Illinois Class of 2017 Outlook
We are nearing the end of the road for the high school careers of the class of 2017. This group came into high school with a lot of promise and hype. Let’s see where it stands now and what it’s…
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Continue ReadingWe are nearing the end of the road for the high school careers of the class of 2017. This group came into high school with a lot of promise and hype. Let’s see where it stands now and what it’s strength/weaknesses are as a group in our class outlook.
Strengths:
Depth of Star Power. Jeremiah Tilmon (East St. Louis) might be the only potential McDonald’s All-American of this group, but don’t get it wrong this group has quite a bit of high school star power. With the guys that came into the season as well known players along with prospects that have taken that next step as seniors such as Mark Smith (Edwardsville), Demarius Jacobs (Uplift), Lucas Williamson (Whitney Young), and Teyvion Kirk (Joliet West) this group has quite a few impact players at the next level for their respective college programs.
Point Guards at D1 Level. The lead guard position is one that colleges look hard to find and good ones can be few and far between. This group has 10 that we feel really confident will be leaders from the point guard spot at the next level. Each one of them has different strengths and they come in different sizes. There are also quite a few of them still available for colleges to grab.
Quality Wings at Top. Great group of shooting guard and small forward prospects across the board, but particularly at the top. It is led by Jordan Goodwin (Althoff), Justin Smith (Stevenson), and Javon Pickett (Belleville East) who all rank in the top five overall. Each has had big showings as seniors this year.
St. Louis Metro East Talent. This might be the best crop of metro east prospects in a long time. With guys like Tilmon, Goodwin, Pickett, and Smith all in the top 10 overall this area has more all-state type talent than Chicago this year.
Weaknesses:
Post Players. This has been the weakness from the beginning with the 2017 group. The power forward and center positions lack much immediate impact talent at the next level and doesn’t have a ton of depth either. The power forward group has gotten a bit better at the D2 level over the last few months, but it doesn’t make up for the lack of overall talent across the board compared to other classes.