Five Unheralded Scholarship Players In Illinois

By Roy & Harv Schmidt

January 25, 2011 

4:30 P.M. CST

It has been well-documented that the top two unsigned 2012 prospects from Illinois heading into the Spring signing period are Downers Grove South's Jerron Wilbut and Farragut's Rashaun Stimage.  However, what about players who have had solid seasons thus far and have thus enhanced their chances of landing a scholarship by the time April rolls around? 

As it turns out, Illinois Prep Bulls-eye believes that there are five players who undoubtedly fall into this category.  While all of them have received plenty of recruiting attention from D3 schools and would be absolute steals for any program at that level, in our minds each of them has proven to be a scholarship player.  In other words they could unquestionably play at any D2 school and in some cases even at a low D1.  With all of this in mind, we now take a closer look at these five players.

  • Devin Foster          6'3     2G     Chicago (Curie)

See our writeup on Foster in our recap from the Whitney Young Shootout at www.ilprepbullseye.com/Whitney_Young_Shootout.html

  • Kory Brown          6'4     WF     Elgin (H.S.) 

Brown recently had 30 points on 10-13 shooting in Elgin's 58-44 over Huntley at the High School Hoops Showdown in Hoffman Estates, IL.  He is the leader of a team that is currently 16-1 and in great position to be the #1 seed in the Dundee-Crown Class 4A sectional come state tournament time.  Brown has been stereotyped by many as a tweener, but he is another one of those players who overcomes that by how hard he plays from start to finish.  He is highly athletic, thrives in the open court and goes to war underneath.  Yes, we would like to see him become a more consistent shooter from the perimeter, but when looking at the entire package we come to the conclusion that he could fill a need for plenty of low D1 or D2 programs.

  • Devaughn Johnson          6'4     WF     Chicago (Bogan)

Johnson is an athletic wing who has good mid-range scoring ability.  He sports a nice pullup jumper in the lane and can slash to the basket.  And to top it all off, Johnson is a workhorse who really gets after it inside.  Johnson may end up having to go the JUCO route next season, but with that in mind it is wise for D1s and D2s to start doing their homework now.

  • Kendall Wesley          6'2     2G     Chicago (Bogan)

Wesley, like Johnson, was impressive when we watched Bogan at the Bob Hambric Memorial Shootout and is a big reason why his team presently has a record and is challenging Simeon for supremacy in the Chicago Public League's Red-South division.  Wesley is an outstanding shooter with range that extends beyond the 3-point arc.  He also brings considerable toughness to the table, as he defends well in the open court and is also capable of getting to the basket offensively.  We are told that he is an academic qualifier.  Exactly what level Wesley lands at could depend on how well his overall floor game continues to progress.

  • Griffin Pils          6'3     PG/2G     Libertyville (H.S.)

Pils has been a bulldog for Libertyville all season long thus far and when one considers some of the performances he has turned in thus far we are wondering what more he needs to do in his effort to land a scholarship.  Pils was nothing short of spectacular in an 83-76 overtime win over Carmel.  In that contest, Pils ended up with 40 points, 35 of them coming in the second half and 20 in the last five minutes of regulation.  He has also had 26 point outings against Stevenson and Mundelein.  Needless to say Pils can score in a variety of ways and do so in bunches.  However, he is not only a shooter and scorer he is also a playmaker, as evidenced by the fact that he has totalled eight or more assists twice this season.  He has thus shown that he is capable of playing either guard position.  Along with 6'5 2012 guard Ellis Matthews, Pils leads a Libertyville squad that is currently 12-6 but has shown us that they are capable of playing with anybody in Chicago's north suburbs.  Simply put, we think Pils has emerged as one of the biggest sleepers from the 2012 class in Illinois and is a player that a lot of schools are missing the boat on.  

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We welcome comments regarding this story or any other entry published by Illinois Prep Bulls-eye.  They can be made by e-mailing us at royandharv@ilprepbullseye.com.

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