[OSUBasketballJunkie]

IndyStar

2/11/06

Lawrence North braces for Illinois' finest
Glenbrook N., Duke recruit Scheyer pose big challenge

CHICAGO -- Jon Scheyer is called the pied piper of high school basketball around this city, and it stands to reason. Wherever he plays, the fans follow.

"It's a circus, but it's really fun," the 6-6 Duke-bound guard from Glenbrook North High School said this week. "I enjoy it a lot. I'm not taking anything for granted. I enjoy signing autographs and doing things around town to give back."

Scheyer will share the spotlight tonight when his team faces 7-foot senior center Greg Oden and Lawrence North in the second game (9 p.m. EST) of the McDonald's City-Suburban Showdown. The doubleheader at Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena has been sold out for more than a week.

The game pits Illinois' most heralded player and defending big-school state champion against the nation's most heralded player and Indiana's defending big-school state champion.

Lawrence North (18-0 and on a 34-game winning streak) is ranked No. 1 in the nation by Sports Illustrated. Glenbrook North (20-1 prior to playing Friday night) is No. 12.

Scheyer has been a household name in Illinois for two years thanks to a closely followed recruiting battle and an amazing run to last year's Class AA state title.

Scheyer narrowed his choices to Illinois and Duke before choosing the latter. Even though Illinois coach Bruce Weber's brother, David, is Scheyer's head coach at Glenbrook North, Scheyer grew up a fan of Chris Collins, a Glenbrook North star who played for Duke and is now an assistant to Mike Krzyzewski.

"I had a great connection with coach Collins," Scheyer said.

Scheyer's performance in last year's state tournament cemented him in Illinois lore. He scored 134 points in four state tournament games as Glenbrook North won its final three games by double figures.

While Glenbrook North was good last year, most observers doubted a team from Northbrook, a wealthy suburb on Chicago's posh North Shore, could win a title.

The Scheyer buzz grew even louder this season when he scored 52 points -- including an eye-popping 21 in 75 seconds -- in his team's only loss, an 85-79 setback at Proviso West that snapped a 35-game winning streak.

Scheyer leads his team in scoring (32.1), assists (4.1), rebounds (5.8), steals (70) and blocked shots (21).

"He has such great intangibles," David Weber said. "He knows how much time is on the clock, knows what the score of the game is. He makes is teammates better and all of that is what makes him so special."

The talk in Chicago about this game, though, is about Oden. When Wednesday's news conference was opened up for one-on-one interviews, all of the two dozen or so Chicago television, print and radio reporters headed toward Oden.

Lawrence North coach Jack Keefer wasn't asked any questions for so long he struck up a conversation with Gurnee Warren guard Marcus Lewis, whose team plays Illinois-bound center Brian Carlwell and Proviso East in the first game.

Carlwell was humbled in a 72-59 loss to Lawrence North in December at Southport High School, finishing with nine points and eight rebounds to Oden's 31 and 16. He was asked if it would help Glenbrook North to borrow him for tonight's game. "I don't think so," said Carlwell, who called Oden "the best player I've ever faced."

"I've heard about him since seventh grade, but he's more than what you expect," Carlwell said. "When you hear about big men and hear they're good, you expect maybe he's got a good post move or he's good defensively.

"You don't think someone will put it all together and have a complete game. I think he has that."

Oden is coming off a 38-point, 17-rebound performance in Thursday's 81-71 victory over Ben Davis. Lawrence North led by just two points at halftime, but Oden had an 18-point third quarter, even making two technical foul free throws.

Still, he wasn't happy with his team's performance, and that may mean Glenbrook North is catching an angry opponent.

"It's not just about Saturday, it's about the rest of our season," Oden said. "Usually it takes a team a loss, but hopefully it just takes this game so we can wake up and start playing better."

Call Star reporter Jeff Rabjohns at (317)-444-6183.

Wildcats 18-0 and counting . . .

Lawrence North (18-0) is closing in on a perfect regular season, which would make the Wildcats unbeaten at home and in the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference in the Greg Oden-Mike Conley era. But their final four regular-season games present some tests. Here's a look:

TONIGHT
GLENBROOK NORTH
The defending Illinois big-school state champion is 20-1 (entering Friday's game) and has a prolific scorer in 6-6 Duke recruit Jon Scheyer. Northwestern University's Welsh-Ryan arena (capacity 8,117) is sold out and is certain to favor the home-state school.

FRIDAY
AT BLOOMINGTON SOUTH
The Panthers (15-3) have beaten Pike, and coach J.R. Holmes has won more than 500 games. Lawrence North lost 60-55 in its past trip to South on Feb. 17, 2004. The crowd in Indiana University's hometown likely isn't going to be kind to Ohio State-bound Oden and Conley.

Feb. 21
VS. PIKE
The Class 4A No. 2 Red Devils (14-2) played the Wildcats to their second-closest game, 73-60, in the Marion County Tournament and have a host of athletes. They're averaging 95 points over their past five games.

Feb. 24
VS. TERRE HAUTE NORTH
The Patriots (13-5) don't look like much of a threat because they haven't beaten the better teams they've faced. But coach Jim Jones has won more than 650 games.

The sectionals start Feb. 27.