Jay Harris Is Seeing His Recruiting Stock Explode--Two In-State Schools Are Now In The Mix

February 25, 2010

9:45 P.M. CST

Let the record show that Jay Harris' recruitment has now officially taken off.  That is because after scoring 44 and 38 points respectively in his last two games in addition to putting up monster statistics all season long, word has gotten out as to just how good the 6'1 guard from Oswego East High School in Oswego, IL really is.

As it turns out, two in-state schools have now clearly jumped into the recruiting mix for Harris' services.  We are talking about Illinois State University and the University of Illinois.  Both Redbird head coach Tim Jankovich and assistant coach Paris Parham were in the house tonight at Plainfield North High School in Plainfield, IL to take in Harris' performance, while assistant coach Jerrance Howard was on hand for the Illini.

We can guarantee everyone that both Illinois State and Illinois are now serious players in the Harris recruiting sweepstakes.  In fact, everyone can take it to the bank when we say that a scholarship offer from Illinois State will be forthcoming.  Meanwhile, Illini head coach Bruce Weber is looking very closely at the possibility of adding another point guard as the final piece of his 2010 recruiting class.

In Oswego East's contest versus Plainfield North tonight, Harris was once again spectacular, scoring 30 points in his team's victory.  While he was not as deadly from the three-point stripe as he was when we watched him a week ago (shooting 4-9 from beyond the arc for the game) Harris controlled the game with his dribble-drive ability, as he consistently beat defenders to the basket in one-on-one situations and when double-teamed at the top was usually able to kick the ball to an open teammate.

We believe that the season Harris is having is quite reminiscient of what Patrick Beverley did during his senior year at Marshall High School in Chicago when he came out of nowhere en route to ultimately signing with the University of Arkansas.  Once again we will reiterate what we said in our previous entry on Harris--we believe that he is HANDS DOWN the best unsigned guard in the state of Illinois from the 2010 class and as good as virtually every back court player in the state overall.

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