Analysis And Commentary: Richmond vs. Blackshear--Who Is #1?

December 6, 2009

9:00 P.M. CST

While very little has been established in the first two weeks of the Illinois high school basketball season, one thing is an absolute no-brainer.  The two best players in the state are 6'7 forward and University Of Illinois signee Jereme Richmond from Waukegan Township High School in Waukegan, IL and 6'5 forward Wayne Blackshear from Morgan Park High School in Chicago.  Richmond is the state's top-ranked player in the class of 2010 and Blackshear is hands down #1 in the 2011 class.  But which one is the best player overall?

After watching Blackshear play twice this past weekend, we completely agree with those who say that he is right there with Richmond and is rapidly closing the gap.  Blackshear was absolutely dominant in Morgan Park's 56-45 victory over Notre Dame High School in Niles, IL Friday night, scoring 29 points and grabbing 9 rebounds.  He was even better the following day, coming away with 42 points and 18 rebounds in his team's win over East Aurora in the CPS Shootout at Chicago State University.

There has been considerable hype and plenty of remarks made recently in support of Blackshear, some of which has been over-the-top.  Nevertheless, Blackshear has proven that he can back up the talk and that all praise that has been thrown his way is most justified.  That is why we can certainly understand and even appreciate Blackshear's reasoning behind saying that he is the best in the state.  There is just one problem--Richmond has done absolutely nothing to play himself out of the overall #1 spot.  In fact, in the early going his numbers have almost been as impressive as Blackshear's.

All of which leads to the following question:  how can this debate be settled once and for all?  We will answer that later in this entry.  But first let's break down the things that make both Richmond and Blackshear elite-level performers and offer analysis for why either one of them are worthy of being called the state's best player. 

Let's begin with Blackshear.  It is plain to see that the long layoff as the result of having to sit out the second half of last season after transferring to Morgan Park from Curie hasn't hurt Blackshear one bit.  If anything, we believe that it may have helped him in terms of continuing to work on his game and improving his skills.  It clearly explains why Blackshear's shooting range and ball handling ability have gotten significantly better in comparison with where they were at a year ago.

While Blackshear's offensive skill-set has made vast strides, we are even more impressed with how he dominates games defensively.  That is exactly what he did against Niles Notre Dame and it was more of the same against East Aurora.  He can defend the interior as well as on the perimeter and this was plainly evident in the Niles Notre Dame contest.  Not only did he own the paint area, but he also helped limit Notre Dame's shooters to only one three-point field goal on 17 attempts.

The general impression amongst most outsiders is that Blackshear is cocky.  Maybe that is true off the court, but that is hardly the case when Blackshear is on it.  Above everything else, he is all business from start to finish.  To take it a step further, he is an ironman when it comes to stamina.  Blackshear played all but two minutes of the Notre Dame game and was on the floor for virtually every second of the East Aurora contest as well. 

It is also quite obvious that Morgan Park's offense revolves entirely around Blackshear and that head coach Nick Irvin offers Blackshear every opportunity to be showcased.  Because of that, one would think that Blackshear would be prone to considerable trash-talking and showboating.  However, anyone who believes that is sadly mistaken.  In fact, it is the exact opposite--we never remember seeing Blackshear taunt an opponent or try to show him up since we have been watching him play. 

To top everything off, while the rest of Morgan Park's team is also talented, they are vastly inexperienced.  Again, the general impression would be to think that the younger players would have a tendency to be wild and out of control, but that was not so in either of the two games we saw this past weekend.  What we did see was the calming influence which Blackshear appeared to have over all of them, which is a testament to the on-court leadership that Blackshear has begun to show. 

And now for Richmond.  Like Blackshear, he has a superb all-around skill set and there are virtually no weaknesses to his game offensively.  Simply put, he does whatever it takes for his team to win.  He goes to war underneath, has great instincts on the glass, can put the ball on the floor and consistently attack the basket, is an outstanding passer and has 3-point shooting range. 

But the comparisons don't end there.  As is the case with Blackshear, Richmond gets it done at both ends of the court and with that being said has also proven to be a terrific defender.  Anyone who doubts that needs to look no further than Richmond's performance in Waukegan's win over Deerfield this past Friday night.  Forget about the fact that Richmond came away with a double-double, totalling 18 points and 12 rebounds.  What was even more significant was that he held Deerfield's 6'8 forward and University Of Wisconsin signee Duje Dukan to no field goals in the fourth quarter on only one shot attempt.

During his earlier high school years, Richmond faced issues with respect to his attitude and was prone to trash-talking and showboating.  However, there is no question that he grew up considerably last season and emerged as a leader in much the same manner that Blackshear has matured as a player this year.   That is borne out by Richmond's success in taking his Waukegan team all the way to the class 4A state championship game last March.  Most of all, Richmond has become a player that all of his teammates look up to.

The one noticeable difference when contrasting Blackshear's and Richmond's game is that unlike Blackshear, Richmond has a more experienced supporting cast around him and therefore there are times where he is not the focal point offensively.  As a result, Richmond probably shows more of a willingness to defer to his teammates for offensive production when he feels the situation warrants it.  And yet he still consistently puts up monster numbers.  For that reason, the argument can be made that Richmond's performance so far this season has been every bit as impressive as Blackshear's.

Which finally gets back to our original question.  What is the best way to settle the issue of which player is the best in the state?  Allow us to first say what IS NOT the best way, which is by having certain media pundits with personal agendas deliberately continue to propagandize on behalf of either player.  In this case, they are doing so in support of Blackshear because as they themselves have said, it would be boring to simply hand the Player Of The Year award to Richmond right now.

We have a better way--the ONLY way to settle it.  Let's decide it on the court in a head-to-head matchup between Waukegan and Morgan Park.  We want it, we need it, we have to have it!  There is just one problem.  Richmond is a senior, which means that the only way it could happen would be if the two teams were to meet in the state tournament.  Unless of course, both Irvin and Waukegan head coach Ron Ashlaw would be willing to drop a game from their schedule so that the matchup could take place.  If not, let's have a promoter schedule the contest on an off-day for both teams, even if it amounts to nothing more than an exhibition game.  Whatever it takes!  

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

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