Illinois Basketball: Illini targets finish strong at EYBL Dallas session

There are multiple Illinois basketball targets who participate in the Nike EYBL AAU league.

The EYBL just finished up their third and final session in Dallas before the annual Peach Jam which is held on July 10-14 in North Augusta, South Carolina. The Peach Jam only takes the best of the best, though. One of the teams that is doing well and has some Illini targets is the Mac Irvin Fire.

Mac Irvin Fire finished the Dallas session with a 3-2 record to bring their overall season record to 10-3. This will be easily good enough to get into the Peach Jam as they are second in Division B right behind the Texas Titans who have a 12-1 record.

Adam Miller is the main man for the Mac Irvin Fire and is also the top target for the Illinois class of 2020. He continued his dominance in the EBYL this past weekend only scoring under 20 points one time. His last three games, he put up 36, 39 and 35 points, respectively. Miller is now averaging 21.3 points per game on 39.9-percent shooting from the field and 36.8-percent from three-point range during the EYBL season. He is also contributing 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game as well. This kid is the complete package.

Another player who is suiting up for the Mac Irvin Fire who the Illini has their eyes on is Ryan Kalkbrenner. He is an underrated talent from St. Louis who has just started to get serious recruiting attention over the last few months. He isn’t a big scorer, but his ability to rebound the ball and block shots is what sets him apart from the competition. He was able to average 8.6 rebounds per game during the Dallas session. That is an impressive number. So far, through the entire EYBL season, Kalkbrenner has averaged 7.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.5 blocks and 1 assist per game. He is a defensive specialist.

Nimari Burnett is another Chicago kid who is playing basketball out west. He is suiting up for Team WhyNot out in California. He had a great showing in Dallas throwing up at least 23 points in three of the five outings. In the 13 games he has played this EYBL season, he is averaging 20.4 points on 50.3-percent shooting from the field and 35.8-percent from three-point range. He is also contributing 4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game as well.

One other notable name who played this weekend in the EYBL was Caleb Love. He played in four games for Bradley Beal Elite and averaged 14.25 points per game. He also had a game where he had 12 assists as well. He is averaging 16.1 points, 5.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game this EYBL season.

There is a lot of talent out there for the Illini. These kids would really help the program take a leap to the next level of being a perennial NCAA tournament team. Let’s see how many we can land.