'Gym rat': This D-I recruit from Peoria Notre Dame has come so far. He's still going

PEORIA — Measuring Eoin Dillon’s improvement from summer until now seems to be easy.

“A lot,” Peoria Notre Dame boys basketball coach Tom Lacher said when asked the difference in his senior star’s abilities within the last six months. “He’s a gym rat and he wants to be better. I think he realizes that, at the next level, some things that he needs to work on that he can work on here and he’s done that.”

Dillon solidified his Division-I college choice in September by selecting Belmont over 13 other schools vying for his services. His visit to the Nashville, Tennessee, campus sealed the deal for him. The 6-foot-9 guard/forward says the coaches were great, his future teammates were awesome and he loved the entire experience.

“(Their) winning culture is awesome there,” Dillon said of the Missouri Valley Conference program with eight NCAA Tournament appearances since 2006. “They’re in a good conference. I’ll be back at home (playing Bradley and Illinois State), and just getting away from home a little bit. I just like everything about it.”

Peoria basketball renaissance? This generation's elite talent makes the case

With the college choice behind him, Dillon is focused on leading the Irish. PND started the season 0-5 with a tough run at the Kevin Brown Memorial Tournament of Champions in Washington, then lost to Manual by three.

Dillon, who was named TOC all-tournament team for the City of Washington Invitational portion, averaged 19.8 points and 5.8 rebounds during the TOC highlighted by a 30-point output against Florida Victory Christan.

“He’s improved a lot from even (looking) at him last year,” PND senior guard Teddy Dimler said. “He knows he has to have a huge role on this team, and he’s stepped up his leadership too. He’s been kind of guiding all of us, making us better."

Things, however, started turning around with Dillon’s 23 points on five 3-pointers and nine rebounds in a one-point win over Rock Island. He added 15 points against Yorkville Christian, 12 versus Danville and scored 18 against Limestone.

Lacher says his all-Big 12 Conference second-teamer is a good rebounder and passer, but has shown the most improvement with his ballhandling,

“As he figures that stuff out,” the 13-year-coach said, “and he gets a little more confident in making plays for others, it’s going to free him up into becoming an even more efficient scorer than he is. We all know he can shoot but he’s become a good three-level scorer. I think the next phase of that is figuring how to affect the game on a more regular basis without just scoring.

“He’s obviously got a much bigger role for us than he’ll have that first year at Belmont. I think he’s using that bigger role to prepare himself for the eventually that he’s going to have that big role at Belmont.”

But Dillon will have to improve on his 13 points per game average from last season with the absence of his longtime teammate Cooper Koch. The Iowa recruit transferred to Metamora in August, then faced his former team in the season-opener at Washington.

How did Koch leaving impact Dillon?

“It didn’t really affect me,” he said. “I just thought that I needed to work harder and then it shows that I need to have more accountability on myself and work harder in the gym. Just keep getting better every day and get people around me better.”

Holiday tournaments: Schedule for high school boys teams from Peoria

Now in Class 2A, the Irish look to be state contenders, coming in at No. 7 in the first poll from The Associated Press. PND last won a regional during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season where they were scheduled to meet Manual in the 3A Peoria Sectional final.

Going to the post-Christmas Pekin Insurance Holiday Tournament, facing up against tough 3A and 4A foes in the Big 12 and all the other difficult parts of the Irish’s nonconference slate can only bolster their confidence come tournament time.

“Playing all these big-time schools,” Dillon said, “it’ll help us in the long run but once we get down to 2A, it’s not going to really look like anything we’ve seen or we’ve played so far.”

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA basketball profile on Belmont recruit Eoin Dillon of Peoria Notre Dame