Boys basketball: Oswego East’s Jehvion Starwood commits to Wyoming

Jehvion Starwood’s perspective of his game hasn’t always matched up to that of colleges and recruiting websites.

The Oswego East 6-foot-3 senior said he’s been characterized as a shooting guard, or a combo guard. In his mind, though, he’s a point guard, a view Wyoming’s coaches share.

“That is what they recruited me to be, is a point guard,” Starwood said. “Point guard is the position that I have played,” Starwood said. “I feel like it fits me the best.”

Likewise, Starwood found the best fit with the move west.

A key player on Oswego East’s 29-6 sectional champion as a junior and one of the state’s top senior prospects, Starwood this week made his verbal commitment to Wyoming. Starwood chose the Cowboys over offers from Denver, Illinois State, Miami of Ohio, San Jose State and SIU.

Starwood said that Wyoming’s coaches saw him play during summer league and the last week of AAU while he was playing with the Illinois Wolves. They’ve been heavy on him ever since, and checked off his desire to play at a strong basketball school in a good conference.

“It all came out of nowhere with the recruiting interest to be honest,” Starwood said. “I started getting recognition. I feel like I’ve always been pretty good, always felt that I was better than guys that got certain things. I felt it was all past due, to be honest. The more that I won games, won things, the more recognition I got. It all came together.”

Starwood as a sophomore was a complementary player for Yorkville Christian’s Class 1A state championship team, then transferred to Oswego East as a junior. He averaged 10.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and a team-high 3.0 assists. Starwood’s 24-footer with 2.9 seconds left in overtime gave Oswego East a 62-61 win over Bolingbrook in a sectional semifinal, and the Wolves went on to beat Joliet West for the program’s first sectional title.

Oswego East coach Ryan Velasquez noted that Starwood’s recruitment really sped up this summer and he went to take a visit to Wyoming’s campus. Starwood figures to take a central role for Oswego East this coming season as the lone returning starter.

“He’s really confident, and we’re confident when Jehvion has the ball in his hands,” Velasquez said. “He makes others around him better. He can embrace a role. The things we saw him do this summer, he didn’t do this past year, he just understood his role. This year is role has definitely expanded. He will be a focal point of our team, a leader that can lead in different ways. He can play off the ball, and he can play on the ball. Wyoming can put him in different situations.

“He has some freedom to score the ball and facilitate, and he is a super athletic kid that is very very talented that has poured a lot into the game of basketball. I’m happy that he can be rewarded to play at a high level.”

Starwood is the latest basketball player to follow a pipeline west from the Southwest Prairie Conference to the Mountain West.

Former Oswego East star Ray J Dennis, now at Baylor, started his collegiate career at Boise State. Romeoville product Destin Whitaker went to Fresno State out of high school.

“I knew the assistant coach out there for a while; he’s recruited a number of our players in the past,” Velasquez said. “I guess there is a small connection with guys fro the SPC. Wyoming say Jehvion play, they followed him on the travel circuit, saw him play at Riverside-Brookfield, they stayed in contact with Jehvion. They were invested from the beginning and made it clear that Jehvion was a priority for them.”

Starwood looks forward to joining a Wyoming team that runs a guard-heavy offense with most of the action through their guards.

“People know I can score, but I feel like I’m more of a playmaking type player,” Starwood said. “I’ve played the point my whole life. It makes me feel amazing about my decision to go to a place that will develop my game and help me achieve my goals.”