Chicago has a rich tradition of excellence in high school basketball. Ben Wilson, Kevin Garnett, Ronnie Fields, Derrick Rose, Jabari Parker, Jahlil Okafor and more have made their mark on the game in the area.
Now it’s time for the next generation to make their mark.
While Chicago hasn’t had a No. 1 overall recruit since Jahlil Okafor committed to Duke in 2013, the city and surrounding area has been full of talent.
Stevenson’s Jalen Brunson committed to Villanova and won a national championship in 2016. Before that, he played in the annual McDonald’s All-American Game which has called Chicago home since 2011.
The game will take place at the United Center on March 29th, showcasing some of the best talent in the country in both boy’s and girls’ high school basketball. On Tuesday, the game announced the nominees for this year’s event and Illinois was well-represented.
Check out the 12 boy’s nominees from the state:
- Nana Akenten (Bolingbrook High School – Bolingbrook)
- Nojel Eastern (Evanston Township High School – Evanston)
- Evan Gilyard (Simeon Career Academy – Chicago)
- Jordan Goodwin (Althoff Catholic High School – Belleville)
- Temon Green (St. Rita of Cascia High School – Chicago)
- Paul Kingsley (St. Rita of Cascia High School – Chicago)
- Shawn “PJ” Pipes (Lemont High School – Lemont)
- Justin Smith (Adlai E. Stevenson High School – Lincolnshire)
- Jeremiah Tilmon (East St. Louis Senior High School – East St. Louis)
- Alonzo Verge Jr. (Thornton Township High School – Harvey)
- DaMonte Williams (Manual Academy – Peoria)
- RaShaad Williams (St. Rita of Cascia High School – Chicago)
And the 12 girl’s nominees:
- Finess Dickson (Homewood-Flossmoor High School – Flossmoor)
- Cymone Goodrich (South Shore International College Preparatory High School – Chicago)
- Nadia Green (Homewood-Flossmoor High School – Flossmoor)
- Claire Gritt (John Hersey High School – Arlington Heights)
- Destiny Harden (Morgan Park High School – Chicago)
- Eva Rubin (Homewood-Flossmoor High School – Flossmoor)
- Karli Seay (Homewood-Flossmoor High School – Flossmoor)
- Jnaya Walker (Bolingbrook High School – Bolingbrook)
- Jada Wright (Rich Township High School, East Campus – Park Forest)
In total, over 700 high school seniors in the country were nominated. The 24-player rosters will be announced Sunday night with a special on ESPNU.
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