Chi-City High School Hoops--The Top Boys High School Players in Chicagoland

Chicago is known for continuously spitting out basketball players with great talent. Many of which make their way onto the hardwood of the NBA. In honor of Chicago's 175th birthday today, here you'll get a quick look at the top players in Chicagoland, some of which you may not know much about in no specific order.


Steve Taylor -- 6'7" -- 175 lbs -- Simeon Career Academy -- Senior
The Marquette commit plays for the No. 6 high school team in the nation. At only 175 pounds, he can definitely put on some weight and muscle. Look for him to be a pretty good contributor in the Big East next year, and most likely for the next few years.


Tony Hicks -- 6'1" -- 175 lbs -- St. Rita -- Senior
Headed to Penn, Hicks is a pure scorer. The struggling Mustangs (15-10) would not be anywhere near 15 wins without Hicks. He is their top scorer, and possibly one of the top boys basketball players in St. Rita history. I am interested to see how he contributes for Penn next season. I can see him doing well in the Ivy League.


Jabari Parker -- 6'8" -- 220 lbs -- Simeon Career Academy -- Junior
I'm sure almost all of you have heard of Jabari, who is possibly the best high school player in the nation, regardless of class. Many comparisons to LeBron James, are actually not fair. As good as Parker is, LeBron is probably one of the top high school players in history. Parker's outside game is very good. He can rise up for the jump shot. He needs to get stronger and a little more coordinated. His dribbling is average, at best. Don't get me wrong, Parker is easily the top player in Chicago. But he is always going to be highly criticized, just because of the hype surrounding him. Reported schools left on his list; Illinois, DePaul, Northwestern, Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan State, Ohio State, Kansas.


Kendrick Nunn -- 6'1" -- 175 lbs -- Simeon Career Academy -- Junior
Another great player on a Simeon team full of future stars. Nunn has super quick hands and great athleticism. The lefty can do more than just shoot the jump shot. He can dribble-drive and score. Nunn is another player who I am interested to see where he decides to go to college. Maybe him, Parker, and Taylor will team up again at Marquette. Or possibly they might split up. We will just have to wait and see.Schools in on Nunn; Illinois, DePaul, Florida State, Oklahoma, Syracuse. Texas A&M, Marquette, Baylor, Pittsburgh, Arizona, Ohio, Xavier, Providence, Saint Louis, Kansas, and Memphis. Nunn committed to A&M, but decommitted after realizing he made a mistake.


Jubril Adekoya -- 6'6"  -- 215 lbs -- Andrew High School -- Junior

Jubril Adekoya (#23) goes up for an easy layup vs. Bradley

Jubril has led Andrew to a school record 24 wins this season. Adekoya's big build let's him bump around down low and fight for boards. A very high IQ for the game of basketball, Adekoya will be successful at the college he decides to attend. He is little known by the average high school fan in Chicago, because Andrew is not known for basketball. Reported interest from Illinois, DePaul, Memphis, Toledo, Akron, Oregon State, Valparaiso, Illinois State, Wichita State, Creighton, Tennessee, Loyalo, Ohio, and Florida State, Jubril has a wide variety of college choices. Unfortunately for Adekoya, the 2013 Chicago class is loaded with talent, so he is not as known as he could be. He is slightly undersized as a power forward, but he does have a decent mid-range jumper. He can improve upon it greatly, along with his 3-ball shot. Look for him over the summer to play well for Meanstreets AAU team. His stock is rising and it is only a matter of time before this well-known secret of Jubril Adekoya gets out.


Jahlil Okafor -- 6'9" -- 270 lbs -- Whitney Young -- Sophmore
Okafor is just a sophmore and already classified as one of the top players in the nation. He is BIG. At 270, his conditioning needs to improve. He needs to be able to run up and down the floor during a fast paced game. Hitting the weights should help. He needs to lose weight, but gain muscle. If he was 270, but mainly muscle, he would be fine. Over the next two years,it will be interesting to see who is in on Okafor on the recruiting trail. Here are the reported interested schools already; Arizona, Connecticut, Georgetown, Michigan State, DePaul, Illinois, Duke, Ohio State, North Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri, Purdue, Tennessee, Florida, Marquette, Florida State, Kansas, West Virginia, Syracuse, Iowa, Wisconsin, Kansas State. Okafor was offered a scholarship to DePaul as just a 14 year-old 8th grader.


Chicago will continue to throw out talented basketball players every year. This list is just a sneak peak at few of the top players in Chicago. There are so many terrific young players in Chicago. Watching AAU teams such as Mac Irvin Fire and Meanstreets is so great, because you see so much talent and future NBA players on the court. It is a sight to see. That's how it is to see any AAU Chicagoland tournament. It'll be interesting to see whose stock rises, and whose falls over the next few years.