An opening celebration

Some of the top teams in the state gathered together Thursday night at the Nike Prelude to Hoops, a party to kick off the season. Here’s an exclusive report from the Sun-Times…

Farragut, Von Steuben, Simeon, Morgan Park, Crane, Young and Thornton are all on hand at the Aon building, along with celebrity guests Scoop Jackson of ESPN and former Temple coach John Chaney.

And yes, for the conspiracy theorists out there, Derrick Rose and Brandon McGee — who committed to Adidas schools Memphis and Indiana — are in attendance.

“None of what any of these kids did in picking a school had one thing to do with shoes,” Simeon coach Robert Smith said. “They picked where they were comfortable, it had nothing to do with any shoe company. People just want to stir things up, they’re looking for an angle but there is none.”

Smith confirmed that Rose will be playing the point for Simeon this season.

“Practice is going great,” Smith said. “We had some adjustments to make with Derrick playing the point, but now the ball is in his hands all the time. You couldn’t ask for anything more. That’s the best thing that could happen for us.”