The only way to keep track of all the high school basketball transfers in the state every summer is to make a list. The player movement starts in March and goes on for months.
This season’s list is nearing 200 names. That is likely less than half of the actual transfers in the area. Not everyone posts the news publicly.
The Public League, previously demonized for taking players from the suburbs and private schools, was hit hard by transfers.
Young lost six players. Nasir Rankin (Morgan Park) and Patrick Irvin (Payton) left for other Public League schools but the rest transferred out of Chicago Public Schools. Sophomore Howard Williams, one of the state’s top talents, headed to Oak Hill in Virginia.
Player of the Year contenders Al Brooks and EJ Horton left the Public League. Brooks headed from Hansberry to Rich with his brother, Ikee. Horton left for Canada after Phillips fired coach Paris Martin.
Horton wasn’t alone. The defending Class 2A state champs lost the entire core of its team. Amare Edwards transferred to Kenwood, Ian Williams went to Hope and Phoenix Childs headed to Perspectives-Leadership.
One Public League winner
There was a CPS team that improved after all the transfers. Perspectives-Leadership, now coached by Justin Rhymes, added three significant players.
Childs arrived from Phillips, senior Derrick Dowdell transferred from Curie and 6-6 junior Tristan Howard from Oswego East.
Homewood-Flossmoor reloads
Homewood-Flossmoor, the defending Class 4A state champions, had a fascinating offseason. Bryce Heard skipped his senior year, graduated early and headed to North Carolina State. The Vikings had four good high school players transfer away as well.
That would be enough to cripple most programs, but not Homewood-Flossmoor. Senior guard JD Tyler returns and the Vikings added three key transfers: Arden Eaves from Thornwood, Brent Taylor from Lincoln-Way East and junior AJ Johnson from California.
Eaves and Taylor would have been the best players at their old schools. H-F coach Jamere Dismukes has been impressed with Johnson, who has three college scholarship offers.
“[Johnson] is going to be good,” Dismukes said. “He’s 6-4 and still growing. He’s a good athlete. He can really slash and get to the basket and create for others.”
The Vikings added two promising freshmen, guard Darrius Hawkins and 6-6 John Brown IV.
“Hawkins is going to play a lot,” Dismukes said. “If we do it right he can have a Tyler Ulis-type career.”
Other notables
Romeoville added three impact players: Danny Thompson from Joliet Central, DJ Hampton from Minooka and Jamarri Fears from Joliet West. Fears, a sophomore, is the younger brother of Jeremy and Jeremiah Fears. He starred on the Joliet West sophomore team last year as a freshman.
The Spartans also lost some significant players. Andrew Walker, a 6-11 senior, left for Pennsylvania and EJ Mosley, one of the best senior guards in the state, returned to St. Laurence.
St. Laurence had even more turnover. Jacob Rice, a 6-5 senior from Ohio, transferred in. So did 6-5 senior Jeremiah LeSure from Plainfield South. The Vikings lost Khalil Jones to Metea Valley and Gabe Mobley to Hillcrest.