Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

[BretMyBeachHouse]

I'm sure this won't be popular, but I remember people saying the same about Weber. Don't misunderstand, I'm not saying Brad is anything like Bruce. I'm just saying blind loyalty is never correct. It's okay to have some level of healthy skepticism.

No kidding.

Two seasons ago we rebuilt a roster and we're told we were made for March. We then failed to meet expectations and clearly had chemistry issues.

This season we had lower expectations but greatly exceeded them due in large part to one of the best coaching jobs we've ever seen by an Illinois coach.

We're many successful seasons away from BU going about this portal process without the fans questioning things.

IBWT is just far too reminiscent of BAM and JFG for my taste.

 

[Snoopy]

After what we lost, I have no expectations any coach would achieve the same level of success as last year. I’d be happy to see competitive games, culture established, roles determined, depth created and hopefully break out seasons for a couple of the new comers. I’m expecting much more in two-three years.

 

[Bassinillini]

Think how quickly things have turned upside down from a norm of mostly 3-4 year players with an occasional grad transfer, JUCO or rarely someone leaving early for the pros to a norm of mostly portal transfers and freshmen with an occasional 3-4 year player or two sprinkled in. Lots of audacity to second guess any coach who is navigating such unchartered seas for the first time. Cal and Bail mostly struggling to stay above water. By comparison Brad seems to be much better in choppy water.

 

[Fly Illini Fly!]

I'd be very surprised if we add more than 2 more guys. In that case, feel like the realistic best case scenario now is getting Watkins and Monsanto. If we can execute that, that's a pretty darn good 10 deep we got.

That dude from San Fran - I'd turn him down. I'd rather take a guy like Monsanto over him to play that role. I think we can do better.

 

[Joel Goodson]

Think how quickly things have turned upside down from a norm of mostly 3-4 year players with an occasional grad transfer, JUCO or rarely someone leaving early for the pros to a norm of mostly portal transfers and freshmen with an occasional 3-4 year player or two sprinkled in. Lots of audacity to second guess any coach who is navigating such unchartered waters for the first time. Cal and Bail mostly struggling to stay above water. By comparison Brad seems to be much better in choppy water.

Brad's JUCO roots are a big plus, as turnover is fast and furious there

 

[PasadenaIllini]

Think how quickly things have turned upside down from a norm of mostly 3-4 year players with an occasional grad transfer, JUCO or rarely someone leaving early for the pros to a norm of mostly portal transfers and freshmen with an occasional 3-4 year player or two sprinkled in. Lots of audacity to second guess any coach who is navigating such unchartered seas for the first time. Cal and Bail mostly struggling to stay above water. By comparison Brad seems to be much better in choppy water.

Except for the practice Brad got navigating these "uncharted seas" last year. Look, we can still wind up with a contending team if he lands a big transfer fish in the next couple of weeks, but the excuse-making for Brad in advance of the finalization of our roster subsequent to the Demin kerfuffle is getting tired. He's paid really well. Top 10 among college coaches last I checked. He should be expected to get results on the recruiting trail and on the court.

 

[Joel Goodson]

I'd be very surprised if we add more than 2 more guys. In that case, feel like the realistic best case scenario now is getting Watkins and Monsanto. If we can execute that, that's a pretty darn good 10 deep we got.

That dude from San Fran - I'd turn him down. I'd rather take a guy like Monsanto over him to play that role. I think we can do better.

everyone would prefer Monsanto over San Fran guy. the trick is getting him to bite, when myriad schools are offering much more PT

 

[Bassinillini]

Except for the practice Brad got navigating these "uncharted seas" last year. Look, we can still wind up with a contending team if he lands a big transfer fish in the next couple of weeks, but the excuse-making for Brad in advance of the finalization of our roster subsequent to the Demin kerfuffle is getting tired. He's paid really well. Top 10 among college coaches last I checked. He should be expected to get results on the recruiting trail and on the court.

So in this post portal era, how do you grade out Brad against the coaches paid more than him, i.e. John Calipari, Tom Izzo, Bill Self, Rick Barnes, Bruce Pearl, Tony Bennett and Mick Cronin?

 

[RabidDawgClassic]

Except for the practice Brad got navigating these "uncharted seas" last year. Look, we can still wind up with a contending team if he lands a big transfer fish in the next couple of weeks, but the excuse-making for Brad in advance of the finalization of our roster subsequent to the Demin kerfuffle is getting tired. He's paid really well. Top 10 among college coaches last I checked. He should be expected to get results on the recruiting trail and on the court.

What results has he not gotten so far? There are two players who set their price significantly higher than he saw their value (Storr & Demin) and one whose value was met by the team who lead most of the way for him (Maddox). Along the way he’s landed his top point guard target (Boswell), a skilled 5 that can space the floor (Ivisic), the 4 he’s coveted for awhile (Booth), the small ball 4 he sees as a key player (Big Ben) and two wings with great upside (White and Davis).

Now, to be fair, there’s still work to be done. But to say he hasn’t gotten results so far is ludicrous. How it will all play out come next winter is another question, but so far Underwood has gotten who he’s wanted and backed off when the asking price became absurd.

 

[PasadenaIllini]

So in this post portal era, how do you grade out Brad against the coaches paid more than him, i.e. John Calipari, Tom Izzo, Bill Self, Rick Barnes, Bruce Pearl, Tony Bennett and Nick Cronin?

All of the coaches you named have made final fours. Multiple coaches on that list have won national championships. All of them have won multiple conference titles. When Brad enters that territory he'll have earned more deference. He hasn't yet.

 

[NashvILLe05]

Except for the practice Brad got navigating these "uncharted seas" last year. Look, we can still wind up with a contending team if he lands a big transfer fish in the next couple of weeks, but the excuse-making for Brad in advance of the finalization of our roster subsequent to the Demin kerfuffle is getting tired. He's paid really well. Top 10 among college coaches last I checked. He should be expected to get results on the recruiting trail and on the court.

If we get a high impact wing (hopefully one testing the NBA waters), then I’d give our offseason haul an A.

Without the high impact wing, I agree the offseason would be a disappointment…around a C grade. Would love to be proven wrong.

 

[illinihoosier]

All of the coaches you named have made final fours. Multiple coaches on that list have won national championships. All of them have won multiple conference titles. When Brad enters that territory he'll have earned more deference. He hasn't yet.

I think you may have missed the part of the question that asked how these coaches are doing in the post portal era. Not much to show for it if that is the question. Isn't the criticism about how he is navigating the portal? How are the other coaches you refer to doing in assembling great teams post-portal? Any of them have a conference championship and elite 8 finish?

 

[Birdus]

I'd be very surprised if we add more than 2 more guys. In that case, feel like the realistic best case scenario now is getting Watkins and Monsanto. If we can execute that, that's a pretty darn good 10 deep we got.

That dude from San Fran - I'd turn him down. I'd rather take a guy like Monsanto over him to play that role. I think we can do better.

Monsanto looks like Perkins. I like his game.

 

[doowink]

Really like this coaching staff....they each have their own strengths as well as different experiences and connections in the basketball community....I'm confident that they will cast their nets and bring in at least another player or two that will strengthen the roster that will make us contenders again in the B10 and get us to post season play again....really hoping TSj and CH are both drafted at a decent level....that can only help this staff in selling Illini basketball as an avenue to the next level

 

[BretMyBeachHouse]

but so far Underwood has gotten who he’s wanted and backed off when the asking price became absurd.

Well, no. Unless all those insiders were wrong about who he wanted.

 

[Combo]

everyone would prefer Monsanto over San Fran guy. the trick is getting him to bite, when myriad schools are offering much more PT

We have a gigantic hole at the 2. A quality SG will get all the minutes he can handle here.

 

[lstewart53x3]

Here comes the contingent of fans who will never be satisfied regardless of results. They love to hang out in post game threads after losses, but rarely show up after wins.

Big ten wins past 5 yrs: 69
Big ten wins previous 10 yrs: 73

If you’re discontent with the state of the program now, you’ll never be happy.

Fan’ing like that must be such a chore.

 

[Joel Goodson]

We have a gigantic hole at the 2. A quality SG will get all the minutes he can handle here.

and the music hasn't stopped yet. I'm assuming we're going to land a VVG 2. someone who is clearly better than Monsanto

 

[PasadenaIllini]

I think you may have missed the part of the question that asked how these coaches are doing in the post portal era. Not much to show for it if that is the question. Isn't the criticism about how he is navigating the portal? How are the other coaches you refer to doing in assembling great teams post-portal? Any of them have a conference championship and elite 8 finish?

The portal has been a thing for 2 years. I can find an arbitrary ebb in the performance of any coach over a 2-year period. Having a track record that includes final fours or national championships gets you deference that goes beyond performance over any 2 year period.

Going back to my original point. The fan bases of the teams of these coaches who haven't performed recently...are they making excuses for their well paid coaches for their recent performances or are they expressing their reasonable critiques and insisting that improvement is expected?

 

[skyIdub]

Here comes the contingent of fans who will never be satisfied regardless of results. They love to hang out in post game threads after losses, but rarely show up after wins.

Big ten wins past 5 yrs: 69
Big ten wins previous 10 yrs: 73

If you’re discontent with the state of the program now, you’ll never be happy.

Fan’ing like that must be such a chore.

 

[NashvILLe05]

Here comes the contingent of fans who will never be satisfied regardless of results. They love to hang out in post game threads after losses, but rarely show up after wins.

Big ten wins past 5 yrs: 69
Big ten wins previous 10 yrs: 73

If you’re discontent with the state of the program now, you’ll never be happy.

Fan’ing like that must be such a chore.

I understand this take. Keep in mind, the standard is chasing a National Championship…set directly by Brad.

I’m a big BU fan and would love for him to shut us up by nabbing that last big piece. The right wing player could take us from a 6-8 seed to a 4-5 (maybe lower).

With an incredible season ending so abruptly, this board has been much needed therapy.

 

[Birdus]

I would rather have Underwood than Musselman or anyone else in the BIG. That includes Painter and IZZO. Do we get everyone we want. No. That's just the way it goes. That being said, I do like the team that we have gotten thus far and can't wait to see who else we add in the next few weeks. I really love the BIG we just got!

 

[Combo]

Here comes the contingent of fans who will never be satisfied regardless of results. They love to hang out in post game threads after losses, but rarely show up after wins.

Big ten wins past 5 yrs: 69
Big ten wins previous 10 yrs: 73

If you’re discontent with the state of the program now, you’ll never be happy.

Fan’ing like that must be such a chore.

I think the problem is some fans read that we "could get" or "have a good chance" with player x, y, or z and they start penciling the most optimistic recruit scenarios into our future lineups. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. I've followed recruiting for about 40 years. We never get all the guys we're linked with or even favored with.

Take all insiders' hints/predictions with a grain of salt. They are usually getting fed information from someone on the staff and what they get is generally very optimistic. It's what could happen, not what will happen.

If we are able to add a quality SG, this is a very successful portal season.

 

[Birdus]

Interesting to what offensive strategies evolve to match the portal induced constant player turnover

I'll just add this. You have a great point. But, if you recruit certain types of players and they're skill sets fit together, it is EASIER to see the team chemistry much more easily aligned together over the course of a season. USC, Indiana, Michigan, UCLA have all taken kindly to the portal. We will see what comes about. I like the way that Illinois has pieced this team together.

 

[PasadenaIllini]

Here comes the contingent of fans who will never be satisfied regardless of results. They love to hang out in post game threads after losses, but rarely show up after wins.

Big ten wins past 5 yrs: 69
Big ten wins previous 10 yrs: 73

If you’re discontent with the state of the program now, you’ll never be happy.

Fan’ing like that must be such a chore.

The gymnastics it must have taken to come to this hyperbolic conclusion must have been "such a chore." No one is expressing "discontent with the state of the program." Some of us (including me) are calling for an honest assessment of the state of our recruiting and the state of our team headed into this coming season. Right now, as our roster stands, we are not talented enough to compete with the best teams in our conference. As I previously stated, that could change if Brad lands a talented shooting guard within the next couple of weeks.