I've said before, and I still believe it, that he can't go wrong either way. His potential to have an outstanding college career is equal at both schools. Okay, he's had a thing for Duke ever since he was 5. I'll grant that's a slant in their favor. It's no big surprise that he's going there.
Really, I'm more irked at Bob Sakamoto than anything else. He paints Illinois as a second-tier school ("Scheyer opted to be the leadoff man for the New York Yankees of college basketball rather than the franchise player of the local team.") and casts Jon's role at Illinois, had he chosen to go there, as the program's "savior", and treats that role as if it's been the talk all along. Except that this is the first it's ever been spoken of.
"Savior"? What a crock... College teams evolve over time. Yes, Illinois is losing two of its stars. They'll be fine. They lost the three Peoria kids after the last Final Four, and the program did not fall into the gutter then either. There's no need for any recruit to "save" a dying program. It's just the continuing process of player development. Bob ignores that. Really, how often does a freshman have a huge (program-saving-scale) impact on a college program?
Not that I should be surprised by that either. Bob, historically, has never been wild about Glenbrook North. Several staffers and I took it as a deliberate hex that he picked them to win midway through the state finals--his picks invariably lose. I'm reading the slant of his article as a personal bias against Illinois. So, as a graduate of both those insitutions, I'm entitled to be irked about it.
