--Joe Henricksen has an interesting blog post up on the Illinois Warriors, an elite AAU program that helped Naperville Central's Drew Crawford gain national exposure. Neuqua Valley forward Dwayne Evans currently plays for the Warriors.

--We didn't get a chance to link to this last week: Mike O'Toole, the former head coach at Joliet Catholic, will return to Neuqua as an assistant to Todd Sutton. A spot opened up on Sutton's staff with Bob Vozza's move to Metea Valley.

Here's the latest Will Johnson sighting.

Johnson's from Woodridge and attended Naperville North. Per a Chicago Fire press release, he's featured in cosmogirl.com's "Eye Candy" section.

Johnson currently plays for Real Salt Lake of MLS. In four games this year, he has one assist.

According to Neuqua Valley coach Robin Renner, the University of Arizona intends to honor the scholarship it awarded pitcher Ian Krol. The lefthander, who was suspended for his senior season after his second violation of the District 204 athletic code of conduct, is expected to be an early-round pick in the June amateur draft.

Benet was clinging to an 11-10 lead against Neuqua Valley on Wednesday in Lisle. Seemingly throughout, one team would look dominant one inning and helpless the next.

The Redwings wanted this game bad enough that they brought in Creighton signee John Boyle with a runner on second base and one out in the seventh inning. On the day he was scheduled to do bullpen work on the side, Boyle struck out Jordan Williamson looking and then forced Mike Gerber to ground out, notching the save.

"Basically, in a game like this, (we) would maybe throw him an inning and it worked out," Benet coach Jeff Bonebrake said afterward. "We tried to go as long as we could without him. He came in and got some good work in."

Game over.

For some time now, Joe Henricksen has given Drew Crawford the benefit of the doubt. In a final installment for the City/Suburban Hoops Report, Henricksen ranks the state's top college prospects in the class of 2009, slotting the Naperville Central senior third.

Northwestern coach Bill Carmody has said that he thinks Evanston will be a good place for a guard to be over the next few years - the Wildcats have already recruited the interior players. Assistant Tavaras Hardy, who was instrumental in signing Crawford, told us: "We want to recruit kids that have a chance to make an immediate impact."

The departure of senior guard Craig Moore will open up a spot in the starting five next season, and Henricksen wasn't subtle in his prediction:

3. Drew Crawford, 6-5, 2G, Naperville (Central) ... There weren't enough people who were able to see just how good Crawford was during his high school career. Look for Crawford to start from day one at Northwestern and truly blossom in college.

Four area teams had baseball games washed away on Tuesday. Here are the updates:

--Naperville Central and Naperville North will each have home games on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Redhawks will face Glenbard North, while the Huskies take on Wheaton North, which is ranked second in the latest Chicago Sun-Times poll.

--Waubonsie Valley will host a doubleheader against Streamwood on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m.

--Neuqua Valley will travel to St. Charles North on May 13 to make up Tuesday's Upstate Eight Conference game.

UPDATE: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/sports/highschools/1536455,6_2_NA21_BHOOPS_S1.article

Benet senior center Joe Meyerhoff has signed with Utah Valley University, an independent Division I basketball program that will begin play in the Great West Conference next season.

The 6-foot-8-inch Meyerhoff averaged 12.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game for the Redwings last season.

Naperville resident Becky Karls Eloe named to UW-Whitewater Athletics Hall of Fame.

Eloe was the NCAA National Champion in the long jump.

Random Internet browsing led me to Neuqua Valley's boys soccer site. I guess old habits die hard while transitioning from reporter to editor. Anyway, I was surprised to see the three-time state-qualifying Wildcats have a new leader.

Tony Kees has replaced Jim Johns as the varsity team's head coach. Here's Kees' public greeting. (Warning: You'll have to make an extra click or two to actually land on Kees' message). As you'll see, Neuqua's getting a heavily decorated and highly motivated leader.

Agreed?

The Chicago Fire Juniors 16-and-under boys team continued their undefeated Northern Illinois Soccer League premiership division play with two victories. On Saturday, the Fire defeated Sockers FC 3-1 and on Sunday defeated Euro Premier Club 6-1. Neuqua Valley's Will Butler is on the team.

Waubonsie Valley seniors Matthew Nied and Matthew Cronin, and Naperville North senior Kathryn Henry were among the 83 seniors from around the Chicago area who were awarded a Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship.

The scholarship includes full tuition and housing for the 2009-10 academic year.

Nied, of Naperville, caddies at Stonebridge Country Club and plans to attend Northern Illinois. Cronin, of Aurora and White Eagle Golf Club is headed to Illinois. Henry, who works at Butterfield Country Club, will go to Wisconsin.

From the news release:

The students will attend one of 14 universities where the Foundation owns and operates an Evans Scholarship House, including Northwestern University, University of Illinois, Indiana University, Marquette University, Purdue University and Northern Illinois University. Scholarships are renewable for up to four years.

The Western Golf Association, headquartered in Golf, Illinois, has administered the Chick Evans Scholarship Program through the Evans Scholars Foundation since its inception in 1930. It is the nation's largest privately funded scholarship program.

Neuqua Valley seniors Brittany and Morgan Williams plan to attend Millikin University in Decatur, Ill., the school announced Wednesday. The Big Blue plays with North Central College in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, a Division III league.

As a senior, Morgan Williams was named to the Upstate Eight All Conference team. She was an All-Area selection and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association named her Special Mention All-State. She was a Sun All-City honorable mention choice. Morgan averaged 9.7 points and 2.6 rebound per game. She led the Wildcats with 56 3-pointers and shot a team-high 81.1 percent from the free-throw line.

Brittany Williams was also named to the All-UEC team. She was an All-Area selection and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association named her Special Mention All-State. She averaged 4.0 points and 3.1 rebounds, while leading the team in steals (79) and assists (101).

The twin sisters played together at Plainfield South before transfering to Neuqua to be coached by their father, Mike Williams, last season.

The Benet girls soccer team is finding its luck coming up on the bad side so far this season. The latest case in point came Saturday in a 1-0 loss to St. Viator.

With fewer than two minutes remaining, the Redwings hit a shot that caught the under side of Viator's crossbar. The ball bounced straight down and was cleared away before Benet could tie the game.

Adding to the frustration of coach Henry Wind is that several of the Redwings' opponents have been able to get those breaks and score.

"Somehow we make one mistake, they work the ball in and score against us," Wind said. "We just need to find a way to score against some of these good teams. Right now we have no rhythm."

Benet (4-2-1, 2-0 East Suburban Catholic Conference) will look to do that next week against tough competition. The Redwings start with a Monday game against Wheaton Academy and, after a midweek ESCC game against Providence, open play in the Naperville Invitational.

Philly.com has done an excellent job covering the life and death of Harry Kalas, the legendary Phillies broadcaster. Jim Salisbury of the Inquirer explains Monday's events here. In 2002 Frank Fitzpatrick traveled to Naperville to better understand the world in which Kalas grew up. The result is a must-read feature.

What are your memories of the 1954 Naperville High School graduate?

The Sunday column looked at Benet seniors Alex Staehely and John Boyle, who have committed to Creighton. For more on the future of this program, check out Tom Shatel in the Omaha World-Herald. The Bluejays have major plans in the works.

On Thursday, the Los Angeles Sparks drafted Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton 13th overall out of Purdue.

The Neuqua Valley graduate has graced the pages of The Naperville Sun for the past 10 years and will continue to do so as part of the WNBA.

On behalf of The Sun, please join me in congratulating Naperville's newest pro!

There's a column in here somewhere, and we'll soon explore the topic more in-depth, but did you see these two stories?

Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports absolutely crushed it with this explanatory piece about how NFL teams are doing due diligence on prospects. Show them an attractive woman's profile, get on to their Facebook page and then sift through all the friends, pictures and comments:

"It works like magic," said a personnel source that was familiar with his team's tactic of using counterfeit profiles to link to Facebook and Myspace pages of potential draft picks. The source directed Yahoo! Sports to one of the team's "ghost profiles" - a term he coined because "once the draft is over, they disappear. It's like they were never there."

Elsewhere in cyberspace, John Calipari's daughter Megan changed the status update on her Facebook page and broke a major college basketball story in the process. Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com details the scoop:

JOSH PASTNER IS THE NEW COACH AT MEMPHIS!! YAY!!

Chances are you won't be drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs this month, or be named the head coach of a Conference USA program anytime soon, but these types of stories raise a whole new set of issues for students, reporters, employers and anyone who has a Facebook account.

What's your reaction?

Neuqua Valley graduate Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton will be reunited with her friend Candace Parker, just like a WNBA mock draft indicated yesterday.

Wisdom-Hylton, a Purdue senior, was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks with the 13th overall pick in today's WNBA Draft. Parker was the overall No. 1 pick by the Sparks last year.

Wisdom-Hylton was the final pick in the first round. When her name was announced she stood up and shared hugs with her stepfather Tony Hylton, her Purdue coach, Sharon Versyp and the Purdue director of basketball operations, Terry Kix.

Waubonsie Valley hasn't picked up where it left off. The Warriors advanced to the semifinals of the state summer tournament, but they've opened this season 0-4.

After Wednesday's 9-4 loss at Naperville North, Waubonsie coach Dan Fezzuoglio was a little curt, but at the same time emphatic that good things will happen.

"We have hit the ball pretty well," Fezzuoglio said. "We hit the ball well today against one of the better kids in the area (Jake Naumann) and that's encouraging."

Waubonsie can also begin to start over in a sense with Thursday's Upstate Eight Conference opener against St. Charles East. At least it doesn't play in the DuPage Valley Conference. Waubonsie's losses thus far have come against North, Naperville Central, Wheaton North and West Chicago.

"I'd rather be working the kinks out (now) instead (of) the end of the year," Fezzuoglio said. "We could see Central again or North again. We know we're a quality team and we're gonna be there."

Today marks the 13th WNBA draft and for the second year in a row it should involve a local player. Last year it was all-world Candace Parker's turn. Parker was chosen first overall by the Los Angeles Sparks.

This year it's time for Neuqua Valley graduate Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton to head to the pros. Wisdom-Hylton is one of 15 seniors invited to attend the draft Thursday in Secaucus, N.J.

Wisdom-Hylton is expected to be picked in the later stages of the first round or early in the second round of the 13-team draft. Her coach at Purdue, Sharon Versyp, believes Wisdom-Hylton will make an impact on the league with her versatility and her growing confidence.

"In February and March she was, 'Give me the ball, I'm going to score, I'm going to stop this, we're going to win,'" Versyp said. "It was totally different. She spoke it -- she walked the walk; she talked the talk. It was a big, huge lift for everybody."

Versyp said one of the biggest challenges facing Wisdom-Hylton is how she'll adjust to the professional lifestyle.

"It's totally different than college athletics," Versyp said. "You've got to really wrap your head around that. It's a business. You don't always have the overall team camaraderie. It's just a totally different mentality that she has to be confident every single day she steps foot on the floor."

It hasn't happened since their middle-school AAU days, but Candace Parker and Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton may become teammates once again. At least according to this WNBA mock draft analysis.

Brian Martin of WNBA.com speculates Wisdom-Hylton will be selected by the Los Angeles Sparks with the final pick of the first round. Parker was the overall No. 1 pick last season by the Sparks, and went on to win MVP and Rookie of the Year honors.

Wisdom-Hylton is among the 15 players invited to attend the WNBA Draft on Thursday in New Jersey. Several observers believe she could be picked in the middle of the first round. But should she slip to the second round, Wisdom-Hylton could end up with the hometown Sky, which has the 16th overall pick.

This year's first round begins at 2 p.m. and is televised on ESPN2. Coverage switches to ESPNU at 3 p.m. for the remaining two rounds.

Marcus Jordan - Michael's kid - has made a verbal commitment to Central Florida.

--Neuqua Valley continues to care of things on the field, but it still dropped out of the Chicago Sun-Times baseball rankings. The Wildcats (3-1) are on the fringe of the top 10, listed under others to watch.

--St. Rita, which is ranked No. 7 by Sean Duncan, had such a fast start that SouthtownStar columnist Pat Disabato was wondering about an unbeaten season. Only two other Illinois baseball teams have done so, but it won't be the Mustangs this season - the other day Whitney Young upset the top-ranked preseason team. In what should be a good dress rehearsal for the postseason, Benet is scheduled to travel to St. Rita on May 25.

--Duncan previously released his top-100 players list, and it included the following area players: John Boyle, Benet senior pitcher; Pat Kaminska, Naperville Central senior pitcher; Mike McKinley, Neuqua senior pitcher; Jake Naumann, Naperville North senior pitcher; and Alex Staehely, Benet senior shortstop.

Here's one way to stretch your entertainment dollar in the middle of a recession. Even if you're priced out of big-league games, U.S. Cellular Field will open its doors on April 15 for Notre Dame and Northwestern.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at whitesox.com or the stadium's box office. Proceeds from the game will benefit Chicago White Sox Charities. The club hosted a similar event last year when Notre Dame took on Northern Illinois to support a scholarship fund at the DeKalb university.

There will still be several local connections. Scott Lawler, a Naperville Central graduate, is the Fighting Irish associate head coach. Sophomore Mick Doyle, the infielder out of Benet, has started 17 games this season for Notre Dame and is hitting .271.

Geoff Rowan, less than a year removed from his senior season at Neuqua Valley, is trying to find his role at Northwestern. Rowan has made three appearances out of the bullpen and seen time at catcher, his listed position on the team's roster.

Warren senior guard Brandon Paul edged out fellow Illinois recruit Jereme Richmond of Waukegan to win the 2009 Mr. Basketball of Illinois award.

Naperville Central senior swingman Drew Crawford received 20 first-place votes in ballots submitted by the state's coaches and media members. The Northwestern signee finished third in the voting with 137 points, behind Paul (337) and Richmond (321).

How would you have voted?

If you're expecting to learn The Naperville Sun's Athlete of the Month for March here, you'll be disappointed. But if you'd like to submit a name or two for consideration, you're in luck.

The voting's still open...

Stumped on who to suggest? How 'bout Waubonsie Valley's Shakeia Pinnick (track and field) or Neuqua Valley's John Mikuzis (water polo) or Naperville Central's Drew Crawford (basketball)? Somebody else?

Cast your votes here or at napersun.com/sports.

Purdue senior and Neuqua Valley graduate Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton is among 15 players invited to attend the WNBA Draft on April 9 in Secaucus, N.J.

Wisdom-Hylton's stellar college career wrapped up Tuesday night when the Boilermakers lost to top-seeded Oklahoma in the Elite Eight. She finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds in her final game for the Boilermakers.

Wisdom-Hylton, who plans to walk in Purdue's graduation ceremony May 17, leaves the Boilermakers as the team's career leader in rebounding and blocked shots. She is also third in steals and second in career double-doubles after earning her 25th in Tuesday's game.

Waubonsie Valley's upset loss against Naperville Central last week hurt the Warriors tremendously in the eyes of the nation's girls soccer coaches.

The Warriors, who entered the season ranked No. 1 by the coaches' association, fell out of the top 20 after suffering their first loss in 59 games.

Meanwhile, Neuqua Valley, which opened its season with a 1-0 victory over Naperville North, jumped to No. 8 in the poll released Tuesday. The Wildcats improved from No. 19 in the preseason poll.

The question is, does this poll -- or any national high school ranking -- matter? The teams often downplay any significance. And, really, who knows for sure if current No. 1 St. Pius of Atlanta, Ga., is better than Waubonsie or Neuqua. It's not like the teams ever play each other.

So what do you think of the rankings?

--In searching for Mark Lindo's replacement, Naperville North has finished interviewing internal candidates and is in the process of reviewing external resumes for the varsity head coaching job. According to an ad posted on the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's Web site, the school anticipates teaching openings in driver's and physical education.

--Forgot to mention this earlier, but Waubonsie Valley assistant Matt Walpole will be joining Bob Vozza's staff at Metea Valley.

--Wes Koral, a Joliet Catholic sophomore from Naperville, was named all-area honorable mention by The Herald News after averaging 10.1 points in 15 varsity games.