Feb. 25--Nick Rakocevic bet on himself.
It appears to be paying off.
Formerly considered the No. 1 player in Illinois' Class of 2016 before a disappointing spring and summer, Rakocevic chose to essentially hit the reset button and bank on a big senior season at St. Joseph rather than sign with a college in the fall.
Twenty-seven double-doubles in 27 games later, the versatile 6-foot-11 forward is sitting pretty as the season winds down and the spring signing period (April 13-May 18) approaches.
"I have been having a good season, knock on wood," said Rakocevic, who will head into the Class 3A playoffs next week averaging 19.8 points, 15.1 rebounds and 3.7 blocked shots.
"Right now things are looking really good for me. I'm glad to be back to where I was once before and hopefully I can continue to get better. We'll see what happens. I'm going to finish the season and make a decision around April or March."
Rakocevic is still waiting to see what all of his options are before he decides.
In addition to high-major offers from Miami, USC, Arizona State and a host others, the powerful likes of North Carolina, Louisville and Florida are recruiting him, though none of the three have offered.
Rakocevic has four official visits remaining -- he took a trip to West Virginia in the fall -- and plans to use them all to inform his decision.
He is not ready to say where he will visit.
"Really, that is for after the season," Rakocevic said. "I don't want to discuss that right now. I want to focus on the season."
St. Joseph's 19-8 record has been compiled against a very difficult schedule, with all their losses coming against top teams in and outside of Illinois.
In order to take a return trip downstate, the defending Class 3A champs will likely have to go through Fenwick. The Friars have two double-digit victories over St. Joseph, including Saturday's 73-51 triumph in the Catholic League tournament final.
"It was small things, and we have to prepare for them," Rakocevic said. "I think we'll be all right."
Jalen Clanton gaining attention: Riverside-Brookfield junior Jalen Clanton has been establishing himself as a future Division I guard the past two seasons.
Getting buckets in a variety of ways during a 32-point performance against top competition certainly isn't going to hurt his cause.
Even before strutting his stuff in R-B's overtime loss to then-No. 1 Morgan Park on Saturday, Clanton had the attention of South Dakota State, North Dakota, Evansville and Indiana State.
He figures to be a popular target for low- and mid-majors on the AAU circuit.
T.J. Clifford heating up: Another junior from the western suburbs, Downers Grove South's T.J. Clifford, is drawing a good deal of attention.
Santa Clara, Penn, Furman, Yale, Loyola and UIC all stopped by to see the 6-6 forward recently.
Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
