Jonathan Scheyer Update

Jonathan Scheyer of Northbrook, Ill., one of the top big guard prospects in the Class of 2006, is now considering seven colleges, but, is expected to narrow his list in the near future. Scheyer has been recruited by many of the nation's top-rated collegiate programs, and is projected to have the potential to possibly become a "J. J. Redick-type" player at the next level.

On December 8, I happened to be seated across the aisle from 6-foot-6, 185-pound, junior second guard, Jon Scheyer of Northbrook, Ill., Glenbrook North High School, on a flight from Chicago to St. Louis. The Glenbrook North team, as was I, were on their way to St. Louis to participate in the 24th Annual Shop 'N Save/KMOX Shootout.

Fortunately, I was able to chat with Scheyer during our one-hour flight. Scheyer said that he was still considering seven schools, and, for whatever it means he listed the schools in the following sequence: Illinois, Duke, Arizona, California, Kansas, Michigan State, and Wisconsin.

"I plan to trim my list down to three or four schools during the next few weeks," said Scheyer. "And, I will let Rivals.com know my final schools after I make my decision."

Interestingly, the head coach at Glenbrook North High is David Weber, the brother of No. 1 rated U. of Illinois head coach, Bruce Weber. So, one can only speculate that The Illini are in the hunt.

Glenbrook North High School is the alma mater of Duke assistant coach Chris Collins, and the Blue Devils have long been in pursuit of Scheyer. Again, it is logical to assume that Coach K will be hard to beat.

Scheyer was a summer teammate on the Illinois Warriors summer team, and is a close friend of Kansas signee, 6-foot-8 forward Julian Wright. In fact, Scheyer asked me how I rated Wright when his Homewood-Flossmoor team beat Oak Hill Academy in the Marshall County Hoop Fest. Scheyer said that he was really looking forward to seeing his friend again in St. Louis. So, Kansas would appear to be a solid contender in the recruitment of Scheyer.

The sleeper school could be the Wisconsin Badgers. Coach Bo Ryan is one of the most underrated, but highly successful recruiting head coaches in the business.

And, Arizonia, California, and Michigan State are all possibles to be included on Scheyer's final list.

So stay tuned to the Rivals.com Ultimate Ticket for the next update on Jon Scheyer.

Incidentally, at the Shop 'N Save/KMOX Shootout Scheyer did not have one of his better performances. He was not the deadly accurate marksman that we have observed in the past, scoring 16 points on 5-16 shooting from the field, 1-8 from the three-point arc, and making just 5-10 free throws.

Reportedly, there were representatives from twenty NBA teams at the St. Louis event to watch 6-foot-11 Andray Blatche, Oklahoma State signee, 6-foot-8 Gerald Green, and Julian Wright.

Blatche probably impressed the NBA scouts the most with his unusual triple double, scoring 24 points, grabbing 22 rebounds, and committing 11 turnovers!

The player that I thought had the best overall performance in St. Louis was 6-foot-9, 215-pound junior power forward Darrell Arthur, Dallas, Texas, South Oak Cliff High School, and rated No. 4 in the Class of 2006 by Rivals.com. Arthur is a very fundamentally sound, competitive, "no frills" player, who will challenge Brandan Wright, Kevin Durant, and others for the No. 2 spot in the Class of 2006, behind "locked in No. 1," man-among-boys, 7-foot-1 center Greg Oden.