When the traffic on the board is moving this quickly, you’ve just gotta let the game go.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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I would take either one in a heartbeat.
The question for me now is - do you wait for Watkins' draft decision and risk losing out on him to a higher bidder (a decent chance of that happening, although I think we have a great situation for him) and in the mean time Lathon decides he wants to go elsewhere (Michigan and I'm sure others have talked to him too)
If Lathon is willing to wait on us to finalize a decision, that is best case scenario - if he's not, I think you take Lathon and don't wait on Watkins - I think they are close enough in what they bring to the team and Lathon brings some added 3pt shooting and ball handling that make him even a better fit potentially.
this is comparing apples to oranges. One played in the ACC and the other played in the Ohio valley conference.
Were are going to land a big fish. Watkins is a big fish. Lathon is a big fish. Boswell was a big fish. It's not like we have unlimited money to spend. We're spending money on 7-8 new pieces and yet were going to be just fine. Indiana has had talent since Woodson has been there....how is that going for him. It's about roster construction and how players fit together not just stockpiling talent.
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
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Man I wish people wouldn't spam post complaints like this, it really gets in the way of recruiting news.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Weirdly Lathon is not included in the 247 transfer rankings, and his transfer recruitment in general has been basically silent on Twitter.
Lathon isn't a big fish, but he's a good player, fits like a glove, and would really raise the team's floor imho (similar to Humdinger in all respects). We'd be relying on guys other than him really popping to their ceilings to be a great team, but we're creating a positive environment for that to happen.
The floor spacing and cutting and options is going to be like Disneyland for Boswell compared to watching Caleb Love shoot 100 times a game.
I get both sides here, but a lot of fans, IMO, are more so pouting about media folks like the Field of 68 just putting out a segment how we whiffed this offseason (along with Michigan State).
We have grown accustomed to attention and pre-season hype, but these same media guys in December will be talking about how Illinois picked the right pieces and they just overlooked it like they did on Marcus Domask last year.
I trust this staff's evaluation skills and building a roster.
Still waiting for someone to explain why one of these players is a MUST GET and the other would be a failure. We were not D. Williams or TSJ's 1st choice, but they ended up coming here...why folks are SO focused on whining about the process is confounding.Basically saying Lathon isn’t good when he gave us 23,7 and 4 with TJ guarding him and gave IU 30 with 6 threes Bloomington is just wild …
I'd rather have Watkins than Storr and we were 100% AJ was coming.
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I totally agree on the roster construction part. You want to have a completer lineup (good players 1 to 5 plus good bench and they compliment each other). However, Brad really has to finish this time (landing somebody at least as good as Lathon) instead of missing out like RayJ last year. It was rumored the RayJ miss was due to insufficient NIL and he does not have that excuse this year. Also, I think starting somebody like Monsonta will be consequential (doesn't mean we will be a NIT team but the ceiling will be lower - more like a 1st wk team at best).
Just my opinion, but I can't imagine giving each of these kids a little more this year would have any impact on them staying next year.....maybe their parents.Yeah if it's an investment in the future, that makes senseGood guess imo
I am not worried about either or. I worry about zero. Let's say you focus on Watkins and he stays in the draft or goes to somewhere else and Lathon get scooped up by somebody else during that process. That's my feeling during the Storr and Demin recruitments.Still waiting for someone to explain why one of these players is a MUST GET and the other would be a failure. We were not D. Williams or TSJ's 1st choice, but they ended up coming here...why folks are SO focused on whining about the process is confounding.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Because Watkins is being considered as someone who fits into the frame of the star player that would justify the rhetoric of the past few months where Storr was an insider-confirmed done deal, Kalkbrenner, Kadary Richmond, Boogie Fland, Demin, that level of elite, game changing, look-at-us talent.
Everyone knows Jordan Lathon isn't that.
Your statistics are correct, and what they show is that Watkins isn't that either, despite the 247 ranking (ahead of Deivon Smith, Jonas Aidoo, Aidan Mahaney? That's just silly)
We're in the "bargaining" stage of grief here on this board, but BU's got a basketball team to build.
The kid is 17 and much shorter than Demin, but yeah, he's got a wow factor to his game, as it seems like Lithuanians naturally do.
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For Lathon ... Lot tougher to put up numbers when every team knows you're the guy they have to stop ... And just look at his games against HM competition ... Those are some of his best games ...
FSU has also been cheeks since CY left ... Watkins put up good numbers on a bad team ... In arguably the worst P5 league ...
I think Watkins is super talented ... But is he worth over half a million more than Lathon ?? I don't think so ... I think they're similar players ... And I'd argue Lathon may be the better fit ...
No whining from me. I think they're both good players, but I prefer Watkins by a meaningful amount. My reasons...Still waiting for someone to explain why one of these players is a MUST GET and the other would be a failure. We were not D. Williams or TSJ's 1st choice, but they ended up coming here...why folks are SO focused on whining about the process is confounding.
- TS% 0.577 > 0.543
- Higher rates for rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks (his steals alone more than make up for his TOV%)
- Puts more fouls on the opponent (at least offsets his own foul rate)
- All of this even with ACC > OVC
- I'm not convinced the "savings" from Lathon would allow us to add someone who would be much of an upgrade to anyone else we already have
- Boswell's weakness last year was bad 2pt% without drawing fouls (I'd estimate TS% on those to be somewhere around 0.45 depending on how many FTs were from 2pt attempts). I don't think we have many other players to offset that. Those are both strengths of Watkins (~0.58) vs Lathon (~0.51).
Riley Minix has entered the chat
It blows my mind that people continue to poo poo mid major players, especially after our experience with Marcus last year. His ppg average dropped a whopping 0.8 after moving to the B1G. People way underestimate what having better teammates does for your scoring opportunities.
What's your current read on Kasparas? After watching some of his highlights I see a lot of Domask in his game. I would love to add him with the hope of a special 2025-26 season.
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