Frank Rusnak's Top 50 Jr. Showcase Recap

West Aurora's Shaun Pruitt won
not only the top scorer award, but the
MVP of Frank Rusnak's Top 50 Jr. Showcase.

Net Torcher
Top Scorer - Shaun Pruitt

1) 6'8" Shaun Pruitt, West Aurora
2) 6'7" Ollie Bailey, Farragut
3) 6'3" Jaeh Thomas, West Aurora
4) 6'3" Aramis Brown, Bogan
5) 6'5" DeAaron Williams, Limestone
6) 6'6" Shaun Livingston, Peoria Central
7) 6'5" Demetrius Evans, Von Steuben
8) 6'4" Jeremy Fears, Joliet Twp.
9) 6'4" Phil Wallace, Crystal Lake South
10) 6'5" Gordon Watt, Evanston Twp.

Shaun Pruitt as the MVP, Ryne Hamblet as the dunk champion, Jarryd...who, coming out of no where; it wasn't what anyone predicted on Sunday, Oct. 13 at Chicago North Park University's gym for Frank Rusnak's 2nd annual High School Elite Top 50 Junior Showcase.

Aerial Demon
Dunk Champion - Ryne Hamblet

1) 6'5" Ryne Hamblet, Von Steuben
2) 6'1" Wel McCorkle, Moline
3) 6'4" Demetrius Evans, Von Steuben
4) 6'3" Xavier Price, O'Fallon
5) 6'5" DeAaron Williams, Limestone
6) 6'3" Robert Bush, Thornton
7) 6'6" Shaun Livingston, Peoria Central

"There were a lot of good players I never heard of until today," said West Aurora's new point guard Justin Cerasoli. "I'm just glad I was a part of it."

Cerasoli's new teammate at West Aurora, Pruitt, was the one who took center stage of the event.

The 6'8", 210-pound, strong-bodied power forward was not only the top scorer at the event, averaging 27 points over his three games, but was crowned the MVP -- almost unanimously.

Making his petition for the No. 1 spot in the state for juniors, Pruitt was the best player there with Illinois' top 50 players in the Class of 2004 in attendance.

Glass Cleaner
Top Rebounder - Ollie Bailey

1) 6'7" Ollie Bailey, Farragut
2) 6'8" Shaun Pruitt, West Aurora
3) 6'7" Albert Reese, Proviso West
4) 6'4" Demetrius Evans, Von Steuben
5) 6'4" Phil Wallace, Crystal Lake South
6) 6'7" Ian Jones, Reavis
7) 6'8" Mick Yelovich, Mt. Zion
8) 6'8" Craig Reichel, Schaumburg
9) 6'5" DeAaron Williams, Limestone
10) 6'6" Nick Brown, Proviso East

Rated by man as a top 10 player nationally for juniors, Shaun Livingston, who averaged 14 points in his three games, was doing the majority of his damage with his passing. Winning the Pass Master Award, he never failed to entertain the crowd, as he would continuously operate on his man and breakdown the defense to thread the needle to an open teammate.

Farragut's 6'7" Ollie Bailey made his call to say that the Admirals are not done with their long line of top big men, dating back to Kevin Garnett, Michael Wright and Elliott Poole. The Glass Cleaner Award winner, Bailey simply owned the boards at this event, claiming everything in his vicinity. Bailey averaged 18.7 points on the day, while grabbing a day's high of 15 rebounds in the final game of the event.

Pass Master
Top Assist Man - Shaun Livingston

1) 6'6" Shaun Livingston, Peoria Central
2) 6'2" Justin Dentmon, Dentmon
3) 5'11" Jarryd Loyd, Niles West
4) 6'1" Jerod Haynes, Hales Franciscan
5) 5'11" Stephon Hannah, Hyde Park
6) 6'3" Jaeh Thomas, West Aurora
7) 6'7" Eric Vierniesel, Jacobs
8) 6'1" Jason Key, Prosser
9) 6'5" Gordon Watt, Evanston
10) 6'4" Justin Ceasoli, West Aurora

At the 'half-time' of the event, it was time to bring out the player who are planning on majoring in aeronautics. The dunk contest had a bevy of high-flyers, including O'Fallon's Xavier Price who won the IHSA Dunk Contest as a freshman, Von Steuben's Demetrius Evans who is known for going in between his legs on a dunk -- during a game -- and the Quad Cities' ceiling scrapper in Wesley McCorkle, among others.

If the winner wasn't one of those three, one might be asking for a recount from the judges. However, the aforementioned Ryne Hamblet from Von Steuben had something to say about that.

"I thought Demetrius was going to win," Hamblet said of his high school teammate. "After I saw Wesley, because of his height, I thought he might win, too. It was good competition, but after 'D' went out I figured I'd get it. There was nice talent there and the teams were split up pretty evenly so there were a lot of highlights."

NasDaq Man
No one knew about, but blew up:
Jarryd Loyd

1) 5'11" Jarryd Loyd, Niles West
2) 6'2" Aramis Brown, Bogan
3) 6'1" Jarrett Starwood, Waubonsie Valley
4) 6'7" Albert Reese, Proviso West
5) 6'6" Christian Cornelius, Oak Park-RF
6) 6'3" Robert Bush, Thornton
7) 6'6" Nick Brown, Proviso East
8) 6'7" Ian Jones, Reavis
9) 6'6" Darrin Luster, Cahokia
10) 6'2" Courtney Horton, Washington

Along with the big names, many players took advantage of this stage to proclaim themselves as one of the state's best.

"It gave everyone a chance to show what they could do," said Cerasoli. "Especially those that weren't ranked. Like, I never heard of Justin Dentmon, but he showed me what he could do."

One player that took advantage of the platform was Proviso East's 6'6" combo forward Nick Brown, who is constantly in the shadows of 'superstars' with the Pirates.

"If you could do good at this tournament, then you know you are a good player on your high school team," said Brown.

The player who rose above the others as the winner of the NasDaq Award, coming out of the blue to raise his stock, was Niles West point guard Jarryd Loyd.

Loyd, a 5'11" defensive hound and passing whiz, started as a sophomore last year for the Wolves. Playing in the relatively obscure north suburbs, Loyd has not been able to play much AAU/summer basketball as he also is a star on the baseball diamond. However, he says that his days of baseball are numbered as he wants to focus on basketball and latch on with an AAU team this summer.

"The entire event was fun and a great atmosphere," said Loyd. "You can't get anything better than this event. This is really a great junior class."