Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

[OrangeKrush1981]

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?

Post-portal era? I suppose the intended meaning is "in the portal era" and even that makes no sense. The team-building situation for NCAA Division I basketball is changing very significantly every year right now and so every recruiting year represents a significantly different challenge compared to the preceding years.

Our coach is doing an impressive job adapting year by year. I agree with the assessment posted in recent weeks by many here that this is one of Underwood's greatest strengths: adaptation.

To your issue about the success of other coaches duirng this "portal era," it has been underway for a very, very short time. Too short to evaluate by counting conference championships and Elite 8 appearances.

 

[Joel Goodson]

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.

sometimes the inside info is 100% accurate. thing is, it's a snapshot. things change, especially in recruiting. especially, now. especially, when a recruitment is in its endgame (akin to an auction). why some have such a hard time grasping this is mind boggling

 

[OrangeKrush1981]

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.

Why exaggerate about "never satisfied"? "Hard to please" seems more accurate.

More importantly, some fans quite clearly focus on having a good season, others on a great season, and evidently others on the best season that a college basketball can have: winning the national championship.

Since Coach Underwood his snuggly-darn ownself says that winning a national championship is HIS goal, why not be patient with the opinions of those fans who (I guess) share that goal with him?

 

[HensonHall71]

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.

If we get Watkins- this offseason would be a Homerun- we’d be better than if we had gotten Storr or even Egor this year

If we miss on him or he stays in the draft but we get Poplar or Kaluma level than it’s still an A in my mind- we’d have a balanced, deep team, just no superstar

If we miss out on all of the above and end up with Monsanto or someone like that as our last piece then I would give the offseason a C, we could be good, but would need a lot of guys to take a big step forward- we’d be starting Ty and Tre in that scenario

 

[hoopsfan47]

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.

Some are critical about the program's success simply because in doing so, they feel they are portraying themselves as more elite or knowledgeable than others who accept consistent success without a national title. Not until a NC is obtained will the light go on when they realize it still is not enough. Not critical of the thousands who post here who are rock solid, but I have seen a couple in my day. Forget them and support the program. It is not wrong to feel great about a team figured to finish 10th in an elite 18 team league and then battle for the top spot all the way. Exceeding expectations is a primary goal, but only one. Whoever takes the floor for the Illini next year will play their tails off at both ends....or get splinters in it. It will be the most challenging season BU has ever coached relative to fitting parts and getting the right answers....but to me, it will also be the most interesting in a long time.

 

[TheGreatDebate]

So probably not going to hear anything for a few weeks right? Have to wiat till we get closer to the draft? Insiders?

 

[skyIdub]

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.

Gymnastics?? C'mon dude. We can literally claim to have gotten 3 of the top 5 transfers in the last two years. (Mayer, TSJ, Domask)
If you really need to assess the state of our recruiting, then by all means, let's be honest shall we?
If we had landed Boswell out of HS we would have lost our Loyalty minds. Now he's here with two years of high level seasoning.
Morez Johnson is a legit McD AA. Jerimiah Fears?? Same.

The only "gymnastics" required to see the logic in his post....is lifting your cup of coffee as you read it...then nod your head.

And you literally reinforced his point with your reply.

 

[More3s]

If we get Watkins- this offseason would be a Homerun- we’d be better than if we had gotten Storr or even Egor this year

If we miss on him or he stays in the draft but we get Poplar or Kaluma level than it’s still an A in my mind- we’d have a balanced, deep team, just no superstar

If we miss out on all of the above and end up with Monsanto or someone like that as our last piece then I would give the offseason a C, we could be good, but would need a lot of guys to take a big step forward- we’d be starting Ty and Tre in that scenario

Great summary of where we stand at the moment, imo

 

[Illiniguy13]

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.

I don't think it's fair to compare last year vs. this year...the market for players & everything about the modern landscape is changing rapidly. It's not apples to apples...just look at what Illini4040 posted about the $ guys like Denim or other top portal guys are getting in comparison to TJ. This stuff is changing by the day. There's no blueprint. Beyond that, if you feel Underwood hasn't met expectations this offseason on the recruiting trail, you are certainly entitled to believe that. As redundant as this is, these are facts - Kylan Boswell is major talent, surely one of the better point guards in college basketball. Carey Booth & Tre White are on NBA radars. No need to squint to see how Jake Davis & Ben Humrichous fit into Tyler's offense. And we landed Orlando Antigua. Orlando fricken Antigua. This is a haul!

 

[Grandpa]

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.

You included 2 of Brad's in the bad 10 years. That's not cool Stewart.

 

[NashvILLe05]

If we get Watkins- this offseason would be a Homerun- we’d be better than if we had gotten Storr or even Egor this year

If we miss on him or he stays in the draft but we get Poplar or Kaluma level than it’s still an A in my mind- we’d have a balanced, deep team, just no superstar

If we miss out on all of the above and end up with Monsanto or someone like that as our last piece then I would give the offseason a C, we could be good, but would need a lot of guys to take a big step forward- we’d be starting Ty and Tre in that scenario

100% agreed and maybe DGL, Ty, and Tre can make that step.

 

[BryceHopkins]

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?

For what it’s worth, Self and possibly Barnes are the only coaches on that list I’d rather have than Brad… and Self will probably ride off into the sunset in a year or two. We’re in very good hands

 

[BryceHopkins]

Monsanto looks like Perkins. I like his game.

I don’t think Ron Santo would be very good at basketball anymore.

 

[NashvILLe05]

Why exaggerate about "never satisfied"? "Hard to please" seems more accurate.

More importantly, some fans quite clearly focus on having a good season, others on a great season, and evidently others on the best season that a college basketball can have: winning the national championship.

Since Coach Underwood his snuggly-darn ownself says that winning a national championship is HIS goal, why not be patient with the opinions of those fans who (I guess) share that goal with him?

We were close this year…closer than I expected and BU deserves all the credit. Take UConn out of the equation and I think we win it all, even against Purdue. We’re close and just want to see the pathway to return. We’re on a solid path.

 

[illinihoosier]

Post-portal era? I suppose the intended meaning is "in the portal era" and even that makes no sense. The team-building situation for NCAA Division I basketball is changing very significantly every year right now and so every recruiting year represents a significantly different challenge compared to the preceding years.

Our coach is doing an impressive job adapting year by year. I agree with the assessment posted in recent weeks by many here that this is one of Underwood's greatest strengths: adaptation.

To your issue about the success of other coaches duirng this "portal era," it has been underway for a very, very short time. Too short to evaluate by counting conference championships and Elite 8 appearances.

Uh bro - you're proving my point. It makes no sense to compare Brad with these other highly paid coaches who had all their success before the portal. The only portal evidence on the table is scant and it's in Brad's favor. Would you rather be paying Brad handsomely right now for filling the stadium, winning championships and showing steady progress toward a Naty or be paying someone for what they did in a by-gone era? I like Brad's trajectory better then most on the A-list that was referred to.

 

[PasadenaIllini]

I don't think it's fair to compare last year vs. this year...the market for players & everything about the modern landscape is changing rapidly. It's not apples to apples...just look at what Illini4040 posted about the $ guys like Denim or other top portal guys are getting in comparison to TJ. This stuff is changing by the day. There's no blueprint. Beyond that, if you feel Underwood hasn't met expectations this offseason on the recruiting trail, you are certainly entitled to believe that. As redundant as this is, these are facts - Kylan Boswell is major talent, surely one of the better point guards in college basketball. Carey Booth & Tre White are on NBA radars. No need to squint to see how Jake Davis & Ben Humrichous fit into Tyler's offense. And we landed Orlando Antigua. Orlando fricken Antigua. This is a haul!

I feel it's way too early to judge whether our transfer class met or didn't meet expectations. I also feel that a position like Brad's that pays as many millions as it does should come with high expectations.

 

[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.

Feel like both those guys are better than people think.

Watkins - I get it - he played on a godawful team...but individually...the dude can play. Won't be Terrence, but he can def. be that alpha wing we've been talking about. I can def. see him being just as good as Storr.

 

[Fly Illini Fly!]

Monsanto looks like Perkins. I like his game.

He has just been bugged terribly by injuries. Before the injuries, he was a real solid contributer for Wake - averaged 13 PPG on 40% from 3 on high volume.

We get him and an alpha wing (like Watkins), think we should feel awfully good about that. Monsanto and an alpha wing - That actually might be better than only Egor tbh (and if we would've gotten Egor, chances are that it would've been only Egor, at least according to the buzz on this board from insiders).

 

[Joel Goodson]

Tre White is going to shock some here. 12 and 6 in the ACC for a flippin' dumpster fire. not chopped liver. guessing he has a mountainous chip on his shoulder. keep adding fuel to his fire

 

[Illini4Christ]

I am just wondering if Ben can play the shooting guard position and solve our problems. Tre and Ty can play the three with Morez and.Carey at the four with Tomislav in the paint.

Is Ben able to handle that? If so, he can be the alpha dog. His shooting ability is exceptional, he could get the 20 points a game this next year.

Davis is better than people realize. He stops on a dime and can drill it without hesitation. Can he play the 2 if we need him?

 

[Illini4Christ]

Tre White is going to shock some here. 12 and 6 in the ACC for a flippin' dumpster fire. not chopped liver. guessing he has a mountainous chip on his shoulder. keep adding fuel to his fire

I don’t disagree. What if he will be an alpha dog? Maybe like Marcus, but he is taller and quicker.

 

[statefarm]

For what it’s worth, Self and possibly Barnes are the only coaches on that list I’d rather have than Brad… and Self will probably ride off into the sunset in a year or two. We’re in very good hands

Would that be "Regular Season Rick" you are referring to? No thanks

 

[Illiniguy13]

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.

Hmm. I'll agree to disagree with you on this one. I see five players on this roster who were top 60 recruits, 4 players who shot >40% from 3 last year & 7 guys north of 6'6". On paper, this looks like a big, talented team with shooters.

 

[Joel Goodson]

today's PSA: don't feed the trolls

 

[skyIdub]

Tre White is going to shock some here. 12 and 6 in the ACC for a flippin' dumpster fire. not chopped liver. guessing he has a mountainous chip on his shoulder. keep adding fuel to his fire

Another "this".

Can we all just stop wondering what the coaches can...and will...do with these guys? If they come in with the right attitude...and I'm assuming after Skyy, Mayer, and Jayden Epps, our coaches have a MUCH better idea of what that attitude is....they are absolutely going to improve here.

I have literally zero doubts that every one of our transfers will be better here. How much better is obviously the million dollar question.

That's also why they play the games....and we tune in......to watch and root for it all to come together.

And then complain about it in the game/postgame threads.