While there is often plenty of hype leading to incoming high schoolers, this was true more than even this year in Illinois. Even with all of the hype focused on the 2027 incoming class in Illinois, the duo of Jaxson Davis and Davion Thompson have already outplayed the expectations.
It is rare for freshman to be playing at the varsity level and exceptionally rare for them to be making great impacts at the varsity level, but this is exactly what has been happening. Not only have Davis and Thompson been the two best players in Illinois 2027 class, but they have been two of the state’s top players regardless of class. While both players got off to strong starts in their seasons their elite play was spotlighted even more during each of their performances at their recent holiday tournaments. For Davis with Warren Township High School and Thompson with Bolingbrook High School, each player shined bright over the past week.
Not known as a basketball power, Davis has Warren Township looking as one of the top teams in the entire greater Chicago area. At the prestigious Proviso West Holiday Tournament, Warren was able to take home the championship to move to a lofty 15-1 record on the season. All tournament long Davis was a superstar averaging 26.8 points per game, only getting better throughout the event. When it mattered most in the championship game, Davis scored a remarkable 36 points while shooting 14-22 from the field to go along with 3 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. In the lengthy 62 years of the tournament, he was the first freshmen ever to be named MVP. For the past couple of year Davis has been playing up a few age groups on the grassroots scene including at the 17U level this past year and playing at a very high level but to now be doing it in his freshmen season is really proving how special of a prospect he really is. Davis has now added an offer from Illinois following the tournament.
Over at the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic amongst a very strong field, Thompson was able to help Bolingbrook advance all the way to the championship game before falling by one in overtime to defending state champions, Metamora. The freshman was named to the All-Tournament Team amongst the 32-team field while having a lofty stat sheet averaging 22.8 points and 5 rebounds per game. While Bolingbrook fell just short of the winning the tournament, Thompson did everything he could scoring 31 points in the championship game up against a senior heavy Metamora team with multiple scholarship level players.
Rarely do you see one player having this type of impact as a freshman, let along two in a single state. The duo continues to prove they are not only elite on the regional level but nationally in the 2027 class. Both already hold high major offers and should be incredibly popular targets with college coaches moving forward.