Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#1      

Dan

Dan
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Dan
Welcome to the Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread :illinois:

Transfer Portal
Jake Davis (Mercer guard) committed on April 1st, 2024, signed on April 2nd, 2024.
Tre White (Louisville wing) committed on April 9th, 2024.

2024 Illini Recruiting
Morez Johnson (2024 PF) committed on November 4th, 2021, signed on November 8th, 2023.
Jason Jakstys (2024 F) committed on July 23rd, 2023, signed on November 8th, 2023.

2025 Illini Recruiting
Jeremiah Fears (2025 PG) committed on January 22nd, 2024.
 
#2      
frozenrope9190
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#10      
1m4tr
I’m not worried one bit about Tre White’s defense. During the first practice, you think Underwood will tolerate for one second any lackadaisical effort from Tre? He’ll have zero tolerance for that. Ty and Harris will show him what effort looks like.
His defensive versatility as a freshman at USC bodes well for him here.
We were all surprised at how well Domask played on the offensive end. Perhaps Tre will be the pleasant surprise for us on the defensive side?
 
#11      
More3s
1m4tr said:
I’m not worried one bit about Tre White’s defense. During the first practice, you think Underwood will tolerate for one second any lackadaisical effort from Tre? He’ll have zero tolerance for that. Ty and Harris will show him what effort looks like.
His defensive versatility as a freshman at USC bodes well for him here.
We were all surprised at how well Domask played on the offensive end. Perhaps Tre will be the pleasant surprise for us on the defensive side?
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Yeah as I think about it more, having Ty and Tre (lol) on the same team is interesting. They both have aspects to their game that, if you could somehow graft from one to the other, would make them absolute monsters. If you got Tre hustling, playing D, and rebounding like Ty, while still having decent offensive production.. montster. And I think everyone agrees if you could get Ty to shoot even 30% from 3 (which is what Tre shot this year) and finish at the rim and score just a bit better...monster. So yeah I'm liking the idea of these 2 pushing each other all year in their own way.

edit: Oh, and if you happened to get both of these additions to their respective games, you could probably even play them at the same time, and then that'd REALLY get interesting. Like what if, to change things up, you wanted to run a big guard lineup with Ty at the 1, Storr at the 2, Tre at 3, Amani or Goode as 4, and Carey Booth as your 5. Not for a whole game, but just to spell smaller guys like Maddox and Boswell and give a VERY different look/feel for a bit with big time positional size at guard. Ty has enough experience at the 1 this year to do this in spurts in the right situation, I think.
 
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#12      
EyeoftheIllini
Man, some of the takes on Tre White have been ridiculous. I encourage everyone to read LvilleILL’s post on second to last page of previous recruiting thread. As I mentioned in previous post, I didn’t see much of White this past season at Louisville, but probably saw good portions of 5 or 6 of his games at USC and he is talented. And I came to that conclusion even tho two of those games were not good performances against Oregon St. Do some of the things being said about him and his time at Louisville worry me? Not really. Brad and company have vetted him and feel comfortable. I’m actually encouraged that a kid who likely had pretty much free rein on a bad team wants to get back to winning and is open to coming off the bench or earning a starting job.
 
#15      
IndyOrange
Offensively, we should be good. I'm just really struggling seeing how we stop anyone with these lineups. Defense would seem to be even worse than last year. Was hoping to get a bigger defensive presence inside and good on ball defender. Maybe I'm way off on this and we just outscore everyone again.
 
#16      
chief
Hope some of the new names that I am seeing on this board are not soft.....we need defense and rebounding, the offense can be developed! Honestly, kind of worried about the make up and culture of the team after such a major reload. Ty, Amani, Buck, DGL and Morez all gotta be leaders and keep the culture that was set by Trent, Felix, Coleman, TJ et. al. Otherwise, we are back to square one and starting over = nightmare. Ask yourself the question, does this dude play defense, does he look like he wants to bang and go to the offensive glass, is he willing to take "no" for an answer? Portal guys are in the portal for a reason? Just saying, I am a bit worried.
 
#17      
soupy17
ChiefGritty said:
Yeah my lesson on Tre White is taking a BIG step back from thinking we know what's going on at any level of precision.
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I've tried to keep up with the names thrown around on this board with my tracker and to the best of my knowledge his name never popped up until seemingly moments before his commitment.

Maybe a smokescreen from our insiders as I know they will withhold info when requested, but his name seemingly came out of nowhere.

Updated tracker at the link.
 
#18      
Homecoming 2019
chief said:
Hope some of the new names that I am seeing on this board are not soft.....we need defense and rebounding, the offense can be developed! Honestly, kind of worried about the make up and culture of the team after such a major reload. Ty, Amani, Buck, DGL and Morez all gotta be leaders and keep the culture that was set by Trent, Felix, Coleman, TJ et. al. Otherwise, we are back to square one and starting over = nightmare. Ask yourself the question, does this dude play defense, does he look like he wants to bang and go to the offensive glass, is he willing to take "no" for an answer? Portal guys are in the portal for a reason? Just saying, I am a bit worried.
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Try to avoid judging any player under Kenny Payne. He's 6'7" athlete who rebounds fairly well, I think we can convince him it's in his best interest to give effort on defense. His best games are against his toughest opponents, seems like he just needs to play games that matter.
 
#19      
illini510
I don't think there's a need to question who the Illini are taking or to be underwhelmed with who they're bringing in. That type of thinking went right out the window when Marcus Domask completely shocked everyone by what he was able to bring to the table. I believe we as a fanbase will need to trust in what Underwood and staff are doing. They have a blueprint now on what worked this season and I believe they will go after the types of players they need to stay at a high level and to get over the hump to compete with the truly elite teams in this country. This is very similar to building an NBA roster. You can't build an NBA roster with all elite players. Every good NBA team has complimentary players who fit the puzzle. You need to find guys who are willing to play a role and understand what they're being brought in there to do. UConn did it to perfection. The Illini can't get all the best players and we don't need to get all the best players. Tre White appears to be a complimentary piece to the puzzle with high upside if coached properly
 
#20      
AirNeazy
Not familiar with Booth's game. Any insight from people who've seen ND last year why he's considered a potential NBA guy?

Btw, how awesome will it be to have a hometown kid who went to Bottenfield and Urbana Middle School as our starting PG??
 
#21      
Iloveorangekoolaid
chief said:
Hope some of the new names that I am seeing on this board are not soft.....we need defense and rebounding, the offense can be developed! Honestly, kind of worried about the make up and culture of the team after such a major reload. Ty, Amani, Buck, DGL and Morez all gotta be leaders and keep the culture that was set by Trent, Felix, Coleman, TJ et. al. Otherwise, we are back to square one and starting over = nightmare. Ask yourself the question, does this dude play defense, does he look like he wants to bang and go to the offensive glass, is he willing to take "no" for an answer? Portal guys are in the portal for a reason? Just saying, I am a bit worried.
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It’s too early in the morning for this nonsense.
 
#22      
ChiefGritty
AirNeazy said:
Not familiar with Booth's game. Any insight from people who've seen ND last year why he's considered a potential NBA guy?
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Think a longer, more physically imposing Coleman Hawkins who is still only 18.

Big guy with perimeter skills and 3 point range who can rebound and guard up and down the lineup. Hawkins is a better passer, but I definitely see NBA potential in Booth.

College fans underrate date of birth as something NBA scouts are looking at.
 
#23      
Retro62
So, either Tre didn’t listen to Skyy about Illinois, and made his own mind up, or he did listen and Skyy had regrets, or he looked at Skyy and said I don’t want to deal with that and Illinois didn’t either.

Or, none of this has anything to do with it and I’m throwing spaghetti at the wall…I know I would vote for the latter, but I also know who’s saying it, so I have the advantage.
 
#24      
SuperIllini34
He’s just roster filler. Reminds me of Ohio State taking Jamison Battle last year. Won’t hurt you but won’t be the difference either.

The key to next year is getting Boswell/Storr and having them click
 
#25      
HensonHall71
On Tre White-

He’s obviously very talented- a guard that gets 6 rebounds a game doesn’t lack effort

I’m sure a team that was a dumpster fire and had Skyy as the point guard is going to show flaws in everyone’s game - but he was a 36% 3pt shooter on spot up threes last year, so shot selection can likely help his % significantly- think Domask like accuracy. Coleman was a 28% and 29% three point shooter his last two years and was 37% this year, players can improve- environment, shot selection, role etc have a lot to do with effectiveness and I trust this staff to put Tre White in a position to thrive- I’ll bet on talent with good coaching any day of the week
 
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