By Joe Henricksen
Neuqua Valley’s Dwayne Evans has a lot to look forward to. The 6-5 senior can hardly wait to get the season rolling after last year’s stunning supersectional loss to Dundee-Crown left a sour taste in his mouth.
“I don’t dwell on that loss,” says Evans, who has helped the Wildcats to two straight sectional championships. “I’m past it. But it has motivated me all summer. We just have to go out and get it done this year.”
Prior to taking care of his business in the high school season, Evans has his college future to take care of first. The No. 15 ranked player in the Hoops Report’s Class of 2010 rankings has his favorites. While both Toledo and Illinois State have remained involved with Evans and he considers them among his top five, the three schools he currently favors are Drake, Saint Louis and Northwestern.
“Those are the three that are standing out,” says Evans of the trio of Northwestern, Drake and Saint Louis.
Evans will have an in-home visit from Saint Louis head coach Rick Majerus and assistant coach Porter Moser Sept. 15 and visit the Saint Louis campus the first weekend in October. He also has two official visits set up — with Northwestern (Sept. 18-20) and Drake (Sept. 24-26) — later this month.
“I will sit down with my family and talk about it after I take my visits,” says Evans, an articulate and down-to-earth prospect who is an outstanding student academically. “I want to find the place where I am most comfortable with the coaching staff. I just want to have an opportunity to compete for playing time early and play for a good team and program.”
Evans says he has no timetable for a decision, though he admits the recruiting process “can be taxing and can wear on you.”
“But it’s a blessing and an experience to be able to go through this,” says Evans. “There aren’t many kids who get this opportunity.”
With the return of Evans, 6-5 Kareem Amedu and guard Rahjan Muhammad the opportunity to erase last year’s season-ending loss is also very realistic.
Threloff visit to Drake goes well
DeKalb big man Jordan Threloff recently completed a visit to Drake — a visit that was described as a “great visit” — but is still sorting through the schools that remain involved.
A relative newcomer to the list is Western Kentucky, which could possibly receive an official visit if things work out logistically. Threloff will officially visit Illinois State, a campus he has been to over a half dozen times the past year. There are some still pushing Threloff to stay in his back yard and play at Northern Illinois, while Loyola and Western Michigan remain in the mix. The Hoops Report foresees this one coming down to Drake and Illinois State in the end, though this recruitment has been a little all over the place.
For more information or to subscribe to the City/Suburban Hoops Report, now beginning its 15th year of publication, call (630)-408-6709 or email hoopsreport@yahoo.com
