Prep basketball talent gathers at Riverside-Brookfield
Tough to tell how many future NBA draft picks participated in Friday's opening session of the Riverside-Brookfield Shootout.
But at least two impending draftees were watching from the bleachers.
Matas Buzelis showed up to cheer on his younger brother Vincas, who plays for Hinsdale Central. Cam Christie was also in the gym to support his former Rolling Meadows squad.
Both players will be in New York for the NBA Draft, which runs Wednesday and Thursday. Buzelis is expected to be a top-five pick. So in less than a week, Vincas will be sitting with his brother in the green room at the Barclays Center, waiting for his name to be called by Commissioner Adam Silver.
“It's got to be amazing,” Vincas said. “It's crazy. His dreams are all coming true. I'm very excited for him.”
While watching Hinsdale Central pull out a close game against Loyola, Matas said he wished he was playing and later jumped out of his seat when his brother threw down a dunk.
“He's been working out for teams, traveling, so he's been gone for like three months,” Vincas said. “He watched some of my AAU games in the spring. It's been a while.”
The Buzelis brothers were boarding school roommates at Sunrise Academy in Kansas, when Matas was a senior in high school and Vincas a sophomore. Before that they shared a bedroom at the family's home in Willowbrook.
“We shared a room, then I moved out to like the living room,” Vincas said. “We're very close.”
Christie, after spending one year in college at Minnesota, is projected to go late first round or early second round. His older brother, Max, was chosen No. 35 overall in the 2022 draft.
“It's pretty cool, obviously,” Rolling Meadows senior Ian Miletic said. “I had the opportunity to play with Cam my freshman and sophomore year. I was able to take bits and pieces from his game and just learn some things. It was nice to see him here supporting the guys.”
Top of the class:
This is the 21st year of the three-day Riverside-Brookfield Shootout, and the field is the largest with 84 teams.
The three main recruiting sites disagree on the best players from Illinois in the Class of 2025. Miletic is ranked No. 1 by 247sports, with Homewood-Flossmoor's Bryce Heard No. 2. On3 and Rivals have Kenwood's 6-9 Aleks Alston on top.
All three players were on the court Friday. In fact, Heard and Alston played side-by-side in the main gym at one point.
Rolling Meadows went 2-0 on Friday, beating Neuqua Valley, then Curie in overtime on a last-second 3-pointer by Gavin Escobedo. Miletic recently committed to Marquette, so he doesn't have to worry about using the event as a showcase for college coaches.
“That recruitment process of always reaching out to coaches, it's kind of a relief to get all that out of the way,” said Miletic, who scored 43 points in two games Friday.
Warren, which returns most of its players from last year's sectional champions, had to take on Alston and Kenwood without 6-8 center Zach Ausburn but still won easily.
“I think we defended him pretty well today,” said Blue Devils all-state sophomore Jaxson Davis. “My buddy (6-4) Jack Wolf, I've known him forever, he's a football guy too. He's tough, never going to back down from nobody. Whenever we found out we were playing Kenwood, he was like, 'I got him.' I was like, 'I know you've got him.' I knew we would be fine.”
Senior Javerion Banks led the Blue Devils with 23 points against Kenwood, while Davis had 21 against Curie.
“I think we're playing great,” Davis added. “We haven't lost yet. I know we're going to have some big tests tomorrow (Fenwick and Homewood-Flossmoor). I think we're 23-0 or something this summer.”
Benet reloads:
One of the most impressive teams at R-B was Benet. Despite losing some talented players, the roster seems loaded, especially inside with 7-foot junior Colin Stack and 6-9 senior Daniel Pauliukonis. The Redwings rolled past Bloom and Bolingbrook Friday. Pauliukonis hit six 3-pointers for 24 points against Bolingbrook, while guards Jayden Wright and Blake Fagbemi each tallied 25 points on the day.
Stack is among the youngest of the dozens of Stack cousins. Former Northwestern stars Jim and Karen Stack are an uncle and aunt, while former NBA first-round pick Frank Kaminsky is a cousin. Kaminsky, a Benet graduate, played in Serbia this season, so Colin hasn't been able to hit him up for advice very much.
“We still talk over the phone and text a lot,” Stack said of cousin Frank. “He's going to come in the last week of June to teach us some things.”
Benet is set to play Phillips and DeLaSalle on Saturday. No champion is crowned at Riverside-Brookfield, just four games for every team.
“Ever since last season, we've had a chip on our shoulder because a lot of people are doubting us because we lost some players,” Stack said. “Even though we've lost some players, we have great replacement players and we have really selfless leaders.”
LZ rising star:
One player still trying to impress the college coaches is Lake Zurich's Anton Strelnikov. The Bears had a tough opening matchup Friday against defending state champ DePaul Prep, then followed with a 61-24 victory over Bradley.
Strelnikov scored 17 points going against returning all-state 6-10 center Nick Allen, while Adrian Riep led Lake Zurich with 20 points.
The 6-8 Strelnikov just returned from visiting Colgate and Western Michigan, which gave him his first Division I offer. He wrote on social media Friday night that he got an offer from Toledo.
“It all kind of came out of nowhere, so it's all feeling a little surreal to me,” Strelnikov said. “Just came back from Western yesterday and I had a great time. Working step by step, looking to have a huge June and July and we'll see what happens from there.”
The incoming senior said he took a big jump in AAU competition this summer, joining the Under Armour circuit with Breakaway Basketball, where Stevenson's Aiden Bardic and Atticus Richmond are teammates.
“This is our first time ever being invited to Riverside, so it's a huge difference from what we're used to,” Strelnikov said. “But I think with all the AAU competition I played in the UA, it helped me a lot today.” …
With all the talent in the building, Friday's high scorer was likely Addison Trail's Luke Smith. The 6-foot senior scored 32 and 29 points in losses to Glenbard North and Rich Township. … Maine South junior Panayiotis Sotos scored 28 in a win over the host school. … Neuqua Valley's Whitman Charboneau had 25 in a loss to Rolling Meadows.
Twitter: @McGrawDHSports