Trying to recruit basketball players from talent-rich Illinois high schools has been a problem for Northwestern in recent years but Ricky Byrdsong appears to be making inroads in his second season as coach.
Two blue-chip seniors, Matt Moran of Pekin and Nick Knapp of Peoria Woodruff, have made verbal commitments.
Moran is a 6-foot-7-inch, 215-pounder who averaged 27 points and 12 rebounds last season, while Knapp is a 6-5 guard who has started since he was a freshman and specializes in three-point shooting.
“Matt’s style will lend itself to the motion style they play at Northwestern,” Pekin coach Bob Bogle said. “Because Matt is by far our biggest player we’ve had to use him down low, but he can step out and shoot the three-point shot.
“He’s a tireless worker with good habits and a very intelligent player who managed to find ways to score even though he was double- and triple-teamed all last year.” Woodruff coach Eddie Brooks said Knapp played on an AAU All-Star team that went to Europe during the summer.
“Ever since freshman year Nick has been our leading scorer,” said Brooks. “He has played all over for us, but this year I’m going to play him at point guard to get his ballhandling ready for the next level.”
Last spring, Byrdsong landed a third Illinois high school product in his first recruiting ventures, Brian Chamberlain, a 6-7 junior-college forward from Olney Central. He’ll make his NU debut in the 1994-95 season. Chamberlain began his collegiate career at Creighton after an outstanding high school career at O’Fallon.
The only members of last year’s Northwestern NIT team who were Illinois prep products were graduating senior guards Todd Leslie from Fremd and Eric Simpson from St. Ignatius.
