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It shouldn’t have been this hard.
“It’s about a year late as far as I’m concerned,” Auburn coach Bryan Ott said after his former star guard Rakim Chaney committed to play for Valparaiso.
Chaney could join East’s Sincere Parker as the only NIC-10 boys basketball players in the last decade to make an impact in NCAA Division I basketball. And both wound up going far away from Rockford to land their chance. Parker, who averaged 14.5 points in two NCAA Tournament games for McNeese State this year and had three straight 30-point games at St. Louis in 2024, went to both an Arizona prep school and an Alabama junior college. Chaney went to prep school this year at Two Twelve Sports Academy in Sarasota, Florida.
More: 2 brothers, 3 knee surgeries: Auburn basketball players overcame simultaneous injuries
More: Comeback kid Rakim Chaney blazing Rockford Auburn's path to super sectionals
“Recruiting was not good for me last year,” Chaney, a 6-foot-3 point guard, said. “We looked at different routes we could take. One was going JUCO and the other was going postgrad and getting different exposure in a different area. It ended up working out.
“I always knew it was a process. My dad and my grandfather always told me to stay patient, to stay within the game. They always tell me it's a marathon and not a sprint, but no matter how long it takes or how fast or slow you go, just know you are going to get there.”
Rakim Chaney learned that lesson early. He began his high school career in a hospital bed. Next to his brother. Rakim had torn his ACL in a freshman game. Two days later, his older brother, Rob, tore his left ACL — for the second time. The two brothers had their knees operated on the same day, returned home at the same time and began physical therapy together.
In a way, that was fitting. Rakim grew up competing with his older brother in everything. And being inspired by the same thing after they both attended their first Final Four in 2015.
His parents had gone to a Final Four. Rakim’s dad, Bo Chaney, was a former basketball player and big fan. His mom, not so much. Not, that is, until Charo Chaney returned home from the National Championship..
“When she came back, she told us we have to go to one,” Chaney, the 2024 NIC-10 MVP, said. “She learned a lot from watching me, my brother and my dad play. “She watches all the time now. She’s very emotional about it. It helped us just to fall in love with the game a lot more. March Madness, that’s the best time of the year for basketball, even better than the NBA. For us to be in the arena and be part of the fan base and cheer the players on, it sparked our interest and made us love basketball so much more.
“When I first started watching college basketball, I always wanted to play on the Division I floor. When my mom took me and my brother to the Final Four at a young age, we were able to be in the arena and feel the buzz in the arena. That is something I will never forget. Having that feeling at a young age and being around basketball for so long, I always dreamed of playing Division I basketball.
“We went to all the events,” Chaney continue. “We met a bunch of Hall of Famers. Charles Barkley. Grant Hill. Antoine Walker. Being able to see those people in person, it motivates you. You know those big names. When you see them on the screen, it doesn’t feel real. It feels like they are some type of superhero you are never going to see. When you finally get to see them in person and see they are human just like you, it motivates you to get to that level too.”
So side trips to the hospital and a prep school in Florida did not stop Rakim Chaney. No scholarship offers out of Auburn was not a roadblock. Just a fast-becoming-common detour in this age of transfer portals, NIL offers and extra years granted to players who played through COVID or started out at junior college. All of those things lead to colleges picking up proven players and being more hesitant to take ones directly from high school.
“Rakim was absolutely an academic qualifier last year, but he had to go to a prep school or a junior college to get further notice,” Ott said. “With the current climate of the portal and NIL, all these schools want a kid who is a little older and more experienced.
“Rakim is a very good athlete. He scores in a bunch of different ways. He’s a terrific ball handler and passer. A good defender. He is long. He is such a heady player. He has all the attributes of a Division I guard. I hope he brings more spotlight to our area because we have players here who can play at the next level.”
The only other NIC-10 players besides Parker and Chaney the last 10 years to get Division I basketball scholarships are Guilford's Jack Holmstrom, who scored 129 points in four years at Monmouth, and Jefferson's Brenden Moss, who scored 63 points as a freshman at Kent State last year but missed this year with an injury.
Even in Florida, playing for former Michigan assistant coach John Mahoney, Chaney wasn’t noticed at first. But he finished his prep season averaging 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists. At the end of the season, Monmouth gave him an offer. That sparked more interest. And when Valparaiso called, Chaney jumped at the chance to play in the Missouri Valley Conference.
“It took time,” Chaney said. “At first, I wasn’t getting the looks I thought would be getting — I was getting some looks, just not the ones I thought I would be getting. As the season went on and we started to play tougher competition, schools started to reach out at the Division I level. No one pulled the trigger and offered a scholarship, but they had me on their radar.
“I stayed consistent and everyone kept tabs on me. That’s when Monmouth pulled the trigger and offered me a scholarship. A few other schools started coming in then and three weeks later Valpo reached out. I liked everything we were talking about. It was a great fit.”
And an NIC-10 Division I men’s basketball player was born.
Matt Trowbridge is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @MattTrowbridge.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rakim Chaney commits to Valparaiso, rare NIC-10 Division I recruit
Continue reading...
“It’s about a year late as far as I’m concerned,” Auburn coach Bryan Ott said after his former star guard Rakim Chaney committed to play for Valparaiso.
Chaney could join East’s Sincere Parker as the only NIC-10 boys basketball players in the last decade to make an impact in NCAA Division I basketball. And both wound up going far away from Rockford to land their chance. Parker, who averaged 14.5 points in two NCAA Tournament games for McNeese State this year and had three straight 30-point games at St. Louis in 2024, went to both an Arizona prep school and an Alabama junior college. Chaney went to prep school this year at Two Twelve Sports Academy in Sarasota, Florida.
More: 2 brothers, 3 knee surgeries: Auburn basketball players overcame simultaneous injuries
More: Comeback kid Rakim Chaney blazing Rockford Auburn's path to super sectionals
“Recruiting was not good for me last year,” Chaney, a 6-foot-3 point guard, said. “We looked at different routes we could take. One was going JUCO and the other was going postgrad and getting different exposure in a different area. It ended up working out.
“I always knew it was a process. My dad and my grandfather always told me to stay patient, to stay within the game. They always tell me it's a marathon and not a sprint, but no matter how long it takes or how fast or slow you go, just know you are going to get there.”
Rakim Chaney learned that lesson early. He began his high school career in a hospital bed. Next to his brother. Rakim had torn his ACL in a freshman game. Two days later, his older brother, Rob, tore his left ACL — for the second time. The two brothers had their knees operated on the same day, returned home at the same time and began physical therapy together.
In a way, that was fitting. Rakim grew up competing with his older brother in everything. And being inspired by the same thing after they both attended their first Final Four in 2015.
His parents had gone to a Final Four. Rakim’s dad, Bo Chaney, was a former basketball player and big fan. His mom, not so much. Not, that is, until Charo Chaney returned home from the National Championship..
“When she came back, she told us we have to go to one,” Chaney, the 2024 NIC-10 MVP, said. “She learned a lot from watching me, my brother and my dad play. “She watches all the time now. She’s very emotional about it. It helped us just to fall in love with the game a lot more. March Madness, that’s the best time of the year for basketball, even better than the NBA. For us to be in the arena and be part of the fan base and cheer the players on, it sparked our interest and made us love basketball so much more.
“When I first started watching college basketball, I always wanted to play on the Division I floor. When my mom took me and my brother to the Final Four at a young age, we were able to be in the arena and feel the buzz in the arena. That is something I will never forget. Having that feeling at a young age and being around basketball for so long, I always dreamed of playing Division I basketball.
“We went to all the events,” Chaney continue. “We met a bunch of Hall of Famers. Charles Barkley. Grant Hill. Antoine Walker. Being able to see those people in person, it motivates you. You know those big names. When you see them on the screen, it doesn’t feel real. It feels like they are some type of superhero you are never going to see. When you finally get to see them in person and see they are human just like you, it motivates you to get to that level too.”
So side trips to the hospital and a prep school in Florida did not stop Rakim Chaney. No scholarship offers out of Auburn was not a roadblock. Just a fast-becoming-common detour in this age of transfer portals, NIL offers and extra years granted to players who played through COVID or started out at junior college. All of those things lead to colleges picking up proven players and being more hesitant to take ones directly from high school.
“Rakim was absolutely an academic qualifier last year, but he had to go to a prep school or a junior college to get further notice,” Ott said. “With the current climate of the portal and NIL, all these schools want a kid who is a little older and more experienced.
“Rakim is a very good athlete. He scores in a bunch of different ways. He’s a terrific ball handler and passer. A good defender. He is long. He is such a heady player. He has all the attributes of a Division I guard. I hope he brings more spotlight to our area because we have players here who can play at the next level.”
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The only other NIC-10 players besides Parker and Chaney the last 10 years to get Division I basketball scholarships are Guilford's Jack Holmstrom, who scored 129 points in four years at Monmouth, and Jefferson's Brenden Moss, who scored 63 points as a freshman at Kent State last year but missed this year with an injury.
Even in Florida, playing for former Michigan assistant coach John Mahoney, Chaney wasn’t noticed at first. But he finished his prep season averaging 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists. At the end of the season, Monmouth gave him an offer. That sparked more interest. And when Valparaiso called, Chaney jumped at the chance to play in the Missouri Valley Conference.
“It took time,” Chaney said. “At first, I wasn’t getting the looks I thought would be getting — I was getting some looks, just not the ones I thought I would be getting. As the season went on and we started to play tougher competition, schools started to reach out at the Division I level. No one pulled the trigger and offered a scholarship, but they had me on their radar.
“I stayed consistent and everyone kept tabs on me. That’s when Monmouth pulled the trigger and offered me a scholarship. A few other schools started coming in then and three weeks later Valpo reached out. I liked everything we were talking about. It was a great fit.”
And an NIC-10 Division I men’s basketball player was born.
Matt Trowbridge is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @MattTrowbridge.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rakim Chaney commits to Valparaiso, rare NIC-10 Division I recruit
Continue reading...
