After dropping eight 3-pointers and 35 points on North Carolina A&T over the weekend, Northwestern freshman Drew Crawford (Naperville Central) was recognized as the Big Ten player of the week on Monday.
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Naperville North senior center Matt Hasse gave a verbal commitment to Austin Peay on Monday, according to Sean Connor, his AAU coach with the Velocity program.
The Governors have advanced to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship game in six of the past seven seasons. Coach Dave Loos, who is heading into his 20th season leading the program, has 314 victories at Austin Peay, which ranks second in conference history.
Basketball's early signing period runs Nov. 11-18. The 6-foot-9-inch Hasse figures to be in an immediate fight for playing time next year - Loos is guiding a team that features nine underclassmen on the roster.
Joe Henricksen of City/Suburban Hoops Report has a recruiting update on 6-foot-5-inch Neuqua Valley forward Dwayne Evans, who -- if everything breaks right -- could eventually join his friend Drew Crawford (Naperville Central) at Northwestern. Henricksen writes:
After a strong finish in the high school season and a solid start in the spring AAU season, Evans did not play his best basketball during the July evaluation period. Although he has been a highly productive player who finds ways to get things done, he still has the dreaded 'tweener label attached to him.
Hoops Report Analysis: While Northwestern is still heavily involved and the biggest player in the Evans recruiting, the mid-major level would be ideal for Evans. If Evans to Northwestern doesn't get done, keep an eye on these schools as we inch closer to November and the signing period: Loyola, Drake, Toledo, Western Michigan and Fairfield.
City/Suburban Hoops Report guru Joe Henricksen ranks 6-foot-5-inch Neuqua Valley forward Dwayne Evans at No. 15 on his list of the state's top 50 players from the Class of 2010. The scouting report on Evans:
Still trying to shed the dreaded 'tweener label. Perimeter shot extends to the three-point line and has gained consistency, though he's more of a pull-up/spot-up shooter. He's not one to rise up and get his own and must improve his comfort with his handle. Just an old school player who plays with a warrior's demeanor, winner's mentality and high motor. Manages to get a lot done against bigger, more athletic players around the basket.
Not surprisingly, Waukegan's Jereme Richmond, an Illinois recruit, topped the list. A few other names you might recognize: No. 11 Jordan Threloff, DeKalb; No. 23 Tim Rusthoven, Wheaton Academy; No. 31 Antoine Cox, Bolingbrook; No. 38 Jay Harris, Oswego East; and No. 50 DeAndre McCamey, St. Joseph.
Within this piece, we mentioned a recent Time magazine feature in which Candace Parker fielded 10 questions from readers. You can find the entire Q&A session here. The recruiting process has already begun...
How are you doing with your new daughter? Has your coach at Tennessee, Pat Summitt, started recruiting her yet? Brenda Goodman JOHNSON CITY, TENN.
When I first told Coach Summitt that I was pregnant, she was like, Where can we send the papers? I had to remind her that my husband [Minnesota Timberwolves forward Shelden Williams] went to Duke, so he's pushing for her to go there. But I'm doing great. My baby is the joy in my life. Obviously, I'm suffering from lack of sleep, but it truly is a blessing to be a mother.
--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.
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.
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.
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?
Marcus Jordan - Michael's kid - has made a verbal commitment to Central Florida.
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?
