Seems like every year there are nationally ranked high school basketball recruits in Chicago. And it seems like every year these recruits go out of state to put in work at the college level, the most famous of which most recently was Derrick Rose, who balled for a year at Memphis.
Wayne Blackshear (Louisville), and Anthony Davis (Kentucky) are the latest examples. And while it's nothing new for high school kids to go out of state to play college ball, Chicago kids traditionally stayed in state, if not in the city.
Anyone who knows me knows I'm a big DePaul basketball fan. Can't claim alumni status or anything like that, though after two years at a community college I was all set to transfer to DePaul until I moved to Alaska instead. But I became a fan for no reason other than when I first started watching college ball in about '98 or so (I was strictly an NBA fan prior to that), I started by watching that DePaul team with Q Rich and them, and they've been my squad ever since.
But while the talent pool in Chicago's high school hoops is as deep as ever, with the decline of DePaul came a lack of commitments from kids in the city, and they opted to go elsewhere. The drought also extends to the University of Illinois, where Bruce Weber has done a fine job of recruiting in-state, but still cannot break through and recruit Chicago kids the way a Pitino or Calipari can.
The last few season have been horrendous for DePaul basketball, but there have been bright spots. Flint, Michigan's own Wilson Chandler has made a name for himself in the NBA, freshman Melvin Cleveland from Maryland just won the Big East Freshman of the Year award, and new coach Oliver Purnell is as determined as any other previous Blue Demons coach was at attracting Chicago talent.
Can Jabari Parker Save DePaul?
Every Chicago high school hoops fan has heard the name Jabari Parker by now. The super-sophomore plays for Derrick Rose's alma mater, Simeon. He's played for the varsity squad both years of high school, the first freshman to ever play for Simeon's varsity squad (though don't get it twisted, Rose was good enough to play varsity as a freshman, but former coach Bob Hambric had a longstanding tradition that freshmen would not play on the varsity squad). He is a consensus top-5 recruit in the class of 2013 and already has top power colleges hitting him up.
And DePaul wants him really, REALLY bad. So if the trend has been elite Chicago kids going out of state, what makes me think Parker will buck the trend? Well, for one, because a die-hard fan can dream, damnit. Beyond that, though, it should be noted that Parker's close friend, Morgan Park's Billy Garret Jr. has just committed to DePaul. Which might mean nothing. Or it might mean that this friendship might convince an elite Chicago player to finally decide to stay home.
Parker committing to the Blue Demons would potentially cause a major domino effect. DePaul could be competitive again, and recruits could be more open-minded to staying in-city or even in-state. Of course, even if Parker joined the Blue Demons, he would most likely be one-and-done and his impact would be minimal. Imagine if the former happened, however. Imagine if Derrick Rose has signed with DePaul. Crazy, huh? But had he did, would Wayne Blackshear and/or Anthony Davis signing with DePaul this year had been as crazy?
Ultimately, the onus is on Oliver Purnell to return DePaul to glory, and judging by his past history, he should be able to at least bring them back to relevancy, however he seems to like getting his Larry Brown on, rebuilding programs and then bolting before they reach their peak.
One thing is not in doubt in the least, however. On the high school tip, the city of Chicago will continue to crank out the type of talent that has coaches all over the country salivating. Here's hoping one of them decides to stay home.
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