This morning, Rock Island senior guard Chasson Randle officially narrowed his list of potential colleges to three, telling Daniel Makarewicz of the Moline Dispatch and Rock Island Argus he will choose either Illinois, Purdue and Stanford.

It brings the recruiting of one of the Western Big Six Conference’s most sought-after players to a conclusion.

Rock Island's Chasson Randle (center) battles Quincy's Robert Gay (left) and Zach Forbes during a game at Blue Devil Gym last winter. (H-W Photo/Phil Carlson)

It also raises a tough question: Could he end up being considered the WB6’s best player ever?

Randle is ranked No. 63 among high school prospects by Rivals.com, an internet-based recruiting service, and No. 20 among shooting guards. It’s the first time in more than a decade the WB6 has had a player so highly regarded. You have to go back to 1998 and Joey Range, the Galesburg star who is the WB6’s all-time leading scorer. Range went to Iowa, as have other notable WB6 standouts like Quincy’s Michael Payne and Moline’s Acie Earl.

It’s been nearly 30 years since the WB6 produced a McDonald’s All-American. Quincy had two players selected for the McDonald’s game — Payne in 1981 and Bruce Douglas in 1982 — and many fans would argue Douglas is the WB6’s best player ever.

How do you qualify that?

Well, he was a McDonald’s and Parade All-American. He led Quincy to a Class AA state championship in 1981 — the only state title won by a WB6 team since the league’s inception — and a then-state record 64-game winning streak. If that wasn’t enough to cement his legacy, in 2000, the Chicago Tribune named a 10-player, two-team Illinois high school basketball all-century team.

Douglas was a second-team guard, edged out for the first time by only Isaiah Thomas and Quinn Buckner.

That makes a pretty compelling case for Douglas, but it is not one that can’t be argued.

So who gets your vote as the WB6’s best boys basketball player ever?

Saturday morning provided a glimpse of the future for both the Quincy High School and Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball teams. There’s reason to be optimistic.

There are also question marks.

The teams squared off in the first game of a shootout at Blue Devil Gym with the Raiders using the second-half scoring of senior guard Anthony Bruns to pull away in the fourth quarter and win 57-52.

Here are some observations:

• DeAngelo Dean is grasping how to play the post, and QHS will benefit from the junior forward’s athleticism. He did a good job of catching and attacking the basket without putting the ball on the floor. He also can be a nuisiance at the top of a 1-3-1 zone, but he’ll have to get more active.

• Alex Fitch is a sophomore, but he fits in well with the QND upperclassmen. One thing he has to learn is to be slightly more selfish. The more he plays with the upperclassmen, the more relaxed and confident he will become. Already, he has the uncanny ability to find the ball. His shot is smooth and he possesses a basketball player’s frame with lanky arms and quick feet. He’s going to be an impact player the next three years.

• QHS junior forward Mike Davis is sort of like the Energizer Bunny … he keeps going and going and going. He gets a lot of loose balls and rebounds, but he needs to finish around the basket. The Blue Devils missed six shots inside 4 feet in the first half alone, and such mistakes will prove costly against a Western Big Six Conference schedule.

• QND may not have the depth Raiders coach Scott Douglas was afforded in recent years, but the bench will have roles. Every team needs a pest, and it may be Alex Altmix. He’s scrappy and quick, and if he buys into that role, he will frustrate opponents by playing hard-nosed defense and coming up with loose balls because of his willingness to hit the floor.

• The Blue Devils missed Mitch Marold’s leadership. A fiery competitor who underwent shoulder surgery last winter, Marold worked the admission table outside the gym and has stayed part of the program throughout his rehab. As the only player with starting experience that QHS coach Sean Taylor has, Marold will have a huge impact when he returns.

• The Raiders lack a presence on the block and it will be interesting who develops into a rebounder and banger. Luke Stamerjohn, who did not play as a junior, is back with the varsity and may be that guy. QND may struggle against bigger teams, forcing the Raiders to rely on shooting and defense. They are going to have to play physical, which shouldn’t be a problem for a group of guys who will instrumental to QND’s success on the gridiron this fall.

• The Blue Devils will have to create scoring opportunities with their defense because this won’t be one of Taylor’s better shooting teams. QHS has athletes, but the Blue Devils don’t have a lot of shooters. This is a team that is going to have to scrap for points and victories.

• Speaking of shooters, no one stroked the ball better than Bruns. The 6-foot-3 guard is deadly when he squares up, elevates and shoots with confidence. He can shoot over defenders and doesn’t mind having a hand in his face. He also showcased the ability to put the ball on the floor. That mix made him successful the second half of last season. If he avoids a slow start, he’s a Player of the Year contender.

Are you a half-empty or half-full kind of person?

It determines how you look at this time of year. As we reach the midpoint of July, do you see it as the summer is half over? Or are we halfway closer to football season?

I ask this because today I received my first question about football season. It was as simple as this: What are you looking forward to this season?

Well, there are several storylines I an interested in watching play out, both at the high school and collegiate level. So here there are in no particular order:

• Quincy High School has been to the playoffs four times in school history, but never in back-to-back years. Can that happen this year? And can the Blue Devils contend in the Western Big Six Conference? They return a wealth of talent and experience from last year’s breakthrough team and should be in the playoff talk.

• Is this the year Quincy Notre Dame finally plays in Champaign on Thanksgiving weekend? There has never been more pressure on the Raiders to do so. This senior class has been primed for success since many have started or played significantly since their sophomore season and have never lost a regular-season game. This may be Bill Connell’s best chance ever at winning a state championship.

• Western Illinois University has endured a couple of tumultuous seasons with coaching changes, struggles in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and off-the-field concerns whether former coach Don Patterson stepped aside on his own accord. It’s created a sizable challenge for Mark Hendrickson, who is trying to build the Leatherneck program back into a consistent winner. Can the ’Necks get back to being an upper echelon team in the MVFC?

• Do the coaching changes Ron Zook made on his staff at Illinois pay off? The Illini finished just a game out of the Big Ten basement last season, and the addition of Nebraska in the coming years isn’t going to make the climb back up the standings any easier. This is the most critical year for Zook. He needs to show progress or he’ll likely be job hunting come December.

• What’s next for Illini West? An extremely talented senior class graduated after winning a state championship two years ago and reaching the state semifinals last fall. Is the next group ready to carry on the tradition? Or will we see the most successful high school program in our area take some lumps? With Jim Unruh at the helm, I would put stock in the Chargers continuing to grind out victories and playoff appearances.

• Who will the surprise team in the area be? Last year, QHS grabbed everyone’s attention with its 6-0 start and eventual playoff berth. This year? It will happen in the Clarence Cannon Conference with Palmyra turning things around.

Stephen Strasburg is good. Really good. Not great.

He has to pitch more than seven games and win more than three to get that distinction. Yet, with a 3-2 record and 2.32 earned-run average as a rookie, Strasburg is already commanding big bucks.

Well, his name and his likeness are.

A rare Strasburg rookie card is going on the auction block and is expected to command $50,000 or more. Bidding for the autographed 2010 Bowman Prospects card opened today at $9,000. According to the Associated Press, Huggins and Scott, a sports memorabilia auction house in Silver Spring, Md., is hosting the two-week online auction.

The card owner, who plucked the prized piece of memoribilia from a $275 box of cards, tried to sell the card on eBay. Bids exceeded $900,000 but could not be verified.

No one knows for certain how high the bids will soar, but it could be a colassal waste of money for the winning bidder. There are no guarantees Strasburg will be a Hall of Fame pitcher, let alone a quality long-term pitcher. Kerry Wood and Mark Prior had “Hall of Fame” arms and how much are their rookie cards worth now? Not much.

The Strasburg card may be rare, but it won’t be worth much if he doesn’t live up to the hype.

Some may see buying the card as an investment. I see it as a waste. The Mickey Mantle rookie card, the most prized piece of the 1952 Topps set and long considered the most valuable modern era card, has a book value of $30,000.

Strasburg doesn’t compare to Mantle and won’t for a long, long time, if ever.

His baseball cards shouldn’t compare to Mantle’s either.

The fact two freshmen were promoted to and started on the Quincy High School varsity baseball team this spring appears to be point of contention for some. So, after being asked by one reader when the last time a freshman played varsity baseball at QHS, I did some research.

Here’s what I was able to find out …

Since 2000, when Lon Fulte was head coach, there have been two freshmen who contributed at the varsity level. In 2000, Shawn Altgilbers played in the outfield and hit .313. In 2002, Phil Matta started on the infield as a freshman.

Randy Mettemeyer was an assistant coach during those years and took over as head coach in 2003. He started a sophomore in center field that spring, and Kory Hollensteiner went on to become the Herald-Whig Player of the Year his senior season.

I’m pretty sure John Wert was moved up to the varsity as a freshman in 2006 and became a starter as a sophomore in 2007.

Several other players made varsity as sophomores, including Mitchell Fairley, Nathan Moulton and Nolan Kurfman.

In 2001, Ryan Thoele started at catcher and Robby Young was one of QHS’s leading hurlers — and both were sophomores.

I may have missed a name or two in there, but it is not uncommon for underclassmen to not only make the roster but to have an impact.

Most of these players struggled at times but eventually grew into their roles and were key contributors and standouts by their junior and senior seasons. Freshmen may make some mistakes, but if they are mature enough at the time to handle the ups and downs, they ultimately benefit from the experience.

Vacation is over. Time to catch up.

Just before I took some time off, I posted a blog about about the challenges awaiting new QHS coaches Greg Altmix and Bruce Bonness and it started considerable debate about the QHS baseball program. Specifically, the debate was about the future of the program.

After reading the comments and digesting everything said, here are some thoughts to ponder …

• It’s not fair to criticize the freshmen, no matter how you perceive why they were in the lineup. The coaching staff made a decision to play them, and the players did what the coaches asked of them. Don’t fault them for that.

I don’t fault former QHS coach Randy Mettemeyer for playing the freshmen either. He decided to build for the future and giving them experience will be invaluable down the road. They gained tremendously from the experience and will be more mature physically and mentally next season.

I don’t buy the notion the freshmen played because of their last names. They played because the coaching staff saw talent. No one is suggesting politics don’t play a part in high school athletics. There are times they do. This wasn’t one of them.

I also like the talent of the upperclassmen. Jake Kuhlman is a contact hitter who is good at putting the ball in play. Brady Hopson drives the ball. Drew Million and Alex Booher are solid. It’s a solid nucleus to build around.

But here’s the bottom line: All of the players need to be more committed to the game.

Fundamentals have been the program’s bugaboo. There have been too many instances where close games are lost because the opposing team is given extra outs. The defense and the pitching has to improve.

• It was suggested there was a better candidate than Bruce Bonness because that person had coached these players before. That’s not a valid argument for giving anyone the job. If it were, every little league or pee-wee league or rec league coach would eventually wind up coaching at the high school level.

Familiarity helps. So does knowledge of the game. So does being organized. So does being able to deal with parents and any criticism from fans.

In that sense, Bonness was the right choice. He’s experienced the gamut as both a basketball and baseball coach. He’s had success. He’s struggled. He’s dealt with the media in good times and bad. He’s faced school board and angry parents and survived.

Obviously, parents and fans are passionate about this program. The comments on this blog reaffirm that. That’s great to see. This program needs that sort of support.

I believe Bonness will thrive because of that support. I’ve known Bruce for a long time. He knows the game. Surrounding himself with other baseball people will help and create the right mix for success.

Some of the candidates who applied for the position will have success as coaches, too. They are committed to the sport and to the success of kids. They simply need seasoning on how to deal with everything outside the lines.

• I hope Mettemeyer stays around the QHS athletic department in some capacity. He was an important piece to a group of coaches who truly care about the kids. His assistant, Jim Wosman, was the same way. I had the priviledge of playing for Wosman many years ago. He is truly one of the great guys whose service has often gone unnoticed. If he’s not coaching next season, he’ll be missed.

I realize Mettemeyer’s young family needs his attention, but his support of QHS and the athletic department and passion for the Blue Devils is genuine. Any way he finds to be part of it will benefit everyone.

• Nolan Kurfman and Kyle Young will succeed at the college level in the right program. Where that is remains to be seen. I’m anxious to hear where they end up because I believe their talents will improve.

Sports Writer Matt Schuckman is on vacation and will return to the office on Monday, July 12. Please forward any questions to his e-mail at mschuckman@whig.com or post any questions in the comments section below. Thanks for reading.

Greg Altmix and Bruce Bonness find themselves in uniquely similar positions.

They have to sell themselves.

For Altmix, that’s not quite as difficult. The new Quincy High School girls basketball coach has a resume that includes a state quarterfinal appearance as the boys basketball coach at Highland and success at the junior high level. But he hasn’t coached high school girls, and that’s going to be a challenge.

He has to show the players, the parents and the fans he can transfer the same disciplined approach and intensity he had with his boys teams to a girls program. Some coaches make that transition smoothly, some don’t.

Altmix’s demeanor and style should fit well with the QHS program, and his hire showed the administration was taking a vested interest in the girls program. Heck, there were several quality candidates who could have filled the role and improved the program. Altmix’s organizational skills and no-nonsense approach made him the right choice.

Bonness won over the selection committee in a similar vain to become the new QHS baseball coach, but he has a more difficult sales job ahead of him.

First and foremost, he has to prove he can coach the sport.

Bonness played baseball at Quincy Notre Dame, graduating in 1991, and his baseball lineage leads back to QHS Hall of Fame coach MIke Hellenthal. Bonness played for Dave Fleer who played for Hellenthal, who enjoyed great success with the Blue Devils and as the Quincy American Legion Post 37 coach.

Still, Bonness hasn’t coached baseball since he left Payson Seymour to work in the Southeastern school district. He had success as the Southeastern boys basketball coach — a 53-31 record over three seasons is very respectable — but what he did as a basketball coach will matter little to baseball fans.

His job is to re-invigorate the QHS baseball program and get more kids interested in the game. He has a good core of young players to build around — Bronson Melvin and Mason Fairley started on the varsity last spring as freshmen — and there are still a lot of kids playing the game in the YMCA leagues.

Bonness has to sell them on sticking with the sport, and that’s not easy. Altmix has to do the same thing with the girls, whose program has lacked senior leadership because so many upperclassmen have given up the sport.

Both of these men have proven they can coach.

But how will they be as salesmen?

QHS is counting on them being good at it.

The starters for the All-Star Game will be released Sunday, and inevitably, there will be several players who wind up getting voted in who don’t necessarily deserve it.

So who does? Everyone has a different opinion.

Here’s mine …

National League

First base — His numbers don’t match his career stats, but Albert Pujols is still the best first baseman in the game.

Second base — The Braves’ Martin Prado is leading the league in hitting. That’s good enough in my book to earn yourself a spot.

Third base — As much as I enjoy seeing Scott Rolen’s resurgence, the Mets’ David Wright leads the league in RBI and is a hitting machine.

Shortstop — Is there anyone other than the Marlins’ Hanley Ramirez that even deserves to be there?

Catcher — In this case, I go with the best defensive backstop in the game and that’s the Cardinals’ Yadier Molina.

Outfield — The Dodgers’ Andre Ethier, the Cubs’ Marlon Byrd and the Brewers’ Corey Hart have set themselves apart. Did anyone think Byrd would be among the league leaders in hitting? I didn’t.

Starting pitcher — A 14-1 record. A 1.83 ERA. A sure thing for the Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez.

American League

First base — Two triple crown threats. Two dynamic hitters. One starting spot. Tough choice. I’m giving the nod to the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera.

Second base — If Prado is your starter in the NL because he leads the league in hitting, the Yankees’ Robinson Cano needs to be starting here.

Third base — The Red Sox’s Adrian Beltre keeps hitting and hitting and hitting. Put him in coach. He’s ready to play.

Shortstop — Who deserves it? Anyone? The Yankees’ Derek Jeter get the nod simply because he epitomizes playing the game the right way.

Catcher — The Twins’ Joe Mauer is running away with the voting. The fans got it right.

Outfield — The Rangers’ Josh Hamilton is having a monster year. The Blue Jays’ Vernon Wells hasn’t cooled off. The Mariners’ Ichiro Suzuki doesn’t make many outs. Nice combination of starters.

Starting pitcher — The Rays’ David Price, who leads the league in victories, is becoming a popular choice. Since no one else screams “pick me,” I’ll go with Price as well.

QU-Stadium doesn’t look much like the park Brian Dorsett and the Quincy Rivermen called home in 1982.

Heck, it doesn’t even have the same name.

Back then, it was still called Q-Stadium.

“The ballpark is much more enhanced,” Dorsett said. “It looks like a real big time, fan-friendly place right here. They’ve done a great job of making it festive.”

Dorsett made his first visit to the venerable facility since his playing days on Wednesday when the Terre Haute Rex beat the Quincy Gems 11-4 in Prospect League action. Dorsett played for Indiana State University, which is located in his home town of Terre Haute, Ind., when he spent the summer of ’82 in Quincy.

“It’s hard sometimes to fathom that it’s even been that long,” Dorsett said.

So much has changed, including the demands put on summer ballplayers.

“This is a lot more of a grinding schedule,” Dorsett said. “The guys are getting a real feel for what pro baseball would be like. That’s the nice thing about what this league is becoming.”

Dorsett, a catcher, was one of four players from the ’82 Rivermen to reach the big leagues. He made his debut with the Cleveland Indians in 1987 and spent time with the Angels, Yankees, Padres, Reds and Cubs over eight seasons, playing in 163 career games.

Two of the players were Tim Barrett, a right-handed pitcher who made it to the big leagues with the Expos, and Tom Gilles, a right-handed pitcher who worked 1.1 innings for the Blue Jays in 1990. And the last was Jim Lindemann, who played for five teams but is primarily remembered for his contributions with the Cardinals, especially during the 1987 NL Championship Series.