Why Illinois High School Basketball Players Leave the State

For many years now, the great state of Illinois has given the game of basketball some history's greatest players and coaches on any level of all time. Some of the past names to come out of my great state and gone on to the NBA were Mark Aguirre, Maurice Cheeks, Terry Cummings, George Mikan, Tim Hardaway, Juwan Howard, Doc Rivers, Isaiah Thomas, and Dwayne Wade, and even Kevin Garnett who only had one year of high school basketball in Illinois. Some of the more current players that have come from the state of Illinois and go pro were Anthony Davis, Evan Turner, and of course Derrick Rose. Not to mention that Illinois has the honor of being the home of the No. 1 recruit in the country two straight years with Jabari Parker from 2013 and Jahlil Okafor of 2014, both of which committed to Duke University. They also had the No. 2 recruit in the country this year with Cliff Alexander, who has committed himself to the University of Kentucky. And those are just a handful of players that have been successful from this state. But my question has been, "If Illinois has so many great players in the state, then why is it that the Universities of Illinois, DePaul, and Northwestern are not basketball powerhouses?" And honestly, the answer is a hard one to find. Out of all the names I listed in bold, only Mark Aguirre, Terry Cummings, and George Mikan stayed in state to play basketball at DePaul University (Mikan played long before Aguirre and Cummings).

So, before we get into what I believe to be some of the possible issues, I wanted to give a quick comparison between Illinois Fighting Illini, DePaul Blue Demons, and NorthwesternWildcats and see just where it stands next to the University of Duke. The first is championship titles. Now, Duke basketball has always been competitive,  but it really came to life when Illinois native coach Mike Krzyzewski took over the program in 1980 and has been able to capture 4 national tournament championships in his 33 years at Duke. Then there is Illinois, who has been to two championship games, but won only one championship which came in 1915 before the tournament was even created. As for DePaul and Northwestern, neither of then have yet to make it to the national championship game. Second is Final Four appearances. The Duke Blue Devils have played in 15 total Final Four games, 11 of them coming during Krzyzewski's time which includes five consecutive appearances in a row from 1988-1992. Meanwhile, the Fighting Illini have made five Final Four appearances, the Blue Demons have made two, and the Wildcats have had none. The listing could continue to go on and on, but I think anyone can clearly see that this these schools are in a desperate need for help.

So what is it that I think is causing this state to lose out on it's great basketball talent? Well, I believe the biggest problem could be that Illinois, DePaul, and Northwestern are just not pursuing these players hard enough. It probably seems easy to recruit a player in-state because of the fact they are right in the colleges' back yards. Which is basically a way of saying that the colleges do not feel they need to go above and beyond their impressing limits when in comes to players in-state, whereas if they were from California or New York, those schools would break out the water show and everything to get those kids to come to their school. But the bottom line is: In the game of recruitment, the best impression will win more often than not. Now schools like North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, and others have such a great impression because of their ability to stay competitive, have great coaching, legendary NBA names, and many national championships. When you even try to combine the history of Illinois, DePaul, and Northwestern, they still do not stand up to being as impressive in championships and success like other schools have in the past and currently. I mean, just imagine yourself as a star basketball player in the state of Illinois. It is time for you to make a decision as to where you will play college basketball. If you are getting offers from schools like Duke, UNC, Kentucky, and Syracuse, then those schools who do not have a rich history of winning titles and having the national spotlight will look like almost nothing more than a school that you would fall back on should anything happen. And that's what Illinois and the others have become. Now mind you, DePaul did grab a top recruit from last year and they and Illinois have shown the nation these past few seasons that they can compete if the right players are in place. The biggest worry of the three  big colleges in this state is Northwestern. This probably due to the fact that Northwestern has been highlighted mostly for its academics and up-and-coming football program.

Another reason why high school basketball players in the state of Illinois don't stay in-state for college is because the coaching they could receive at the big-name basketball schools is seen as a chance to have the best coaching in the country. Top schools like Kentucky, Kansas, and Duke all have a great history of coaching with legendary, Hall of Fame coaches that made the programs so great. Some of the past names have Adolph Rupp (Kentucky), John Wooden (UCLA), Phog Allen (Kansas), Dean Smith (UNC), Bob Knight (Indiana), Don Haskins (Texas Western/UTEP), Jerry Tarkanian (UNLV), and John Thompson (Georgetown). But for those that may not some sod those names, some of the more modern Hall of Fame coaches in college basketball are Rick Pitino (Louisville), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Roy Williams (UNC), Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), and Jim Calhoun (UConn/retired) with only more coaches to probably come very soon. So with all these big names at these big programs (except UNLV and UTEP), it's a no brainer why these kids would want to leave home to go elsewhere. Not to mention that every coach that I mentioned in bold has one at least one national championship in their careers. The another thing to is that coaches that are at schools where NBA talent is expected to come out of, are usually in contact and/or connected with the NBA to help players have a chance at being looked at and scouted for a chance to be drafted, which is a big bonus for those kids trying to and/or are good enough to go pro.

So when looking at a school like Illinois, The coaching history, while very good, has had trouble staying consistent and finding the one that could get them to the title game. The Illini's biggest name in coaching would probably be Lou Henson, who helped them to a Final Four appearance in 1989 with his Flyin' Illini group and achieved 423 of 779 wins at the school. The coach that most U of I fans would remember is Bruce Weber. Weber was seen as a gift from God when he took the 2004-05 Illini to a 37-2 record that was highlighted with a 91-73 win over Chris Paul and #1 ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons, and was eventually taken all the way to the national championship game where they lost against the North Carolina Tar Heels 75-70. But Weber's national title team were not his recruits. Before Weber, there was a coach at Illinois who many are probably shocked and angered by the fact that we let him go. That coach was current Kansas Jayhawks' head coach Bill Self. Self coached from 2000-2003 where he showed that success was sure to follow him. In first year with the team, he led them to a 27-8 record and a No. 1 seed in the tournament where they went all the way to the Elite Eight. But with Self's ability to win comes his ability to recruit as well. He has always been able to grab top talent throughout his career, and he did just that when he secured current Brooklyn Nets guard Deron Williams along with NBA players Luther Head, Dee Brown, and James Augustine. But, Self left in 2003 to head for Kansas where he would eventually win a national title in 2008. Today, Illinois' head coach is John Groce who has shown promise, but still has a way to go and much to prove before he can be seen by players as the coach that get it done,

Then we have DePaul, whose most famous coaches are the father and son, Ray and Joey Meyer. Out of the three big colleges in the state of Illinois, DePaul's Ray Meyer is one of two coaches who is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for having a successful career in the state of Illinois. Ray Meyer coached at DePaul from 1942-1984 where his acquired 724 wins, an NIT Championship in 1945, two Final Four appearances, and coached players like George Mikan, Mark Aguirre, and Terry Cummings. After Ray Meyer retired in 1984, his son Joey took over from 1984-1997 where he took the Blue Demons to seven NCAA tournament appearances in his first eight seasons and finished with 231 wins at the school. Today, DePaul's head coach is Oliver Purnell who has be coaching the team for four years and has yet to have a winning season. However, Purnell was able 2013 recruit and Illinois native Billy Garrett Jr., who was a four star rated player and ranked 94th on ESPN's Top 100 high school basketball recruits, so it is possible that they can recruit more players like Garrett Jr. and develop them further, DePaul could be back to being a competitor.

And of course, there is Northwestern. The only coach that I could see from looking at the long coaching history of the Wildcats that had some kind of success was Arthur "Dutch" Lonborg. Lonborg is the other coach in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame who had a successful career in Illinois where he acquired 237 of 323 wins from 1927 to 1950 at Northwestern, including two Big Ten conference titles in 1931 and 1933. And honestly, that was it. Northwestern's basketball program has never truly been seen a "big time" so the coaches that came through are nothing to really brag about. Today, Northwestern's head coach is Chis Collins who is an Illinois native and former Mr. Basketball for the state. He attended Duke and was coached under Krzyzewski in the mid 90s, spent two years under Tommy Amaker at Seton Hall, and eventually came back to Duke as Coach K's assistant coach. After Bill Carmody's firing in 2013, Collins was hired as the new head coach, where he took the Wildcats to a 14-19 record this past season. Despite the losing season, hopes are still high that Collins' resume will show soon and pay off for the team in the long run.

So whatever the case maybe, it seems quite clear to me that Illinois, DePaul, Northwestern will be struggling for quite some time in recruiting the players from this great state. I mean, could you imagine how good those teams would be if all the best players in the state decided they wanted to all go to Illinois or DePaul or Northwestern? I mean, it's certainly just a dream, but it just makes me laugh at how many championships we could have and have had if that would have happened or were to happen at all. But you never know with some of these kids. Sometimes, they'll shock you with just where they choose to play for their college careers.