Northern Illinois July Storylines

It is officially July!  This turning of the calendar to this month signals an end to the High School Summer leagues and shootouts and switches our focus to the final part of the AAU season. Many events are played in Illinois where college coaches can evaluate prospects.  Below we take a look at some of the storylines that we will keep an eye on this month as they play out. &nbsp; <b>Illinois invades the Run 4 the Roses Event in Louisville</b> The Run 4 the Roses Tournament held in Louisville this weekend is one of the largest in the country. Over 75 courts in one building with the possibility over 150 teams playing at the same time. A number of high level Illinois AAU teams and players will be participating in this event including the Lincolnway Xplosion 17U that is full of young talent with Taylor Gugiluzza (2020), her sister Taylor (2021) and Sydney Affolter (2021) leading the way. Also keep an eye on Illinois Hoops Dreams 17U Elite with hot shooting Marissa Knoblach (2019) and intriguing wing player A'jah Davis. We will be covering this event and putting together a comprehensive summary of how Illinois teams and players fared once it is over. <strong>Commitment Watch</strong> With the recent commtiment of Jordan King (Hononegah/Midwest Elite ) to Marquette University and Allie Tykla (Wauconda/Illinois Elite) to Florida Atlantic University Who could be next?  As we know there are plenty of players who have received D1 offers close to pulling the trigger on a commitment. We will also keep an eye on those players who will receive there first offers from the 2020 class . An updated list in our monthly Recruit Watch series will be published in late July. &nbsp; <strong>2019 Breakout Stars</strong> Every July there are several prospects that take it to the next leve during a crucial month of their playing career.  Who could some of those players be this July?  No way to tell this early, but here is a guess at some of the players who we may be talking more come August..  Clara Prasse (Benet), Grace Hynes  (Mother McCauley), Nosa Igiehon (Wheeling) and Izzy Gschiedle (McHenry) etc. &nbsp; <b>Update Rankings /Stock Risers </b> Once July is complete we will be updating the PGH player rankings before the High School begins in November.Our coverage so far has exposed us to many more players who have emerged from the AAU Spring and High School Summer seasons that will continue to look to make a name for themselves. Keep watching for the Class of 2019 , 2020 and 2021 rankings to expand and new list of players to be unfolded for the Class of 2022. <b>AAU Teams  Fight for #1 </b> After all the tournaments are complete in July we will be creating a rankings of the best AAU in Illinois in the Classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022. There are lots great teams in Illinois and being able to separate them from the rest will further enhance the players on these teams exposure on regional and national level. <strong>What will a fun July lead to ?</strong> What will a fun July lead to ? More players offers and commitments , rising players who the garner attention needed to play at the next level  and teams who come out of nowhere and compete.  Definitely going to be a lot of talk about this in the stands over the next month! &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;