The Battle of Chicago: Whitney Young vs. Simeon

On Saturday night, ESPN will showcase the Battle of Chicago featuring the most anticipated regular season match-up in recent memory. Simeon and Whitney Young will face off at Chicago State University for city and state bragging rights (at least until playoffs). Fresh off a pair of impressive wins in the Hoop Hall Classic, Whitney Young enters the contest ranked #1 in the state of Illinois and #4 in the country while Simeon is #2 in the state of Illinois and #11 in the country. Both teams are led by their superstars. Duke bound Jabari Parker is aiming for his 4^th consecutive Illinois state title for Simeon (#2 – 2013), while Whitney Young’s junior big man Jahlil Okafor (#2-2013) looks to add some hardware to his collection. Both teams are surrounded by a plethora of high major D-1 talent that should light up the frigid Chicago night.

Past Match-Ups:

Last year Simeon went 2-0 against Whitney Young. The first victory came in December 2011 when Simeon won 62-55 before an estimated crowd of 6,000 at UIC Pavilion. Kendrick Nunn led the way with 19 points while Parker contributed 15 points and 9 rebounds. Okafor led the way in a losing effort with 20 points and nine rebounds as Whitney Young cut the lead to three points in the final minute. 

The re-match came during March 2012 in a class 4A semi-final. Simeon dispatched Young with a 12-0 third quarter run which turned into a 52-42 win under the watchful eye of Mike Kryzewski and Tom Izzo. Parker led the way for Simeon with 18 points and six rebounds while Okafor was held to nine points and seven rebounds while not scoring in the second half.

Current Season Comparison:

WHITNEY YOUNG:

Jahlil Okafor looks to end Simeon's reign

Whitney Young finished 16-10 last year, but so far the team has made remarkable strides despite facing an extremely tough national schedule. Three months into the season, Young is 8-0 against Chicago teams with an average winning margin of 40 points per game. They are also 9-1 against teams outside the state of Illinois with their lone loss coming to one of the top teams in the country, Montverde in overtime. Here is a look at the who’s who of Young opponents:

12/1 – Dematha (W 72-58)

12/20 – Montverde (L 63-68 OT)

12/21 – Omaha Central (W 60-57)

12/22 – Chester (W 67-56)

12/31 – Bishop O’Connell (W 58-37)

1/19 – Long Beach Poly (W 85-52)

Junior Jahlil Okafor has been a monster this year routinely putting up 30 point performances and monster double doubles while staking his claim as the top prospect in the class of 2014. Alongside Okafor, is junior Paul White (#55 – 2014). Similar to Okafor, White started as a freshman and is now currently a 6’8” small-forward drawing strong looks from the majority of Big 10 schools. Last year White was forced to act as a primary ball-handler due to Young’s lack of guards, but this year has been freed up to play more naturally on the wing or in the post when guarded by a smaller defender. While Young returned their top two players from last year, they also gained another top junior over the summer with the transfer of 6’5” junior guard L.J. Peak (#53 – 2014) from South Carolina. Peak brought with him a package of shooting, ball-handling, and athleticism that Young desperately needed and has made an immediate impact. While the big three of Okafor, Young, and Peak receive the majority of attention from scouts and coaches, it is the arrival of senior point guard Ausar Madison and the emergence of junior guard Miles Reynolds that’s propelled Young into title contention. Madison arrived via Worcester Academy and while he is the most over looked starter on the team, he is also one of the most important. Throughout the year, Madison has broken through pressure without turning the ball over and provided the ball to his teammates in positions for them to score. When defenders back off him, as they often do, Madison can hit the open jump shot as he showed during the City of Palm Classic and recently against Long Beach Poly when he sparked a 12-0 first quarter run. Also key, has been the improved play of Reynolds. While he averaged almost 10 points per game last year, Reynolds came into his own during the City of Palms classic and increased the attention being paid to him by college coaches. During this tournament Reynolds averaged almost 17 points while shooting 79% from the field and 72% from deep. With the emergence of Reynolds and the additions of Peak and Madison, Whitney Young now has one of the strongest starting line-ups in the country.

SIMEON

Parker tries to stay "top dog" in Chicago

Despite coming off three consecutive state championships and fielding a starting line-up that includes five future D-1 players, Simeon’s aura of invincibility took a hit in the early part of the season. Simeon currently stands 16-2, but it was their two losses on national TV that became a cause for concern. Simeon’s star player Jabari Parker missed action from July – November with a hurt foot and rushed back to play in the season opener against Milton (GA). In this game Parker showed up rusty and out-of-shape. At the same time Simeon welcomed Parker back they were also trying to smoothly incorporate big man transfer Russell Woods as their replacement for Marquette freshman Steve Taylor. While Parker tried to get healthy and shed his excess weight, Simeon struggled in a televised 10 point loss to DeSoto (TX) and then a 29 point loss to Montverde three weeks later. Despite these early season losses, Simeon regained some of their swagger by defeating Oak Hill Academy 81-68 in the Hoop Hall Classic. Analysts and writers noted that this win, to go along with their recent 19 point win over a Chicago public league rival displayed the fact that Simeon is back to where they belong. This might be true; however Simeon is still only one week removed from a two point sluggish victory over Morgan Park, a game in which Parker’s only baskets in the last 24 minutes came on two break-away dunks. 

Parker, the #2 ranked prospect in the country is without a question the star of Simeon and has started to recover from a sluggish start to the season. He scored 28 points against Oak Hill and 21 against Bogan this past week. To go along with Parker is senior shooting guard Kendrick Nunn (#59 – 2013) and point guard Jaylon Tate, both Illinois commits. Nunn hit the most important shot of the game against Morgan Park last week, while Tate can knock down deep three’s and run the team efficiently. Alongside these three is unsung 6’7” senior small forward Kendall Pollard, a Dayton commit and 6’8” big man Russell Woods. Woods transferred to Simeon from Leo, another city public school over the summer. To go along with this starting five, Simeon also features super sophomore DJ Williams who will be next Simeon superstar. Despite early season struggles, Simeon still owns the state having won 43 straight games against Illinois schools. Their last loss you might wonder….Whitney Young on February 16, 2011. 

Keys to the Game:

1)      Can Simeon slow down Jahlil Okafor?

Okafor is one of the most dominant players in high school this year, regardless of class. The season started with a 34 point, nine rebound performance and most recently he put up a 26 point and seven rebound performance. Guarding Okafor straight up does not work, and for the most part either does double teams. He is extremely quick once he catches the ball preferring to dribble left and spin right. He will also catch anything in his vicinity (a la Sean May). Simeon will not be able to stop Okafor by letting Woods go one-one one; however they are the last high school team to have success against him. In their last match-up it was noted above that Okafor did not score in the second half. Last year Simeon’s coach said: “We just kept the ball out of his hands. You can’t stop him, you just have to try and keep him from getting it.” Will Simeon slow down Okafor or will he have his way and record another monstrous double-double?

2)      Mental make-up

Whitney Young has been looking forward to this game all year and they believe it is time for a new champion. On the other side, Parker noted that “they (Whitney Young) are the little brother and we will always be the top dog in Chicago.” Simeon tries to regain their lost swagger while Whitney Young believes it’s time to change roles. Will Whitney Young be able to handle the hype of this game or will Simeon keep their stranglehold on the state of Illinois.

3)      Coaching

Simeon’s coach, Robert Smith was suspended for four games recently and will not coach against Whitney Young. If this game is close at the end look for the edge to go to Tyrone Slaughter and Whitney Young.

4)      The Other Stars

Whose starters will step-up when it counts? Last year it was Kendrick Nunn who stepped up to defeat Whitney Young in their first match-up. Will Nunn do the same this year, or will it be one of the new members of Whitney Young who hit the big shots?

Prediction:

Whitney Young by 5. 

Young’s only loss came against Montverde in overtime. This overtime loss also happened after a hellacious day of travel (Chicago to Tampa flight and then an hour and a half drive to Fort Myers) and an 11pm tip-time. Besides for this game, Young has been a well-oiled machine firing on all cylinders. The four junior starters for Young will look to jump out on Simeon and claim Chicago city bragging rights….at least until these teams match-up again in the Playoffs. Then, it might be a different story.