Recently in Recruiting Category

Thanks to his strong showing at the Nike Peach Jam Tournament, Naperville Central senior Drew Crawford is getting more notice from Division I basketball programs.

Crawford came up big for the Warriors throughout the Peach Jam Tournament including a 22-point, 9-rebound effort in a quarterfinals loss to California Supreme.

For an account of how the final seconds of that loss went down, check here.

The reigning Sun Player of the Year now has Drake, Rice, Wagner and Loyola on his trail, according to Chicagohoops.com. According to Scout.com, UIC has also offered a scholarship to Crawford.

With this long list of schools in attendance at the Chicago Summer Classic, Neuqua Valley guard Rahjan Muhammad has played well in the 17U bracket, according to tournament sponsor Chicagohoops.com.

Wayne Simon (16-U Illinois Wolves) - Really quick! Really crafty! The 16-U Wolves played up in the 17-U bracket and Simon continues to boost his recruiting stock. Simon, and his Wolves backcourt mate Rahjan Muhammad (Neuqua Valley), are both very quietly enjoying super-strong runs on the travel team circuit with their fearless play against opposing guards.

Waubonsie Valley's Jelani Johnson helped his squad, the RBS All-Stars, win in double overtime on Friday, showing those rascally Iowa Barnstormers a thing or two.

Naperville North graduate Colleen Ward will begin her college volleyball career this fall at the University of Florida, and according to Prepvolleyball.com, she is part of the nation's top recruiting class.

The Web site released its Top College Recruiting Classes of 2008 list on Tuesday. Unless you are a registered user at the site, you will have to take our word for it.

In addition to The Sun's 2007 player of the year, Florida signed up Ward's Sports Performance teammate Kelly Murphy of Joliet Catholic, who was the Gatorade national player of the year.

Ward, a hard-working, powerful attacker ... could vie for a starting spot on the outside.

Strange fact that probably means nothing: None of the six players that signed with the Gators are from Florida. There are two players from Illinois, two from Colorado, one from Georgia and one from California.

Mackenzie Caquatto had to pull out of her first Olympic Trials because of a hamstring injury two weeks ago in Philly, but when it comes to college, the Naperville gymnast could be heading to Gainesville in a couple years.

Caquatto told The Heat Index on Thursday that she has received interest from 15 schools and emphasized that she is still listening to all of them, but at this point, she is favoring the University of Florida.

The opportunity to compete in the Southeastern Conference, along with the obvious benefits of living in the Sunshine State are appealing to Caquatto, who will be a junior this fall at Naperville Central.

Neuqua Valley small forward Dwayne Evans is No. 19 on the Chicagohoops.com Top Illinois Class of 2010 Prospects.

Evans is the only Naperville-area player on the list. Waukegan forward Jerome Richmond is the No. 1 prospect.

Naperville North senior Jon Bunge will continue his volleyball career at Orange Coast College, according to his mother.

Becky Bunge told The Heat Index on Monday afternoon that her son would attend the two-year school in Costa Mesa, Calif.

A unanimous selection to the All-Dupage Valley Conference team, Bunge missed all of the playoffs with an ankle sprain.

Neuqua Valley senior Brian Clark told The Heat Index that he may play volleyball as a walk-on at Brigham Young University.

The 6-foot-3 middle hitter said on Thursday that he has spoken to the coaches about playing for the Division I program in Provo, Utah.

Clark had 176 kills and 72 blocks in the regular season, helping Neuqua go undefeated in the Upstate Eight Conference. He had four kills, a block and an ace in the Wildcats' sectional final win over Central.

Naperville Central guard Drew Crawford was named to Chicagohoops.com's Top Illinois Class of 2009 Basketball Prospects list on Thursday.

Crawford, who was The Sun's MVP this past season as a junior, is No. 29 on the 30-player list. He is the only player from the DuPage Valley Conference that was included in the rankings dominated by players from Chicago schools.

Warren Township guard Brandon Paul is No. 1 on the list.

Previously Crawford was named as one of "Six players who could break out this spring and summer" by Illinois Prep Bullseye and was ranked No. 20 on the City/Suburban Hoops Report's list of Top 50 College Prospects.

Neuqua Valley senior Jake Blackman told The Heat Index that he will attend Indiana University and play on its men's volleyball club.

The Wildcats outside hitter also made visits to Colorado and Missouri. He wrote in an email to The Heat Index on Thursday that playing for a Big Ten school was the main reason he chose to play for the Hoosiers.

"The main deciding factor was the volleyball team and how it's a big ten team and I can play against my friends from other big ten schools, not to mention I'll get to play my brother who is at Wisconsin Madison," Blackman wrote.

Already on the roster at IU is Naperville North graduate Scott Anerino.

Three local guards have made Division III college basketball decisions. Naperville North's Jake Hasse and Austin Weiss will head to Wisconsin to play for Carthage College and Beloit College, respectively. Waubonsie Valley's Kevin VandenBerg has chosen Aurora University.

Neuqua Valley senior Dan Pawelski will play his college basketball at Loras College, Chicagohoops.com reported on Tuesday.

Head coach Greg Gorton and Loras College have scored a major recruiting coup, and have landed 6-8 Neuqua Valley star Dan Pawelski. Pawelski is coming off of a huge senior season which saw him tabbed as a 4th team All-State selection.

Loras College is a Catholic liberal arts school in Dubuque, Iowa. As a NCAA Division III program, it does not provide athletic scholarships.