Stream of coaches to see Fruendt

Always strong at the guard position, the Illinois Wolves travel team has another top shooting guard in the class of 2008. 6-foot-5, 185-pound Nick Fruendt of Batavia (Ill.) High School is a big time scorer.

Already with offers from DePaul, Bradley, Southern Illinois, Illinois State and Dayton, Fruendt has had a stream of coaches watching him workout this fall. Head coaches Bruce Weber, Billy Donovan and Mike Brey have personally visited his school. Assistants from DePaul, Arizona State, Iowa, Wisconsin, Stanford, Southern Illinois, Bradley and Illinois State have also been in.

Most of these schools saw Fruendt in action at the AAU Nationals in Orlando where he led the Wolves' 16-under squad in scoring, putting up 27 and 33 points in two games there. Most impressive, however, is that Fruendt was putting up these big numbers on a broken foot.

"Nick missed the ABCD Camp because we thought he had a sprained ankle and needed to rest it," said Illinois Wolves coach Mike Mullins. "He went ahead and played on it in Orlando and played extremely well. It never healed up after Orlando, and the break showed up on a MRI."

Although not quite on the level of former Chicago high school star and Duke freshman Jon Scheyer, Fruendt share a lot of similarities with Scheyer according to Mullins.

"Nick is a big time scorer," said Mullins. "He can really shoot the ball and has a knack for getting to the foul line. He also has a very high basketball IQ and can pass the basketball.

"He's an average athlete for the high-major level and is long and angular. It will be important for him to gain strength for the next level."

Starting varsity as a freshman, Fruendt averaged 20 points per game his sophomore season.