Illinois HS basketball and its 20 year old founder Daniel Poneman have been featured on a variety of media outlets including Comcast, Sports Illustrated, ABC News, NY Times, and SLAM Online. Follow Daniel on twitter at www.Twitter.com/SwagAir
you're hearing of them, but you better get used to it.... ... "Daniel Poneman" DPbball "jamari traylor" "meanstreets aau basketball" "chicago julian" ...
Derrick Randolph of Whitney Young ranks as one of the elite guards in the nation for the class of 2012, and he caught up with Daniel Poneman after school...
***Editors Note: Attention Readers we previously posted an incomplete version of this article, this is the corrected article please read again.
The Trials
and Tribulations of Dennis Hodges
Gabriel
Bump, illinoishsbasketball.com
You see
them in parks all around Chicago.
They don’t
want you to notice them, but it’s impossible not to.
Some have
aged poorly, some look almost indifferent from back in the day, but all of them
bear a sullen pride across their faces. Whether it’s authentic or simply a
disguise, it’s there nonetheless.
They used
to play; their callused hands are a dead giveaway.
Now they
just ball, lackadaisically wandering from court-to-court, existing somewhere
between almost forgotten and barely remembered.
No
pressure, nobody picking and prodding the holes in their game, nobody’s life on the line.
Heroes
that fell too fast after slamming the ball through the hoop.
Hardwood
gladiators that couldn’t keep their footing through the relentlessly flowing
outpour of praise.
Kids that
were forced into adulthood before their feet could walk underneath immensely
inflated egos.
Wayne Blackshear (6'6", 210) is the number 18th ranked player in the class of 2011. He took a visit to Louisville and immediately broke it down with illinoishsbasketball.com upon return.
Illinoishsbasketball.com's Daniel Poneman chats with Bradley Beal of the St. Louis Eagles at the Nike Peach Jam. Bradley is one of the elite players in the nation.
Austin Rivers chats with illinoishsbasketball.com after a monster 21 point game against Team-Asia. Austin shot an efficient 7-13 from the field, including 5-8 3pters. Austin talks about a number of things in the interview including how it feels to play for USA and why he is taking visits to other schools.
Kyrie Irving (scout.com #2 PG) and Josh Selby (rivals.com #7 player) led their All-USA East squad to a world championship at the Nike Global Challenge in Portland, Oregon. In the semi-final vs Brazil, they combined for 47 points (30 for Selby) on 22 of 23 shooting from the free throw line. In the title game, a win over Canada, Irving led the way with 26 points on 10-15 shooting, 2-3 from behind the arc and 4-4 from the line, while Selby chipped in 18 points and a team high 5 assists.
Irving is still considering a long list of colleges, but hints as to which school is the leader in the interview. Selby recently de-committed from Tennessee. Enjoy.
Daniel Poneman of Illinoishsbasketball.com has been taking in all
the action at the Nike Global Challenge in Portland, Oregon, and he got
a chance to catch up with the future of Canada basketball. Myck Kabongo
is one of the elite point guards in the world for the high school class
of 2011. Tristan Thompson is considered by some to be the top player in
the world for the class of 2010. These two will keep Canadian national
basketball in the headlines for years to come. They are both committed
to Texas.
Senegal's Gorgui Sy Dieng hits a three pointer at the buzzer to beat Team USA Midwest 66-65 in the opening game of Nike Global Challenge. Stay tuned for more great coverage from the event!
