Musketeer Madness

Friday's Chicago Tribune pointed out that 8 of the last 9 Illinois Mr. Basketball winners who were eligible for the NBA draft ended up going in the 1st round. They are:

2008-Derrick Rose, #1 overall (Simeon HS)
2005-Julian Wright, #13 in '07 (south 'burbs)
2004-Shaun Livingston, #4 in '04
2003-Shannon Brown, #25 in '06 (Proviso E.)
2002-Dee Brown, #46 (2nd round) in '06 (Prov. E.)
2001-Eddy Curry, #4 in '01 (south 'burbs)
2000-Darius Miles, #3 in '00
1999-Brian Cook, #24 in '03
1998-Frankie Williams, #25

Also, 1995-Kevin Garnett, #5 in '95

Other Illinois HS product who went in the 1st round in that same time period:

2007-Alondo Tucker, #29
2005-Luther Head, #24
2003-Dwayne Wade, #5
2002-Melvin Ely, #12
2001-Stephen Hunter, #15
2000-Quentin Richardson, #18
1999-Corey Magette, #13
1998-Nazr Mohammed, #29

Other cities/states have quality HS basketball as well, but we sometimes forget that not all areas are equal when analyzing incoming players. Just like certain areas have a better track record of turning out college football players, other areas have better track records of turning out college (and pro) basketball players.

It's a "broken record" type comment, but I have never understood the support Fordham has received from A-10 fans (even those who are in Cincy and Dayton). They say it provides in-roads to the rich recruiting mecca of NYC. Trouble is, nobody in NYC pays any attention to Fordham.

The same was true when XU was a member of the MCC along with Chicago-based Loyola. The Ramblers have been the step-sister of the Blue Demons for as long as the Rams have been subordinate to St. John's in NYC.

So, if you are going to recruit in NYC or Chicago, you need to be either Duke, Notre Dame, or some other Big Six school with instant credibility or, at least, schedule the biggest player in each of those cities on a regular basis.

If that sounds like I'd prefer the Muskies to be in a league with St. John's and DePaul (assuming the other members of the conference were even more ballyhooed), then I'd have to plead "guilty as charged."

What do they feed those kids?