Jurrell Baldwin is back at Hyde Park.
Baldwin was one of the state’s biggest breakout stars last season. The 6-6 wing transferred from Homewood-Flossmoor to Hyde Park in August of 2022 and blossomed from a total unknown into an All-Area and All-City selection.
Baldwin, who averaged 19 points,13 rebounds and three blocks, announced in July that he was reclassifying to 2025 and transferring to Phoenix Prep in Arizona. Now he’s returned to the Public League.
“For us he will have to be a 2024 player,” Hyde Park coach Jerrel Oliver said. “College coaches are still calling and recruiting him for 2024.”
Baldwin’s return makes the Thunderbirds a likely preseason Super 25 team. He currently has offers from Illinois State, St. Louis, Murray State, UIC and a few other schools. Loyola and Iowa State have shown interest.
“He gives us a leader,” Oliver said. “A senior that has been through it. He should thrive here and he can help finish something he started last season. That’s one of the things that brought him back.”
Things are looking up
The senior class has been decimated by transfers, with the majority of the state’s top players leaving for prep schools. Baldwin’s return, along with talented junior Bryce Heard returning to the state and enrolling at Homewood-Flossmoor, are two bright spots.
Heard is a consensus top-100 player with offers from Illinois, DePaul, Kansas State, USC, Georgetown and several other major schools.
The incoming freshman class has received rave reviews from evaluators over the summer and there are two other players, one sophomore and one junior, who are poised to become major stars after not factoring in last season.
Benet sophomore Gabe Sularski, a 6-5 shooting guard, had a monster summer with the Meanstreets club team and picked up an offer from Illinois in July.
Kenwood junior Aleks Alston received some attention in the preseason last year but missed most of the year with an injury. The 6-9 wing is currently ranked No. 94 in the country by 247sports.com and has offers from Arizona State, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Oregon and more schools.
Alston, a terrific shooter, is the most highly-recruited player on Mike Irvin’s loaded Kenwood squad.
Jehvion Starwood picks Wyoming
Oswego East’s Jehvion Starwood has been a complementary player on two excellent high school teams. Starwood helped Yorkville Christian to the Class 1A state title in 2022 and was a key contributor to the Wolves’ 29-6 season which ended in the Class 4A supersectionals last year.
The 6-3 guard came into his own playing with the Illinois Wolves club team over the summer. He committed to Wyoming on Friday.
Starwood chose the Cowboys over offers from Denver, Illinois State, Miami (Ohio), San Jose State and SIU.
Chicago Elite Classic field revealed
Young coach Tyrone Slaughter announced the 24 boys teams that will participate in this year’s Chicago Elite Classic, which will be held at Credit Union 1 Arena on Dec. 1-3.
Curie, Fenwick, Hyde Park, Kenwood, Lane, Mount Carmel, Oak Park, Riverside-Brookfield, Simeon, St. Ignatius, Young, Gonzaga (D.C.) and St. Louis Vashon return from last season.
Bolingbrook, DePaul Prep, Hillcrest, Homewood-Flossmoor, Marist, St. Laurence, Thornton, Warren, St. Louis Cardinal Ritter, Pace Academy (Georgia) and Sidwell Friends (DC) are the newcomers.
Matchups will be announced at a later date.
