MUScoop

MUScoop => Hangin' at the Al => Topic started by: warthog-driver on April 21, 2012, 04:45:34 PM

Title: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: warthog-driver on April 21, 2012, 04:45:34 PM
Was in a Seattle brewpub last night when a guy with the thickest Chicago accent sits next to us. Turns out he went to DePaul so we naturally brought up college hoops. In particular we discussed how DePaul has completely lost out on local recruiting while MU is struggling in Chicago (his view; I suggested Buzz has a broader recruiting footprint so we are not as dependent on Chicago.)

He stated that Joey Meyer pissed off the local HS hoops mafia and that was the beginning of the end for them obtaining Chicago prepsters. He also believed Kennedy did more harm than good in the same regard which led to hiring Wainwright.

Anyhow, we both agreed that the epic battles between Peoria Manual and Whitney Young were some of the classics. In particular, the 1998 Whitney Young squad was epic:

Quentin Richardson
Dennis Gates
Cordell Henry

Who were the others from that squad?
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: WI inferiority Complexes on April 21, 2012, 05:13:32 PM
Whiney Young had a player named Corey Harris, who went to Ball State, but I doubt he did much collegiately.

I only know that name because I knew people from Fenwick, who that same year had Corey Maggette and Chris Williams, (who started at Loyola but eventually played at Ball State with Harris).
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: warthog-driver on April 21, 2012, 05:18:19 PM
That Chicago class had tons of talent -

Corey Magette
Bobby Simmons
Frank Williams
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: Stringer Bellenson on April 21, 2012, 05:35:04 PM
Another great team from those days was Thornton from Harvey, they lost to Peoria Manuel a couple years in a row down state in some close games.  They probably would've won it all any other years.  They had Melvin Ely, Antwan Randle El, Napoleon Harris, and Eric Herring.  Ely went to Fresno St. and ended up on the Clippers at one point I believe.  Randle El and Harris had solid careers in the NFL.  Harris just won a primary for a state senate seat.  Not sure about Herring.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: Dawson Rental on April 21, 2012, 06:57:01 PM
That Chicago class had tons of talent -

Corey Magette
Bobby Simmons
Frank Williams

I think you mean Lance Williams from Julian HS.

Frank Williams was a point guard from Peoria Manual that went to Illinois.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: Boone on April 21, 2012, 07:16:44 PM
Sergio McClain and Marcus Griffin were Peoria Manual grads, who also attended Illinois.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: warthog-driver on April 22, 2012, 03:10:48 PM
I think you mean Lance Williams from Julian HS.

Frank Williams was a point guard from Peoria Manual that went to Illinois.

Good catch. I meant Lance. Frank was Mr BB in Illinois that year, edging out QR.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: Avenue Commons on April 23, 2012, 08:52:11 AM
Was in a Seattle brewpub last night when a guy with the thickest Chicago accent sits next to us. Turns out he went to DePaul so we naturally brought up college hoops. In particular we discussed how DePaul has completely lost out on local recruiting while MU is struggling in Chicago (his view; I suggested Buzz has a broader recruiting footprint so we are not as dependent on Chicago.)

He stated that Joey Meyer pissed off the local HS hoops mafia and that was the beginning of the end for them obtaining Chicago prepsters. He also believed Kennedy did more harm than good in the same regard which led to hiring Wainwright.

Anyhow, we both agreed that the epic battles between Peoria Manual and Whitney Young were some of the classics. In particular, the 1998 Whitney Young squad was epic:

Quentin Richardson
Dennis Gates
Cordell Henry

Who were the others from that squad?

Pat Kennedy famously said that passing on Cordell (for King HS PG Imari Sawyer, I think) was the biggest recruiting mistake he ever made.

The real change for DePaul was KG passing on High School and starting the preps to pros trend. DePaul had KG locked up but then he couldn't get the SAT score he needed and had dire financial issues at home and went pro. This caused DePaul to miss out on Eddy Curry who was also headed to DePaul but instead went right to the pros.

If Curry went, DePaul's lineup would have been Eddy Curry at Center, Stephen Hunter at PG, Bobby Simmons at SF, Quentin Richardson at SG and as Kennedy said "we could have started the janitor at PG" and had a chance at a national championship.

Kennedy did piss off the Chicago powers that be.

Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: Lennys Tap on April 23, 2012, 09:10:51 AM
Pat Kennedy famously said that passing on Cordell (for King HS PG Imari Sawyer, I think) was the biggest recruiting mistake he ever made.

The real change for DePaul was KG passing on High School and starting the preps to pros trend. DePaul had KG locked up but then he couldn't get the SAT score he needed and had dire financial issues at home and went pro. This caused DePaul to miss out on Eddy Curry who was also headed to DePaul but instead went right to the pros.

If Curry went, DePaul's lineup would have been Eddy Curry at Center, Stephen Hunter at PG, Bobby Simmons at SF, Quentin Richardson at SG and as Kennedy said "we could have started the janitor at PG" and had a chance at a national championship.

Kennedy did piss off the Chicago powers that be.



IIRC Kennedy resruited Sawyer hard rather than D Wade - Cordell Henry was two classes ahead of Wade and Sawyer.
In addition to Garnett, DePaul had also suffered (pre Kennedy) when Ronnie Fields couldn't get into school and Howard Nathan flunked out.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: T-Bone on April 23, 2012, 10:11:10 AM
In addition to Garnett, DePaul had also suffered (pre Kennedy) when Ronnie Fields couldn't get into school and Hhoward Nathan flunked out.

That could have been incredible for DePaul w/Garnett and Fields. 
Here's some more on Fields: http://www.slamonline.com/online/college-hs/high-school/2010/03/catching-up-with-ronnie-fields/
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: MuMark on April 23, 2012, 10:22:18 AM
Yeah Kennedy was referring to Wade not as Henry in being his biggest miss.

Henry was a nice player but he wasn't a program changer by any means.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: Badgerhater on April 23, 2012, 10:38:50 AM
I loved watching Cordell Henry play.    That last class recruited by Deane was instrumental in MU's resurgence as a program -- they inserted a significant amount of talent into a team that had been eroding steadily talentwise under Deane.  They provided a core group of players that gave Tom Crean enough room to redevelop the program.  

While Cordell would be a very nice backup on today's team, he made Marquette a better program while he was here.  That, in the end, is the highest contribution a player can make to the Marquette program.  Any player who does that should be held in our highest regard.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: Lennys Tap on April 23, 2012, 11:06:45 AM
 

While Cordell would be a very nice backup on today's team, he made Marquette a better program while he was here.  

Agree that Cordell was a key part of a solid class that Deane left for TC. I don't know that he'd be a backup on today's team - think he'd have a good shot at starting.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: Goose on April 23, 2012, 11:37:43 AM
Cordell would have been a starter this past year IMO. He was a very solid player and upgrade over current PG. Plus he could push the ball and score.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: MU82 on April 23, 2012, 11:41:11 AM
I'd rather have the ball in Cordell's hands than in Junior's. And I am not a Junior hater. Really liked Cordell's solid, smart game. Good defender, too.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: nycwarrior on April 23, 2012, 12:25:09 PM
Wow that Ronnie Fields video in the SLAM article was awesome.

Between the numbers Fields put up in the Chicago Public League to the video of what he was doing, you can see what all the hype was about. He was athletic and intuitative to the point where the court looks tiny and everyone else appears to be moving in a slower gear.

Thanks for posting.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: MU82 on April 23, 2012, 01:24:36 PM
Fields and Kevin Garnett were two of the five best prep players I ever saw. And they played on the same team. A Farragut team that somehow found a way to not with the state title, by the way.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: Dr. Dunkenstein on April 23, 2012, 02:18:27 PM
Fields and Kevin Garnett were two of the five best prep players I ever saw. And they played on the same team. A Farragut team that somehow found a way to not with the state title, by the way.

Farragut lost in the quarterfinals of the state tournament to the previously mentioned Thornton (Harvey) team.  Thornton also had Tai Streets, who went on to play football at Michigan and for the 49ers.  A line-up that had five Division I starters in either hoops or football.  Herring ended up going to a MAC school, I believe.

I saw Farragut beat Philadelphia Roman Catholic on DePaul's campus, and Fields was ridiculous. They would just get the ball to Garnett in the middle of the court to break pressure and he would just loft it up to Fields, who could jump out of the gym.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: Lennys Tap on April 23, 2012, 03:01:09 PM
Farragut lost in the quarterfinals of the state tournament to the previously mentioned Thornton (Harvey) team.  Thornton also had Tai Streets, who went on to play football at Michigan and for the 49ers.  A line-up that had five Division I starters in either hoops or football.  Herring ended up going to a MAC school, I believe.

I saw Farragut beat Philadelphia Roman Catholic on DePaul's campus, and Fields was ridiculous. They would just get the ball to Garnett in the middle of the court to break pressure and he would just loft it up to Fields, who could jump out of the gym.

Tai Streets is the founder/leader of Mean Streets, the #2 AAU program in Chicago behind the Mac Irvin Fire.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: warthog-driver on April 23, 2012, 05:44:20 PM
Tai Streets is the founder/leader of Mean Streets, the #2 AAU program in Chicago behind the Mac Irvin Fire.

As a UofM alum I follow their football team with a great deal of interest. I watched the 97 Rose Bowl vs WSU at the Sheraton in Sydney at about 5 am. Streets had a great game and Michigan captured the National Title (albeit shared due to Tom Osborne getting a goodbye reach around...) Streets was a real clutch player for Michigan.

Some might not know he also played on the basketball team but quit to focus on football.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: MU82 on April 23, 2012, 05:49:10 PM
Farragut lost in the quarterfinals of the state tournament to the previously mentioned Thornton (Harvey) team.  Thornton also had Tai Streets, who went on to play football at Michigan and for the 49ers.  A line-up that had five Division I starters in either hoops or football.  Herring ended up going to a MAC school, I believe.

I saw Farragut beat Philadelphia Roman Catholic on DePaul's campus, and Fields was ridiculous. They would just get the ball to Garnett in the middle of the court to break pressure and he would just loft it up to Fields, who could jump out of the gym.

I was at that game, too. The Philly team had a Division I center and Garnett just KILLED him.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: brandx on April 23, 2012, 06:26:31 PM
Another great team from those days was Thornton from Harvey, they lost to Peoria Manuel a couple years in a row down state in some close games.  They probably would've won it all any other years.  They had Melvin Ely, Antwan Randle El, Napoleon Harris, and Eric Herring.  Ely went to Fresno St. and ended up on the Clippers at one point I believe.  Randle El and Harris had solid careers in the NFL.  Harris just won a primary for a state senate seat.  Not sure about Herring.

A great team, but I'm wondering if any HS team ever had 5 guys who ended up in the NBA.

Earl Tatum played with Ray and Gus williams and Rudy Hackett and all 4 played in the NBA, but I can't recall if their was a 5th guy who reached the show.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: warthog-driver on April 23, 2012, 06:36:23 PM
A great team, but I'm wondering if any HS team ever had 5 guys who ended up in the NBA.

Earl Tatum played with Ray and Gus williams and Rudy Hackett and all 4 played in the NBA, but I can't recall if their was a 5th guy who reached the show.

If you open up the aperture, Tai Streets played high school basketball with Randle El, Melvin Ely, and Napoleon Harris. All went on to careers in either the NFL or NBA.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: Stringer Bellenson on April 23, 2012, 08:02:23 PM
Yeah, I forgot about Streets.  I also forgot he played basketball in college.  I know Randle El played football and basketball at I4 and I'm pretty sure Harris also played basketball at Northwestern at one point too.  Randle El got drafted by the Cubs and Streets was a track all-star too. 

There was a couple clips of them actually in that sweet Ronnie Fields video linked in the Slam article.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: brandx on April 23, 2012, 09:01:07 PM
If you open up the aperture, Tai Streets played high school basketball with Randle El, Melvin Ely, and Napoleon Harris. All went on to careers in either the NFL or NBA.
My query if you bothered to read it was whether there has been a HS team where all 5 guys played in the NBA.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: Avenue Commons on April 23, 2012, 10:05:38 PM
My query if you bothered to read it was whether there has been a HS team where all 5 guys played in the NBA.

You assume this board exists to answer you queries. That is not the case.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: Avenue Commons on April 23, 2012, 10:09:10 PM
The 1991 Proviso East class of Michael Finley, Sherell Ford and Donnie Boyce won two or three HS championships in Illinois and each of them went on to be first round NBA draft picks. Amazing for a school that, unlike CPS schools, couldn't recruit and had to compete with Pingatore at St. Joes.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: brandx on April 23, 2012, 11:08:51 PM
You assume this board exists to answer you queries. That is not the case.

I made no such assumption.

But, I did assume someone might be interested in discussing basketball. If rumors are woth 15 - 20 pages, MU basketball history may be worth a couple.

I agree that Finley, Ford, and Boyce were a great set of teammates ,but Tatum, Gus Williams, Rudy Hackett (and I believe Ray Williams was also a freshman on the team tho not a starter) are the gold standard. There were also 2 other D-1 players on the squad as well.

I'm not including prep schools where the situation is much different.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: warthog-driver on April 24, 2012, 01:07:12 AM
My query if you bothered to read it was whether there has been a HS team where all 5 guys played in the NBA.

Who the f are you?
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: brandx on April 24, 2012, 07:29:28 PM
Who the f are you?
Who the f are you?

I simply posted about Earl Tatum's high school team (since the discussion seemed to be about loaded teams) and I was attacked.

Seems to be a pattern here towards new posters
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: Sir Lawrence on April 24, 2012, 08:14:52 PM
Who the f are you?

I simply posted about Earl Tatum's high school team (since the discussion seemed to be about loaded teams) and I was attacked.

Seems to be a pattern here towards new posters

Nah. Everyone is fair game for attacks.  New, old, some back from the dead, others reincarnated.  If you don't get ribbed, you get lost in the shuffle.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: mr.MUskie on April 24, 2012, 09:57:46 PM
Nah. Everyone is fair game for attacks.  New, old, some back from the dead, others reincarnated.  If you don't get ribbed, you get lost in the shuffle.

+1
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: warthog-driver on April 25, 2012, 03:06:35 AM
My query if you bothered to read it was whether there has been a HS team where all 5 guys played in the NBA.

I don't give a f+uck what your query was, I commented on Tai Streets remarkable teammates.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: Goose on April 25, 2012, 03:48:45 PM
Warthog

Really like the aggressive nature. Hope it carries over to more than just this thread. I don't give a f+uck what was query was either.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: DomJamesToTheBasket on April 25, 2012, 04:23:00 PM
Nah. Everyone is fair game for attacks.  New, old, some back from the dead, others reincarnated.  If you don't get ribbed, you get lost in the shuffle.

Yep. Gotta roll with the punches.  Nature of the game.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: warthog-driver on April 25, 2012, 06:06:53 PM
Warthog

Really like the aggressive nature. Hope it carries over to more than just this thread. I don't give a f+uck what was query was either.

I commented on Tai Streets HS teammates going to both the NBA and NFL and the guy jumps my sh1t. Not trying to be aggressive; simply challenging a fool.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: Goose on April 25, 2012, 06:35:19 PM
Warthog
I know, I know, I know. F+ck him for jumping in on your sh+t. I thought your post was right on.
Title: Re: Chicago Recruiting
Post by: brandx on April 25, 2012, 06:42:34 PM
I commented on Tai Streets HS teammates going to both the NBA and NFL and the guy jumps my sh1t. Not trying to be aggressive; simply challenging a fool.
I don't mind you getting testy. Obviously I get the same way at times.

I read the comment about Tai and posted what I thought was a legit follow up. Tai played with some great players who went on to pro careers. - so I just related MU to the comment by comparing the team that Tatum was on in HS. It wasn't meant in any way to jump on your sh1t - but just to broaden the converstaion.

I didn't realize that asking if anyone had an opinion on a better HS team was a non-allowed or offensive "query" that would offend Avenue Commons so greatly. I find it silly that it would offend anyone.

If I mis-read your comment about opening my aperture (which I took as an insult) and that wasn't your meaning, then I apologize.

But wow, you guys seem to be a little sensitive.