Depth of basketball talent in Chicago area helps offset absence of superstar recruits

The job members of the Class of 2025 have done since the end of their junior season has been noted.

Many basketball players in the senior class have taken a significant step in the right direction, highlighted by a greater demand in their recruitments. No, there aren’t megastars in the class headed to blue-blood programs or a surplus of high-major prospects, but the overall list of Division I prospects is lengthier than expected.

Yes, there is a bit of a void when it comes to a runaway top team or teams, but the quality depth around the area appears to be there as we approach the start of the season in late November. That should make for a deeper preseason Top 25.

Scholarships increased

An under-the-radar summer recruiting story was the NCAA increasing the number of men’s basketball scholarships for the 2025-26 season from 13 to 15 at the Division I level.

On the surface, it would appear that would be a boon for high school basketball players — and it still might be. But many coaches and programs still are debating how they intend to use those two additional scholarships.

It remains to be seen how big an impact the additional scholarships will have in recruiting. Many programs already prefer using less than the current 13 scholarships.

But with the extra year of COVID eligibility finally concluded and the increase in scholarships, the opportunities have expanded for high school players.

Traveling stars

While we belabor the point of there being a lack of star-quality prospects in Illinois — at least in comparison to what the state was accustomed to having for decades — it’s also time again to point out part of the reason why.

For starters, imagine Matas Buzelis headlining a Class of 2023 in Illinois that included Cameron Christie of Rolling Meadows and Jeremy Fears Jr. of Joliet West. Buzelis and Christie are already on NBA rosters.

Buzelis, a lottery pick of the Bulls in June, playing at Hinsdale Central for four years instead of at prep schools for three years would have made a significant difference in how we view that class.

So, too, would JJ Taylor, the Kenwood star who was a top-100 prospect nationally but left for California and is now a sophomore at Central Florida after playing his freshman year at Memphis.

The fact is, the state has been deprived of having multiple players among the top 10, top 20 or even top 50 nationally. But several were destined to be those types of players and left before we could see it