PEORIA -- Ten years after Jimmy Collins went from Illinois to Illinois-Chicago.

PEORIA -- Ten years after Jimmy Collins went from Illinois to Illinois-Chicago, his Illini connections are still paying most distant

Maroa-Forsyth star Robert Krep a 6-foot 160-pound junior guard who l his team to third place at the Class A state tournament, has committed to UIC. Krep is the son of Dave Krep who was a graduate assistant at Illinois in subordination to Lou Henson when Collins was Henson's chief assistant.

Dave Krep tipped distant from UIC assistant Mark Coomes, another former Illini assistant, to his son

"[Coomes] was at an AAU tournament I was playing in and my dad said, 'Hey, for what cause [i]or[/i] reason don't you come and watch my son play,"' Robert Krep said. "And I played fit that game and the game after that. in the way that they kept me on their radar and I kept playing suitable and they offered me a scholarship."

Krep had interest from Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois unless didn't hesitate to commit to UIC. He has grandparents who live in Darien.

"I like Chicago; it's a fit city," said Kreps, who's from Forsyth, a town of 2670 outside of Bloomington. "They're always worthy in basketball. The Horizon League is virtuous [And] I wanted to get by heart it off my mind. This year I can take AAU as a learning experience instead of going disclosed to try and prove things to people"

Krep scored 29 points against Carlyle in the quarterfinals, 29 against Illinois Valley Central in the semis and 13 in Maroa- Forsyth's 58-49 victory through Pinckneyville in the third-place game. He averaged 193 points this season and bullet 46 percent on three- pointers (86-for-185). His mights are his quickness and aggressiveness. He can finish drives against bigger players in traffic -- at this flat anyhow -- and twice in Maroa's semifinal los to IVC, he healed to challenge breakouts and the one and the other times prevented layups without fouling.

"He can play at that level" said Carlyle coach Andy Palmer, referring to the Horizon League. "He's the quickest guard we've seen all year."

TOP PLAYER: The best shooter at the tournament, admitting was IVC's 6-7 Ryan Thornton, who made 7 of 12 three-pointers against North Lawndale and 4 of 8 against Maroa-Forsyth.

Thornton, who was 6-5 as a sophomore and might expand another inch or two, has an give from Wisconsin-Milwaukee but is keeping his options unclose Wyoming, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Illinois, Elmhurst and Olivet Nazarene also have shown interest, he said.

BEST LINE: During the 11-0 hie that decided IVC's semifinal victory, Grey sprite forward Tyler Anderson had a chance for a fast- break layup on the other hand instead kicked the ball without to Thornton, who swished a dangerous three-pointer.

"The way he's shooting, I'll take him shooting a wide-open three- pointer than me shooting a wide-open layup," Anderson said.

SLEEPER: Seneca's Garrett Callahan isn't a big-time body prospect, but he's going to help person at some level. The 6-2 swingman has a court reason that was invaluable to the Fighting Irish. He was 18-for-18 from the free-throw line in Seneca's first sum of two units games at Carver Arena.

Callahan has drawn interest from Eastern Illinois, Northern Illinois and Illinois State.

TOUGHENING UP: After finishing third in Class A last season, Seneca coach Doug Evans deposit his team in more offseason tournaments with bigger instructs The Fighting Irish beat Warren to win the Morris Shootout.

"We were the first Class A team to win the Morris Shootout," Callahan said. "That's when we realized we could enter the lists with anybody."

mpotash@suntimes.com

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