Last nite on ESPN they had the 30 on 30 documentary on Chicago prep bb star Ben Wilson,who was killed in November of 1984 in an insane moment of street violence outside of his school,Simeon HS. At the time he was in his senior year,and rated as the #1 player in the country as a 6' 8'' Magic Johnson type guard/forward.
Very sad story really,as he was really a pied piper of high school hoops in Chicago.
Many stars have worn his number,25, since then,including his teammate Nick Anderson,Juwan Howard, Derrick Rose, Jabari Parker ect...
Wilson was the object of an intense recruiting war between DePaul,Illinois,IU and just about every other top bb school in the country.
Kenny McReynolds,an assistant coach for Ray Meyer at DePaul at the time was featured in the documentary and he is still a major figure around the Chicago hoop scene today,doing TV analysis for local channels.
Today, Kenny gave an interview on the SCORE 670AM to discuss the film and Ben Wilson.
During the interview he was asked about the recruitment of Wilson and he said that he was personally very close to Wilson,and thought that DePaul was going to land him.
Shortly before his death he came to McReynolds and told him he was very torn between DePaul and Illinois....saying he wanted to attend DePaul,but that he had been offered a significant amount of money to attend Illinois,and with his mother working 16 hours a day to support him and his siblings,he felt obligated to try to help her out.
McReynolds told Wilson he understood,and told him to take the money if he felt he had to do it. McReynolds quickly added in this interview that he wanted to make it clear that no one on the Illini bb staff was involved in this arrangement.
This was the Lou Henson/Jimmy Collins era of Illini bb. Five years later, the Deon Thomas affair blew up,with the Illini being accused of skullduggery by Bob Knight and Digger Phelps,among others. Bruce Pearl ended up involved and the Illini were investigated by the NCAA...with some sanctions resulting.
I really doubt that Kenny McReynolds would have any motivation to concoct a false story after all these years. He is out of the business himself. I suspect this is a true account. Maybe Collins and Henson never knew what their boosters were doing,but I suspect that cash was changing hands back in those years.
It had to be frustrating to Knight,Phelps,Mr. Davis, Ray Meyer, ect to see these transactions lure players to Illinois in those years,with Henson and Collins maintaining innocence.
Very sad story really,as he was really a pied piper of high school hoops in Chicago.
Many stars have worn his number,25, since then,including his teammate Nick Anderson,Juwan Howard, Derrick Rose, Jabari Parker ect...
Wilson was the object of an intense recruiting war between DePaul,Illinois,IU and just about every other top bb school in the country.
Kenny McReynolds,an assistant coach for Ray Meyer at DePaul at the time was featured in the documentary and he is still a major figure around the Chicago hoop scene today,doing TV analysis for local channels.
Today, Kenny gave an interview on the SCORE 670AM to discuss the film and Ben Wilson.
During the interview he was asked about the recruitment of Wilson and he said that he was personally very close to Wilson,and thought that DePaul was going to land him.
Shortly before his death he came to McReynolds and told him he was very torn between DePaul and Illinois....saying he wanted to attend DePaul,but that he had been offered a significant amount of money to attend Illinois,and with his mother working 16 hours a day to support him and his siblings,he felt obligated to try to help her out.
McReynolds told Wilson he understood,and told him to take the money if he felt he had to do it. McReynolds quickly added in this interview that he wanted to make it clear that no one on the Illini bb staff was involved in this arrangement.
This was the Lou Henson/Jimmy Collins era of Illini bb. Five years later, the Deon Thomas affair blew up,with the Illini being accused of skullduggery by Bob Knight and Digger Phelps,among others. Bruce Pearl ended up involved and the Illini were investigated by the NCAA...with some sanctions resulting.
I really doubt that Kenny McReynolds would have any motivation to concoct a false story after all these years. He is out of the business himself. I suspect this is a true account. Maybe Collins and Henson never knew what their boosters were doing,but I suspect that cash was changing hands back in those years.
It had to be frustrating to Knight,Phelps,Mr. Davis, Ray Meyer, ect to see these transactions lure players to Illinois in those years,with Henson and Collins maintaining innocence.
