Lebron James Skills Academy Omissions From Illinois A Bit Surprising

July 3, 2008

3:45 P.M. CST

Four prospects from the state of Illinois have been invited to participate in the Lebron James Skills Academy which begins Saturday in Akron, OH.  The four players who received invitations from NIKE to attend the Skills Academy are 6'3 guard David Brown from Hononegah High School in Rockton, IL; 6'2 guard Darius Smith from Marshall High School in Chicago; 6'2 guard Marcus Jordan from Whitney Young High School in Chicago and 6'7 Jereme Richmond from Waukegan High School in Waukegan, IL.  Brown, Smith and Jordan are all class of 2009 prospects while Richmond, who has already committed to the University Of Illinois, is Illinois Prep Bulls-eye's top rated prospect in Illinois from the class of 2010.

Mysteriously enough, our top two prospects in the state from the class of 2009, 6'3 Brandon Paul from Warren Township High School in Gurnee, IL and 6'3 D.J. Richardson from Peoria Central High School in Peoria, IL did not receive invites.  As it turns out, Paul will participate with Team NLP (his traveling team) at the Hoosier Shootout in Indianapolis from July 6-9, while Richardson will get ready to play on the Illinois Warriors traveling team at the NIKE Peach Jam in North Augusta, SC from July 12-15.

According to Larry Butler, who is the Warriors head coach and NIKE representative from the state of Illinois, it was generally believed by other NIKE officials that Paul did not play well enough at the Top 100 NBA Players Camp last month to warrant an invitation to the Skills Academy.  It is unknown why Richardson did not get invited.

The Lebron James Skills Academy runs from July 5-9 at the University of Akron's Rhodes Arena.

Continue to check in with Illinois Prep Bulls-eye for all of the latest as it pertains to high school basketball and recruiting in the state of Illinois.