LA GRANGE, IL – There is no shortage of quality basketball “post prospects” from within the Illinois borders in the high school classes of 2024, ’25 and ’26.
That was made abundantly clear on Saturday’s first day of the annual Pangos All-Midwest Frosh/Soph Camp is once again being held at the Park District sports facility in this Chicago suburb.
And Chicago’s St. Rita High program showcased two of those bigs during the first two rounds of games played among the 200-plus players (scattered from among 14 states) divided into 24 games.
James Brown and Morez Johnson (pictured, left to right) used their on-court performances to demonstrate why they were already considered among the best in the national class of 2024 well before games tipped off at about 2 o’clock, CT, Saturday.
Other 2024, Chicago-area posts, equal parts forceful and skilled Saturday, who impressed me were rapidly improving (according to Chicago-area scouts who’ve watched their development over the past year) Jaden Smith (Chicago Lincoln Park) and Jason Jakstys (Yorkville).
And then there was 6-9 (well on his way to closer to 7-feet, I’d suggest) Timothy Winkler III, an eighth grader who attends All Saints Academy in Naperville, IL.
He impacted play, with or without the ball in his hands, from baseline to baseline in the two games I watched him perform for his camp team, Michigan.
I’m sure the recruiting for his on-court – and in-class, of course – attendance is going to be heated, if it isn’t already.
And that’s just as it pertains to which high school he’ll be enrolled at during 2022-23 . . .
I also watched numerous backcourt standouts Saturday, none of which impressed me more than did 6-3, left-handed KJ Windham (Indianapolis Ben Davis).
He is as polished and skilled a guard as has been on hand for any of the regional Pangos Frosh/Soph sessions (west, in Southern California, south, in Duncanville, TX) so far this far.
Camp action resumes Sunday morning at 9 o’clock, with all-star games set for 1:15 and 2:15, CT.
All games are live-streamed and archived by BallerTV.
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