ROCKFORD — Mike Jones hasn’t even begun his sophomore year at Rockford Lutheran yet, but at 6-foot-6 and a sculpted 200 pounds he can do rare things on a basketball court.
But when he hammered home a two-handed dunk at the UW Health Sports Factory on Friday night he created barely a ripple.
“You see a Lutheran kid there making a huge athletic play you don’t see a lot around here,” East coach Roy Sackmaster said, “and it’s just kind of ho-hum.”
That’s because those kind of plays have been happening somewhat routinely on eight courts at once Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Chicagoland Summer Showcase, an NCAA approved 52-team, five-state high school boys basketball tournament that has drawn coaches and recruiters from 44 colleges. The tourney returned to Rockford for its third year after being canceled over COVID-19 concerns last year.
“You watch the layup lines and every single one of their guys is throwing it down,” Lutheran coach Tom Guse said.
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Most of the colleges in attendance were Division I programs, including Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Iowa, Ohio State, UConn, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Marquette and Iowa State.
“There is just a buzz in the building,” Sackmaster said Friday. “It’s a lot of fun seeing our kids go up against literally the best in the country. These are kids we are going to be watching in the NCAA tournament some day. And (Purdue coach) Matt Painter is sitting over there right now. (Michigan State coach) Tom Izzo is going to be here Saturday. This is a neat event for the basketball community in Rockford.”
Before the players even get to the courts, they pass a pair of white boards with all of the colleges in attendance listed.
“Looking at that board, that was crazy,” said Dominic Commisso, a 6-foot-8 Hononegah forward. “It’s so cool to drive 20 minutes and see all those coaches here.”
Teams are guaranteed four games and placed in round-robin pools of four teams each. Guilford, East, Boylan and Lutheran were all thrown into the deep end and placed in one of the four “super pools.” All four lost soundly to out-of-state teams Friday night — Boylan 70-36 to Shaker Heights (Ohio), Lutheran 78-57 to Ferndale (Michigan), East 64-43 to Brother Rice (Michigan) and Guilford 59-45 to De Smet Jesuit out of St. Louis.
But even in defeat, players and coaches loved the experience. And playing teams from Ohio and Michigan and Missouri and Wisconsin is what separates Rockford’s tournament from other summer events around the state the last couple of weeks, which have been Illinois-only events.
“That’s why we are here; to play teams you just can’t simulate in practice,” said Guse, who returns most of his key players from a Lutheran team that was 16-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 2A. “That team we just played is as good as any team you are ever going to play.”
“This lets you know what it’s like outside of your state,” 6-foot-5, 205-pound Lutheran senior Donavyn Sayles said. “Playing against different states and bigger schools, it’s more competitive. So we have to be more competitive. Just because we’re No. 1 in our state doesn’t mean we’re going to be No. 1 in every state.”
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Lutheran forwards Sayles and the 6-6 Jones can often be the biggest players on the court in Big Northern games, but almost every court in the UW Sports Factory was packed with players that imposing.
“They look very big,” Guilford senior guard Demarion Price said. “They look strong, too.”
That’s part of the challenge. Which makes it part of the fun.
“There are a lot of good people here that are my height that I want to play,” Lutheran’s Jones said. “I want to get my name out there and get offers.”
“It’s great to have this opportunity to show all these top colleges what we can do,” Guilford star sophomore guard Malachi Johnson said. “This city has so much talent.”
Big schools like Michigan, UConn and Michigan State in the audience provide the biggest thrills, but Rockford University, Loras, Clarke and a couple of other Division III schools also are watching.
“If a kid really wants to play somewhere, there is a place for them to play,” Auburn coach Bryan Ott said. “And for a kid, it’s really exciting to be seen by a Division I coach, whether they ever get an offer or not.”
And big competition sparks big dreams. And, perhaps, big chances if they can shine at the right time.
“I’ve had a few D-3s talk to me the last few days,” Hononegah’s Commisso said. “I’m just waiting for some big ones.”
Matt Trowbridge: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com; @matttrowbridge
