Genesis Shootout Preview
The 24th annual Genesis Shootout will be taking place this Saturday, December 16th, at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. The annual event pits 14 teams from the Quad City area (seven Iowa vs. seven Illinois), with games starting at 10:00am and running until about 10:00pm.
Illinois holds an 11-10-2 series edge, and has posted a 71-58 record overall in the event. However, Iowa has started to close the gap, winning 4-3 last season and 6-1 in 2015. With the MAC looking as deep as it has in years, the Hawkeye State has a great chance at running their winning streak to three years this season.
Schedule
10:00 am: Davenport Central vs. Riverdale
11:45 am: Davenport West vs. Geneseo
1:30 pm: Davenport North vs. Rock Island Alleman
3:15 pm: Bettendorf vs. Galesburg
5:00 pm: Davenport Assumption vs. East Moline, United Township
6:45 pm: North Scott vs. Rock Island
8:30 pm: Pleasant Valley vs. Moline
Best game: The nightcap is reserved for the best game each year, as each group of coaches vote as to what order they’d rank the teams before the season starts. So the Pleasant Valley vs. Moline game should be a good one. Pleasant Valley enters off a loss to North Scott, and will be looking to get things turned back around, while Moline enters Friday with a 7-1 record. The Spartans will look to slow the game down and use their physical style to wear down the Maroons, while Moline is going to look to use their athleticism to make the tempo a little quicker. The Brian Dayman vs. Deonte Billups matchup will go a long way in determining this game. There is a good chance that this ends up being the deciding game in the Shootout.
Honorable mention: North Scott and Rock Island played a great game at this event a few years ago when stars like Cortez Seales, Marlon Stewart and Tyler Hall were going at it. This one may not have the major star power that that contest did, but it should be another entertaining contest between a pair of teams that will compete for their respective conference crowns. Corvon Seales vs. JaMir Price will be a fun watch.
Iowa prospects to watch
Brett Erwin (Davenport West)
Trey Sampson (Davenport West)
Kenny Clay (Davenport West)
VJ Wilmington (Davenport North)
Max Taylor (Davenport North)
Jared Beck (Davenport North)
Devynn Wakefield (Bettendorf)
Dylan Peeters (Davenport Assumption)
Trent Fitzpatrick (Davenport Assumption)
Sean Peeters (Davenport Assumption)
Corvon Seales (North Scott)
Cortaviaus Seales (North Scott)
Brian Dayman (Pleasant Valley)
Carter Duwa (Pleasant Valley)
Hunter Snyder (Pleasant Valley)
The prospect list from the Iowa side took a hit when Bettendorf star DJ Carton suffered a wrist injury last week and will be sidelined until sometime in January. Assumption star Dylan Peeters is also questionable after sitting out on Tuesday. Still, Corvon Seales (Minnesota State signee), Brett Erwin (6-8 big man with potential) and VJ Wilmington (6-3 physical point guard) are among the standouts to keep an eye on throughout the day.
Illinois prospects to watch
Brett Murphy (Riverdale)
Isaiah Rivera (Geneseo)
Andrew Barrett (Rock Island Alleman)
Saurabh Patwal (Rock Island Alleman)
Andrew Anderson (Galesburg)
JaMir Price (Rock Island)
Randy Tucker (Rock Island)
Deonte Billups (Moline)
The headliner on the Illinois side is Geneseo’s sophomore standout Isaiah Rivera. Rivera is ranked 4th in the 2020 class by PrepHoopsIllinois and is oozing with potential. JaMir Price and Deonte Billups are the other two big standouts in the group.