Just as Waukegan senior Jereme Richmond wraps up his storied career, three phenomenal freshman step into the spotlight. Young's Tommy Hamilton Jr., De La Salle's Alex Foster and Simeon's Jabari Parker are being heralded as the best trio of freshmen in state history. Only time will tell. Here's a primer on the upcoming season.
1. Who is the area's best player? There is little to no debate right now that Richmond is the one. There's a chance that Zion-Benton's Lenzelle Smith or Morgan Park's Wayne Blackshear could step up and make the player of the year race interesting, though.
2. Who is the best player not in the Chicago area? Rock Island junior Chasson Randle. He's been steadily climbing the local and national rankings for the last two seasons. Randle is an active guard who can do it all, the best player the Quad Cities area has produced in quite a while.
3. Which players are on the preseason All-State team? Richmond, Smith, Blackshear, Randle and Robinson center Meyers Leonard.
4. Which teams are the favorites to win Class 4A? Young and Waukegan. Young has the most talent and Waukegan has the best player. It seems like the schools may be destined to meet again in Peoria.
5. Who are the favorites in 3A? Class 3A still feels strange. There just doesn't seem to be a significant difference between the schools in 4A and 3A. There are five 3A schools in the preseason rankings: St. Joseph, Brooks, North Lawndale, Crete-Monee and Hillcrest.
6. Who is the favorite in 2A? Leo is back down in 2A and will be an immediate threat for the state title. Hales is the favorite, but Seton and Rock Falls are also major contenders.
7. Which players improved the most since last season? It's been a strange offseason. No player really stepped up and made a name nationally. Despite what the recruiting web sites and club coaches will tell you, the entire spring/summer circuit was pretty much worthless. Except for Duje Dukan. The 6-9 Deerfield senior went from an unknown to a Wisconsin recruit. Orr sophomore CJ Jones lit it up at the Illinois team camp at Moody Bible and is now considered one of the top sophomores in the state. Richards senior Adonis Bailey also emerged this fall. He transferred from Shepard last season, but did not play.
''He will put up numbers, win games and have a breakout season,'' recruiting analyst Joe Henricksen said.
8. What are the top Downstate teams? Edwardsville has been consistently good over the last five years and returns 6-5 Austin Peay recruit Will Triggs. Peoria Manual is loaded with Marvin Jordan, Lawrence Alexander and a talented bunch of sophomores.
9. Who are the key transfers? Phillip Jackson left Providence-St. Mel for Hyde Park. Letrell Visor went from Oswego East to East Aurora. Jacob Williams is back at St. Patrick after a year at Bartlett. Dre Henley left De La Salle for downstate Brehm Prep.
10. How good is Lake County basketball this year? Well, Matt Vogrich and Brandon Paul are gone, but the well is far from dry. Waukegan, Mundelein and Zion-Benton are ranked, Deerfield has the Wisconsin-bound Dukan and North Chicago has super soph Aaron Simpson. Also keep an eye on Warren's fantastic sophomore class: Jomeris Smith, Jon Geske, JoVaughn Gaines, Darius Paul and Nathan Boothe.
11. What are the weaknesses of the top five teams? It's hard to find a weakness for Young. The Dolphins look pretty solid on paper. The only real question mark is the bigs. Jermaine Morgan, Luke Hager and Hamilton Jr. have to live up to the hype.
Except for Richmond, Waukegan has no size. It was the same story last year, and the Bulldogs made up for it with speed.
Mount Carmel is unproven. Tracy Abrams is a stud, but Adonis Filer and Malcom Hill-Bey have to grow up quickly.
Simeon always excels with a quality post player, and right now that position is up for grabs. Steve Taylor, a 6-7 sophomore, is the most likely to excel, but he's getting a late start because of football. Coach Robert Smith is also high on junior Kevin Hunter, a 6-5 transfer from Washington.
Foreman has to learn how to finish, how to put teams away. Too often last year the Hornets would have leads on quality teams and then cough it all up in the second half.
12. Who are the most under-appreciated players in the area? Tinley Park's Gerald ''Jelly'' Dorsey is a raw scorer, East Aurora's Tramell Weathersby can do it all and Prospect guard Joe LaTulip is a leader.
13. Which teams were overlooked in the preseason Super 25? Glenbard East is expected to have a strong season behind 6-7 Lee Skinner, Jonny Hill and Zach Miller.
Riverside-Brookfield had a very successful summer. The three-headed monster of Sean McGonagill, Ryan Jackson and Billy VandeMerkt should win a lot of games.
Proviso East is loaded with talent again. Trashaun Carroll is one of the top sophomores in the state and sophomore Keith Carter earned raves this summer. Also on the roster is 6-5 freshman Sterling Brown, Shannon Brown's brother.
Others to watch include Von Steuben, New Trier, Bolingbrook, Richards, Hyde Park, Curie, Evanston, Marshall, Rich South and Joliet.
14. What is the must-see game of the year? Young vs. Waukegan, February 20 at the UIC Pavilion. It's the preseason number one vs. number two and a rematch of last season's Class 4A state championship game.
15. Which team is a dark horse candidate to reach the state finals? North Chicago. The Warhawks are young and unranked, but if the Class 3A brackets are similar to last season, they would face very little resistance in the playoffs until a very tough super-sectional game.
16. What is the area's strongest conference? The Public League Red-South is talented, deep and interesting. Just look at the coaches alone: Simeon's Robert Smith, Brooks' Chris Head, Julian's Loren Jackson, Morgan Park's Nick Irvin, and South Shore's Lamont Bryant. It's not hard to imagine the wealth of talent those big names have brought to the conference.
17. Who are the area's top five freshmen? Young's Hamilton Jr., Simeon's Parker, De La Salle's Foster, Evanston's Lorenzo Dillard and Morgan Park's Xavier Taylor.
18. Who are the area's top five point guards? Young's Ahmad Starks, Waukegan's Mike Springs, Foreman's Lavonte Dority, Brooks' George Marshall and Hyde Park's Fabyon Harris.
19. Who are the area's best big men? Mount Carmel's Jon Gac, St. Ignatius' Nnanna Egwu, North Lawndale's Jermaine Winfield, New Trier's Fred Heldring and Deerfield's Dukan.
20. Who are the coaches to watch? The pressure is on Terry Head at Foreman and Todd Sutton at Neuqua Valley. Both coaches have senior-laden teams that are expected to end the season in Peoria. Anything less would be a disappointment.
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