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Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Julius Randle remain on top of the final ESPN 100 for the Class of 2013.

See the final rankings here.

CHICAGO -- Chicago Simeon Career Academy forward Jabari Parker, the nation's No. 2 senior and a Duke recruit, has accomplished what few before him have in their high school careers. The latest came during Simeon's final home game of the season on Jan. 25 when the school retired Parker's No. 22 jersey and guard Kendrick Nunn's No. 20 while both players are still active.

Parker and Nunn, who is ranked No. 59 in the nation and is an Illinois recruit, have played for Simeon's varsity team all four years and have led the Wolverines to three consecutive state championships and one Chicago Public League title. They also won gold medals while playing together for Team USA in 2011 and 2012.

Parker and Nunn each were given their Simeon jersey in a glass case prior to their final home game. They joined Derrick Rose, Bobby Simmons and Ben Wilson as the lone players to have their number retired at Simeon.

"We thought about it last year and their legacies -- the possibility of having a fourth state title, both playing for USA, Jabari being national player of the year, maybe being player of the year again, Kendrick committing to Illinois," Simeon coach Robert Smith said on Friday. "Derrick brought Simeon back up, and they kept it up. It's solely on their backs.

"It was something where we thought about bringing them back after they've gone to college, but I just thought it was fitting for the careers. They've left that mark to do it right away."

It's the latest honor for Parker. As a junior, he was named the ESPNChicago.com Player of the Year, Illinois' Mr. Basketball and the national Gatorade Player of the Year. He was also the 2011 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year.

"He's shocked; he's happy they honored him," Parker's father Sonny Parker said on Friday. "He's been through a whole lot being the first freshman to start on varsity. He's had a really good career the last three years. It was a great moment for him to be recognized as one of the great players that came from Simeon and played there."

Nunn has been Parker's wingman the past three seasons and emerged as the team's leader and go-to man when Parker was injured earlier this season.

"In our eyes, we think he's a top Top-15 kid in the country, especially when he's playing well," Smith said of Nunn. "He knew Jabari was banged up, and Kendrick was banged up too, but he decided to go out there and play through it until Jabari came back. He hasn't made any excuses and just played."

Simeon is 18-2 this season and ranked No. 9 in the ESPN 25 Power Rankings. The Wolverines are undefeated against in-state opponents this season.

Dave Telep’s Friday recruiting notebook includes an introduction to one of the nation’s most impressive freshmen, a look at Indiana’s big recruiting weekend, why John Calipari’s words resonated with the nation’s No. 2 junior, Illinois putting in work on the recruiting trail and more.

Read the entire story here.

Dave Telep and Paul Biancardi discuss schools in the running for Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins, and they update the commitments of Michael Finke to Illinois, Romelo Trimble to Maryland and Solomon Poole to Georgia Tech.

Chicago Simeon Career Academy's players are paying tribute to former Simeon star Ben Wilson this season by wearing custom-made Nike shoes with his name and number printed on them.

(Read full post)

Whitney Young (Chicago) center Jahlil Okafor, the nation’s No. 2-ranked junior, said
Wednesday his recruitment was open and would still consider in-state schools DePaul and Illinois.

Okafor, a 7-foot, 270-pound center, had made a number of unofficial visits, including to Duke, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State and UCLA, but he doesn’t plan on cutting his list or committing anytime soon.

“I haven’t done a list,” Okafor said. “Illinois and DePaul have as much of a chance as anybody.”

Okafor’s father, Chukwudi, also confirmed that.

“Illinois has a shot,” Chukwudi said. “DePaul has a shot. (DePaul coach Oliver Purnell) is a good guy. Everybody has a shot. I wouldn’t cut any of them out. Illinois is going to have to work. We’re going to pay attention to them. It’s the home team. They’re doing good things.”

Two factors in Okafor’s recruitment will probably be playing with his friend and point guard Tyus Jones, the nation’s top-ranked junior, and being able to immediately compete for a national title.

Jones and Okafor have been talking about playing with each other in college for the past few years, and they keep in touch several times a week.

“First of all, it’s just our friendship, our brotherhood, we’re just close,” Okafor said of Jones. “It’s fun to go to battle with someone you’re so close with. He’s a floor general.”

Winning is also vital to Okafor.

“The ultimate goal for him is to put himself in the position to win a national championship,” Chukwudi said.

Okafor and his team begin their season against DeMatha (Maryland) and North Carolina State recruit BeeJay Anya, a 6-foot-9, 275-pound center, in the Chicago Elite Classic at UIC on Saturday.

CHICAGO -- If a college basketball coach is going to have one close relationship with any high school in Chicago, Simeon would be the desirable place.

The Wolverines have owned Illinois high school basketball for nearly a decade. Simeon has won five state championships and has had one runner-up finish in the past seven years. It has produced two players ranked in the nation's top 5 during that span and will have delivered at least 16 players since 2006 to Division I programs after the upcoming season.

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Joliet Catholic (Ill.) offensive lineman -- and lead blocker for USC commit Ty Isaac -- J.B. Butler still waits for his first scholarship offer. The Class of 2014 prospect talks to Chantel Jennings about his recruiting.

Former Illinois basketball player Jereme Richmond was returned to Lake County (Ill.) Jail on Thursday after he violated terms of his probation, according to assistant state's attorney Jim Newman.

Read the entire story.

Bolingbrook senior forward Ben Moore committed to Southern Methodist on Tuesday.

Moore, a 6-foot-7 forward, chose the Mustangs over Colorado State and Illinois. Moore was the second Chicago-area recruit to commit to SMU in the past week. Proviso East (Maywood, Ill.) senior guard Sterling Brown committed to the Mustangs on Monday.

Southern Methodist coach Larry Brown was the first high-major coach to recruit Moore.

“Coach Brown from the very first time pegged Moore,” Bolingbrook coach Ben Brost said. “The first night I talked to him, (Brown) described what I had been seeing for the last six months. Just the way (Moore) has a feel for the game, the way he can get to where he needs to on the dribble, and he has a nose for the basketball. I’ve seen what he can do, especially in the last six months. It’s been rewarding for him and for me also to see the attention he deserves, and his recruitment to go up as it has.”

Moore’s recruitment has increased since his junior season.

“He’s such a strong ball handler for his size,” Brost said. “He can get to anywhere he wants to go on the floor. And obviously he can score in bunches as well. He’s perceived like an elite player.

“Last year our first game he had a triple-double with 11 blocks, so he played really, really well last year. But people perceived him as a post player, and he’s a wing with the way he can handle the ball. He’s a 3-4 combo type player at this level. Now, people are seeing he can play at this level.”

Moore has improved in some areas, but Brost does expect him to grow in even more areas.

“The things that are going to translate (to college) are he has a nose for the ball, he can finish around the basket, the ball handling really translates, getting where he wants to be on the floor,” Brost said. “Obviously he needs to get stronger, and his jump shot needs to improve, but those are two things that can improve as you get older and you work on them and get more reps.”

SMU assistant coach Jerrance Howard’s connections into the Chicago area helped pay off again for the Mustangs. Howard was hired by SMU after leaving the Illini after last season. Howard has helped with Chicago recruits Brown, Moore and Illinois transfer and former Proviso East High School guard Crandall Head.

Moore is SMU’s second Class of 2013 recruit. He joins Sterling Brown in the recruiting class.

Simeon senior guard Kendrick Nunn may not be the savior of the Illinois basketball program, but he may just attract that player.

Nunn, who committed to the Illini on Saturday, certainly has basketball gifts. He can shoot. He can defend. He’ll play hard. He’ll do what is asked of him.

Whether he’s a future all-American or has the NBA in his future, that’s difficult to say now. He’s a 6-foot-2 shooting guard who is ranked No. 56 in the country and is the 17th best shooting guard by ESPN and is ranked as high as 36th and low as 60th by other national recruiting sites. Within Illinois, City/Suburban Hoops Report recruiting analyst Joe Henricksen ranks Nunn behind Simeon teammate Jabari Parker, the nation’s No. 1 player, and Belleville East’s Malcolm Hill, another Illinois recruit.

Nunn’s value to Illinois goes well beyond that, though.

For one, he’s the first Chicago recruit for Illinois first-year coach John Groce. It doesn’t hurt that Nunn is also from the state’s premier program. Secondly, Nunn is the type of player who seems to fit into any system and tends to be on winning teams. Simeon and the U17 USA national team can attest to that. Finally, others players appear to like him as a person and teammate.

All of those reasons add up to Nunn possibly being the most important Illini recruit in the past decade.

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Simeon senior guard Kendrick Nunn, an ESPN 100 recruit, has set up dates for his five official visits, his father said on Tuesday.

Nunn released a list of five schools he was considering on Aug. 3 and will visit all of those schools in September and October. He will visit Illinois from Sept. 14-16, Memphis from Sept. 21-23, UCLA from Sept. 28-30, Ohio State from Oct. 5-7 and Marquette from Oct. 12-14, according to Melvin Nunn.

Nunn, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard, is ranked No. 54 in the ESPN 100. He's considered the state of Illinois' second-best senior behind his high school teammate Jabari Parker, who is the nation's top-ranked player.

Nunn averaged 15 points for Simeon last season and helped it to its third consecutive state championship. He also helped Team USA win gold in the FIBA U17 World Championship this summer.

The 2013 class is one of the strongest in Illinois in recent memory. There are 12 prospects rated as four-star recruits from the state in 2013, which matches combined total from 2011 and 2012.

Although the top two spots in Illinois are occupied by skill positions players -- WR Laquon Treadwell (Crete, Ill./Crete-Monee) and RB Ty Isaac (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic) -- six of the top 10 players in the state can be found along the lines. That isn't much of a surprise, as the Midwest is known for producing big boys.

Five offensive tackles are found among the top 10 players in Illinois, and another offensive lineman -- guard Kyle Bosch (Wheaton, Ill./St. Francis) -- comes in at No. 6. Overall, the top part of the state's 2013 class is heavy on offense as 12 of the top 14 prospects could all play on that side of the ball.

Two Big Ten teams without much success recently are hoping they found their quarterbacks of the future from the state.

Read the entire story.

Simeon senior guard Kendrick Nunn, an ESPN 100 recruit, released Friday a list of five schools he was considering to attend -- in alphabetical order, they are Illinois, Marquette, Memphis, Ohio State and UCLA.

Read the entire story.

Some of the Chicago area’s most prominent high school and clubs coaches reacted positively Tuesday to Illinois hiring assistant coach Paris Parham.

Parham replaces Isaac Chew on Illinois coach John Groce’s staff after Chew departed last month for a position at Marquette. Parham is expected to be the Illini’s lead Chicago recruiter. He is a Chicago native, played at Dunbar High School in Chicago, coached at Phillips High School and Morgan Park High School in Chicago’s Public League and has recruited the city and surrounding suburbs the last five years for Illinois State.

“It’s rare a person gets an opportunity to do a do-over,” said Whitney Young coach Tyrone Slaughter, whose roster includes nationally-ranked juniors Jahlil Okafor and Paul White. “I think coach Groce and the Illinois program got a do-over. We all liked the Chew hire, but I think the Paris Parham hire is one we love. It’s means nothing negative against Chew. It’s about the relationship we all have with Paris.

“I’m elated. This is one of the few times in Illinois basketball hire history that I can say I’m excited.”

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