By Roy & Harv Schmidt

While others will waste their time and try to look bigger than life at an event that has become relatively insignificant and meaningless (otherwise known as the Chicago Public League playoffs), we have decided to concentrate on more important matters--the Illinois state tournament to be exact. The regional and sectional pairings are out, and it is now time for us to make our predictions on those teams that we believe will advance to the state finals in Peoria in both the Class 3A and 4A ranks.

By Roy and Harv Schmidt

Over the past several years, Illinois high school basketball coaches have lost a tremendous amount of influence over the recruitment of their top players. While we are not going to debate the merits of those who do have influence, this blog is going to offer an in-depth analysis of what this declining influence means to college coaches, parents, and the prospects themselves within the recruiting environment.

By Roy and Harv Schmidt Now that the Illinois High School Association has gone to four classes for its boys basketball state tournaments, seeding those tournaments has become that more difficult. Looking into our crystal ball, we decided to provide our own seedings which hopefully reduce the problems the IHSA will run into with geographical rivalries, analysis of strength of schedules, and a host of other issues that often make the seedings meetings a most political process. Consequently, and without further adieu, Illinois Prep Bullseye provides our seedings for most of the top Class 4A and Class 3A sectionals, and offers some other news on happenings around the State of Illinois pertaining to high school basketball and recruiting.

By Roy & Harv Schmidt

While nothing that occurs in the Chicago Public League surprises us any more, the recent wave of activity surrounding the high school basketball scene in the Windy City during the past two weeks has been more than we can take. From the Troynell Adams saga to the rash of fights at games to Wayne Blackshear's recent decision to transfer from Curie to Morgan Park, the situation is out of control. There is no question that something needs to be done, and once again we believe that we have the answer--in fact it is the ONLY answer--when it comes to fixing the problem.

By Roy & Harv Schmidt

The seedings meetings are still about three weeks away, but with the sectional assignments for the class 3A and 4A state tournament for boy's basketball already drawn up, it is never too early to begin analyzing which sectionals shape up to be the strongest and which teams could be playing well into March. In this blog we do just that, as we break down what we consider to be the top three sectionals in both class 3A and 4A.

By Roy & Harv Schmidt

In our 25 years of being in the basketball scouting business, we have seen plenty of sleazy activity when it comes to recruiting. However, what the men's basketball staff at Carl Albert State College in Poteau, OK recently pulled in their attempt to lure Troynell Adams away from Farragut Career Academy absolutely takes the cake. It paints a sad picture when it comes to the public perception of junior college basketball and is yet another example of why we cover the JUCO ranks as little as possible.

By Roy & Harv Schmidt

We still believe that from an overall talent standpoint the class of 2011 in Illinois is absolutely loaded. However, after seeing more than our share of holiday tournaments throughout the state last month, we are not ready to say that the 2011 class deserves to be mentioned in the same breath with the two best basketball recruiting classes in recent memory--the class of 1979 and the class of 1998. The biggest reason for this is simple. A recruiting class can't be considered the best of all-time if it doesn't have a bona fide #1 player. And at the present time we believe that is the case when it comes to the 2011 class.

By Roy & Harv Schmidt

There may be no player in the state who has been more scrutinized from the time he was in eighth grade until now more than Schaumburg's Cully Payne. In fact, the debate will probably forever linger on regarding how good of a college player he will be at Alabama. However, after watching him turn in two clutch performances at the prestigious Pontiac Holiday Tournament, we wonder if anyone else is thinking what we are thinking.

By Roy & Harv Schmidt

The basketball recruiting world today is largely controlled by handlers and people who often times have nothing but their own self-serving interests at heart. As a result, they overhype recruits primarily for the purpose of feeding their own egos and trying to put additional money in their pocket. That is why it is so refreshing to see players who don't buy into the hoopla, recognize their true level of ability and turn out to be successful without the outside influences. Such is the case with Michael Black and Xavier Humphrey, who are both class of 2009 recruits from Fenwick. As a result, we believe that they made outstanding college choices.

By Roy & Harv Schmidt

The persona of De LaSalle's Dre Henley began to rise this past summer when he earned an invitation to the prestigious Reebok All-American Camp on the basis of an outstanding performance at Reebok's underclassman camp in June. But even then, there were still people who were questioning whether or not he was worthy of the invite. However, make no mistake about it--after watching Henley last night at the Windy City Showdown, there is no doubt that he has hit the big time.