By Joe Henricksen
With the club basketball circuit’s spring season coming to a close at the end of this month, and the all-important July evaluation period still a ways off, plenty of high school action is on tap this June. And there will be no better event with more high-profile teams than the Riverside-Brookfield Summer Shootout.
The R-B Shootout, which will be held June 5-6, is always one of the top events of the summer. However, the addition of a new fieldhouse this year will upgrade the event with more action than ever before. The field of teams is absolutely loaded, highlighted by several teams that figure to be among the preseason top 10 teams in Illinois next November and others that will litter the state rankings.
Whitney Young, which will return highly-regarded Sam Thompson and 6-8 Tommy Hamilton among others, will be among the top ranked teams in Illinois after winning the 2009 state title and finishing second in 2010. Homewood-Flossmoor welcomes back the majority of its team, including a super sophomore group, and will be at R-B, along with defending 3A state champ Hillcrest.
Benet Academy and Glenbard East, two of the top teams in the western suburbs, will be joined by Tracy Abrams and Mount Carmel and Nnanna Egwu and St. Ignatius out of the Catholic League. The list goes on and on, including the host school R-B, Evanston, New Trier, St. Joseph, St. Patrick, Neuqua Valley, Proviso East, St. Rita, Morgan Park, Curie and York. A total of 32 teams will go at it over two days of action. Each team will play three times on Saturday in pool play, beginning at 9 a.m., with tournament games being played on Sunday.
20 players to watch at the R-B Summer Shootout
Sam Thompson, 6-6, WF, Sr., Chicago (Whitney Young)
Tommy Hamilton, 6-8, PF, So., Chicago (Whitney Young)
Derrick Randolph, 5-8, PG, Jr., Chicago (Whitney Young)
Wayne Blackshear, 6-5, WF, Sr., Chicago (Morgan Park)
Markee Williams, 5-8, PG, So., Chicago (Morgan Park)
Billy Garrett, Jr., 6-1, PG/2G, Chicago (Morgan Park)
Tracy Abrams, 6-0, PG, Sr., Chicago (Mount Carmel)
Adonis Filer, 6-2, 2G, Sr., Chicago (Mount Carmel)
George Marshall, 6-0, PG, Sr., Chicago (Brooks)
Keith Carter, 6-0, PG, Jr., Maywood (Proviso East)
Nnanna Egwu, 6-10, C, Sr., Chicago (St. Ignatius)
Johnny Hill, 6-3, 2G, Sr., Lombard (Glenbard East)
Jerron Wilbut, 6-3, 2G, Jr., Downers Grove (South)
Will Sullivan, 6-2, 2G, Sr., Elmhurst (York)
David Sobolewski, 6-0, PG, Sr., Lisle (Benet Academy)
Frank Kaminsky, 6-10, C, Sr., Lisle (Benet Academy)
Ryan Jackson, 6-1, PG, Sr., Riverside-Brookfield
Julius Brown, 5-9, PG, Sr., Country Club Hills (Hillcrest)
A.J. Avery, 6-6, WF, Jr., Chicago (St. Rita)
Garrett Jones, 5-10, PG/2G, Evanston
