Purple Reign usually views the message boards as a forum for fans. You know, to argue or banter or speculate. The thinking being that it's not something PR should police too tightly, and that it shouldn't be another medium for PR to rant -- there's plenty of ranting elsewhere.
But a recent message board thread caught PR's attention. It warranted a response.
"NU has continued to recruit the state of Illinois hard with the likes of Alex Dragevich, Dwayne Evans, Lavonte Dority, Mike McCall, Alex Rossi, etc," the thread, written by "recruitplanet," reads.
"Now, it looks like the Wildcats are a new school involved with [Darren] Tillman's recruiting. Tillman, a 6'6 athletic forward, attends Hillcrest High School on Chicago's South Suburban Side, which is also former Marquette Star Jerel McNeal's alma mater. Coach Tavares Hardy and Bill Carmody got a chance to watch Tillman at the Chicago Summer Classic in Deerfield,IL (sic) while playing with Orange Crush, and then they got a chance to watch him at the End Of Season Showdown in Merrillville, IN with Bobcats Express. Tillman is a 6'6 forward who was at his best penetrating to the basket and finishing through contact, as he threw down a thunderouse up-and-under jam over Boys To Mens(AAU Program) Michael Haynes."
Truth by told, this caught PR by surprise: News of an NU target that PR had no idea NU was recruiting. So it spurred a little investigation by Purple Reign.
Alas, there was a reason this recruit was flying under PR's radar. Turns out Tillman, the subject of the thread, simply isn't an NU target.
A source close to the NU hoops program confirmed as much to Purple Reign yesterday. The source speculated that Tillman was a low Div. I prospect (at best). There was, however, no speculation about Tillman's future as a Wildcat: There isn't one.
Who knows the origin of that thread. Maybe it's misinformation, maybe it's shoddy "reporting," maybe it's someone trying to inflate Tillman's stock.
However it started, though, one thing has been confirmed. Tillman is not an NU target.
To reach Purple Reign, please write to northwestern.scout@gmail.com.