PrepHoopsIllinois Player of the Year Finalists
The high school basketball season is winding down in the state of Illinois. With that being said we are ready to unveil the three finalists for the PrepHoopsIllinois Player of the Year Award. The last two seasons this honor has gone to Mark Smith (Edwardsville – Mizzou) and Talen Horton-Tucker (Simeon – Iowa State). One of these three will be next!
EJ Liddell (Belleville West)
Liddell is the most dominant force in Illinois high school basketball. The Ohio State commit can beat a defense in so many ways. Face up game both shooting and off the bounce, scoring on the block, rebounding, and swatting shots! He continues to rack up awards as he won the MVP of the Centralia Holiday Tournament, Highland Shootout, and O’Fallon Shootout. Liddell led his team to a state championship as a junior and will look to do that again this season after another outstanding season for the Maroons.
Dajuan Gordon (Curie)
Gordon is a prospect that we have been big fans of for a while. The Kansas State commit took his game to a whole different level this season. He led Curie to a historic campaign. They did not lose to a single team in the state of Illinois all regular season. Gordon also was the feature player on Curie’s city championship team where he scored 28 points. This vaulted them to a 29-1 record. Versatile scorer with an outstanding perimeter shot and a much improved game off the bounce.
Adam Miller (Morgan Park)
The state’s top junior more than lived up to that billing this season. Miller has been a big time scoring presence. He isn’t afraid to take and make big shots. His overall volume of monster scoring games has been impressive while leading the Mustangs on a long winning streak throughout the season including an appearance in the city title game. He had an epic performance at the Big Dipper Tournament over the holidays setting all kinds of records.