Blackshear Starts Season on Fire

What's gotten into Wayne? The 6-foot-4 Chicagoan, ranked No. 4 by Scout.com is smoking hot, tossing in 35 points a night for Morgan Park.   Full Story

Inside-outside duel threat Justin Gant (6’8”, 200 lbs) of Terre Haute North High has played his way into an offer from Miami University and 6 other schools early on in his junior season.   Full Story

Although he's not anywhere close to making a college decision, Sam Thompson is jumping into the process. He just returned from one unofficial visit and is set for two more.   Full Story

Nnanna Egwu made his college decision. The three-star big man plans to lace them up in the Big Ten.   Full Story

After taking a look at the class of 2010 yesterday, we turn our attention to the class of 2011. Inside Illini's Eric Bossi gives his take on the top 12 junior basketball players in the state of Illinois.   Full Story

The Fighting Illini basketball coaches are in hot pursuit of a tremendous 2011 signing class. WIth Tracy Abrams already committed, they are now focusing on several top players to join him. The big man they are after is Nnanna Egwu, the Chicago St. Ignatius star. He visited the Illini campus last Sunday, and he may be making a college decision shortly.   Full Story

When he would think about the recruiting process, Chicago Foreman High point guard Mike McCall would consider everyone who had been looking at him and who wanted him the most. This weekend, he made a commitment to a school that had been recruiting him for a while.   Full Story

As soon as Dwayne Evans decided to commit to play his college basketball at Saint Louis University, the Illinois Warriors forward started trying to convince one of his friends to join him. On Saturday, Mike McCall pledged to join his friend Evans as a member of the Billikens.   Full Story

After sitting out a year, Jacob Williams began to demonstrate his basketball skills again with the Illinois Wolves AAU team this past summer. This highlight video was taken during games at the Chicago Hoops Fest in July.   Full Story

The Saint Louis University basketball program picked up its first verbal commitment for the 2010-11 season on Wednesday when one of the top uncommitted prospects from Illinois decided he wanted to be a Billiken.   Full Story

Trayvonn Wright is one of the most athletic players in the Midwest. As a sophomore, he won the Iowa high jump championship with a mark of 6’10”. For the achievement, he got the rare honor of being inducted into his high school’s hall of fame. He gave up his chance to defend his state title as a junior to focus on basketball. As a result, he elevated his play and earned six scholarship offers.   Full Story

Football is just around the corner, but it's also prime recruiting time in basketball. After coaches got a chance to spend July following players, there's lots of talk about various Tiger prospects.   Full Story

The July “live” period ended with a bang as teams from throughout the Midwest competed in the End of Season Showdown in Merrillville, Indiana. In this report, read who stood out in the event as WeAreDePaul.com was there to cover the action.   Full Story

Thanks to some heavy family ties to Missouri, it wasn't a surprise to see Columbia (Mo.) Rock Bridge standout Ricky Kreklow choose to stay home and play for the Tigers. However, the small forward's decision came a bit earlier than originally expected.   Full Story

WeAreDePaul.com’s Scott Phillips took in all of the action at the inaugural Hoop City Classic AAU tournament in Kansas City. In this report, Scott recaps the tournament and looks at who stood out.   Full Story

St. Ignatius and Illinois Wolves big man Nnanna Egwu has only been playing basketball a short while. But he is an eager learner who is improving rapidly. These video highlights show some of his potential on both offense and defense.   Full Story

With coaches from Northern Illinois watching, the Rising Stars Gold team from Illinois managed to upset the heavily favored All Ohio Red team in the 17U AAU Super Showcase tournament in Orlando. Jordan Threloff, a 6-10 class of 2010 NIU recruit from DeKalb, was one of the solid performers for Rising Stars Gold.   Full Story

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Day three at the Vegas tournaments turned out to be a good one. Perry Jones showed off his impressive game, while guys like Josh Smith, Wayne Blackshear and Shabazz Muhammad had solid outings as well.   Full Story

With a body build and a game that reminded me both of Jodie Meeks and Kalenna Azubuike, Wayne Blackshear is a rising junior that is on UK’s radar.   Full Story

Six Minnesota teams will play in the adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas this week. Minnesota Pump N Run, a new program this year, will play in the Super Pool and will automatically advance to the Championship Bracket. The other five teams, Net Gain Sports and the two Minnesota Comets and 43 Hoops squads will have to play their way into the Championship Bracket.   Full Story

To date, Sam Thompson hasn't received a ton of national attention, but that is changing, as college coaches are banging down his door.   Full Story

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The July evaluation road trip continued on Thursday, as we started in Cleveland (Ohio) and made our way south to the Kentucky Hoopfest for a handful of late night games.   Full Story

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The first July evaluation kicked off on Monday and majority of the college coaches and recruiting gurus landed at the University of Cincinnati for the adidas It Takes 5ive Classic. Jordan McRae, Marshall Plumlee and Trevor Releford all stood out on day one.   Full Story

2010 guard Mike McCall from Chicago’s Foreman High School plays in what is arguably the best backcourt in the state of Illinois this season. Learn more about McCall and the schools that are giving him interest in this story.   Full Story

Illinois is looking for inside strength to bolster their 2011 recruiting class. A strong, bruising power forward would fit the bill nicely. One of the players they are considering for that role is Christian Kirk from West High School in St. Charles, Missouri.   Full Story