Best Available: The Great Lakes
The Great Lakes Region continues to produce outstanding basketball talent and today we look at the best available players in that five state area.
One. Trayce Jackson-Davis of Indiana. A five star talent that didn’t sign in the fall and will wait and sign in the spring. The guy many thought would pick Indiana wants to visit each of his final three schools (Indiana, Michigan State, and UCLA) once again and sign later. Jackson-Davis would give Michigan State one of the top classes in the country (something similar could be said for UCLA), but for Indiana, it could be a make or break situation.
Two. Keion Brooks of Indiana. The five star forward is expected to sign in two to four weeks but first he wants to visit Michigan State. The Spartans are on the final list of six for Brooks along with Indiana, Kentucky, UCLA, Purdue, and North Carolina. The same three schools fighting for Jackson-Davis are also after Brooks, but they are trying to fend off Roy Williams, Matt Painter, and John Calipari as well.
Three. Terrence Shannon of Illinois. The top 75 talent made a quick decision when he picked DePaul, that’s not something that Terrence Shannon wants to do this time. The 6-foot-7 small forward has a final six that includes Texas Tech, Florida State, North Carolina, DePaul, Georgetown, and Illinois and at the moment Shannon wants time to continue the process. Local fans at Illinois and DePaul are begging for Shannon to stay home.
Four. Gerald Drumgoogle of Indiana. Drumgoole is from New York but is now in Indiana at La Lumiere Prep. The 6-foot-5 wing (also a talented football recruit) took late fall visits to South Carolina and Minnesota but at the moment isn’t sure what he wants to do. A decision is expected during the winter after he competes on the prep circuit.
Five. Myron Gardner of Ohio/Michigan. Gardner is a hard working combo forward that took visits to Xavier, Cincinnati, and Georgetown this fall and was thought to be close to a decision but the Spire Academy (in Ohio) talent is still undecided. Gardner, who is from Michigan, had a strong 17U EYBL season putting up a dozen points and eight boards a game.
Six. Chris Payton of Illinois. Payton is an explosive 6-foot-7 forward that makes his mark with highlight boards, dunks, and blocks. Today Chris announced a final four of Illinois, Valpo, Southern Illinois, and Middle Tennessee. Middle Tennessee has put together a great 2019 class so far and hopes to finish with Payton. Illinois picked up their interest strong in the fall while Valpo hopes to finish their class with the last scholarship going to Payton.
Seven. Myles Baker of Illinois. Baker has been scoring in bunches for both Whitney Young as well as Team Rose in the past 12 months and now his squad is ranked number one entering the season. Baker is hearing most from Central Connecticut State and Cleveland State, will sign in the spring.
Eight. Tujautae Williams of Illinois. An explosive 6-foot-6 senior that built a nice offer list this summer, Williams has the tools to be an outstanding defender plus his length and agility allow him to play a few different spots. Recent offers landed from Milwaukee, Detroit, and Texas Tech.
Nine. Ben Roderick of Ohio. Ben’s ability to play in front of school was compromised the past 12 months because of a knee injury. Ben had a few previous scholarship offers and this fall some high major coaches came by to see Ben’s progress. If Roderick can get back to form he could become one of the hottest springs names in the region.
Ten. David Skogman of Wisconsin. A 6-foot-10 talent from Waukesha West High School that visited Valpo this past weekend and heard from Notre Dame earlier in the week. Texas Tech and Rutgers were the high majors that offered most recently. Sign soon? Or does he wait and see who else comes calling?
Best Available Per State
Illinois: Terrence Shannon.
Indiana: Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Michigan: Nolan Foster. With so many of the top players in Michigan signing early 6-foot-10 Nolan Foster moves to the front of the line as the top available prospect. Over the past half year several mids and lows have been by to see Foster and with size being in limited supply a good year from Nolan could lift his stock in a big way.
Ohio: Jordan Mitchell.
Wisconsin: David Skogman.