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Chatham Glenwood sophomore wing Peyton Allen has a busy fall planned. He will attend Oklahoma State’s version of midnight madness in late October. Before then, he has plans to visit Michigan and Iowa. And no one would be surprised if he found time for the shorter trip to Illinois, which he’s been to many times.

After schools try to impress Allen this fall, it will be the other way around come winter, as he’ll have much to prove during his second season of varsity basketball. Allen garnered plenty of attention as a freshman at Glenwood, but he was slowed during this past AAU season by a variety of ailments, including a concussion. Simply put, Allen didn’t get the chance to prove as much as he wanted – and that’s why this winter is important.

“He didn’t play a whole lot. He’s got to go out and play,” Illinois Wolves director Mike Mullins said. “He’s got to get his body in better shape, change that baby fat into muscle, and he’s got to be productive over a long period of instead of just in glimpses. To do that, you have to be on the court.

“You know how tough a college season is to get through with all the practices, two or three games a week and travel. You got to show you can withstand that and hold up to it … It’s physically maturity. I don’t spend a whole lot of time worrying about freshmen.”

Recruitment of Bates-Diop, Egezeke taking off

Mullins said that every time he sees sophomores Keita Bates-Diop and Amanze Egezeke, it seems like they’ve grown some more. Bates-Diop is a 6-foot-6 forward from Normal. Egezeke is a 6-foot-7 forward from Huntley.

Bates-Diop recently picked up an offer from DePaul.

“He felt privileged and also it gave him an opportunity to realize he’s got quite a future in this game,” Mullins said of what the high-major offer meant to Bates-Diop. “It was an evolving process for him and even his family from spring to summer, that his recruiting is starting at a high-major level.”

Bates-Diop visited Michigan two weekends ago, taking in the Wolverines’ last half-minute comeback against rival Notre Dame. He also has trips planned to Wisconsin, Illinois, Tennessee and Northwestern, Mullins said.

Egezeke has already visited Michigan, Tennessee, Northwestern and Purdue.

Mullins said the 180-pound Bates and 180-pound Egezeke both remind him in some ways of Evan Turner, the Philadelphia 76ers forward and Wolves alum who visited the team at a workout two Sundays ago.

“They have similar body types,” said Mullins, noting Turner was about 6-foot-5 and 160 pounds early in his high school career. “Even kind of similar high school backgrounds. People forget Evan didn’t start varsity until he was a junior in high school. Keita wasn’t a varsity starter as a freshman. Amanze was at times. It’s not where you start, but how good you keep getting.”

Riley looks to draw more attention

AJ Riley, a 6-foot-2 junior point guard from Peoria Manual, has about 11 or 12 offers, Mullins said. Most come from schools in the Horizon League and Missouri Valley Conference, such as Bradley, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, UIC, Wright State and Creighton.

But he could be in line for some bigger attention with a solid junior season this winter.

“He’s a kid all the Big East, Big 12, Pac-10 and Big Ten schools are tracking,” Mullins said. “He’s a terrific player. He had a great, great year for us, so I think he’s just scratching the surface of how good he can be.”