Previewing the Class of 2012, part 1

In the coming weeks, I will preview some of the top players in the Illinois class of 2012. In years past, Illinois has typically produced at least one five star recruit and/or several four star recruits. In this upcoming class, the strength that an Illinois class typically has is not there; for now. Going back to the last 10 recruiting classes that Illinois has produced, if things stand, this class will be the weakest as far as star power. This class compared to others is like the other Manning brother that sucks at football. However, a couple players stand to have big seasons and hopefully will move up recruiting boards and might actually challenge super-sophomore SF Jabari Parker of Simeon for 2012 Illinois Mr. Basketball.

PF Jay Simpson (6-8, 220 lbs)- Simpson has verbally committed to Purdue, so the excitement in his recruiting for one of the best seniors in this upcoming class appears to be over, unless something drastic happens where he becomes this super recruit like Anthony Davis of Chicago did in the class of 2011 and pulls in attention from big time programs. There are some things that do stand out in Simpson’s game that does suggest he could be a special player. After watching some highlights, it is clear that for his size, Simpson runs the floor very well and can handle the ball better than a lot of people at 6-8. Simpson has good court vision, showing that facet of his game on a couple fast breaks where he dished the ball off to players better suited to make an open layup or dunk. Also, on multiple occasions, Simpson was able to hit the midrange shot from 10-15 feet. This will be a key component of his game because defenses will be forced to step out and guard that shot which should give Simpson the opportunity to drive the basket more with more open lanes to the hoop. However, Simpson lacks explosiveness that you would see in a high level power forward prospect. Simpson will not have any flashy dunks and at some points of the game, it will look like he has sandbags attached to his shoes holding him down. I have read he has worked tirelessly to be better conditioned, but for right now, it looks like the main thing holding him back from a good prospect to a very good or great prospect is his lack of explosiveness.

PF Steve Taylor (6-7, 205 lbs)- One of the things that stands out about Taylor by looking at him is that he needs to add a lot more weight to become a lot more effective. He does a lot of things well like shoot the outside shot and can find open player better than a lot of frontcourt player. Not that he has point guard-like vision but Taylor is very unselfish and plays more off other players rather than trying to create for himself. Some people will find this to be a turn off and a reason why he won’t be a top 100 recruit next year, but basketball is a team sport and players like Taylor help the other four players on the court which will also be vital at the college level. Taylor is a good rebounder, too, and isn’t afraid to go over or through others to get the rebound. For right now, Taylor’s biggest asset is his ability to step out and hit the 18 foot jump shot with some regularity. A reason why his outside game is so good is because he doesn’t trust his inside game as much. He rarely will take people off the dribble and drive to the hoop. Taylor doesn’t have a go to move and isn’t a good enough ball handler to be fancy with ball and draw other defenders to him. Right now, Taylor doesn’t have the bulk to bang with others his size, so he is more finesse then tough, but that can change because he has wide shoulders and long arms and has the ability to realistically add 20-25 lbs in the next year or two. At the moment, Taylor hold official offers from DePaul, Ohio, Marquette, Xavier, and Northwestern. Taylor looks like a big recruit for a mid-major team or just another piece to a high major program. I believe Taylor will be amongst the top 3 or 4 prospects in Illinois for the class of 2012 this time next spring.

PG Curtis “C.J.” Jones (6-0,170 lbs)- C.J. has verbally committed to Ball State (the most erotic sounding university in America) over DePaul. C.J. has the mop-head dread look so it is easy to point him on the court. C.J. will probably never be in a dunk competition because I’ve never seen the guy dunk. He’s one of those 6 foot players that can only get the ball to the rim and has to lay it in or he’ll be stuffed by the rim. He’ll get to the rim but does not finish in traffic too well. As a point guard, C.J. is more of a shooting point guard than a passing point guard. He is a very good jump shooter but most of his shots were just inside the three point line so I did not get a chance to see him display a three point shot. He has a nice stroke and can jab step a defender to create some space to get a better jump shot. In transition, C.J. ran the floor very well and had some deceptive and flashy passes. C.J. showed good ball handling but in half-court sets, he did not show the same clever and flashy passes that you would see from a top tier point guard recruit. In the end, his all-around game is good but not great, but needs to improve his driving into the lane ability a lot more to become a more inside/outside threat than he is now. C.J. has good strength for someone his size and will be physical, but he won’t drive in traffic and get in the lane quite like other point guards. C.J. is a big fan of the crab dribble or jump-stop around 5 feet from the rim. In the end, C.J. is pretty close to his ceiling and can only improve his jump shot. You are either born a great facilitator or your born to look for your shot first. C.J. is more the shooter but will need to learn to become a better passer in college.

NEXT POST- PREVIEW CLASS OF 2012 PART 2