Liddell tops coaches’ survey
The City/ Suburban Hoops Report turned to college coaches in recent weeks to see where they would rank the top players in the state as college prospects.
A total of 26 college coaches who have seen all of the top prospects in the state play in the last year were surveyed. Coaches were asked to rank the top five Illinois prospects in high school today, regardless of class.
The scoring: 10 points for a firstplace vote, eight for second, six for third, four for fourth and two for fifth.
Only three players — Belleville West’s E. J. Liddell, Simeon’s Talen Horton- Tucker and Morgan Park’s Adam Miller — received a vote from every coach surveyed.
Here are a few assessments from the coaches regarding the in- state talent.
“There is no way E. J. Liddell isn’t the best player and best prospect in your state. No way.” . . . “I don’t think people realize how much potential there is at the next level for Talen Horton- Tucker. His game is only going to grow.”
“I just believe several of the current, nationally ranked players out of Illinois are overrated.” . . . “Max Christie is the real deal.” . . . “There are a couple of those players you mentioned who are very overrated nationally.”
“Give me E. J. Liddell. You can have the rest.” . . . “I don’t think Markese Jacobs gets talked about enough. If he can figure a few things out, I think he can be a ton.” . . . “What a difference there is between this top group and top groups of the past from Illinois.”
Of all the players who received votes, freshman Max Christie is the only one who hasn’t been seen by a majority of the coaches surveyed. Nonetheless, Christie still managed to receive two second- place votes, along with one fourth- place vote and one fifth- place vote for a total of 22 points.
There were four coaches who included Markese Jacobs of Uplift among their top five. Jacobs received one third- place vote and three fifthplace votes to finish with 12 points.