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ASK DAN
Have a question about a player in Illinois that you want answered? Wondering what type of impact a recruit of your favorite college team will have when they arrive on campus? Wanna know how your favorite freshman compares to a top senior at that age? ASK DAN. This all new Illinoishsbasketball.com feature allows you to ask Illinois HS Basketball Publisher, Owner, and Head Scout Daniel Poneman anything you would like, with a chance for it to be answered on the website in this segment.
Email your question to Illinoishsbasketball23@ yahoo.com and title the E-mail "Ask Dan."
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Daniel Poneman and Illinoishsbasketball.com in Sports Illustrated
Illinoishsbasketball.com Owner, Publisher, and Head Scout Daniel Poneman was featured in a full article in the new years edition of Sports Illustrated.
Click Here to read the complete article
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May 16th, 2008- James Kinney Picks up Two Offers
Few players nationally helped their recruiting stock more during the April Evaluation period than 2009 prospect James Kinney of Illinois Elite. The 6-1 combo guard from Champaign Centennial High School put together some fabulous performances at the Real Deal on the Hill and at the King James Shooting Stars Classic, and recently added two more scholarship offers.


Click Here to read all about Kinney and his latest offers
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May 12th, 2008- Phillip Jackson is Blowing Up
Class of 2010 stud Phillip Jackson is proving that he is one of the elite players in his class.  After a strong season playing for Coach Todd Kelly at Providence St. Mel, and a more than solid spring playing for the Mac Irvin Fire, the 6-8 post player is becoming a hot commodity for mid major colleges in the Midwest, is starting to see some high major attention, and recently added to his collection of scholarship offers.
Click Here to read all about Jackson and his new offers
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May 12th, 2008- Daniel Poneman's Notes from the AAU Circuit
Illinoishsbasketball.com Publisher Daniel Poneman has been on the road the past month, tracking various Chicagoland AAU teams at the Pittsburg Jam Fest, the King James Classic in Akron, Ohio, the 14u state tournament, and at many more events. Many players made names for themselves and many recieved coveted scholarship offers. In this edition of Daniel Poneman's notes various players are featured including Victor Scott, Tony Nixon, Ben Brust, Chris Eversley, DJ Cooper, James Kinney, Lenzelle Smith, Colin Nickerson, Keith Ford, Troy Snyder, Dwayne Evans and many more.
Click Here for Daniel Poneman's Notes from the AAU circuit
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May 7th, 2008- Nick Valla Journal #1
Nick Valla may be having as good a spring as any player in his class. The 6'2 guard from Marist has been having stellar showing after stellar showing at different AAU tournaments throughout the spring with the Illinois Kings, and the sophomore is set to see his recruiting stock go through the roof.
Click Here to read Nick Valla's first journal for Illinoishsbasketball.com

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May 7th, 2008- Monty Wilson
Monty Wilson of Decatur MacArthur has flown under the radar for most of his high school career, but the 6-3 junior wing wont be under the radar for long as he has been playing great basketball of late for Team Illinois.
Click Here to read the complete story on Monty Wilson


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May 7th, 2008- Zach Boyd Commits
Illinoishsbasketball.com sat down with Zack Boyd of Warrensburg-Latham to talk about his recent commitment to a very prominent CCIW program. Boyd, who was the player of the year in Class 1A this year according to www.illinoishighschoolsports.com, www.illhoops.com and the Associated Press for Warrensburg-Latham, had made a commitment to Elmhurst College.  “I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  It is a ton of pressure to make a big decision like this but I am happy with my decision,” said Boyd of his commitment to Elmhurst.
Click Here to Read the Complete Story on Boyd
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May 6th, 2008- Tony Nixon Gets an Offer from SIU
After a superb showing this past weekend in leading the Mac Irvin Fire to the 17u title at the Bill Hensley Run n’ Slam Classic in Fort Wayne, Indiana, 6-4 junior wing Tony Nixon of Seton Academy has received a scholarship offer from Southern Illinois University.
Click Here to read more about Nixon and the Offer
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May 6th, 2008- James Kinney Journal #3
Few players in the nation had a better showing at the King James Classic last weekend than Illinois Elite guard James Kinney. James, already a top 20 player in the state, may have elevated his stock close to the top 10 with his superb showing last weekend.

Click Here to read James Kinney's Third Journal

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May 5th, 2008- Verdell Jones III Commits to Indiana

Class of 2008 star Verdell Jones was one of the few remaining unsigned high major prospects left across the country. Well now you can scratch Jones off that short list as he committed today to Coach Tom Crean and the Indiana Hoosiers.

Click Here to see Jones reaction to the commitment


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May 4th, 2008- Kyle Rowley Commits to Northwestern
Seven foot center Kyle Rowley of Lake Forest Academy has shaken up the Illinois high school recruiting world today by deciding to commit to nearby Northwestern University as a class of 2008 recruit. Rowley was one of the most sought after post players in the country for the class of 2009 but the native of Trinidad and Tobago decided he was college ready, and since he was eligible to graduate early he opted to reclassify so that he could attend Northwestern next year.
Click Here to read all about  Rowley's decision to commit and reclassify, and how he feels about Northwestern

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May 2nd, 2008- Chris Colvin Picks up Two Offers
After a successful weekend on the hardwood with Chicago Express at the King James Classic, Chris Colvin has picked up two scholarship offers. Coaches from various schools came to open gyms this week at his high school (Chicago Whitney Young) and two schools were impressed enough to extend offers to the 6-2 point guard.
Click Here to read about who offered






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May 2nd, 2008- Rayvonte "Trey" Rice Journal #1
Rayvonte Rice has been on of the most impressive sophomores in the state this Spring while playing with Troy Johnson's Illinois Stars. He has been playing up a age level, with the 17u team, but Rayvonte, who is also a star on the football field, doesnt let the age difference affect him as he is the teams leading scorer and has played a huge role in a number of the Stars' wins over nationally regarded oponents. "Trey" Rice dropped a journal for Illinoishsbasketball.com.
Click Here to read Rayvonte "Trey" Rice's 2nd Player Journal.
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April 30th, 2008- Nik Garcia Picks up First High Major Offer
Nik Garcia proved over the past two weekends of the April evaluation period that he is one of the top shooters in the nation. The 6-6 SG had a number of spectacular showings at the Kingwood Classic and the King James Classic, and colleges took notice. Shooters are a hot commodity these days, and today Garcia received his first high major offer, courtesy of the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Click Here to read all about Garcia and the Offer


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April 30th, 2008- Darius Smith Picks up First High Major Offer

Few players in the nation had as impressive an April evaluation period as Darius Smith did while running the show for the Illinois Warriors. The 6-1 guard from Chicago Marshall caught the eye of many college coaches at the Real Deal on the Hill in Arkansas and the King James Classic in Ohio, and today he picked up his first high major offer courtesy of Head Coach Scott Drew and Baylor University of the Big 12 conference.

Click Here to read all about Smith and the offer

  

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April 29th, 2008- Daniel Poneman's Notes from the April Evaluation Period Part 1
Illinoishsbasketball.com Publisher Daniel Poneman has been on the road the past two weeks, tracking various Chicagoland AAU teams at the Pittsburg Jam Fest two weeks ago, then at the King James Classic in Akron, Ohio this past weekend. The past two weekends were "live" for college coaches to evaluate players, and many players got noticed and got offers. In this edition of Daniel Poneman's notes, Darius Smith, Anthony Johnson, Lavonte Dority, Sam Thompson, Kenny Stevenson, Zeke Upshaw, and Tony Nixon are among the players featured.
Click Here to Read Daniel Poneman's Notes Part 1



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April 29th, 2008- Commitment/Singing News
Travis Clark, Jeremie Simmons, Dan Pawleski, David Campbell, Vernard Robeson, Rudy Meo, Jeremy McCray and others are featured.
Click Here
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April 28th, 2008- Nik Garcia "Shooting" Rising Stars to the Top
            Coming into this AAU season many questioned whether or not Brian Davis’ Rising Stars Gold 17u team could hold down their spot as the top 17u team in Illinois. They lost a top 50 player nationally in Chris Colvin (though they did add Cully Payne to replace him), while many other teams such as NLP and Mac Irvin Fire re-vamped their rosters with top players from all over the state. However, Rising Stars showed this weekend that chemistry matters every bit as “player rankings” do, as they made it all the way to the finals of the King James Shooting Stars Classic behind the hot hand of breakout star Nik Garcia.
Click Here to read all about Nik Garcia and the Rising Stars Run to the Championship
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April 24th, 2008- Anthony Johnson Picks up Two Offers
Elite class of 2010 prospect Anthony Johnson has been playing at a very high level of late for Larry Butler’s Illinois Warriors, and has added two new offers from Big Ten schools. You can now mark down Purdue and Iowa as the latest schools to offer this talented 6-3 guard a scholarship.

Click Here to read all about AJ's new offers