Timothy's Rants: Illinois Class of 2019 Guards Evaluation!!!!

Timothy's Rants: Illinois Class of 2019 Guards Evaluation!!!!: I personally feel the Class of 2019 guards in the State of Illinois will be a special class. I see a lot of them will end up in the Top 100 ...

Illinois Class of 2019 Guards Evaluation!!!!

I personally feel the Class of 2019 guards in the State of Illinois will be a special class. I see a lot of them will end up in the Top 100 in the country. The scramble for the top spot will be fierce and since Kahalil Whitney left the state(Roselle Catholic in New Jersey),  it's wide open. These evaluations are in no particular order on who I feel is the best to worst. Here we go: MARQUISE WALKER 5'11" POINT GUARD ST JOSEPH(WESTCHESTER)- So far in high school he's been the most productive guard on the varsity level leading St Joes to a third place finish in Class 3A last season. He also led his travel team Nike Team Florida to the 16 and under Peach Jam title. He will be expected to be the leader in their move up to 4A. He's the consummate floor general, gets good penetration to the basket, is strong enough to finish, has an excellent midrange game and serviceable three point shot. He plays solid defense and is strong enough to keep opposing guards out of the paint. He also has improved athletically. Improvements will need to be made on the defensive end and more fine tuning the three point shot. MARKESE JACOBS 5'11" POINT GUARD UPLIFT(CHICAGO)- Very explosive point guard who still has to learn the intricacies of the position. He can jump out of the gym, finishes well in the paint with contact. He also is a very good defender that can shut down the opposing point guard. His upside is tremendous enough that Kansas has offered him a scholarship. He also has jumped ahead of the aforementioned Walker in some National Rankings. He has to improve his mid range and three point shoot to maximize his potential. Sometimes he is loose with his ball handling he will have to tighten that up. He could be the key to Uplift contending for the Class 2A Title. MIKE SALTER 6'4" POINT GUARD ROMEOVILLE- To me he may have the biggest upside of the guards in this class. He has the versatility to move to the wing and can shoot well enough to do so. He moved travel teams earlier in the Spring from Meanstreets to splitting time between Chicago Raptors and Wisconsin Playground Elite. This could be why he has been a little lost on some National and local rankings. He is very good passer setting teammates up, good three point shooter, good middle game with the floater. He's an up and coming defender as he can guard 4 positions on the high school level. He's the opposite of Markese Jacobs in that he has to get more aggressive with his game. He also needs to work more on finishing at the rim. This is the year he should take over the reins at Romeoville to bring a Regional Title to the school. KEJUAN CLEMENTS 6'1" POINT GUARD SIMEON(CHICAGO)- A very talented guard as some call him a combo guard. He's good at getting to the basket, distributing, and has a good midrange game. He's okay defensively will have to work on being more committed to that end like his teammate Kezo Brown. He also has to learn how to run a team but not sure he'll get the opportunity at Simeon as they are loaded at the guard positions. This could be a case of having to wait his turn at the Chicago Public League Powerhouse. He will have opportunities on his Mac Irvin Fire travel team. LJ JOHNSON 6'2" COMBO GUARD MORGAN PARK(CHICAGO)- Very athletic and can jump out the gym, he has improved his jumper to where it is serviceable out to three point range. He has shown good vision passing the ball to his teammates, is a good defender with a lot of potential there with his athleticism. He'll have to get in where to fit in at Morgan Park as they are loaded at the guard position also. If he improves his ball handling and develops his midrange game the sky is the limit for this kid. Another one who might have to wait his turn a little bit. JAHEIM HOLDEN 5'9" POINT GUARD EVANSTON TOWNSHIP- He is like a thief in the night on defense will pick your pocket in an instant. He can get to the basket and has a nice floater, also has become more athletic as he is dunking the ball now. He still has a lot to learn about running an offense,  a little more work on his three point jumper, and finishing around the rim. The finishing around the rim could be a result of his lack of size. He will have some opportunities to run the offense at Evanston this year though the backcourt is loaded. He plays very hard the effort is always there with this kid. We will see how he does on his first true year on the Varsity level. LANCE JONES 6'1" COMBO GUARD EVANSTON TOWNSHIP- This young man is a stone cold scorer. You look in the dictionary for scorer he is it. He has range out to 25 feet, has a good middle game, and is a good finisher at the cup. His defense is serviceable as he has to pay more attention to this area. He has the mentality to take over games scoring. He has to learn how to run a team which may be hard to do at Evanston in the present with their loaded backcourt, and the future with Holden and Ryan Bost as point guards in the same class. My hope is he will get plenty of run at the point guard position with his Meanstreets travel team. One thing that is helpful is the game of basketball is going more to combo guards at the point guard position. PERRY COWAN 6'4" SWINGMAN DEPAUL PREP(CHICAGO)- This young man is a slasher extraordinaire as he can get to the basket and finish well. He has a serviceable three point shot though it could use more work. He's very good on the defensive end as he can guard multiple positions. He has to work on his ball handling and passing to be a productive guard down the line. He will have every opportunity this year to be the man at DePaul Prep to be able to work on his weaknesses for his future. That is it: if I missed someone let me know, I think this could be a historic class in the State of Illinois for the guard position. It will be fun to see how these guys develop over the next three years.