| The Illinois Associated Press All-State basketball process is underway. |
| ALL MEDIA MEMBERS (NEWSPAPER & INTERNET-SITE |
| WRITERS & EDITORS; RADIO & TV & INTERNET |
| BROADCASTERS) COVERING HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL |
| IN ILLINOIS ARE ELIGIBLE TO NOMINATE PLAYERS AND |
| VOTE FOR TEAMS! Non-voting coaches and athletic directors, from |
| schools mentioned in the AP state rankings this season, also have been |
| approached to nominate players. |
| NOMINATING INSTRUCTIONS: |
| 1) Send all nominations in a newly-created, separate email to |
| preppolls@gmail.com. PLEASE DO NOT send the nominations as a |
| reply to any other email. (That’s how nominations get lost). Also, clearly |
| mark the nomination in the subject line (i.e. “1Am2A girls nominations |
| from Springfield” or “3A boys: LeBron James, St. Vincent’s”). |
| 2) The Illinois AP All-State teams are extremely elite — a five-person |
| first team, a five-person second team and an honorable mention list that |
| demands at least two votes to be included in each of the four classes in |
| both boys and girls basketball. We are talking about the very best of the |
| best, so please keep that in mind when nominating players for |
| consideration, especially in the case of teammates (rare are the |
| teammates receiving first or second team honors in the same season; |
| multiple honorable mentions from the same team are more common, but |
| still a difficult proposition when considering each media member |
| voting has only 10 spots on their ballot). |
| 3) Media members from across the state, whether newspaper, radio, TV |
| or Internet-only, are eligible to nominate and vote on the teams with a |
| circulated ballot full of bio information. One write-in candidate per |
| ballot is allowed. |
| 4) Here is an example of the information we are hoping you will include |
| in your nomination: |
| — Players’ name |
| — School & Class (1A, 2A, 3A, 4A) |
| — Year (Senior, Junior, Sophomore, Freshman) |
| — Height |
| — Position |
| — College plans |
| — Include any pertinent season and career stats, as well as any records, |
| honors, and accomplishments |
| — Include the team’s win-loss record and accomplishments |
| 5) The nominations will be included in a ballot sent statewide via a |
| media email chain. (If you are a media member and not regularly |
| receiving emails about the Illinois AP state rankings, please email |
| preppolls@gmail.com for inclusion on the email list). |
| 6) Here is an example of what will be send out in the ballot compiled: |
| — 2A boys: Michael Jordan, Mile High (6-6, Sr., G): Leading scorer |
| (31.9 ppg) for a 29-0 state-ranked Elite Eight repeat qualifier. Also |
| averages 4.2 assists and 4.9 steals for the defending state and ACC |
| champions. League’s 3-time Player of the Year a unanimous first-team |
| AP All-State performer the last two seasons. All-tournament performer |
| at the Galesburg Thanksgiving, Centralia Holiday and Peoria MLK |
| events. A 3,000-point career scorer. Member of an AAU national |
| champion. First-team All-ACC & All-Academic ACC performer. All State baseball player, too. Signed by Division I North Carolina for a |
| basketball scholarship. |
| 7) Also, if you saw somebody this season who really should be on the |
| ballot, but perhaps you do not cover their school (or in the case of |
| coaches, coach those players) and have no way of getting their stats, |
| please drop me their name, so I can email their coach in hopes of |
| receiving information to include them on the ballot. |
| ALL-STATE CALENDAR: |
| — Monday, Feb. 7: Nominations process officially opens for all girls |
| basketball classes. (NOTE: Regionals begin Saturday, Feb. 12). |
| — Monday, Feb. 14: Nominations process officially opens for all boys’ |
| basketball classes. (NOTE: Regionals begin Saturday, Feb. 19). |
| — Thursday, Feb. 24: Girls’ nominations for all classes due by the end |
| of the night at preppolls@gmail.com (NOTE: corresponds to sectional |
| finals). |
| — Sunday, Feb. 27: All-State Girls’ Basketball Ballot released on |
| statewide email chain (voting opens). |
| — Tuesday, March 1: All-State Girls’ Basketball votes due by the end |
| of the night at preppolls@gmail.com (NOTE: Super-Sectionals on |
| Monday, Feb. 28). |
| — Wednesday, March 2: All-State Girls’ Basketball teams released by |
| email and on the AP wire that afternoon (NOTE: State finals March 3- |
| 5). |
| — Friday, March 4: Boys’ nominations for all classes due by the end of |
| the night at preppolls@gmail.com (NOTE: corresponds to sectional |
| finals). |
| — Sunday, March 6: All-State Boys’ Basketball Ballot released on |
| statewide email chain (voting opens). |
| — Tuesday, March 8: All-State Boys’ Basketball votes due by the end |
| of the night at preppolls@gmail.com (NOTE: Super-Sectionals on |
| Monday, March 7). |
| — Wednesday, March 9: All-State Boys’ Basketball teams released by |
| email and on the AP wire that afternoon (NOTE: State finals March 10- |
| 12). |
| FYI: |
| When voting you will vote for five first-team players and five second team players in each class. A player must be named on two ballots to |
| earn honorable mention. (Reminders will accompany the release of the |
| official all-state ballots — see above). |
| Please forward this information to any of your colleagues who should be |
| included in this process to be sure they are receiving this packet. |
| Any questions or concerns? Please let me know via |
| preppolls@gmail.com! |
| Thanks ahead of time for your consideration on this worthy statewide |
| project to recognize kids by rewarding their hard work and promoting a |
| positive goal for future student-athletes to aspire toward! |
| Steve Tappa, |
| Illinois AP All-State basketball chair |
