What I will be watching for: Simeon Vs. Whitney Young

Finally, the blog is back in full force. A combination of a slow AAU summer and just straight up laziness on my part has left all of you waiting (I’m sure) for a post. But finally, some actual basketball to talk about; not just team previews and player previews, but actual basketball. What a way to kick off a new season of high school basketball in the city of Derrick Rose’s shoulders with two Chicago Public League titans in Simeon High School and Whitney Young High School squaring off. This matchup is like Ali vs. Frazier, Rocky vs. Ivan Drago, USA vs. Russia- complete powerhouses.  Together, both teams have enough division one players to field a final four team in 3 years with a slew of 5 star and 4 star ballers. In case you’ve turned a blind eye to high school basketball, and what non-creepy grown man would, you may have missed Simeon, yes, your Simeon Wolverines are the number one team in the nation. Yep, the nation, that’s right.  So obviously you’d see yours truly parked in the friendly confines of the UIC Pavilion to watch this epic match up. So what will be one of hopefully many matchups between these two powers between the regular season, the CPL playoffs, and the state title, this is what I will be watching for:

Whitney Young Dolphins:

 SO, C,  Jahlil Okafor, (left) (6-10, 275 lbs, Offered by Illinois, DePaul, Syracuse, Arkansas, Connecticut, and more) Okafor is a consensus top 5 player in the class of 2014. He has several schools drooling over the opportunity to have his services. Last we saw him he was much bigger than most of the people he went up against, and that should not have changed. What I will be watching for is how much more agile and nimble he is in the paint. For him to take the next step in high school dominance, he will have to have quicker feet and more explosiveness. I want to see if he took the summer and AAU season to slim down, add more muscle and add more speed. If at least two of those have become true, expect the same type of publicity Jabari Parker of Simeon is getting for Okafor.

SO, PF, Paul White (6-8, 200 lbs, Offered by Baylor, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio State) Paul teamed up with fellow teammate Okafor on the U16 USA Basketball team over the summer and that increased his publicity in the high school ranks. Some will call him the Robin to Okafors Batman, but I think these are just two unique skillsets on the same team. Last year, White did not garnish a lot of minutes playing on an upper-class laden team. White will get to show more of his game this year. I would like to see if White is developing into a true power forward or an explosive small forward, a la Chicago native and current Baylor freshman Quincy Miller. His shot is still developing but I think in order for White to gain 5 star status, he will have to establish a true position instead of just an athletic wing.

SO, PG/SG, Miles Reynolds (right) (6-2, 200 lbs, no official offers) No matter what level, good teams have good point guards. Junior point guard Derrick Randolph (5-9, 165 lbs, no official offers) transferred from Whitney Young leaving a vacant spot this year at the point guard position. Reynolds probably is the inheritor of the position. I will be watching for who predominantly plays that position going up against a Simeon team with a deep backcourt. Reynolds has nice size for the point guard position but I would like to see his shooting and passing skills. His development this season could make Whitney Young go from a great team to an unstoppable team.

JR, C, Tommy Hamilton, Jr (6-9, 240 lbs, Offered by Michigan State, Illinois, Northwestern) Hamilton will take on a mini-leadership role as upperclassman are few and far between on this team. Hamilton has had his desire and effort questioned and over the last year, Hamilton has dropped in the player rankings. I will be watching not only his developing post game inside but his ability to step out and hit a 15 footer. Hamilton will never have a distinguished game face that some weirdoes like to represent effort, but I want to see him show some sort of emotion during the game. He has the skills to be great, but does he have the desire? It is almost like having a supermodel that doesn’t know how to walk down the runway- it would be a waste of talent.

Simeon Wolverines:

JR, SG, Kendrick Nunn (left) (6-2, 175 lbs, Offered by Texas A&M, Memphis, Illinois, Xavier, Missouri, North Carolina State, DePaul) I saw Nunn early last year when his name was not quite as well known and the first thing that stood out about him was his defense and his three point shooting skill. Nunn had a couple of seniors playing his position last year and that took away some of his minutes. When people talk about Simeon, they always talk about Jabari Parker. Nunn seems like the ugly stepchild. But Nunn is as offensively gifted as the guys around him. I will be watching for more assertiveness by Nunn to show why he is one of the best shooting guards in the country.

JR, SG/SF, Kendall Pollard (6-4, 185 lbs, no official offers) I’ve been reading this whole summer that beyond the Mt. Rushmore of Simeon players on this year’s team, there’s this player that no one is talking about who is about to start receiving some division one offers. That player is often referred to as Kendal Pollard. I’m not quite sure what his position is and what exactly his role is, but when some of the major starters like Nunn, Parker, and Taylor are out, will Pollard keep the momentum going?

SR, PF, Steve Taylor (6-7, 230 lbs, Committed to Marquette) The senior leadership will be coming from both Taylor and G Jalanie Neely (no offers). But Taylor has the most experience out of the two and his days seem brighter for now since he will be attending the Big East next year. One thing I will be watching for is how college ready his body may be. Last year, Taylor showed his skill both inside and outside, but was very lean. I have heard he has bulked up a bit and he needs to if he wants to contribute right away for Marquette. I think if he has built off his skills from last year and added a couple extra pounds of muscle, Taylor could become a great player.

JR, SF/PF, Jabari Parker (right) (6-7, 215 lbs, Offered by Duke, Washington, Illinois, Michigan State, BYU, DePaul) Last but not least, the number one player in all of the land, Mr. Parker. The fact that Microsoft Word needs a spell check for Jabari is a slap in the face because his name will be as well-known as Dwayne and Derrick. Parker will be one of the great high school players of all time in Illinois with the ability to win 4 state championships. There really is not much Parker needs to do to improve from number 1 overall. If there is one thing I will look for, it will be assertiveness by Parker. Last year, Parker tried to balance out his scoring with his passing and rarely put up more than 17-18 points a game. This year, Parker, in the 4 games Simeon has played, Parker has been more of a scorer. Simply put, I want to see Parker look like a man amongst boys, like Joey Chestnut in a hot dog eating contest vs vegans. Is that too much to ask???

NEXT WEEK: The results of Simeon vs Whitney: Part 1