Good Morning, Illini Nation: Field set for Washington ToC

Sep. 9—The Kevin Brown Memorial Tournament of Champions brings top basketball teams to Washington every November. Typically included in the tournament field, which is more like four tournaments/shootouts in one, is an Illinois recruiting target or three.

This year? There’s just one. At the moment. Illinois fans interested in Class of 2026 prospects can make the trip to Washington Nov. 26-30 to check out John Burroughs (Mo.) big man Sheek Pearson. The 6-foot-10 forward has offers from the Illini, Iowa, Iowa State, Marquette, Missouri and Saint Louis.

Pearson is currently only ranked as a three-star prospect by On3. He helped John Burroughs go 27-5 in 2023-24 and finish as runners-up in the MHSAA Class 4 state tournament, averaging 13.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in the process. He then went on to win a Nike E16 Peach Jam title with Bradley Beal Elite this summer playing alongside Illinois targets like 2026 guard JJ Andrews, 2026 forward Miikka Muurinen and 2027 forward Jaylan Mitchell.

While Pearson is the only Illinois target set to play in the ToC, one of the top prospects in the country will be in Washington. St. John Bosco (Calif.) guard Brandon McCoy Jr. is a consensus five-star recruit in the Class of 2026. The 6-5 point guard is ranked either No. 1 in the class by On3 and Rivals and No. 2 by 247Sports and ESPN. He’s got nearly two dozen high major offers, including most of the sport’s established blue bloods.

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/good-morning-illini-nation-field-144700332.html

Author : The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.

Publish date : 2024-09-09 14:47:00

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