What always makes the
Morris Shootout an
enjoyable event for us to cover
is that it offers us the
opportunity to watch some of the
more unheralded players from the
state of Illinois in a high
school team environment. The
fact that that it is held right
before the start of the July
evaluation period makes it even
more convenient. At the end of
the first day, we thought there
were three players in particular
whose performances stood out.
With that in mind, the following
is our analysis of what we saw
from each of them on the opening
day of action at Morris.
Dyricus Simms-Edwards 6'1
Sr. PG Washington (H.S.)
Simms-Edwards was clearly the
top performer of the day,
despite the fact that that his
left wrist was heavily taped.
Seeing as though he is
right-handed, it certainly
didn't effect his shooting
ability, as he connected on
four trifectas in his team's
opening game vs. Quincy Notre
Dame. Not only that, but
Simms-Edwards also demonstrated
his outstanding ability to run
the point, get to the basket and
get all of his teammates
involved. He has received
recruiting attention from
virtually every school in the
Missouri Valley Conference, with
Iowa State, Iowa,
and Kansas
State also being
schools that Washington head
coach Kevin Brown
mentioned as coming on strong.
Anthony Shoemaker 6'5 Jr.
WF Joliet (Township)
Shoemaker has flown under the
radar largely because he has not
played any AAU ball this spring
and summer. Instead, he is
going to summer school and
working on improving his
academic situation, something he
should be commended for. At
Morris, Shoemaker showed
excellent shooting range, as he
hit a number of shots from
beyond the arc, and also
displayed the ability to handle
the ball, consistently get to
the basket and defend on the
perimeter. He is long and
athletic, and with continued
development (along with making
sure that he continues to take
care of business in the
classroom) we think that he has
the makings of a quality mid
major wing forward.
Tremell Owens 6'0 Sr. 2G
Hillside (Proviso West)
Owens is just starting to emerge
again on the Illinois high
school basketball scene, as he
sat out all of last season after
transferring to Proviso West
from neighborhood and district
rival Proviso East. There is no
question that Owens can score,
as he is a good shooter, has a
strong body that allows him to
get to the basket and finish on
a regular basis, and is
extremely effective on the
break. We were also impressed
with the leadership that Owens
brought to his team while
watching him at Morris. Right
now the biggest drawback is that
he is actually an undersized
2-guard who needs to show that
he can make the adjustment to
the point, which will ultimately
determine what college level he
gets recruited at.
Nevertheless, we believe
that he has the ability to play
D1 basketball.
Additional Notes
... On the down side, we
encourage everyone to go back
and read the player watch
article that we wrote on East
Aurora's Ryan Boatright
after watching him for the first
time at Morris a year ago (www.ilprepbullseye.com/page9.html).
We say this because Boatright is
not the same player that we saw
at that time. Not only has his
game failed to develop the way
that we thought it would, but
more importantly the attitude
that he exhibited at Morris was
abysmal. It included hanging
his head, taking plays off at
the defensive end, and uttering
countless profanities which of
course can't be repeated. We
can only scratch our head and
wonder if USC
head coach Tim Floyd
was aware of these things when
he received an early commitment
from Boatright before he had
even played in a high school
game.
... New Trier arrived 5 minutes
late for its opening game vs.
Seneca and it definitely seemed
to carry over with respect to
the team's lackluster
performance. They managed to
escape with a narrow victory
despite Seneca being without its
best player--6'1 point guard and
Wisconsin-Green Bay
commit Seth Evans.
While 6'5 junior guard
Alex Rossi played
reasonably well, 6'9 junior big
man Fred Heldring did
not look nearly as good as he
did when we watched him at the
King James Shooting
Stars Classic in Akron
at the end of April.
... We don't mean any
disprespect whatsoever
to Washington, Hyde Park, or
Joliet, who all turned in strong
performances on the first day at
Morris, but the best team that
we saw during our time in
attendance may have been
Bolingbrook. This team features
great chemistry and is even
stronger now that 6'3 guard and
University of Wisconsin commit
Diamond Taylor
recently decided to transfer
from St. Joseph. Add Taylor to
a mix which includes 6'5 forward
Troy Snyder,
who is also a D1 prospect, 6'1
guard and outstanding athlete
Antoine Cox,
who has received a scholarship
offer from Lewis
University, and several
valuable roll players who are
capable of stepping up and
contributing, and head coach
Rob Brost has
to be salivating at the thought
of what could lie ahead for his
team next season.
... A special kudos goes out to
Morris Shootout
coordinator Joe Blumberg
and his entire staff for making
us feel right at home from the
moment that we walked into the
gym. They do an outstanding job
and we greatly appreciate all of
their efforts. |
