Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (October 2017)

[Spoon House]

Truthfully, Wrangor, part of the reason I'm allowing myself some hope for Ayo is because -- and I know this is a ridiculous statement -- there hasn't been any CB movement to Wake. At all. But especially lately.

Now, I know, I know. CB's are worthless, they're clickbait, they're ad revenue, etc. But the situation where CB's aren't worthless is when it's very close to announcement time and things... start to suddenly shift. If even one CB flips or a new one shows up for Wake in the next 36 hours, I'm not even going to bother watching or following the announcement, because late CB's tend to be more concrete.

Until then, it's all Illinois CB's. We've brought up a few exceptions that prove the rule that unanimous CB slates or slates that don't include x school are trustworthy. Sure, it's possible that this is going to be one of those exceptions.

Until, I'm feeling a strange feeling about this recruitment that we haven't had the luxury of experiencing in a long, long time: optimism.

 

[Deleted member 631370]

I have seen this said a lot, and who knows if AYO hasn't already told both coachs his decision and for ever thing he retweets on twitter his family is retweeting 3 or 4 times as much Illini stuff. this is just 2 fan bases looking to see what they can find for themselves and anti the other. Just once it would be nice if a young man could just do it all how they wanted and no one give them any grief over it all

Absolutely. Message boards are breeding ground for the dreaded confirmation bias when it comes to recruiting news. You latch onto stuff that confirms your beliefs / hopes, and discard info that doesn't.

Happens to all of us.

 

[mattcoldagelli]

And the decision hasn't leaked to the types of people who have Crystal Ball picks.

If it leaked and they already had the pick right, how would we know?

 

[FeelTheLovie]

https://mobile.twitter.com/SweetFeetFinger/status/920678790816325632

Look at who liked it....

Meh. Ayo seems like a “prove you wrong” kid that would take it as a challenge

 

[mattcoldagelli]

I can't believe some of you guys are getting caught up in Twitter activity after Elijah Thomas. I think that guy RT'd/liked more Illinois stuff in like three months than I have in the entire time I've had a Twitter account.

 

[Deleted member 2050]

Ayo liking it does raise an eyebrow, though.

and the cycle begins anew

 

[skyIdub]

I get that Illinois fans are confident. My question is what is the basis for this not being a coin flip? Is there a double secret commitment already on the books? Is there a family source that has already confirmed with you that Ayo is coming to Illinois? I get optimism, I even get confidence, but what I don't get is the idea that suggesting that Ayo is conflicted about that decision (since that is exactly what Ayo has said, and exactly what his actions in the past 2 weeks have demonstrated) is setting oneself up for disappointment unnecessarily.

I am not arguing necessarily, but am curious as what are the specific factors that lead you to believe that Ayo is overwhelmingly more likely to attend Illinois than Wake Forest. Can you give me a little insight?

Most Wake fans (other than one 'insider' on the board who has nailed some previous commits) feel like while Wake has a chance, we don't really know where he stands. We feel he likes Illinois and is torn between loyalty and opportunity. You are saying there is no dilemma. Please explain why because all the evidence speaks to Ayo being conflicted on the choice.

Here's where you guys need to take two steps back and reevaluate. I'm not going to go all out "homer" and argue that Illinois holds more opportunity for him, but there's no way that WF has so much more opportunity (vs. "loyalty") that it is between those two factors, as you suggest.

 

[Illiniwek06]

Would the Illini staff really set up Ayo's announcement so he can commit to Wake? Doesn't seem to make much sense to me ... :noidea:

 

[IlliniMed]

Would the Illini staff really set up Ayo's announcement so he can commit to Wake? Doesn't seem to make much sense to me ... :noidea:

Who said they set it up?

 

[mattcoldagelli]

Who said they set it up?

Michael O'Brien

 

[IlliniMed]

O'Brien

Is that 100%? Then again can’t see him saying something w/o proof

 

[IlliniNation44]

Whenever an announcement is on the horizon, this thread degrades into [old] people deciphering social media activity in hopes of finding a treasure map, or something. It never disappoints.

 

[Illiniwek06]

Is that 100%? Then again can’t see him saying something w/o proof

I mean, I can't verify it. But he apparently said it on Tay and Carp yesterday.

 

[Deleted member 631370]

Is that 100%? Then again can’t see him saying something w/o proof

When I heard that, my pessimistic side took over and I thought "eh, no way that's true".

But......if that is true.......that's a pretty significant tip of the hand. However, considering how close to the chest Ayo has played this whole recruitment, why would he tip his hand so obviously?

And why would he need our staff to set up his announcement?

 

[illini95]

Is that 100%? Then again can’t see him saying something w/o proof

it is true, he said it on Tay and Carp yesterday

 

[CAHALL15]

It'd be nice if Ayo retweeted one IL thing instead of exclusively WF stuff.

I get it, but how many tweets did we get from Elijah Thomas and Jawun Evans? If you don’t recall, it was a lot.

Two clues for where he’s going: a change in crystal balls (he’s going to Wake) or keeping track of media (mostly Illinois media is good).

 

[sacraig]

and the cycle begins anew

What cycle? I don't really put a ton of stock in Twitter activity. It's enough for me to raise my eyebrow, not to make me run around pulling my hair out.

 

[ChicagoBoy11]

I mean, I can't verify it. But he apparently said it on Tay and Carp yesterday.

Yeah but didn't he also say Ayo seemed disinterested on his visit and may have already made up his mind? Guy seems to not really have a clue and just hedging for whatever the outcome is

 

[illini95]

Yeah but didn't he also say Ayo seemed disinterested on his visit and may have already made up his mind? Guy seems to not really have a clue and just hedging for whatever the outcome is

fwiw, he only said that others told him Ayo seemed disinterested

 

[sacraig]

When I heard that, my pessimistic side took over and I thought "eh, no way that's true".

But......if that is true.......that's a pretty significant tip of the hand. However, considering how close to the chest Ayo has played this whole recruitment, why would he tip his hand so obviously?

And why would he need our staff to set up his announcement?

That's not necessarily a tip of the hand by Ayo. There are any number of other leak points, not limited to the staff themselves, someone connected to the staff, a store employee involved in setting it up, someone at Morgan Park involved in setting it up, or any other number of people.

 

[Illiniwek06]

Who said they set it up?

Starts at about 29:25.

http://tayandcarp.podbean.com/e/101...hicago-sun-times-harrys-hook-or-carps-chorus/

 

[Illiniwek06]

Yeah but didn't he also say Ayo seemed disinterested on his visit and may have already made up his mind? Guy seems to not really have a clue and just hedging for whatever the outcome is

Yeah, but he also said that that was just people guessing and that the big positive, and a really good indication for Illinois/easily the best indication that he's seen so far, is that he knows pretty much for a fact that Illinois coaches were involved in setting up the announcement.

 

[Centennialillini]

I remember Lou Henson saying back in the 80s that he had never gotten a top shelf player where he did not know the decision a least a day in advance. That is probably still fairly accurate.

Our staff knew about Mark Smith's decision on Monday evening even tho the announcement didn't come until Wednesday.

By 7 PM tonight, the winning staff will probably know the decision and the losers will be hoping that some bolt out of the blue will cause a change.

 

[mattcoldagelli]

And why would he need our staff to set up his announcement?

Not sure. But it's pretty striking that O'Brien is willing to lead into it with "I know pretty much for a fact.."

He's not one to invent stuff, nor does he have any incentive to.

 

[sacraig]

Not sure. But it's pretty striking that O'Brien is willing to lead into it with "I know pretty much for a fact.."

He's not one to invent stuff, nor does he have any incentive to.

He also has no Illini slant one way or the other. He's about as objective as it comes with stuff like this.