When you forget they haven’t even played a high school basketball game yet, you quickly realize you have something different.
Very few freshmen over the years have pulled that off.
After opening eyes during the summer with their high school team and recently at the Pangos Midwest All-Midwest Frosh/Soph Camp in Lisle, the freshmen trio of Bolingbrook’s Davion Thompson, Warren’s Jaxson Davis and Kenwood’s Devin Cleveland reaffirmed their arrival on the high school basketball scene will be bold. And it will be sooner than later.
It’s evident in the smooth manner they play. It’s evident in the way they confidently carry themselves. It’s evident in everything they do on the court and everything they don’t do as young players with zero high school experience.
There have been years where a couple of freshmen guards have looked the part right from the get-go: DJ Steward and Adam Miller as freshmen phenoms at Fenwick and Peoria Manual, respectively; Stevenson’s Jalen Brunson and St. Rita’s Charles Matthews in the Class of 2015; and most recently, Cameron Christie of Rolling Meadows and Jeremy Fears Jr. of Joliet West, who both graduated this past year.
Each of these six players had the look of high-major prospects as freshmen. All six ended up as high-major players.
The Thompson, Davis and Cleveland trio has already set the tone for the Class of 2027. We will wait and watch as their development plays out. They aren’t as advanced as Brunson was at the same age. They aren’t as physically gifted as Derrick Rose was a freshman. Those two, in particular, were a different breed of prospect.
Because we aren’t talking about athletic freaks or advanced prospects who are going to be 6-6, 6-7 or bigger, there should be some tempered enthusiasm when talking about these three young prospects.
Times have changed, though. There is now endless blabbering in Tweets and on social media about virtually every young player. The Pangos event this past weekend is proof of that. Raving about freshmen –– again, virtually all freshmen who show up at an all-star camp –– is the norm. There is so much it ultimately turns into drivel.
But make no mistake, you can’t drown out the noise surrounding Thompson, Davis and Cleveland. These three guards are deserving. It’s the best incoming guard trio in Illinois in over a decade, since the Class of 2011 with Ryan Boatright, Tracy Abrams and Chasson Randle.
The debates will quickly heat up as to which of the three is the best player; it’s inevitable as player rankings are supposed to start debates. But it will be a fun and friendly competition when you learn more about these three and how they are connected.
The best “prospect” narrative is a different story altogether. That’s about projection and where they will be in three, four or five years. For me, it’s clear who is at the top right now among the three as a prospect going forward. Yes, pound for pound, inch for inch, there is one at a different level as a prospect and simply projects differently.
Could it change? Of course. They are freshmen. There could very well be a freshman who isn’t even mentioned in this column who ends up at the top of the class.
There is still so much to learn. How driven are they? Is there an alpha dog somewhere in them? Do they live for pressure situations? Do they value winning over everything else?
I’ve been very reserved and cautious about hyping freshmen too much, especially before they’ve even been given a high school basketball uniform. There is plenty of time to do so –– and when it’s justly deserved.
The City/Suburban Hoops Report, the college basketball recruiting service I’ve run for 25 years, hasn’t made a habit of publicly ranking prospects before they play a high school game. That early opinion is reserved for the college coaches; no need to place a bulls-eye or unneeded expectations on the kid who is No. 1. We’ll at least let him get his feet wet in high school first.
But a big part of being an effective evaluator and, more importantly, trying to be a trusted one for college coaches is sorting through all the BS. Being able to figure out which players to show conviction for when talking with those college coaches is imperative. I can confidently call high-major coaching staffs and provide these three names as prospects they should be on.
Will all three end up as high-major players? We’ll see. As noted, there is a lot to learn and plenty of time.
But it’s all extremely exciting because we are all enamored with young, up-and-coming talent.
Whether it’s your favorite baseball team with the highest-ranked minor league system, your NFL team securing the No. 1 pick in the draft or your alma mater racking up one five-star prospect after another, the idea of the young star we haven’t seen yet in that particular sport’s next level is tantalizing. The potential is addicting for the fan.
There is a shelf life for potential, indeed. But players come along every so often where you believe the potential will be easier to reach; maybe “more likely” to reach is a better way to phrase it. These three? They have physical skills, yes, but they also check off boxes that go far beyond the physical traits in that they have poise, moxie and mature games, particularly for freshmen who are still a month away from playing their first varsity game.
All three enter completely different situations with their respective teams and programs.
Davis instantly becomes the face of a program with a terrific history but has struggled of late, while Kenwood can tap the brakes a bit on Cleveland, easing his way into it, as he’s surrounded by older, experienced Division I talent.
Thompson is somewhere in between as the next star guard in a program that has churned out its share of them over the years. The City/Suburban Hoops Report just believes he will be the best of them all at Bolingbrook.
This state needs young, bright, uber-talented players with upside. The good news is they’re here.
