Peoria Manual is the headliner of this year's showcase. The Rams, who are playing in the J-Hawk showcase for the first time, are 12-1. They are led by all-state candidate Da'Monte Williams, son of former University of Illinois star Frank Williams. Williams, a junior, already has received Division 1 scholarship offers from Illinois, Indiana and Cincinnati.Peoria Manual won't play a full four-game schedule in the classic. The Rams have two games on Monday, Jan. 18, taking on Rockford Boylan at 10:30 a.m. and then the host Jefferson J-Hawks, who are off to a 10-7 start, at 6 p.m.
The 15-1 Titans not only get a chance to measure itself against Manual, but also have a matchup with Rockford Lutheran, an 11-3 Geneva team and a 9-4 Bloomington squad that features 6-6 forward Charles Payton. Payton, a junior, has scholarship offers from Nebraska, Illinois-Chicago and Southern Illinois and has made unofficial visits to Illinois and Indiana.
Deerfield at 11-3 is among the teams with strong postseason hopes. Unfortunately, Deerfield didn't draw a very difficult schedule in the showcase. Its top matchup is against Belvidere (7-7) Saturday afternoon.
Chicago Vocational also is highly regarded but is making just a cameo. The 10-3 Cavaliers play at 3 p.m. Saturday against a struggling Harlem team.
Like Boylan, the host J-Hawks have no pushovers either. Besides Manual, Jefferson plays Batavia, Bloomington and Geneva. The combined records of the J-Hawks' four opponents is 40-14.
The best time to catch most of the top teams is late Monday. Bloomington plays Belvidere at 4:30 p.m. Manual and Jefferson play at 6 p.m, then Boylan and Geneva cap off the tournament at 7:30 p.m.
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