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Illinois 2016 Rankings Updated

November 5, 2015

By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

Taking into consideration the late summer, fall season, and many regional and national events scouted over the last couple of months, we have updated the Illinois 2016 rankings once again. This crop of seniors features plenty of high-end national talent along with impressive overall depth.

Over the course of the last three-plus months, the depth has continued to strengthen. Since our last update of the rankings, two Unsigned Senior Events have taken place and brought a plethora of new faces and names to the table.

The one constant to the 2016 Illinois Rankings has been catcher Cooper Johnson (Carmel Catholic) at the top. Johnson a Mississippi recruit, established himself as the country’s top catch-and-throw prospect this summer and made the grand tour, participating in the Tournament of Stars, Area Code Games and Under Armour All-America Game before heading overseas and winning a gold medal with Team USA. At the Under Armour Game, he back-picked a runner at second base and had an in-game pop time of 1.85 seconds. Johnson is atop several national lists and will be a must see for cross checkers across the country come the spring.

Coming in closely behind Johnson once again at No. 2 is Drake Fellows (Joliet Catholic) a Vanderbilt commit. Prototypical pitchers build 6-foot-5, 200-pound Fellows has long been identified as one of the top arms in the Midwest. Known for his low 90’s fastball, late breaking slider and the ability to hold velocity deep into his outings.

TOP TEN

Rank Name State School Class Pos Commitment
1 Cooper Johnson IL Carmel Catholic 2016 C Mississippi
2 Drake Fellows IL Joliet Catholic Academy 2016 RHP Vanderbilt
3 Tyler Fitzgerald IL Rochester 2016 SS Louisville
4 Cal Coughlin IL Lake Forest 2016 RHP Texas Christian
5 Ben Brecht IL New Trier 2016 LHP UC Santa Barbara
6 Jordan McFarland IL Waterloo 2016 OF Arkansas
7 Brenden Heiss IL Jacobs 2016 RHP Arkansas
8 Sam Ferri IL Notre Dame College Prep 2016 C Arizona State
9 Joey Polak IL Quincy Notre Dame 2016 3B South Carolina
10 Jack Suwinski IL Taft 2016 OF Indiana


CLICK HERE for complete Illinois 2016 Rankings.

The rest of the top ten is a combination of pitchers and position players. One of the more intriguing names is TCU commit RHP/3B Cal Coughlin (Lake Forest). A couple of weeks ago Coughlin topped at 94 mph, sitting 90-92 off the mound during a three-inning stint in which he allowed only one hit. He will be a must see for scouts this spring.

New to the top ten is physical specimen Jordan McFarland (Waterloo) an Arkansas recruit. 6-foot-4, 225-pound right-handed hitting outfielder runs a 6.86 60 and has big time power potential. Generates considerable bat speed at the plate and plays the game hard.

Keep an eye out the rest of this week and next week for further breakdowns of the updated 2016 rankings as we will check out several of the top new prospects on the list and some of the biggest risers.

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