Benson Named AP First Team All-State in Illinois
- Thread starter thewildcat2011
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I'm no basketball scout, but the video I saw from his senior year, IMO, showed progress in his shooting form. He shows some nice versatility for a big guy, but will need to adjust to the increased height of the B1G and speed up the quickness of his moves like Olah did over the course of his career.
Now I'm psyched to see Brown and Benson next fall. What I like with Brown is that he was essentially their teams only good scoring option so he had to constantly drive and create shots under defensive pressure. I feel we're lacking a forward who can create their own shots, as well as a shooting guard who can as well like Demps.
And I didn't even mention Ivanauskus.
Now I'm psyched to see Brown and Benson next fall. What I like with Brown is that he was essentially their teams only good scoring option so he had to constantly drive and create shots under defensive pressure. I feel we're lacking a forward who can create their own shots, as well as a shooting guard who can as well like Demps.
And I didn't even mention Ivanauskus.
My guess is that Ivanuskus will be more of a finished product at the start of next season than Brown or Benson.
Having watched Benson for 4 years I can tell you he will continue to improve. He really needs a good year of solid D1-strength training. HS kids play so much AAU ball they do not always get the needed hours in the squat rack. However, he has developed a bit of nasty in his senior year. Hopefully Pardon can take a great leap forward next year and Benson can be like Pardon was this year.
Come on.... Olah may have never reached the level that some of us had hoped for him, but he clearly got better over the course of his four years. He was so tentative around the basket in his first couple of year, but by the end he was noticeably more aggressive attacking on the post.
Get your eyes checked. Did you recruit our WR's?
I agree with most of C's report. I don't know if I agree he was "more aggressive" in attacking on the post. I'd argue he was "better" driving on the post ... shades of gray.
In the end, I don't think Olah is anywhere near irreplaceable. I assume there will be an early transition period next year. However, if Pardon can improve just a bit on defense, and Benson can show as much as Pardon did this year, I think the Cats will be in good shape at the 5.
I agree. Aside from working on his defense and fouling, I think Pardon needs to work on positioning during guard penetration and drives down the lane and developing a jumper. He already has better rebounding instincts and skills than Olah and is fairly effective around the basket. That should improve with experience. Oh, and he could work on his free throw shooting. I also like the improvement I see in Benson.
Pardon also needs to increase his strength. and quickness to a position (better anticipation?). Many of his fouls were likely caused because of these issues.
I think Dererk will be fine. The improvement he showed from the exhibition game through the end of the season was pretty impressive. Seems like a hard working, coachable kid. Who knows, maybe he turns into Ethan Happ v2.0 in 2016-17!
More like he became much more decisive and got to his spots quicker and he was better able to hold his position because he was stronger. Effect is the same
Curious - who is the expected player of the year in Illinois? Unless I missed it this seems to be the first year in a few without at least one super stud blue chip player...who would likely be going to duke or Kentucky.
Thank goodness we've forgotten his sophomore year when too often he'd dribble in place with his back to the basket while the defense collapse on him.
He got much smoother. Much faster. And slightly more athletic after the weight came off.
The Schmidts' site lists NU offer Jordan Goodwin of Belleville Athoff as their top player for 2017, now that Tillman from East St. Louis has left the state for prep school. Here's their list of the top ten for 2017. Pickett and Williams have already committed to Illinois.
Illinois Prep Bulls-Eye’s Top 11 2017 Prospects In Illinois
1) Jordan Goodwin 6’3 2G Belleville (Althoff)
2) Da’Monte Williams 6’4 PG Peoria (Manual)
3) Nojel Eastern 6’6 PG Evanston (Township)
4) Justin Smith 6’7 WF Lincolnshire (Stevenson)
5) Javon Pickett 6’5 WF Belleville (East) Illinois
6) Christian Negron 6’6 WF Elgin (Larkin)
7) Charles Payton 6’6 WF Bloomington (H.S.)
8) Cameron Krutwig 6’9 C Algonquin (Jacobs)
9) Evan Gilyard 5’10 PG Chicago (Simeon)
10) Elijah Joiner 6’3 2G Chicago (Curie)
11) Manny Patterson 6’8 PF Chicago (Kenwood)
Having watched quite a bit of the state tournament over the weekend, I don't see either Goodwin or Williams as any kind of a "program changer." Therefore, if they are ranked 1-2, I would say this class is below average by state of Illinois standards. Just my opinion based on a couple of games.
How about this year - any chance benson would win player of the year? I have heard much about the current senior class either.
Benson finished fifth in player of year voting. Charlie Moore of Morgan Park was first. He's going to Memphis. Zach Norvell of Simeon was third. He's Gonzaga bound. Goodwin finished ahead of Benson probably because his team just won state. Good class but not great, I would say.
Everything I read about Goodwin is he's just a tough kid, a winner. I've heard him compared to Quinn Buckner. (The ultimate winner -- state title, NCAA champion, Olympic medalist, NBA champ). That's the kind of toughness I'd love to see in the NU program. Don't know if we have a prayer to land him, but that kind of competitiveness would be a great thing to have.
I think I heard the announcers saying Goodwin was an excellent football player too, so the Buckner comparison sounds valid.
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