2010s All-Decade Team: Illinois High School Basketball Legends

Trying to narrow down the prospects for the All-Decade Team of the 2000's has been the most challenging exercise yet of all the seven decades that I have been researching. I knew it would get more difficult as I moved along from the 50's, but I didn't realize the effort that it would require to give every great Illinois high school player a fair evaluation. Despite my effort I know I have overlooked some worthy players and have probably overlooked someone in this list of the greats of the 2000's. Illinois is a big state and as I have said several times, there are a lot of outstanding high school basketball players from Illinois.

The All-Decade Team

Wayne Blackshear — Morgan Park (2010)

6'0" Guard. College (Louisville). 2xAll-State, McDonald's AA, Illinois Mr. Basketball. 52-12 record his junior and senior season. Scored 1,046 points and had 408 assists in career at Louisville. '14–'15 NCAA All-Region, '12–'13 NCAA Champs. Played in Europe.

Frank Kaminsky — Lisle Benet Academy (2010)

7'0" Center. College (Wisconsin). All-State. 55-5 record in jr. and sr. years. 14-point ave., 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks per game as a senior. Scored 1,458 points (10.1 ave.) and grabbed 666 rebounds (4.6 ave.) for the Badgers. Led the Big Ten in scoring in '14–'15 season with 732 points. 2xAll-Big Ten, Big Ten POY in '14–'15, NABC POY, AP All-American, Consensus AA. Wisconsin lost in NCAA Finals to Duke in '15; Kaminsky averaged 18.1 points in the tournament. 1st round pick by the Hornets. Played 8 years in the NBA, scored 3,630 points (8.4 ave.).

Ryan Boatright — Aurora East (2011)

5'11" Guard. College (UCONN). All-State, Co-Mr. Basketball in Illinois. 31.2-point ave. as senior, scored 63 points in a game. Teams were 63-24. Scored 1,786 points (14 ave.) and had 491 assists (3.8 ave.) at UCONN. All-ACC, All Final Four Tournament in '14 when Huskies won the championship. Played overseas.

Anthony Davis — Chicago Perspectives (2011)

6'10" C/F. College (Kentucky). All-State, Parade and McDonald's AA. Davis was 6'1" as a freshman. Rated #1 high school prospect in the country as a senior. Averaged 26 points and 11 rebounds as senior. Only played one year at Kentucky: 567 points (14.2 ave.) and 415 rebounds (10.4 ave.). 1st pick in the NBA draft in '12 by the Hornets. 13 years in the NBA: 19,385 points (24 ave.), 1,848 blocks (2.3 ave.), 8,673 rebounds (10.7 ave.). 5xAll-NBA, 10xAll-Star, 5xAll-Defensive, 3xBlock Champ, '20 NBA Champ. Top 75 players of all-time.

Jabari Parker — Chicago Simeon (2013)

6'8" Center. College (Duke). 2xAll-State, 2xMcDonald's AA, Illinois Mr. Basketball, Gatorade POY. 4x State Champion. Best player to come out of high school since LeBron James? 32.2-point, 22-rebound, and 7-block average his senior season. Simeon's record for the 4 years Parker was there: 118-15. Scored 670 points (19.1 ave.) and 306 rebounds (8.7 ave.) in one year at Duke. 1st round pick by the Bucks. 8 years in the NBA: 4,380 points (14.1 ave.) and 1,703 rebounds.

Jahlil Okafor — Chicago Young (2013)

6'11" Center. College (Duke). 2xAll-State, Illinois Mr. Basketball, Parade and McDonald's AA, USA POY. Team record at Young 63-24. 20.8-point ave. and 12.1-rebound ave. his senior season. All-ACC, ACC POY, AP All-American. NCAA Champs in '14–'15. Scored 657 points (17.3 ave.) and had 322 rebounds (8.5 ave.) at Duke. 1st round pick by the 76ers. '15–'16 All-Rookie. 7 years in the NBA: 4,308 points and 1,703 rebounds.

Cliff Alexander — Chicago Currie (2014)

6'9" Center. College (Kansas). 2xAll-State, McDonald's AA, Naismith POY. 21.3-point ave., 13-rebound ave., and 5-block ave. his senior season. In one year at Kansas he averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds. Drafted by the Trail Blazers. Played 1 year in the NBA then overseas.

Jeremy Richmond — Waukegan (2010)

6'8" Forward. College (Illinois). 2xAll-State, McDonald's AA, Illinois Mr. Basketball. 21.1-point ave. and 15 rebounds as senior. '09 finished 2nd in state tournament (26-5), 3rd in state in '10 (27-5). Scored 236 points and grabbed 156 rebounds his freshman year at Illinois. All-Big Ten Freshman Team.

Tyler Ulis — Chicago Heights Marian Catholic (2014)

5'10" Guard. College (Kentucky). 2xAll-State, McDonald's AA. 2,335 career points and 533 assists in high school career. Teams were 57-7 his jr. and sr. season. Scored 815 points (11.3 ave.) and had 381 assists (5.3 ave.) for the Wildcats. 2nd Team All-SEC, 2nd Team All-American. 2nd round draft pick by the Suns. Scored 918 points and had 557 assists in 3 years in the NBA.

Billy Garrett — Morgan Park (2013)

6'6" Guard. College (DePaul). 2xAll-State. '13 State Champs. 53-9 record in high school. 17.6-point ave., 8 assists, and 5 rebounds per game as jr. and sr. Scored 1,632 points and had 432 assists at DePaul. Big East Freshman of the Year, '17 Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year. .882 FT% for career. Drafted by the Knicks. Played 1 year in the NBA before playing overseas.

Meyers Leonard — Robinson (2010)

7'0" Center. College (Illinois). All-State. '10 State Champion. Record 47-15 as junior and senior. Scored 502 points (7.7 ave.) and had 303 rebounds (4.7 ave.) for the Illini. 1st round pick by the Trail Blazers. 10 years in the NBA: 2,549 points and 1,771 rebounds.

Charlie Moore — Morgan Park (2016)

5'11" Guard. College (played at 4 schools). All-State, Illinois Mr. Basketball. Back-to-back state champions in '13 and '14. '15 finished 3rd (25-5). In his career at Morgan Park he scored 2,368 points, had 368 assists, and 303 steals. 11.1 points and 3.9 assists per game for college career. Led Big East in assists in '19 and '20. Led ACC in steals 2 years. '21–'22 All-ACC Defensive Team. Played overseas.

Chasson Randle — Rock Island (2011)

6'1" Guard. College (Stanford). All-State, Co-Mr. Basketball. 2,159 points (22.3 ave.) and 7.7 rebound ave. as senior. '11 State Champion (30-3). Scored 2,375 points and grabbed 773 rebounds in career at Stanford. PAC-12 FOY, 2xAll-PAC 12, 2xAll-PAC 12 Tournament, '15 NIT MVP. Scored 679 points in 4 years in the NBA.

Jordan Goodwin — Belleville Althoff (2016)

6'3" Guard. College (St. Louis). All-State. State Champion in '16 (32-2). Scored 85 points in 4 games in state tournament. School record as jr. and sr. (61-6). Injured the second half of his senior season. Scored 1,460 points (12.8 ave.) at St. Louis. 2xAll-A10, 2xAll-Defensive. 5 years in the NBA: 1,545 points, 516 assists, and 912 rebounds.

Jalen Brunson — Lincolnshire Stevenson (2015)

6'1" Guard. College (Villanova). 2xAll-State, Illinois Mr. Basketball, McDonald's AA. 2,682 career points (21.1 ave.). 160 points in state tournament games in '13, '14, and '15. 56 points in one state tournament game against Young. '13 2nd place (29-5), '14 3rd place (32-2), '15 1st place (30-3). Overall high school record (91-10). Scored 1,667 points at Villanova. 2xBig East Champs. Won NCAA Championships in '16 and '18. 2xAll-Big East, Big East POY, AP AA, Naismith AA, Consensus AA. 8 years in the NBA: 10,748 points (19.2 ave.) and 2,995 assists (3.3 ave.). 3xAll-NBA 2nd Team, 3xAll-Star, '25–'26 Eastern Conference Champ, '24–'25 Jerry West Clutch POY.

Fred VanVleet — Rockford Auburn (2012)

6'0" Guard. College (Wichita State). All-State. Scored 1,314 points at Auburn. '12 team 3rd in state (32-2). Record as jr. and sr. (58-8). At Wichita State he scored 1,439 points (14.4 ave.) and had 632 assists (4.7 ave.). 3xAll-MVC, 2xMVC POY, 3xAll-Defensive Team, 3rd Team All-American. '12–'13 Shocker team went to the Final Four. 9 years in the NBA. 1xAll-Star, NBA Champ with Raptors in '19. Scored 8,204 points and has 3,121 assists in the NBA.

EJ Liddell — Belleville West (2019)

6'7" Forward. College (Ohio State). 3xAll-State, Parade and McDonald's AA, 2xIllinois Mr. Basketball. Back-to-back state championships in '18 and '19. 86-15 record at West. Averaged over 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks as a jr. and sr. Scored 1,298 points and had 564 rebounds in 3 years at OSU. 2xAll-Big Ten, 1xAll-Defensive, 3rd Team All-American. 2nd round pick of the Pelicans. 3 years in the NBA.

Ayo Dosunmu — Chicago Westinghouse (2018)

6'4" Guard. College (Illinois). 2xAll-State. 50-15 record in 2 years. '17 State Champs. 25.7-point ave., 7-rebound ave., and 7-assist ave. as senior. Scored 1,504 points at Illinois and had 351 assists. 2xAll-Big Ten, NABC AA, AP AA. 2nd round pick by Bulls. '21–'22 All-Rookie. 5 years in the NBA: 3,878 points, 1,161 assists, and 1,048 rebounds.