Mike McCall

[courtside]

Just after being named tournament MVP of the Chicago Public Schools Holiday Tournament (which featured a win over #2 Simeon, among other good teams, and players) Mike McCall and his #4 seeded Foreman will be playing in the 2nd round of the always talented Proviso West Holiday Tourney tonight against Proviso East. Foreman was 9 for 12 from the field in his first game of the tourney, and easy win for Foreman.

[courtside]

Just after being named tournament MVP of the Chicago Public Schools Holiday Tournament (which featured a win over #2 Simeon, among other good teams, and players) Mike McCall and his #4 seeded Foreman will be playing in the 2nd round of the always talented Proviso West Holiday Tourney tonight against Proviso East. Foreman was 9 for 12 from the field in his first game of the tourney, and easy win for Foreman.

20 points later, and it's 72-61, and on to the semis vs Von Steuben. Glenbrook North gets Whitney Young in the other semifinal. The 3rd place game and championship game will be televised Wednesday night on Comcast Sports Net Chicago. So far McCall is 6 for 11 from three in the first two games. This coming off of strong McCall games v Simeon and Crane in the Chicago Public Schools Holiday Tournament. Crane had beaten Morgan Park's Louisville bound highlight reeel Wayne Blackshear before losing to Foreman.

[slufanskip]

thanks for the updates.

[NashvilleBilliken]

thanks for the updates.

^^ Ditto. Please keep them coming.

[MusicCityBilliken]

Nice reports Courtside. Looking forward on having McCall in Billiken blue next year.

[courtside]

His team has found a big to keep defenses honest. 3 guard attack. McCall is getting better all the time. His shooting has improved and has extended. He is very quick with the crossover and getting out on the break and finishing. Plays hard. Very experienced team. Foreman is not known for its hoops, or school, or coaching, but they are playing very well and have jumped to #2 in the Chicago area polls. McCall has been their best player, although Dority is good and has gotten more past pub.. Four kids on the team going D-1.

If they win tonight they get either #1 Young or #4 Glenbrook North. Young is good but younger and GN has Bruce Weber's nephew as a nice shooter. Duke's Jon Scheyer, GN grad gave their team a pep talk the other night. It's always a highly competitive tourney.

McCall and his team are certainly getting noticed now.

[kmbilliken]

Is there any concern with him qualifying?

[dneuner]

Porter said today on KFNS that he will be at the championship game for the tournament that McCall is playing in tonight. Moser says that McCall's team is playing one of the top teams in the nation, says this tournament is one of the top 5 in the nation as well. Says Mike is really excited to be a Billiken.

[Cowboy]

Porter said today on KFNS that he will be at the championship game for the tournament that McCall is playing in tonight. Moser says that McCall's team is playing one of the top teams in the nation, says this tournament is one of the top 5 in the nation as well. Says Mike is really excited to be a Billiken.

-once a kid is signed is there any ncaa rule on seeing them? speaking with them?

-i am guessing it is free reign (as long as you are not having a booster pay for a land rover )

-excited about the chicago kids being billikens

[courtside]

McCall had a pedestrian semifinal, 8pts and.a handful of assists and steals. Tommy Woolridge, who is headed to Eastern I'll had a big game and 20 first half pts to lead Foreman to a comfortable win.

Title game v defending large school state champ Whitney Young, who is currently #1 in Chicago.

Game will be televised on Comcast sportsnet Chicago, as will the third place game..

McCall's team has played together for years, very experienced, which is a big reason for their start. 3 guard attack with one solid big. Having a big has helped open up things for the guards.

[QUAILMAN]

McCall is tearing it up right now. Draining fade away 3's, going hard for layups, and just looks like a true athlete. He's got about 15 points right now with 4 minutes to play in the 4th. Really good game.

At one of the breaks they showed some award that he just won. Some student-athlete award. I'm excited for this guy.

[kshoe]

McCall is tearing it up right now. Draining fade away 3's, going hard for layups, and just looks like a true athlete. He's got about 15 points right now with 4 minutes to play in the 4th. Really good game.

At one of the breaks they showed some award that he just won. Some student-athlete award. I'm excited for this guy.

I am really getting excited about McCall and Evans. Thanks to all that have been providing updates on these guys.

[joe_davola]

I am really getting excited about McCall and Evans. Thanks to all that have been providing updates on these guys.

Yep....going to be a great year next year if all of this comes together. Thinking about Mitchell and Willie as juniors..good Lord that is going to be ridiculous. Willie being another 20 lbs. heavier...Mitchell, becoming even more of a leader (if that is possible) with I'm sure an even more improved oustide game (it's getting better and better this year). If Smith can provide the caliber of play that Willie provided his frehsman year, along with Ellis, now McCall...Stating the obvious but how can you not be excited about this. And then to hear that we are one of a handful of teams that Loe is interested in just makes it that much better. I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the rest of this year and see these guys mature even more.

[courtside]

Young 79

Foreman 64

Game was much closer than that. Whitney Young is very good. This was the first time this year they have played up to their potential. Too much depth and size. Thompson didn't even play on Varsity last year, behind last year's group. He will get big looks, already has offers from Illinois and Ohio St. He's a 6'6 small forward. Johnson their two guard is headed to Purdue. And, the story of the night was the coming out party of their 6'8 Freshman center who had a huge game and gets better each game.

McCall showed very well and finished with 26 points.

The award he was given is the Farmer's Insurance Student athlete citizen award, a weekly award that combines on and off court activities. He is involved off the court and has a 3.2 gpa.

[GoBills]

Young 79

Foreman 64

Game was much closer than that. Whitney Young is very good. This was the first time this year they have played up to their potential. Too much depth and size. Thompson didn't even play on Varsity last year, behind last year's group. He will get big looks, already has offers from Illinois and Ohio St. He's a 6'6 small forward. Johnson their two guard is headed to Purdue. And, the story of the night was the coming out party of their 6'8 Freshman center who had a huge game and gets better each game.

McCall showed very well and finished with 26 points.

The award he was given is the Farmer's Insurance Student athlete citizen award, a weekly award that combines on and off court activities. He is involved off the court and has a 3.2 gpa.

Thanks for the updates. How does McCall's game compare to Dillard from SIU? From his build and the description of the type of game he plays, they seem similar.

[Cowboy]

-watched the game and some observations....

-for me a big thing was that mccall was given the student athlete citizen award, good work on that

-announcers in pregame "foreman is lead by Michael McCall who is truly an outstanding player, they have 3 unbelievable d1 guards and MM is probably the leader of the pack - he can shoot the ball from the outside, he can penetrate, he is long, he plays defense, does it on both ends of the floor"

-here is an unbelievable tidbit, next year he will be playing for a smaller coach, his hs coach is HUGE (and seemed to take a bit away from the game at the end)

-when they needed a big shot, mccall took it - he has nice elevation to his jump shot

-from one game...what do you want from him? 3's, got it, get to the basket, got it, distribute the ball, got it, quick, got it

-the entire foreman defense was lacking to me, but the opponent may be a big part of that situation

-his team lost as they got big time outrebounded, they missed ft's (well, one kid did) and the team they played is fantastic

-whitney young has among other things a 14 yr old frosh who is listed at 6'9 - 210 who made 2 4th qtr 3's, his dad was 7'1 and played in the nba-thomas hamilton sr and jr (and if he got on a scale that registered less than 250 it is broken)

-and among other things one scout says whitney young has 13 d1 players and i think only 2 or 3 seniors

-comcast chicago - sarah kustok - worth a search

-we will like mike mccall wearing a billiken uni if one game is an accurate look at him

-how did we get him out of chicago? thank goodness weber is full in champaign, where was n'western and the rest of the big 10 on him? too small for them? their oversight looks to be our gain

[QUAILMAN]

-here is an unbelievable tidbit, next year he will be playing for a smaller coach, his hs coach is HUGE (and seemed to take a bit away from the game at the end)

true story. this is not a joke. the guy was sweatin bullets

[slu72]

It's getting hard to contain the enthusiasm, for even this year, with the arrival of CE. Granted, don't think many of us expect post season, but wouldn't mind playing in that CBI thing just to get the young'uns, especially CE, more experience. Now come the glowing reports on Evans and McCall... whew! You have to pinch yourself and ask, "is this Billiken reality or just a dream?" Then think, if somehow we land Loe, we will definitely be needing a reality check if not a valium or two, and I've never even tried the stuff. The best thing about McCall and Evans is they won't need to be rushed into playing time, unless of course they are head and shoulders above who's coming back, which is always a nice problem to have. Imagine if you will a front court of Loe, Ellis, and WR, with good backups, then add to the mix an all conf PG and a bunch of solid SG's , and suddenly thoughts of sweet 16's,elite 8's, and dare I say it... a FINAL 4 start running through your head. I fear this is way too much for our collective pent up Billiken fragile natures. Could we be witnessing the end of our infamous motto, "It's hard being a Billiken fan?"

[courtside]

Thanks for the updates. How does McCall's game compare to Dillard from SIU? From his build and the description of the type of game he plays, they seem similar.

Mike Dunigan, Josh Crittle, Matt Humphrey, etc...all played in Dillard's AAU program with Meanstreets. McCall hadn't previously received that kind of attention. And, Homewood-Floosmor is a perennial power on the South Side of Chicago. Foreman is not.

Dillard would be a decent rough comparison.

[courtside]

-watched the game and some observations....

-for me a big thing was that mccall was given the student athlete citizen award, good work on that

-announcers in pregame "foreman is lead by Michael McCall who is truly an outstanding player, they have 3 unbelievable d1 guards and MM is probably the leader of the pack - he can shoot the ball from the outside, he can penetrate, he is long, he plays defense, does it on both ends of the floor"

-here is an unbelievable tidbit, next year he will be playing for a smaller coach, his hs coach is HUGE (and seemed to take a bit away from the game at the end)

-when they needed a big shot, mccall took it - he has nice elevation to his jump shot

-from one game...what do you want from him? 3's, got it, get to the basket, got it, distribute the ball, got it, quick, got it

-the entire foreman defense was lacking to me, but the opponent may be a big part of that situation

-his team lost as they got big time outrebounded, they missed ft's (well, one kid did) and the team they played is fantastic

-whitney young has among other things a 14 yr old frosh who is listed at 6'9 - 210 who made 2 4th qtr 3's, his dad was 7'1 and played in the nba-thomas hamilton sr and jr (and if he got on a scale that registered less than 250 it is broken)

-and among other things one scout says whitney young has 13 d1 players and i think only 2 or 3 seniors

-comcast chicago - sarah kustok - worth a search

-we will like mike mccall wearing a billiken uni if one game is an accurate look at him

-how did we get him out of chicago? thank goodness weber is full in champaign, where was n'western and the rest of the big 10 on him? too small for them? their oversight looks to be our gain

The elite BCS teams don't quickly sign 6'0 2 guards, or combo guards. They come calling later if you are exceptional or worth the look. Elite BCS teams want length. McCall is more the size of a KM. KM was overlooked by many/most. He received late interest from some bigger schools. He played small school high school ball, and even though he played elite AAU ball, he was overshadowed by the elite team a year younger than him with Jamil Wilson, Johnnie Lacy, etc..but KM worked hard and got better and better and finally people started to notice. Marquette for example signed Reggie Smith, a 6'0 ish 2 guard from nearby Thornton in Chicago because they had missed out on a couple of players at other positions and had an opening for depth in the backcourt. Smith is a very good all around player, strong, very good defender and athlete, ...but it will take him a couple of seasons of work and coaching to be a solid point guard backing up Junior Cadougan. His defense, motor and athleticism will get him minutes off the bench minutes here and there his first two years.

McCall will get to play plenty next year at the 1 and the 2. And he will be playing a lot at two guard in a smaller but very quick, athletic lineup for SLU with both KM and MM in the lineup at the same time. McCall has improved his handle, shooting, finish near the hoop etc...and he will keep improving moving forward. He'll benefit greatly from next level coaching and strnegth and conditioning. He'll be a combo guard and play both spots. He'll run into trouble defending big long strong 2's. He's an upgrade for SLU at the guard position in terms of ability and athleticism, (except for KM.)...though not in length. SLU got in early on a kid with a lot of potential in McCall and McCall's recruiting has gone similar to KM in terms of other bigger schools coming in later.

Weber is doing just fine in Chicago. His two Frosh guards will be very good at Illinois, both in staters. And he has a strong player of the year candidate coming in next season.

Weber struggled for a couple of years in recruiting but he has found his footing. He is actively trying to get his nephew a mid-major ride somewhere.

Speaking of Weber's nephew, his teammate from Glenbrook North, Alex Dragisevic was the tourney MVP at Proviso, a 6'6 2 guard who signed with Notre Dame. Glenbrook North lost twice in the tourney but they are solid and they will play SLUH in January in St. Louis.

[NH]

Weber struggled for a couple of years in recruiting but he has found his footing. He is actively trying to get his nephew a mid-major ride somewhere.

Speaking of Weber's nephew, his teammate from Glenbrook North, Alex Dragisevic was the tourney MVP at Proviso, a 6'6 2 guard who signed with Notre Dame. Glenbrook North lost twice in the tourney but they are solid and they will play SLUH in January in St. Louis.

Im hoping SLUH doesnt get blown out of the water in that one.

[courtside]

Im hoping SLUH doesnt get blown out of the water in that one.

Glenbrook North is a legit top ten-ish Chicago area team. SLUH will have their hands full.

[Archy McNally]

The decription may eventually fit him. However, my problem with trying to label McCall has a 2-guard or combo guard or whatever is that a majority of D1 PGs have to be the scorer in HS since they are typically the best scorers on that HS team. Even though their skill set translates to a PG at the D1 level, they have to be in a position to score when to carry their HS teams. This is why I hate the label, "PG is not his natural position" coming out of HS.

He is being recruited as a point guard and the coaching staff thinks he has the ball-handling capabilities to be the PG. And D1 PGs have to be able to score. Augustine and Rose may have not been "pure" points by these definitions but they were better than anybody else out there. I would rather have a scoring PG than a PG that can't score a lick, which is more of the problem we have had in the past.

Now I can see why Duke or whoever is not chasing a 6-0 PG. His stats have to be among the best and against the best and for several years to get notice by the big boys. That is why there are so many good smaller guards at the lower D1 level slipping away from the big schools.

[courtside]

The decription may eventually fit him. However, my problem with trying to label McCall has a 2-guard or combo guard or whatever is that a majority of D1 PGs have to be the scorer in HS since they are typically the best scorers on that HS team. Even though their skill set translates to a PG at the D1 level, they have to be in a position to score when to carry their HS teams. This is why I hate the label, "PG is not his natural position" coming out of HS.

He is being recruited as a point guard and the coaching staff thinks he has the ball-handling capabilities to be the PG. And D1 PGs have to be able to score. Augustine and Rose may have not been "pure" points by these definitions but they were better than anybody else out there. I would rather have a scoring PG than a PG that can't score a lick, which is more of the problem we have had in the past.

Now I can see why Duke or whoever is not chasing a 6-0 PG. His stats have to be among the best and against the best and for several years to get notice by the big boys. That is why there are so many good smaller guards at the lower D1 level slipping away from the big schools.

Have you seen him play? AAU? High School?

DJ Augustine averaged 7 assists per game his Frosh season at Texas.

Derrick Rose was well known for his ability to run a team and his passing when he went to Memphis besides being able to score. He's also much bigger than McCall, and not an apples to apples size comparison.

Those two examples you mentioed are of players who did much more than simply score.

It is not a question of having a point guard that can score or cannot score. Take a look at past SLU point guards, the ones who didn't score much? How well did they handle the ball, control tempo, run the team, dribble offensively and defensively dribble, create for others, see the floor, feed the post, and perimeter, etc...and so on....? I'm willing to bet the people you think of weren't very good at those things either.

Many of the top ten assist leaders of all time in the NCAA weren't strong scorers. Take a look at the list.

It is not easy or a given that a good scoring high school guard can make the transition to a point guard that can run a team and have the needed attributes to do so. McCall has improved his ball handling skills, jump shot, etc..as well as other aspects of his game. Previously McCall's skill set were not seen by most as being point guard material at the level of SLU or better. KM does a lot of the scoring for SLU currently because SLU isn't getting much scoring out of his supporting cast. If SLU has to rely upon KM's scoring this much the next couple of seasons, SLU is in trouble.

[NH]

Am I the only one who thinks mccall sounds like a marque perry clone.