There is has an article about Shaw today in the Chicago Sum Times (I couldn’t locate the on-line link) in which Shaw relates he is undecided but has received offers from Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue, Louisville, Texas , Kansas, Michigan State, Kentucky, and De Paul (no mention of Marquette). Shaw goes on to quote Rick Pitino in the article and states that he and Morgan Park’s Wayne Blackshear are like brothers.
Let’s hope Shaw doesn’t follow Blackshear to Louisville.
Article was in Trib.
Boys basketball: De La Salle's Mike Shaw receives a lot of college mail, but he isn't mailing it in
By Brian Hedger
Special to the Tribune
6:25 PM CST, February 24, 2010
The letters from colleges roll in daily for 6-foot-8 De La Salle junior Mike Shaw, and his coach is starting to become concerned.
"I think I need a bigger office," said Tom White, the Meteors' coach and athletic director. "We literally have shoe boxes full of mail for Michael. He looks at them, and then we file 'em away."
Shaw is ranked as one of the country's top juniors and holds scholarship offers from Illinois, Southern Illinois, Louisville, Texas and Wisconsin.
There are also a growing number of critics who make Shaw sound like an underachiever. Some say that he doesn't play with his back to the basket enough. Others point out that he's "only" averaging 14.1 points a game. Shaw hears the criticisms. He just doesn't care.
"I just play ball," said Shaw, who leads the 16-6 Meteors in scoring, rebounds (8.8 per game) and assists (2.9). "I know the critics doubt me. They say I'm not this and I'm not that, but I'm not going to let it stop me. I'm just going to keep working hard on the court and in the classroom."
It's an attitude his grandmother instilled in him when she raised him near Englewood on the South Side.
"All I care about is being successful in life. Period," Shaw said. "That's just how I was raised."
Many would like to see Shaw become a better scorer, but he's more interested in helping the Meteors go far in the playoffs by utilizing his multiple skills.
"He's 6-8. He can move, he can dribble, he can shoot and pass, he can block shots and dominate inside," White said. "People think he should be on the blocks more, but that's not really his game. Michael is really a guard who just happened to grow up to be 6-8."
White said Shaw guards the perimeter well for his size, as evidenced by his defense earlier this season against Illinois-bound Tracy Abrams, a shifty Mount Carmel junior point guard. Shaw said that's part of being a winner — something he even takes into the AAU season.
Though AAU is known as a stage to show off, Shaw is willing to do the dirty work.
"Nobody wants to accept a role on an AAU team, because everybody is ‘The Man,'" he said. "So I get in there and rebound and block shots if we need it. If I play AAU this year, that will be my main goal — to win. I already have enough colleges interested in me. I just want to win."
Mike Shaw file
High school: De La Salle.
Class: Junior.
College: Undecided.
Position: Forward.
Height: 6-8.
Stats: 14.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.7 steals, 1.7 blocks per game.
FYI: Shaw has two older brothers who played college sports — one a football player and the other a basketball player. He is also a first cousin of 6-5 DePaul junior forward Mike Stovall.
