Humphrey ready to take the reigns
Hales Franciscan High School in Chicago has produced a number of Division I players over the last couple of years. Matthew Humphrey is shaping up to be the next prospect on the high-major radar.
Gone from Hales Fransiscan is Nate Minnoy, a rising sophomore at Purdue. Gone is Jerome Randle, a jitterbug point guard headed to Cal. Gone is Jarvelle McGhee, a forward oozing with potential and a soon to be Nevada freshman.
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Humphrey's time is now and the class of 2008 prospect said he is ready for the challenge.
"I'm the captain now. It's my time to carry the torch," Humphrey said. "I've watched Nate and Jerome and Jarvelle for the last couple of years and I feel like I can maybe do a little better than them."
Humphrey is an intriguing prospect from the rising sophomore class because of his incredible length, hot hand from the perimeter and his basketball IQ. He is just tapping into his potential. Humphrey gets it done in the classroom, too. He said he carries a 3.9 grade point average.
The high-majors are jumping in fast. Humphrey spent a day at Illinois last weekend and this weekend he'll check out Athens. Humphrey's cousin, Billy, finished his freshman year at Georgia as a shooting guard for the Bulldogs.
"Those are the two I really like now," Humphrey said. "Illinois because it's Illinois and it's close to home and Georgia because of my cousin."
Humphrey gave his trip to Illinois high marks.
"It was good. I really like Illinois. They are the head of my list. They have shown me the most interest so far," Humphrey said. "I was only down there for a day but we saw a lot of the school and I talked to Bruce Weber for a while. That was pretty cool.
"It is close to home, probably an hour and a half away from home. I like that. They have had some good guards come through there like Deron Williams and Dee Brown. Dee is a Chicago guy. They've always had good Chicago guys."
Georgia is up next. He said he is looking forward to spending some time with his cousin, a former prep star marksman from deep. The two will probably battle it out on the hardwood over the weekend and don't expect it to be a peaceful game.
"I'm not going to lie. We fight when we play one on one. That's all we do," Humphrey said. "We get after it."
Notre Dame, Syracuse, Marquette, Northwestern, DePaul, Northern Iowa, Ball State, Minnesota, Valpo, Iowa, Bradley, UNLV, Northern Illinois, Missouri and Dayton are also in the mix, he said.
The summer starts off with a trip to the Nike Hoop Jamboree in St. Louis. Then it's the busy July period with his Mean Streets 16 and under team.