Sizing Up 2014 Prospects In Downstate Illinois

By Roy & Harv Schmidt

December 4, 2011

11:30 A.M. CST

The Sportsradio 1450 Shootout which was played yesterday at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield, IL featured four of the top prospects in Illinois from the class of 2014.  As a result, the event offered us an ideal opportunity to get further assessments on all of them.  In this entry we provide our thoughts and evaluations on all of the action that we took in from the shootout as it relates to these underclassmen.

Bates-Diop Rising Rapidly

Even though his team suffered a 71-55 loss to Springfield Lanphier, no 2014 prospect at the shootout played any better than 6'7 wing forward Kieta Bates-Diop from Normal U-High in Normal, IL.  Bates-Diop posted a double-double, ending up with 20 points and 11 rebounds.  Simply put, Bates-Diop has enormous up side, as he is highly athletic and has an incredibly long wing span.  In addition, he has great hands, runs the floor, finishes and consistently blocks and alters shots.  He also has the ability to put the ball on the floor and create for himself. 

We firmly believe that at the present time Bates-Diop has as much potential as any wing prospect in Illinois from 2014, including Whitney Young's Paul White.  In fact, the only difference between the two right now is that White is a better shooter from the perimeter.  But nevertheless, other than 5'8 point guard Tyler Ulis from Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, IL no other 2014 prospect in Illinois has enhanced his stock more than Bates-Diop in the first two weeks of the season, which is why he is right there when it comes to ranking among the top five 2014 prospects in Illinois overall.

Allen Continues To Put Points On The Board   

One thing is for certain when watching 6'4 2014 shooting guard Peyton Allen from Chatham-Glenwood High School in Chatham, IL--he can flat out score.  Allen proved this yet again in Chatham-Glenwood's 67-53 win over Cahokia, finishing to the tune of 24 points, including a trio of 3-pointers.  Chatham-Glenwood revolves the bulk of its offense around Allen and most of the time he takes full advantage.  Allen has range that extends well beyond the 3-point arc, has good form and a quick release and gets out well on the break.  He still needs to work on sharpening his ball handling skills and ability to take defenders off the dribble, but even so we are a bit surprised that more college offers haven't come his way as of yet.  His current offers are from Bradley and Oklahoma State, with strong interest continuing to come from plenty of others.

Larry Austin Remains Tough To Evaluate

Springfield Lanphier's 6'1 2014 point guard Larry Austin turned in a solid performance in his team's victory over Normal U-High, finishing with 15 points.  However, Austin is a player who remains extremely difficult to get a read on.  That is because it is virtually impossible to evaluate him as a point guard prospect because he is playing out of position on his high school team.  In fact the majority of his time on offense is spent along the baseline.  Austin is most adept in the open court and does a great job of slashing to the basket.  As a result, he gets into the lane almost at will.  We also really like how hard he plays at the defensive end, where he excels with his ability to be disruptive and convert baskets off of turnovers.  There is no question that Austin ranks among the top 2014 prospects in Illinois.  But is he clearly the top point guard in the state from that class?  Right now we are not sure we can answer that.

Darius Austin Intriguing But Not Quite There Just Yet

Cahokia's basketball team is young and lacks an experienced point guard.  As a result, 6'6 2014 wing Darius Austin is not always able to use his skills to his full advantage.  That was clearly the case in Cahokia's 67-53 loss to Chatham-Glenwood, as Austin was relatively quiet, finishing with 9 points and 6 rebounds.  Austin definitely has the floor game, as he handles the ball well and knows how to find openings in the defense in addition to being able to power his way to the basket.  He still needs to show greater consistency with his jump shot, and that is the biggest reason why he still falls on the "tweener" side.  With his athleticism and ability to get it done inside, we currently see Austin as an ideal mid-major plus prospect. 

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