Clemson version. He’s doing the media rounds

https://theclemsoninsider.com/2021/08/2 ... -with-tci/

I'm pretty psyched that a Tuscola player is going to be at Loyola (I don't care if he's good or not, although it sounds like he is). I spent three months attending East Praire Jr. High in Tuscola as a 7th grader. I'll always have a bit of nostalgia for the place. It amazes me that such a highly rated player came out of the town. And even better, it's in the Illini's backyard. How cool would it be if he got the chance to take them down again.

And never forget, this is the home of the Cola Wars (Arcola v Tuscola).

I agree ..iit is very cool....although we have not had great luck with players from small town illinois...maybe this will break the streak.
Last year Arcola defeated Tuscola in basketball......here is a little peak into the past
http://www.arcolaalumni.org/Archives/Im ... 109New.pdf

Pharrel Payne to Minnesota. Wonder if that helps or hurts JOJ’s decision

One interesting item of note in assessing Valentine's recruiting is that there isn't as much of a focus on local recruits. Per VerbalCommits, of the 12 outstanding offers, only one is to a Chicago kid (Xavier Amos out of Whitney Young). None of our three current 2022 commits (Jalen Quinn (Tuscola, IL), Jayden Dawson (Omaha, NE) and Treyvon Lewis (Ferndale, MI)) are from Chicagoland nor are Drew's two 2021 guys (Will Smythe (Bloomfield Hills, MI) and Saint Thomas (Omaha, NE). Porter's last two commits (Ty Johnson (Chicago) and Ben Schwieger (Naperville)) may end up being our last Chicagoland guys for a while.

Given our success recruiting Chicagoland (Krut, Marquise, Lucas, Johnson), this makes me a bit uneasy. But it may be an indication that our ties to the Illinois Wolves and other local AAU programs are no longer there.

Coach Drew has already shown to be a good recruiter as we are competing for guys against some really good programs, and landing some really good players (I believe Saint Thomas is one of our highest rated recruits ever) so I am trusting his approach.

Jalen Quinn played for the Illinois Wolves. We've offered Robbie Avila from suburban Oak Forest. For whatever reason Verbal Commits doesn't reflect this.

But the bigger picture is you're right that Valentine doesn't seem to have focused on recruiting the Chicago area, and I agree he should.

I'm normally very much on the "recruit Chicago" train, but who specifically are we missing out on? There are a couple guys we've been in on early who blew up nationally and out of range for us (Kam Craft and Jaden Schutt come to mind). I know Quinn isn't Chicagoland but he plays for the Wolves and we've offered Avila. Who are the upper-tier mid major guys in the city we haven't offered?

This is an aside, but I know we've nailed an offer when he gets 1 or 2 p5 offers right before he commits to Loyola (Think Kennedy and Florida State). I'm confident in Quinn for exactly this reason.