Miles Osei of Mount Prospect is going on a road trip after all.
One month after committing to Northern Illinois University, a Mid-American Conference team that went to the International Bowl this past season, Osei de-committed last week and changed his verbal to Illinois with promises of a quarterback battle from new offensive coordinator Paul Petrino.
Osei accounted for more than 7,000 yards as quarterback for the Knights, including 3,600 this past season when he led Mount Prospect into the second round of the Class 7A playoffs.
"I couldn’t pass up the chance to play in the Big Ten and get an education from a Big Ten school," Osei told the Chicago Tribune.
DeKalb, the home of NIU, is located just 56 miles from Osei's Mount Prospect home; the University of Illinois is three hours downstate. Osei‘s change of heart came less than a month before National Signing Day, Feb. 3, and, of course, fired up the Northern Illinois fan forum boards online. Adding fuel is the Huskies‘ scheduled game with the Illini on Sept. 18 at Champaign.
Osei is expected to compete for the starting quarterback job with another Chicago-area incoming recruit, Chandler Whitmer of Downers Grove South, plus Illinois sophomores Jacob Charest and Nathan Scheelhaase. Eddie McGee, a junior who backed up senior quarterback Juice Williams last season, is being moved to receiver.
Osei had been recruited by Illinois head coach Ron Zook since last summer, but an offer did not surface until the middle of December. He was also offered scholarships by 10 other schools, but five of them were from MAC schools and until Illinois came along, none were BCS scholarships.
In addition to his passing, Osei is a strong runner. In a first-round Class 7A playoff win over Carmel, Osei ran for 217 yards and four touchdowns.
More recruiting: Marshall verbals to Wisconsin
George Marshall, a junior point guard at Brooks, announced his verbal commitment to Wisconsin.
"Wisconsin had the right mix of academics and athletics for me. It’s a basketball school," Marshall told the Sun-Times Group. Marshall also had offers from Baylor, DePaul, Xavier, Illinois State and Ohio.
Around Chicagoland: Marshall’
s Garrett a hit at MLK Classic
* The annual MLK Dream Classic at Whitney Young High School featured 38 games being played over three days on two courts. One of the big winners had to be Marshall‘s Vincent Garrett, who scored 45 points in two games. He scored a game-high 29, including six 3-pointers, in a 94-83 win over North Chicago and had a game-high 17 points in a 63-35 victory over St. Ignatius.
Other big performances included Orr’s Mycheal Henry scoring 30 in a 67-65 win over Lake Forest Academy and Riverside-Brookfield‘s Sean McGonagill scoring 23 in an 80-69 win over Seton.
* Imagine the plight of Montini’s Michala Johnson, a University of Connecticut women’s basketball recruit. Johnson will be lost for the rest of the season due to a torn anterior-cruciate ligament in her right knee, one year after she had a torn ACL in her left knee. The Broncos had won 20 of their first 21 games. Johnson plans to have surgery in early February.
* Add Morgan Park‘s Wayne Blackshear to the injury list. A Louisville recruit, Blackshear suffered a strained Achilles’ tendon on Saturday in an 85-47 victory over Fenger in which Blackshear posted monster numbers: 39 points and 23 rebounds. He also scored 23 in an MLK Dream Classic 59-57 win over Houston Westbury Christian. Blackshear is expected to return in time for the state tournament.
* The unbeaten Whitney Young girls basketball team clinched its second consecutive Public League Windy City West title Tuesday with a dominating 73-50 win over Marshall. The Dolphins have won their first 16 games this season, and are 8-0 in league play; their only loss in the last 12 months has been to Bolingbrook in the Class 4A championship game last March. The Dolphins don’t play again until Feb. 5 at the Nike Extravaganza tournament in California.
* Geneva's girls basketball team extended its regular-season win streak to 48 with a 66-61 win over Hillcrest (17-2) at the McDonald’s Shootout, followed by a 61-19 win Tuesday over Sycamore. Ashley Santos led four Geneva players in double figures with 16 points in the Hillcrest win. Geneva is 52-2 over the last two seasons, its only losses coming in the Class 4A semifinals and consolation game last March. The Vikings play at Glenbard South on Thursday.
* More than 150 Illinois schools held free throw-shooting events to benefit military families and cancer victims. The majority of the Free Throws for Heroes and Free Throws for the fight events were held Wednesday, and involved 6,000 participants, most of them high school and middle school basketball players who solicited pledges for their free throws. The event was developed by The Charity Stripe, a nonprofit organization based in Northbrook.
* Lake Forest Academy will enter Chicago’s Catholic League in football only in 2011, and will be the first non-Catholic admitted into the league. Lake Forest will go into the Catholic League’s White Division, along with De La Salle, Fenwick, Bishop McNamara and St. Laurence. "We want to build a relationship with them through football. Hopefully, we can expand this to other sports," Lake Forest Academy athletic director Kevin Verzsen told the Chicago Sun-Times. Lake Forest Academy, not to be confused with Lake Forest High, played three Catholic League teams this past season in football.
Notable performers
* St. Louis University recruit Mike McCall scored a game-high 26 points and had 5 assists, leading Foreman (16-2, 7-0 Public League Red North) to a 67-51 over defending league champ Lincoln Park. Foreman can clinch the Red North title Thursday with a win over Von Steuben.
Anthony Johnson, Whitney Young
File photo by Greg Behrens
* Purdue recruit Anthony Johnson of Whitney Young had a double-double, 17 points and 12 rebounds, in the Dolphins‘ 60-55 win over North Lawndale on Wednesday in a battle of two top 10 city teams. The victory broke a two-game losing streak for the defending Class 4A champs.
* Bolingbrook‘s Morgan Tuck scored 20 points and had nine rebounds in a 51-43 win over Montini in front of a huge crowd at the McDonald‘s Shootout played at Willowbrook High School. The Raiders, defending Class 4A champs, have won 13 of 14 games. They play Lincoln-Way East on Thursday.
* Duke recruit Trisha Liston of Oak Park Fenwick scored a game-high 32 points in Fenwick‘s 70-33 win over Indianapolis North Central in the McDonald‘s Shootout.
* Wheaton Academy’s 6-foot-9 Tim Rusthoven scored 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, without playing in the fourth quarter, leading the Warriors (15-1) to a 65-30 win over Aurora Christian.
On deck
* Wheeling girls (19-3) at Hersey (14-3), 7:30 p.m. Friday: This is a rematch of a game won by Hersey, 54-49, in December, an upset that halted Wheeling’s Mid-Suburban East win streak at 19.
* Glenbrook South boys at Waukegan (15-3), 7:30 p.m. Friday: The Bulldogs, Class 4A runner-ups last year, have won nine straight and appear headed for big things again this season. Illinois recruit Jereme Richmond and his Waukegan teammates go after their 10th straight Friday.
* Several league championship meets in wrestling will be held this weekend, including the Chicago Public League, Catholic League, Upstate Eight and Southwest Suburban. Neuqua Valley, whose lineup includes 2009 state runner-up Nick Proctor at 160 pounds, has won six straight Upstate Eight titles.
Paul Bowker, a sports journalist for 25 years who has worked at newspapers nationwide, covers the Chicago area for MaxPreps. He may be reached at bowkerpaul1@aol.com.
