Am reminded of what happened at Z-B High this year. Little did we know that Rodney Clinkscales' loss from the 2008 team to graduation would leave such a big hole in the lineup. It seemed like shuffling pieces, with Zelle Smith moving to guard, Quintrell Love moving to small forward and the big Worthington kid taking over for Antonio Stewart at power forward. And that would leave Z-B poised to win it all in 2009.
Didn't happen.
Think about that when you start penciling in Waukegan to win the 2010 state championship.
Colin Nickerson did a lot of things for the Bulldogs besides score. He was the team's best defensive player and always played the role of lockdown corner against the opponent's high scorer. He also could rebound, lead the break, and hit from behind the arc as well as drive to the basket. That is a huge hole Waukegan will have to fill. One player isn't going to be able to wear Colin's shoes, and when you start asking other players to do more, it takes away from what they currently do well.
In other words, it's OK to plan that state-championship parade down Washington St. in Waukegan for next March, just don't pay for the parade permit just yet.
Big hole in Waukegan lineup next year
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*Yawn*
Another blurb about Waukegan.
Apparently, Waukegan and Zion-Benton are the only two high schools in Lake County. You would think so based on this blog. I get that both schools have been powerhouses in boys basketball over the past few years, but your readers are interested in reading about more than them.
I agree. What is this anyway, "school of choice"? Isn't the great part about high school sports, all about growing up with classmates and teammates and one day hoping to become a great team "together". Sounds like the NCAA has better guidelines than the IHSA. It's not time for free agency in high school sports and high school message boards shouldn't be talking about it and getting the wheels turning. Best of luck to the wonderful "student"-athletes mentioned, but lets get everyone involved in discussions with a little more emphases on "team". Smith and Richmond will be talked about plenty over the next few years(and hopefully more) and rightfully so, but this is about high school sports and I'm sure we can find more ways to give more kids attention than this. I don't think Lenzelle or Jereme would mind.......
I think that it's just Waukegan and Z-B's turn to shine. In the past other schools had their run and received all the attention they deserved. Why not enjoy the success of other teams/schools/communities. Don't hate. Be happy that the entire county can celebrate the success of its own.
I loved watching the Nickerson/Richmond show and the zee bee's but I thought of this player even though he went down early with an injury but at the start he was hot Mundelein's Ben Brust hopefully he has a great senior year and can light it up.
In The Locker Room, we love guards who can bomb home 3-pointers from NBA range.
Ben Brust is probably a lock to lead the area in scoring ... maybe the state in scoring, as he will benefit from Mundelein's SSOL style of play. The SSOL refers to getting off a shot in seven seconds or less.
What concerns me about Mundelein is, of course, the lack of a post presence to keep opponents from driving into the lane and turning games into layup drills.
By the way, the thinking here is that Mundelein is the team most likely to crack the upper echelon in boys hoops next winter. In Class 3A, we think Lakes could move up, but we'll see.