After the conclusion of summer basketball, there’s always so much to talk about. Let’s clear out a notebook of thoughts.
— After the June “live” periods, the conversation surrounding who the top prospect was in the Class of 2026 was a lively one. July was supposed to help sort it out.
Well, one month later, it’s even more muddled thanks to the continued rapid rise of a newbie — Jamison White of East St. Louis. The 6-8 White, who transferred in from Chaminade in St. Louis, is now in the mix for the top spot after some sterling July performances. Right now, it looks to be a battle between White and Kankakee’s Lincoln Williams for the top spot as we head into the 2025-26 season.
— While there are other programs involved in his recruitment, Oswego East’s Mason Lockett brought out the three coaches recruiting him the hardest on the last day of the July evaluation period. DePaul’s Chris Holtmann, Loyola’s Drew Valentine and Saint Louis’ Josh Schertz finished their summer watching the smooth 6-5 senior guard play his last games with Young & Reckless in a Chicago-area tournament.
— With a regional championship this past season, Lane ended a decadeslong title drought. While the bulk of that team has graduated, rising senior Matt Szafoni eases some of the fears for a team that hopes to keep things rolling.
If the impressive work he put in this past spring and summer is any indication, the versatile 6-7 Szafoni is set for a breakout season. He was one of the real risers among college coaches this summer.
— Barrington’s Oliver Gray produced throughout July, finishing his club basketball run with the Illinois Wolves in impressive fashion. The 6-6 guard, who remains a bit under the radar in recruiting circles, put together nine consecutive double-figure scoring games, averaging 14.5 points in that stretch. He also made three or four three-pointers in all those games, shooting 31-for-67 (46%) from beyond the arc.
— The trend of graduating seniors playing another spring and summer on the club basketball circuit before heading off to a year of prep school continues to grow. Stevenson’s Atticus Richmond, Lake Forest’s Hudson Scroggins and Notre Dame’s Brady Sehlhorst have generated interest with their play in AAU after their high school careers.
Richmond committed to Columbia a couple of weeks ago. Sehlhorst picked up an offer and visited Toledo this past week, and Scroggins received an offer from Valparaiso.
— Loyola’s Trey Williams put together a rock-solid summer and picked up his first Division I offer from Dartmouth this week.
— Although he’s not an in-state prospect, 6-10 Andrew Jensen out of Wisconsin did play for an Illinois-based club basketball team in Elevate, an offshoot of the Fundamental U program. Jensen, blessed with a huge upside as a big man who’s long and can run the floor, was down to two local schools before choosing DePaul over Northwestern on July 22.
— There hasn’t been much parity in Illinois club basketball (a k a AAU) over the last several decades — until recently.
For the last couple of decades, teams sponsored and propped up by Nike, Under Armour or Adidas have gobbled up the majority of the top talent. As a result, they’ve been front and center on the club basketball scene.
But today, there’s as much parity among the top five or six Illinois club basketball teams as we’ve seen in years.