The biggest breakout players and transfers typically define the summer months of high school basketball. Here are the biggest from the recently concluded summer scene.
Breakout senior: Jamier Montgomery
Crane’s Jamier Montgomery headed into a pivotal offseason with very little hype. And the road to actually receiving any wasn’t going to be easy.
During the two “live” evaluation periods in June, where college coaches determine their next round of scholarship offers, Crane was hardly seen.
Crane didn’t play in the Riverside-Brookfield Shootout and was dispatched to play at an off-site location, void of college coaches, during the Ridgewood Shootout. And in July, Montgomery didn’t play for a team on one of the heavily-watched shoe-sponsored circuits.
The silky smooth scoring guard, however, took advantage of a small window of opportunity presented to him.
Montgomery consistently shined with his independent club team, Young and Reckless, one of the top non-shoe brand grassroots programs in the country. Over the course of two weekends, he played in events in Nashville and in the Chicago area last week, where they reached the title game of Recruit Look’s Chicago Bracket Finale.
With his play, the 6-1 Montgomery has skyrocketed up the City/Suburban Hoops Report player rankings and has emerged as the best senior prospect in the Chicago Public League.
More importantly, college coaches took notice of the feathery jumper and scoring ability of a late-blooming prospect who played more under control and efficiently than he ever has in his career. Montgomery has gone from an afterthought to a bonafide mid-major prospect. He recently committed to Kent State.
Breakout junior: Brady Pettigrew
Can the top-ranked prospect in the Class of 2028 possibly be the breakout star of the summer? Absolutely. And here’s how.
Already a budding young star and known prospect, the 6-3 guard has matured and blossomed as a player, taking his game to a whole other level.
Pettigrew, who plays with Bradley Beal Elite on Nike’s EYBL circuit, was a star on the biggest stage AAU basketball has to offer. He led the 16U division in scoring at the renowned Peach Jam in July with 23.6 points a game and was named the 16U Nike EYBL Most Valuable Player.
He’s now gone from a high-major prospect as a consensus top 25 player in the country to one being recruited by Blue Blood programs — he added offers this week from Kentucky and North Carolina — and potentially elevating himself into one of the top 10 players in the country.
Pettigrew will be the most coveted prospect recruited out of Illinois since Jalen Brunson in 2015.
Biggest story: Prep school invasion
The state has been raided of late by national prep schools. That trend continued this summer, highlighted by the departure of the present top player in the Class of 2027, Warren’s Jaxson Davis.
Davis announced he was leaving Warren for Monarch Academy in Kansas City for his senior year. Davis followed Illinois commit Quinton Kitt of East Peoria, a top 100 player in the country, who also announced he was heading to Monarch.
If that wasn’t enough, the junior class was hit with Amarion Smith-Holley of Peoria Richwoods going the prep school route. The dynamic point guard led Richwoods to a sectional title in March and took off nationally in July, adding an offer from Kansas as he played up an age group.