June 18, 2009

5:30 P.M. CST

Fred Heldring, the 6'10 center from New Trier High School in Winnetka, IL, verbally committed today to William and Mary.  Heldring chose the Tribe over offers from Davidson and Loyola-Chicago as well as interest from several Ivy League schools.  News on the commitment was confirmed to us by Mike Weinstein, Heldring's traveling team coach with the Rising Stars.

Heldring is a mobile big man who moves well without the ball and is especially effective when facing up along the baseline and in the paint area, where he can knock down mid-range jumpers with consistency.  He is also adept at running the floor and finishing on the break.  While Heldring has always been a center, we could actually see him being a 4 man in the Colonial Athletic Association because of the aforementioned reasons.

William and Mary's beautiful campus, high level of academics and the opportunity for immediate playing time were all factors in Heldring's decision.  However, another huge factor that ended up being to the advantage was that they were in on Heldring from the very beginning, as they were one of the first schools to offer him a scholarship.

Tribe head coach Tony Shaver and his assistants continue to recruit the Chicago area extremely hard and at the present time are involved with a number of other prospects from the class of 2010, including 6'1 point guard Sean McGonagill from Riverside-Brookfield High School in Riverside, IL; 6'8 Jeff Dirkin from Oak Park-River Forest High School in Oak Park, IL and 6'8 Tim Rusthoven from Wheaton Academy in West Chicago, IL. 

Additional Notes

... Weinstein also tells us that at the present time he considers the leaders for 6'5 shooting guard Alex Rossi from New Trier High School in Winnetka, IL to be California and Notre Dame, with the Golden Bears currently enjoying the advantage.

... Stanford University has received the transcript of Ben Brust, the 6'2 shooting guard from Mundelein High School in Mundelein, IL and once it has been thoroughly reviewed Brust will in all likelihood be receiving a scholarship offer from head coach Johnny Dawkins and the Cardinals.  Brust recently attended the University of Virginia's elite camp.

... Mike Mullins, the CEO of the Illinois Wolves has informed us that Wolves alum and current Northwestern University  forward John Shurna has been chosen to represent the USA on the 19-under national team which will travel to New Zealand.  Meanwhile, Ohio State University guard Evan Turner (another Wolves alum) has been selected as a member of the USA's World University Games team. 

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.