The Bulls may be lacking bonafide NBA all-stars, but they sure are chock-full of former Illinois high school stars.
While there will be cuts and roster moves made between now and the season opener next Wednesday, the current Bulls roster makeup is pretty incredible when it comes to a local presence — like never-seen-before incredible.
The Bulls featured a whopping seven players on the training camp roster who played high school basketball in Illinois, including six former all-staters, a two-time Mr. Basketball winner and a pair of Sun-Times Player of the Year recipients.
Here is a list of those seven.
Matas Buzelis (Hinsdale Central)
No, he didn’t spend much time at Hinsdale Central, but the No. 11 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft did play his freshman year there before heading off to prep school.
Buzelis went on to be a McDonald’s All-American, then played a year in the NBA G League and is now considered a cornerstone of the Bulls franchise.
Jevon Carter (Proviso East)
Carter was part of some great Proviso East teams, including a state runner-up team in 2012 and third-place team in 2013.
As a senior at West Virginia, Carter emerged as an All-American and became the first major conference player to reach 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists and 300 steals in a career.
As he begins his second season with the Bulls, Carter has been a valuable NBA role player for the past six seasons.
Ayo Dosunmu (Morgan Park)
Dosunmu was part of some serious winning, capturing two state championships at Morgan Park in 2017 and 2018. As a junior at Illinois, he led Illinois to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament while becoming a first-team All-American.
Now in his fourth season with the Bulls, Dosnumu has emerged as a key rotational player following a breakout season a year ago.
Javon Freeman-Liberty (Young)
As a senior in high school, Freeman-Liberty was the catalyst for a Young team that reached the Class 4A state championship game. He led the way with 19.6 points a game while earning all-state honors.
Playing two seasons each at Valparaiso and DePaul, Freeman-Liberty scored over 1,700 career points in college.
Last season he played in 22 games with the Raptors, averaging 18 minutes and seven points a game and hopes to earn a Bulls roster spot.
Talen Horton-Tucker (Simeon)
The former Sun-Times Player of the Year while at Simeon was an unexpected one-and-done in college after averaging 11.8 points a game at Iowa State as a freshman.
Since he was a second-round pick of the Lakers in the 2019 draft, THT has emerged as a double-figure scorer over the course of his five seasons with the Lakers and Jazz.
EJ Liddell (Belleville West)
He led Belleville West to back-to-back state championships and is one of only two players in state history to be named Mr. Basketball twice.
Liddell scored nearly 1,300 career points in just three years at Ohio State, including a junior season where he went for 19.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks a game and was named an All-American.
Liddell tore his ACL in 2022 and played just eight games in the NBA for the New Orleans Pelicans.
DJ Steward (Young)
The top-ranked player in the state in the Class of 2020 was named a McDonald’s All-American as a senior at Young. He then spent just one year at Duke.
Steward has yet to play in a NBA game after playing in the NBA G League for multiple seasons.