Top Teams in Illinois- Simeon

Due to the fact the NFL might go into a lockout for the year this upcoming season, I figured I would take a bye week of my own. We jump right back into our magical mystery tour of the Future of Basketball for our top teams here in Illinois. Over the next several weeks, or until I can find a better topic during the slow season of high school basketball, I will point out some of the teams that we will most likely see in Peoria this upcoming Spring competing for a state title.  What better way to start off this list with a team that most likely will be cutting down the nets this upcoming spring, and maybe more…………..

Simeon- As the most likely number one team in the state this 2012-13 season, picking Simeon was easier than picking out Kevin James in a crowd of anorexics. With a roster that has about 6-7 future division 1 college players, Simeon is the big kid on a small block. Winners of back to back state titles, Simeon is poised to win its 3^rd straight. A team that had its biggest contributors as underclassman, most of the players from last year’s team come back to defend their crown once more. With just a couple seniors on Simeon this year, the Wolverines look like a viable candidate to win another state championship the following year as well. However, there has been a recent addition to this year’s team that was already primed from a state title run. As they say, the rich get richer. As a sophomore, PG Jaylon Tate was already one of De La Salle’s, another top team in the state, best player. But when considering issues other than Tate’s basketball future, Jaylon’s parents and him deciding transferring from one of the top teams in the state to the best team in the state would only brighten his future.

As a rising point guard in the class of 2013, Tate (left) looked to be one of the leaders on a team set to dethrone Simeon’s run to the top. Now as a member of the Wolverines, Tate only enhances Simeon’s chance to win it all once again. Tate joining forces with the likes of SF Jabari Parker, PF Steve Taylor, and SG/PG Kendrick Nunn is like Bill Gates winning the Powerball lottery. Simeon’s starting lineup looks like a mid-level college team. With a true point guard, players like Parker and Nunn will have pressure taken off of them to create for themselves. The 6-1 point guard will have more weapons at his disposal and should further is stock as an up and coming recruit. Possibly the biggest benefactor of this transfer is Parker who found himself bringing the ball up the court and distributing the ball last year. With a reliable point guard this upcoming year, Parker can focus more on finding spots on the court to get free and make moves to the basket. As one of, if not the top player in the class of 2013, Parker’s offensive numbers will improve and his role will be more defined as a scorer more so than in the last two years.

Tate will most likely jump right into the starting lineup for the Wolverines. This does mean that players like Jr PG Brandon Clemons (5-10, 155 lbs, no offers) and Sr. PG Jelani Neely (6-0, 165 lbs, UIC interest) will have playing time cut. This of course means Simeon will be much deeper, but especially for Neely, who was expected to be one of the impact seniors on this team will most likely come off the bench. As a pure point guard such as Tate, another player who will get hurt, not with playing time but more in experience at the position is Nunn. Already one of the top players in Illinois for the loaded class of 2013, the undersized Nunn was poised to take more time at point guard. Already one of the top defenders on the team and top shooters, Nunn would increase his stock as one of the top recruits in the country if he could develop more of a floor general’s game. At 6-2, Nunn does not have the ideal size for a shooting guard despite is superior ability to put the ball in the basket from anywhere on the floor, so Nunn may have had better future success developing more as a point guard. Now with Tate in the picture, Nunn will play more off the ball than I anticipate previous to this season. Nunn will most likely enter college as a combo guard and figure things out from there, but this seemed like a great opportunity to become a better point guard.

This year’s team will be led by Sr. PF Steve Taylor and Jr. SF Jabari Parker and a state championship seems imminent. What really sets this team apart is the depth they can throw out each night that surely will keep all of their players fresh throughout the game and wear down opponents. Even before the transfer, Parker’s game has exploded even more playing for team USA’s U16 team and Steve Taylor has opted not to play football this year as in year’s past and focus more on basketball. Taylor, though, was probably in no danger of an injury if he stuck with football as the 6-7 kicker, yes kicker, played football more for the conditioning. Although, who doesn’t like to see a giant kick a football around. I’m sure Yao Ming would put butts in the seats as a kicker for Chicago Bears. Now with Tate, Simeon’s starting lineup not only might be the best in the state, but it might be the best in the entire country. Simeon will definitely be in the top 10 in national rankings for high school basketball this year. If Tate could mesh well with the rest of his teammates, Simeon has a legitimate chance of winning a national title.

NEXT WEEK: TOP TEAMS IN ILLINOIS