Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#126      
The thread from when the redshirt was announced should be a fun revisit. :ROFLMAO:
I give the kid a lot of credit.. I believe that he took the RS to invest in his future and he wanted it to include the O&B. From the video it looks like he put in the work to get better. The timing also speaks to me about his intentions. He didn't enter the portal when the insiders all agreed that he would be recruited over. He waited until it happened. I choose to believe that if the rumored '"silent verbals" didn't materialize he wanted to stay. In the end he's going out to do what he thinks is best for him and I can't fault that. Personally I hope that is going to a smaller school, killing it, and coming back for 25-27!
 
#127      
Traditionally, if a school is scheduled last, does that imply it's the kids "leading school"?

In other words, since Xavier is scheduled after Illinois, does that bode badly for us getting Maddox?
 
#128      
Brad is cooking

Noah Centineo Chef GIF by Allure
Hopefully he's getting some quality ingredients to work with, maybe a solid source of protein or two, a savory side dish, a spicy seasoning, and a sweet dessert.

And a palate-cleanser for the coaching carousel discussion 😁...
 
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#131      
These numbers are mind blowing. This is darn close to a complete and total roster overhaul. Incredible.
It definitely can be called a complete overhaul at this point. Only 4 scholarship players remain from last year, and soon to be 3 based on what's being said. The positive is this is the portal era, otherwise we'd be talking ground up rebuild. This will be the new norm though- 50-75% new faces every year. Wild when you think about it.
 
#132      
It sucks, but welcome to college basketball in 2024. Brad's job is to get the best players possible right now. Maddox or a couple other guards we are looking at are upgrades over Sencire for next season
Well, the idea of recruiting over has always been there. Just now with immediate eligibility it's just much easier.

I have no issue with this as long as the playing field is level. If we're making guarantees to incoming portal guys that disadvantages the guys already here that definitely rubs me wrong.
 
#134      
It definitely can be called a complete overhaul at this point. Only 4 scholarship players remain from last year, and soon to be 3 based on what's being said. The positive this is this is the portal era, otherwise we'd be talking ground up rebuild. This will be the new norm though- 50-75% new faces every year. Wild when you think about it.
i'm hoping that someone within the DIA recognizes the need for the fanbase to get to know/buy in to a new roster every year and starts putting out a series of videos on newcomers with their stories/highlights leading up to the season
 
#135      
... Brad's job is to get the best players possible right now. ...
I would modify that: Brad's JOB is to assemble a team that has a chance to win a national championship. A team that can do that might be built over more than one year, meaning that it is of course absurb to imagine seriously competing for a national championship every year.

Getting good players is the single most important part of that, by far.

But defining what constitutes a "good" player isn't so easy as looking at numbers like height or PPG, APG and RBG though those surely matter hugely. Great individual character and team chemisty are vital ingredients in a winning team. My worries about recruiting usually center on the issues of individual character and team chemistry rather than the numbers.

End of pompous declamation.
 
#138      
I mean c'mon guys.......I refuse to believe some of y'all are this naive. Outside of the super rare cases like Jack Ingram for example....this is literally how it's ALWAYS been for the entire history of college basketball. These guys have always been funneled into lower workload majors like RST or Communications and they have tutors that pretty much do 70% of their work FOR them even then.

Kendall, Nick Anderson, Frankie, BCook, Dee, Deron, Luther, BP3, Rayvonte,Malcolm, Meyers....these dudes most definitely spent more time at KAMS then they ever did in class. I know for a fact during my time there that UI athletics would literally have someone whose entire job was stopping in classrooms and checking if the athletes were in attendance. Half the time the guys would wait until they got marked as present and then bounce anyways.

The illusion of the "amateur-college-athlete" has ALWAYS been just that........an illusion (for the vast ,vast majority of the players).

Side note, I've always been of the opinion that if you can major in Theatre, Music, or Dance....you should be able to major in Basketball/Football or the D1 sport you're playing. You probably would have better job prospects right out of college with the latter as a high level D1 athlete 😅
Nick Young Wtf GIF
 
#141      
If you really think that athletes have only just now stopped caring about the value of an education because of NIL/transfer portal.....boy do I have some beachfront property in Kansas to sell you :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
The gif was about your side note... But you seem to care way more than me so go ahead and take your W and have a great day.
 
#142      
Well, the idea of recruiting over has always been there. Just now with immediate eligibility it's just much easier.

I have no issue with this as long as the playing field is level. If we're making guarantees to incoming portal guys that disadvantages the guys already here that definitely rubs me wrong.
I wonder what DGL is thinking about us adding Boswell and possibly Maddox.
 
#143      
Not really. I’d argue even most folks defending the new system on some notion of fairness to the players (totally valid) are not enjoying it too much as fans. It is what it is, I guess.

However, it is what it is and we should at least be thankful that Illinois Basketball, specifically, is incredibly well-positioned compared to the field in this new universe of Power Two conferences and NIL.
+1. I’m a staunch believer that athletes should be paid what they’re worth and I’m happy that the new system allows a wealthy program like ours to have year-in-year-out success. I can also admit that I don’t have the same sentimental feeling towards our 1-2 year transfers that I did towards the Dees and BP3s of the program in the past. To me, the trade-off is a clear plus but I understand how people feel differently.
 
#146      
The gif was about your side note... But you seem to care way more than me so go ahead and take your W and have a great day.

Haha fair fair!

I know that it's a super out-there idea but just like I've always thought that if you were an elite singer/dancer/actor in college you should be able to profit off your talents and thus elite athletes should be able to profit as well.....don't see why you shouldn't be able to major in sports either. If we let people major in Interpretative Dance, why can't they major in Basketball or Football?! 😅
 
#147      
Why even scout and recruit high school kids if you’re going to recruit over them? I don’t blame these guys for transferring out personally I think it’s BS to say we wanted you in the beginning and now you’re not good enough so you’re gonna sit on the bench why even get any commits if this is what’s gonna happen?
Kids have been recruited over for time immemorial, often in the very year they committed. In the pre-portal era you had to just lace them up and compete, or look for a better playing time situation elsewhere and sit out a year after transferring. Remove the sit a year penalty and this is what we get.
 
#148      
Trying to get the portal tracker caught up with commitments to us (welcome home Kylan!) and others (Corhen, Kent, etc.). Not a lot of new names added over the weekend, but I'm sure we'll have some new targets come as our AC search gets finalized.

Our internal Crystal Ball has a bunch of spots for others added, keep an eye on that to grow and update. Maddox CB was flipped to Xavier on Friday - perception definitely seems that they're in the lead, but who knows if we make a strong enough case to keep him from making his trip to Ohio.

Portal season is as fluid as it gets in recruiting, but I'm excited by the possibilities.

giphy.gif


Link to tracker.
 
#150      
Maddox blocks DGL but I think if DGL was starting this year we'd be in trouble. I think it's a really good spot for him to come off the bench and be a scorer in the second unit.
I agree with that 100%, however.....will agree with that? If he wants to start and doesn't, then in April 2025....

Finding guys that are ok being role players will be limited to being gotten via the portal for these coaches. I'd think that it's a tough as for a coach to go into a high schoolers living room and sell that pitch?
 
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