due to his shot-making ability from all areas of the court. Top 100 +. With 853 rebounds at Illinois (since surpassed and now in third place), Winters concluded his collegiate career as the schools all-time rebounding leader and third-best scorer. On February 16, 1963, he set the Illinois single-game scoring record with 53 points against Indiana. Also, three-point shooting has never been more important in the game of basketball, which is why Yorkville Christians Jaden Schutt and Buffalo Groves Kam Craft continue to rank so high. He gained notoriety for his abilities and the Fighting Illinis triumphs in the two seasons (19411943 and 19461947), which were interrupted by the world war. Best High School Basketball States - 2022 HelpToStudy.com 2023 Thank you for submitting a news tip to BVM Sports! There was a stretch during the first half of the decade where the state was churning out generational talent, many who left their mark on the sport forever. Peyton Kemp Michigan . He was that talented of a player and that dynamic of a high school basketball figure. The IHSA girls basketball state finals return Thursday through Saturday at Redbird Arena in Normal. a staff of more than 50 full time recruiting reporters and evaluators that rank and compile data on the nation's elite high school recruits.More Info About; Contact Us; Advertisers . The highlight of his career was the 196061 campaign when Wessels was honoured as an All-American honourable mention on an Illinois squad that concluded the regular season with a 915 overall record, enough for seventh place in the Big Ten. With the Illini, he averaged more than seven rebounds per game, and his 156 career blocks were excellent to place him fourth in the all-time at the university. Here are the 50 best Illinois basketball players of all time. Get original content and the most important sports news from trusted sources delivered to your inbox. From 2002 through 2006, Augustine was a member of the University of Illinois mens basketball team. That evolution is chronicled in Glory Days, as 50 of the state's best high school basketball players from the past five decades sit down to chat with longtime prep basketball scribe Taylor Bell. David Oyona-Ibandzo. Forget about the hype, including the Sports Illustrated cover and being the most media-covered athlete maybe in Illinois prep sports history. He played for the Illini, who finished second in the country and tied an NCAA record with 37 victories. 6'10". Anthony Mauro New Jersey. a staff of more than 50 full time recruiting reporters and evaluators that rank and compile data on the nation's elite high school recruits . Bottom Line: Elliot Cadeau will be in a new state and at a new school for his junior season with Link Academy the five-star recruit and No. 2022 Top Basketball Recruits in Illinois - 247Sports Teams; CBS Sports; CBS SPORTS HQ . 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The Top Ranked Basketball Players of All-Time from Illinois High Schools . Some of the notable players to come out of Indiana are Victor Oladipo, Tyler & Cody Zeller, Mason & Miles Plumlee to name a few. He started at centre for the 195859 Fighting Illini squad, which concluded with a 1210 record and fifth-place finish in the Big Ten. February 27, Scott Burgess During his senior year, he also captured the NCAA Slam Dunk title at the Final Four. From 1966 to 1969, he was a student at the University of Illinois. On his way to making 209 three-pointers for his career, he set a school record in 2005 by making 116 of them (sixth in school history). Cook graduated from Illinois as the third-highest scorer in school history with 1,748 total points, averaging 13.2 points per game. Some of the greatest basketball players in history still call it home. Star: George Wilson (86 points in last four state games). Williams led the Fighting Illini to the NCAA championship game in 2005 as a junior starting point guard, but they fell to the University of North Carolina. Current 2023 top girls players in the state include: Jordan Wood (Carmel) - Michigan State Katie Eidle (Hersey) - University of Michigan Lisa Thompson (Example Academy) - DePaul Willie Darden Jr Connecticut. In five seasons hes averaged 15.1 points. Following his stellar career at UConn, Boatright has played overseas and in the NBAs G League. Leyden lists Grunwald as the only player in Illinois to be named an All-Stater four times. When playing for the Illinois team, Mark Smith averaged more than 6.1 rebounds and four assists. He scored 2,335 points for teams that went 94-9, including undefeated regular seasons in 1975 and. Here is how the City/Suburban Hoops Reports top 10 prospects shakes out as we head into July. From 1963 to 1966, Freeman was a student at the University of Illinois. As a senior, Jacksons scoring fell to 11.9 points per game, despite his toughness on the court. In the early 1960s, Illinois had a physical presence in the middle thanks to Bill Burwell. Months later he was the No. A top 50 player nationally, Liddell was the top-ranked prospect in Illinois in the Class of 2019. Here are the 2022-23 Illinois Associated Press all-state girls basketball teams as voted on by a statewide panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Unfortunately, he was not drafted into the NBA and never got a chance to show his skills at the grandest stage. Stevensons Jalen Brunson (15) lays in a reverse shot against Riverside-Brookfield. After taking over for Bryan Leonard in the third game of the 198283 season, Winters started at power forward for the following four years. Glory Days Illinois : Legends of Illinois High School Basketball Ahmad Lathan. Playoff results: W 70-64 vs. Rock Falls (state final), W 74-62 vs. West Aurora (state semifinal), W 72-59 vs. Herrin (state quarterfinal), W 63-43 vs. Elgin (supersectional), W 68-59 (OT) vs. Dunbar (city final). Greg Jackson was a powerhouse during his time in Illinois. SCNext Top 25 - The best 2022-23 high school boys' basketball teams Throughout his three seasons as a player, Burwell averaged 12.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game as a sophomore, 18.5 points and 11.6 rebounds per game as a junior, and 15.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game as a senior. Douglas was selected for the Illinois All-Century Team in October 2004. We also wanted to know or did we? Vote for the girls high school Player of the Week in southwestern IL from Feb. 20-24. Weatherspoon, who was a member of the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1974, played in the NBA for a total of seven seasons with the San Diego Clippers, the Chicago Bulls, the Seattle SuperSonics, and the Washington Bullets. Top 10 Illinois boys basketball players in Class of 2023 In 2004, Gill was chosen for the Illini Mens Basketball All-Century Team., Brian Cook Clippers photo by Keith Allison Wikimedia commons. 1 ranked prospect in the country in the Class of 2014 and the City/Suburban Hoops Reports top-ranked prospect in Illinois, ahead of Curies Cliff Alexander, who was top five nationally. The Zeller brothers and Plumlee's were all raised in Indiana. Boxscore Men's Basketball vs Indiana January 19, 2023 7:30 pm CT. Jan 24. mbball. One of the best performances by an Illinois player was his 35 points against Michigan State in January 1974. Ty Rodgers Thornton Township (Harvey . 2 and Okafor No.