They chose to wait–and it appears their patience will be rewarded.
St. Joseph’s leading scorer, Marlon London, and Young’s Dennis Gates bucked the trend of signing an NCAA national letter-of-intent during the early signing period in November to see if a successful season could upgrade their scholarship opportunities.
It’s working, especially for London. The 6-foot-3-inch guard didn’t attend any summer exposure camps, where top prospects can forge a national reputation.
Instead, London attracted college scouts the old-fashioned way–during the high school season. He is being recruited by Kansas, Indiana, Minnesota and Penn State. The Jayhawks are also scouting Gates and will reportedly offer a scholarship to one of them. London’s 6-5 teammate, Mark Treadwell, has signed with Indiana, and 6-5 St. Joe forward Rob Walls has signed with Penn State.
“London is as talented a kid as I’ve ever had,” said St. Joseph coach Gene Pingatore, who coached Isiah Thomas in the late 1970s. “I’m not afraid to say that. He will be a major Division I recruit. I’ve been touting him, but nobody believes me.”
Gates, who helped lead Young to the Public League title Sunday, is also being recruited by DePaul and could join Young teammate Quentin Richardson and friends Lance Williams of Julian and Bobby Simmons of Simeon.
Familiar face: Former Farragut All-American Ronnie Fields attended Sunday’s Public League title game and is living in Oak Brook now that the International Basketball Association season is over. Fields, 21, who spent the season playing for the St. Paul Slam, is hoping to run a summer basketball camp for high school kids and then would like to hook up with a Continental Basketball Association team next season.
One on one: Once the season ends, Young coach George Stanton will play a game against Marquette-bound point guard Cordell Henry. The Young playmaker stands 5-9 with a vertical leap that propelled him to second place in the Public League slam-dunk contest. He is extremely quick with a lethal crossover dribble.
“But I hope Cordell doesn’t underestimate George,” said Richards assistant Gary Adams, who played in college with the 5-10 Stanton. “He is a tough defender and he’s in shape.”
New boss: Public League officials say Stanton is a leading candidate to become the league basketball coordinator after he leaves coaching. Sports coordinator Calvin Davis has done an admirable job this season as the interim coordinator after Malcolm Hemphill retired last year.
Favoritism: In a blatant attempt to manipulate the voting for the Associated Press All-State team, one member of the Downstate media intentionally left the names of Young’s Richardson, Fenwick’s Corey Maggette, Farragut’s Michael Wright, Peoria Manual’s Frank Williams and Galesburg’s Joey Range off his ballot in hopes of placing his favorite player on the team.
All five wound up as the AP’s first-team All-Staters.
Super winners: The City/Suburban Hoops Report points out that the Normal/Peoria supersectional winner has followed up with a victory in the Class AA quarterfinals each of the last 10 years. In that span, the Hinsdale Central winner is 9-1, Rockford 7-3 and the Public League 6-4. The East Aurora supersectional winner is 1-9, while teams advancing Downstate out of Evanston and DeKalb are 2-8.
