By Mike Helfgot
Jereme Richmond made the cut for the prestigious McDonald's All-American game.
The 6-foot-7 Waukegan senior is among the 24 players nationwide selected for the March 31 game, according to a source. The official announcement will come Thursday.
An Illinois recruit, Richmond is averaging 21 points and 12 rebounds a game after leading Waukegan to the Class 4A state-title game and finishing second in the Mr. Basketball voting last season.
The McDonald's game will be played March 31 in Columbus, Ohio. The All-American teams will be announced at 4:30 Thursday on ESPNU.
Photo: Waukegan's Jereme Richmond. (Tracy Allen / For the Tribune)
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If the team does well, he can move on to one of the NCAA powers, like Duke (K has to retire, right?), UCLA, etc.
He can be the new Bill Self!
Congratulations Jereme Richmond! Illini Nation Welomes You!
Let's win the 2011 NCAA tournament and start a basketball dynasty at University of Illinois this decade. You will be key contributor to restoring Illinois to national prominence and enhance Illinois' storied and winning basketball legacy.
Are you kidding me... Some of the best guards in NBA have come out of the Big ten.. D Will , Jason Richardson , Steve Smith , Kendall Gill , Devin Harris , Bobby Jackson , Jalen Rose.. to name a few. The Big ten obviously gets a bad rap at times for its great defense and slower game, but come crunch time in the Big Dance which conference is always there...The big Ten. Congrats J Richmond. Go ILLINI
Hey Chicago Basketball, you have a short memory. Deron Williams played in the Big Ten. I would say he has done fairly well in the pros. I didn't realize that most NBA players are from the Big East. You need to recheck that, and dude, by the way, DePaul is horrible.
He's some player, but it is sad Illinois players think that playing in the Big Ten prepares them better for playing in the NBA. They need to play in the Big East in order to learn the offensive schemes and the rigor of playing hard fought games frequently. Great for Illinois, but this guys would be at DePaul instead. Big Ten ball is slow, defensive, methodical, and very different than the NBA game. The Big East and perhaps the ACC, but mainly the Big East is the only conference that can prepare a player for the next step.
As long as he doesn't ride with any teammates! Weber is a genius, not a crybaby!
Awesome. Congrats Jereme and Illini. Next year is going to be fun.