Dajuan and Curie Advance

[IStillLikeHarv]

Dajuan Gordon and Curie defeated perennial powerhouse Simeon to advance to the Semifinals of the Illinois Class 4A (top level) High School State championship. Two more wins (hopefully) to go. Their next game is in Peoria against Belleville West on Friday.

The linked article gives more detail, and even contains a video clip of the final minute. Dajuan scores the next to last basket for Curie and gets a couple of key rebounds in the clip. He scored 8 points and had 9 rebounds in the game, as well as guarding a key Simeon player as his coach notes in the article. He looks like he may fit in.

https://www.suntimeshighschoolsports.co ... on-peoria/

P.S. The winning shot is definitely worth watching. Talk about a cliffhanger!

[learnin]

I hope he brings a bit of that good force with him, also.

[WildcatGrad90]

What will be really interesting in Fridays game is Gordon going against EJ Liddell. Liddell is the kid from Belleville West (my alma mater) who led West to the State Championship Title last year and was heavily recruited by K-State and the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Illinois as a junior. Liddell ultimately chose Ohio State over KSU recently. Now two kids who were recruited by the same school face-off with one coming to KSU and one going to OSU.

I really wanted to see Liddell sign with KSU, but things happen. He's a really good kid and comes from a great family of collegiate athletes (parents). If you ask me, the state champion will be determined by the winner of this game as I think either one can handle who will emerge from the other side of the bracket.

[Highway26north]

Wildcat-I saw Rockford East last night. They are no slouches. Waves of guys and really stout D-they pick up at half court and guard the heck out of you. Completely destroyed Geneva in the second half after being down double digits early. The 4 in Peoria should be a really good show, for a change.

[Kralicek]

Wow, that last minute was a barn burner!

[Sir Ocelot]

They didn't even need to run the picket fence.

[Highway26north]

What will be really interesting in Fridays game is Gordon going against EJ Liddell. Liddell is the kid from Belleville West (my alma mater) who led West to the State Championship Title last year and was heavily recruited by K-State and the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Illinois as a junior. Liddell ultimately chose Ohio State over KSU recently. Now two kids who were recruited by the same school face-off with one coming to KSU and one going to OSU.

I really wanted to see Liddell sign with KSU, but things happen. He's a really good kid and comes from a great family of collegiate athletes (parents). If you ask me, the state champion will be determined by the winner of this game as I think either one can handle who will emerge from the other side of the bracket.

Seems weird to say (at least to me) but I'm not sure picking OSU at this stage is picking a stronger program and conference than KSU and the Big 12. The Big 10 seems to me to have completely lost its identity and tradition, stretching from Nebraska to New Jersey. But hey, I guess the money's good.

[Ryan S]

Curie has had a 4 point comeback in the last minute and a buzzer beater In the last 2 games. I am going to watch the state finals on Saturday. They may be in the 3rd place game though they’re playing #2 Belleville west who has Ohio state commit EJ Liddell on friday

[Hypeman]

What will be really interesting in Fridays game is Gordon going against EJ Liddell. Liddell is the kid from Belleville West (my alma mater) who led West to the State Championship Title last year and was heavily recruited by K-State and the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Illinois as a junior. Liddell ultimately chose Ohio State over KSU recently. Now two kids who were recruited by the same school face-off with one coming to KSU and one going to OSU.

I really wanted to see Liddell sign with KSU, but things happen. He's a really good kid and comes from a great family of collegiate athletes (parents). If you ask me, the state champion will be determined by the winner of this game as I think either one can handle who will emerge from the other side of the bracket.

Seems weird to say (at least to me) but I'm not sure picking OSU at this stage is picking a stronger program and conference than KSU and the Big 12. The Big 10 seems to me to have completely lost its identity and tradition, stretching from Nebraska to New Jersey. But hey, I guess the money's good.

Big 10 still plays the best b-ball hands down. ESPN doesn’t like them, but their performance in the NCAA year after year is the real measure in my book.

I get the identity thing, but every league fell for that expansion frenzy.

Overall though, it seems like we got a great recruiting class.

[IStillLikeHarv]

Seems weird to say (at least to me) but I'm not sure picking OSU at this stage is picking a stronger program and conference than KSU and the Big 12. The Big 10 seems to me to have completely lost its identity and tradition, stretching from Nebraska to New Jersey. But hey, I guess the money's good.

Big 10 still plays the best b-ball hands down. ESPN doesn’t like them, but their performance in the NCAA year after year is the real measure in my book.

I get the identity thing, but every league fell for that expansion frenzy.

Overall though, it seems like we got a great recruiting class.

The Big 10 and the Big12 are both really good leagues. Last year the Big 12 (with 10 teams) put four teams in the Sweet Sixteen, three teams in the Elite Eight, and one team in the Final Four. Oh yeah, all three teams in the Elite Eight were missing a top player, IIRC. That's darn impressive for a 10-team league.