Hi Eagle Fan. Good questions.You are correct that there have been very few 20-point scorers for a season in recent years. There were two last season, both underclassmen. Conner Gross, from Bement, who recently hit the 1,000-point mark for his career, and Andy Webb, from Atwood-Hammond. Interestingly, the previous year the only boys' 20-point scorer from the area was also from the same Little Okaw Valley Conference, Tim Weaver, from Cerro Gordo. I think there are several reasons for this. For one, many of the top teams have multiple scoring threats. Centennial is a a great example. In the first seven games of the season, six Chargers have already scored in double figures. Michael Finke could be a 20-point scorer unquestionably, but it's not needed, so I'd guess his scoring average will be somewhere between 16 and 18 points per game. Another reason is the competitive balance. There appears to be a greater disparity between the top teams and the others. Most coaches are not going to leave their star players in with 30-point leads in the fourth quarter, so they have essentially 8 less minutes per game to score their points and that is going to affect the scoring average. As for the 600- and 700-point scorers, I've learned not to trust my memory. As soon as I start any kind of list like that, I'll be bombarded with names of others I "overlooked." When I have time, that would be an interesting project to research, though. Thanks for the questions.

Hi Tom. You certainly make some great points. I was reminded recently about former Champaign Central player J. Leman. I don't think he was on many major college "must-have" lists out of high school and he went on to have a terrific career. He stayed local and proved he could play at the Big Ten level. It makes you wonder now what all the programs didn't see in him at the time. Probably his size and the fact that it's difficult to rate a person's desire and heart. If you ask 100 prospects if they will work hard when they get to next level, I'm sure 99 will say "yes," I'm sure you will find that in reality, 99 who have the opportunity will not all put forth that effort. Leman was one who did. I suspect Cameron Mammen would, too, but who truly knows about these things. I don't follow recruiting like many of the diehards, but I have been aware that Illinois recently picked up two or three commitments from California and most -- if not all -- are best suited to play in the secondary or could be receivers, which would be the most logical positions for Mammen at the UI. I don't know what it all means or how it will play out, but he is in a good position as far as having some options to consider, if not now in the not-too-distant future.

Hi Big Al. Your questions are good ones, but I don't think there are across-the-board answers that will apply to all situations. I think there are new conferences where the level of play will be improved from top to bottom in particular sports and others where you may notice adverse changes. for example, with the upcoming Okaw Valley Conference featuring among others SJ-O, Unity, Monticello, St. Thomas More and Maroa-Forsyth that will be a battle every league night in both boys and girls basketball. I could see it turning out that way in baseball, softball and volleyball, too. As for the state finals, I haven't been told this, but my belief is the IHSA thinks it will offset the loss of people who attend the small-class title games with an expected increase in the bigger-class title games. I really expected a situation where the 1A through 4A games would wind up at ISU and the other four up north, but for whatever reasons that didn't happen. At least it's for every other year. For now. Thanks for the questions.