Metro East basketball standouts Jeremiah Tillmon of East St. Louis Senior High School and Jordan Goodwin from Belleville Althoff High school have earned invitations to play in this weekend’s Nike Elite 100 Camp at Saint Louis University.
The Elite 100 Camp annually brings together many of the nation’s top high school underclassmen to town. It is nice to see to kids from the 618 area code in the spotlight. Both had sophomore seasons that they will never forget.
Goodwin guided his Belleville Althoff team to a second -place finish in the IHSA Class 3-A state tournament. The 6’3 combo guard was the South 7 Conference MVP last season. In addition, he was a First Team All-State selection as well.
The 6’11” Tillmon led East St. Louis to an impressive 20-7 season and kept the Flyers among the top teams in the area’s rankings, as well as one of the top 10 teams in the state most of the season.
He accomplished this despite playing for Tony “Clothesline ’em” Younge, who was replaced in mid-season by interim head coach Hank “Let Collinsville play half-court” Harris, who took the ball out of Tillman hand’s on a cold night in March, thus giving the Collinsville Kahoks a late Christmas gift when he gift-wrapped the Regional title, 58-50.
But this summer has been a blessing for both Tillmon and Goodwin. They both play for the St. Louis Eagles, the No. 1-ranked team in the prestigious Nike EYBL summer league. The Eagles earned a berth in next month’s Peach Jam in North Augusta, South Carolina from July 15-19.
The Eagles have produced plenty of local greats throughout the years in NBA players Larry Hughes, David Lee of the NBA Western Conference Champions Golden State Warriors and Tyler Hansbrough, among others.
In addition, this current group of Eagles are being mentioned with the 2010 group, which featured NBA lottery picks Bradley Beal, Ben McClemore, and current Butler University star and former O’Fallon Illinois High standout Roosevelt Jones.
This year’s Eagles are led by the No. 1 player in the country in Jayson Tatum of Chaminade, Tyler Cook of Chaminade and Tillmon. The trio forms one of the most imposing front lines on the EYB circuit.
Tillmon’s progression this summer with the Eagles has been very impressive. On a team that has so many weapons, he averages 7.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. But more importantly, he leads the EYBL in field goal percentage with an impressive 65.5 percent.
Playing with the Eagles has made a big difference in Tillmon’s total development. He is being coached by former Mizzou forward and now assistant Missouri coach Corey Tate, and Maplewood Richmond Heights head coach Cory Frazier. Tillmon is one of the top big men in the class of 2017, as well as excelling in the classroom.
