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Fourth-and-blog

Working on The N-G All-State team

Posted by: Bob Asmussen

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 11:53 AM

I'm in the process of picking the 73rd News-Gazette All-State team. Loren Tate ran it for years and passed the baton when he became columnist only.

You can bet the Illinois football recruiting class will get plenty of recognition on the All-State team. We spent some time last week in East St. Louis, taking pictures of Illinois recruits Terry Hawthorne and Kraig Appleton. It's a good bet one of those two will be named State Player of the Year, though there are other worthy candidates in the state.

The coaches provide great help to the process, nominating both their players and those on other teams.

Ultimately, we want the team to be filled with great high school players. Many of those players will go on to play college football, but their recruitment isn't at the top of the priority list. That's why you won't see a great player like Craig Drummond on this year's team. He is a talent and will be going to Illinois to play college football, but he wasn't on the field this season.

There will be a few surprises on this year's team. When there are worthy candidates in the smaller schools, we try to make sure they are included.