'12 IL PF T.J. Bell (8/16/2011)

WANTED: Passionate Sycamore Fanatics. That You?

Register NOW to join our community of die-hard Sycamore fans.

Register Log in

Become a Supporting Member to remove this ad and help support the site.

Become a Supporting Member to remove this ad and help support the site.
Is this a real steal? Seems like this kid was wanted by some really big programs. Purported to be a top Illinois prospect for 2012. Offered (according to Rivals) by IU, Oregon, Oregon State, Virginia, Washington, Washington State.

Seems like a good pickup...
 

Become a Supporting Member to remove this ad and help support the site.
Has anyone seen this kid play within the last year or so? Sounded like he was a high major prospect but dont know if he had any legit BCS offers when he chose the sycamores. Would of loved a true center but another 6'7/6'8 kid sounds pretty good to me.
 
I saw him play two years ago when he was on JV at BHSS. He seemed pretty raw but I feel like this is a really good addition for us. Big and athletic forward, nice replacement for Carl.
 
In doing reading on his AAU play, basically the simplest I can translate it into is that he has the ability to be a high major talent but currently has a mid-major motor/effort. It appears he is also young for his age group. As Rick mentioned in his story on WTHI, his mom is a former college hoops player. Additionally, I believe she is/was on the staff at Eastern Illinois, so that probably gave us an advantage over his finalists.

I'll reach out to some of the Illinois recruiting analysts that I read/follow and see if anyone can give us a quick and dirty scouting report.
 

Become a Supporting Member to remove this ad and help support the site.
Without having seen him play and from what I am reading it would appear to me that high major schools had maybe backed out on him? Basically that tells me this much - he obviously has a high upside, however he hasn't realized that upside yet. Hard to say having not watched the videos, part of me doesn't want to watch them because I feel like that might give a false impression of what the kid can or can't do... I will watch them now. lol
 
SycfromBirth said:
here is a Youtube video from April 2010...have to imagine he has put on some more weight, length, etc.
Click to expand...

This video was not all that impressive - the competition wasn't much to get excited about either...

The few highlights they showed on WTHI tonight were pretty nice and you got to like the fact that we are getting a big kid. Sometimes with size you got to take a flyer on a kid, it aint easy to come up with big/talented kids.

I might just make the drive over to Charleston this high school season to watch him play, short drive and I want to see for myself what this kid is all about.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top