Don't know if this was already posted

[thetorch]

But Dustin Macguire will play for Edwardsville next year.

[billiken_roy]

edwardsville plays in the southwesten conference which is the toughest conference south of chicago imo. this will test dustin much more than the bethalto schedule would have.

plus, at edwardsville, dustin probably will get to play facing the basket more and guard wings. again, preparing him for slu much better than civic memorial would have.

[cheeseman]

I had heard from a reliable source that DM was not happy at Civic all about him having to play with his back to the basket. This transfer would confirm that he was looking for different situation.

[BLIKNS]

What are some really good conferences in Ill.?

[MrJ2333]

>What are some really good conferences in Ill.?

Well theres basically 3 decent sectors of basketball in Illinois. Youve got the Chicago Public League. You have the Midstate 6 (Peoria). Then you have the Western Big 6 which includes the Quad Cities, Galesburg, Quincy, etc. Outside of those youll have hit or miss decent teams. None that ever make a difference come Elite 8 time. Unless my memory is failing me, there hasn't been a champ outside of Chicago or Peoria since the late 80s east St Louis teams.

[Sheltiedave]

While it is true that there normally are not many great conferences outside Chitown, Peoria, and Quad Cities normally, thre are a number of strong programs sprinkled throughout the state.

Quincy, Collinsville, Pekin, Lincoln, Morton, Effingham, Galesburg, Decatur, and Carbondale routinely will have strong teams that are competitive statewide and will have a star with another two or so Div.1 players. The Class A schools will soar or fall based on a single strong Div1 player surrounded by good athletes, but it is highly unusual to have multiple Div1 players in a single conference, let alone a single team.

Having grown up in Peoria, I have witnessed firsthand the development (and intense competition) in the summer leagues and open gyms outside of the school year. The good players would all hook up at Richwoods or Central for the full court 5 on 5s during the morning, and then we would catch the afternoon series down on the project courts around Adams street south of Bradley U. If we needed money, we would hit Bradley after the project pickups and score $10 a person per game against the college age players.

It worked out to about 10 full court games a day to 15 baskets against college caliber talent. The same was occuring for tennis, and to a lesser extent in track, baseball, and swimming. Even today, any time I see a Peoria bball team in state with three DIV1 players starting, I will bet on them against any Chitown team.

[VTIME]

He'll get to play facing the basket because Edwardsville has a 6-11 Big man who's finally getting some coordination. If he shows any signs of having a pulse, SLU should gobble him up instead of getting passive bigs with soft touch like Husak and Voyoukas. At least Maguire will bang Williams and demand he plays with heart.