Illini Basketball 2018-2019

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#676      

wILL-INI

Charlotte, NC
I never want a coach to change what has made him successful, but... this is cause for concern.
 
#677      
Often see a lot of changes when a new coach comes in what is concerning here is that players he recruited are leaving after just one year that is not nearly as common and certainly from the outside will make people wonder what is going on. Ebo was certainly seen as a major piece going forward and is a significant loss for this upcoming season. Players leaving the program this quickly after being recruited is not the image the Illini want out there. Will be a very interesting upcoming season to say the least
 
#678      
I never want a coach to change what has made him successful, but... this is cause for concern.

I don't either, and that's the real problem here.

To tie this back to the thread, playing UnderwoodBall next year is out the window. We'll go 4-30 if we try to do that.

This is a system coach who through two seasons will have done very little to install and coach to his system. And several of the good talents who remain are going to be stuck playing out of position.
 
#679      
Why does everyone assume BU is the reason Ebo is transferring? Did Ebo state this as his reason? It could be something totally different.
 
#680      
I wish EBO the best wherever he chooses to go unless he plays against us. That being said I thought it was highly likely that a new recruit or a possible transfer was going to surpass him by B10 season due to his offensive short comings. Well now there will be ample time for someone even sooner.
 
#681      
I’m not even worried, we have been terrible for years, maybe this is what it takes. I trust Underwood and nobody has any clue why this happened.
 
#683      

sacraig

The desert
I am not at all convinced this is Underwood or program related. The timing of this is so weird. New recruits are starting to arrive for summer ball, existing players have been doing offseason training with the staff for a while now, Ebo specifically had recently been interviewed talking about his role on the team and his work with Fletcher... none of it adds up. It really seems (on its face, pure speculation) to reek of being some kind of personal life issue.

The other transfers and players leaving, sure. They happened at a reasonable time in the year under what I would call normal circumstances. This one just doesn't smell right.
 
#686      

illini80

Forgottonia
What we wouldn’t give to have a Michael Finke on the team right now.
 
#690      
There is clearly something in the program now that is a miss.....its becoming more and more evident there are major issues...Forget BU I'd like to hear from Whitman on what is happening.
 
#691      
Underwood successfully recruited 4 players last season (Smith, Vesel, Ebo, Alstork) and all 4 ended their career in disappointment, 3 of them prematurely.

It does not mean that future players will not succeed, but it definitely puts a damper on claims that BU is somehow better in identifying underrated talent and players who fit his system, who will likely overachieve, just because he makes millions of dollars.

For the record, the vast majority of coaches can't do that either, so this is not unique to Underwood. Expecting to outsmart and outsystem the rest of the B1G and other coaches will not happen. We need a very strong 2019 Fall recruiting class. I sound like broken record, but attrition will happen, even with existing players, unlikely that all project recruits will pan out. So we can't go into Spring of 2019 with many recruiting gaps. Fall is the key.
 
#692      
The only thing I can possibly think of is that maybe there's legs to the rumor of Cunningham? I don't know. Not holding my breath on that. Just spit balling.
 
#693      
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if there was ever a time for this, it’s now

Agree. Thought we were at bottom, but today....today dug the pit a good bit deeper.

Thanks for the laugh, though, it's all we got
 
#694      
It does not mean that future players will not succeed, but it definitely puts a damper on claims that BU is somehow better in identifying underrated talent and players who fit his system, who will likely overachieve, just because he makes millions of dollars.

And another thing, even assuming we like the players that are coming in, at this point it is willful blindness toward contrary evidence to expect those guys all to have full Illini careers, and that does not just include the reach-y projects.

Underwood is currently batting .000 at having his hand-picked recruits last more than one season at Illinois.
 
#695      
Based on the timing, you'd gotta imagine that it is personal reasons. Which, if that is the case, I really hope everything is OK with Ebo. But it doesn't suck any less and doesn't make me any less worried about the future state of the program.
 
#696      
Program is in big trouble for the upcoming season not sure we have more than 2 or 3 players right now who are ready to be in a Big 10 rotation. I did not think we would possibly be poorer in Underwood's second year compared with his first but that is starting to certainly look like a possibility. We had better hope that several of these freshman are immediate studs and impact players.
 
#697      

Whitmans Sampler

Eastern Iowa
God forbid one of Kane or Giorgi gets hurt at all this season and then we literally do not have a backup center. C’mon Brad, this absolutely cannot happen.
 
#698      

Peoria Illini

Peoria, IL
And another thing, even assuming we like the players that are coming in, at this point it is willful blindness toward contrary evidence to expect those guys all to have full Illini careers, and that does not just include the reach-y projects.

Underwood is currently batting .000 at having his hand-picked recruits last more than one season at Illinois.

In all honesty, his "hand-picked" guys were brought in on an incredibly short recruiting window. I'm sure he found what he thought was the best options or possibly the best upside that was available at the time, save for Mark Smith.

We'll be fine.
 
#699      

SKane

Tennessee
It would be good to know what is really going on.

However, that is the last thing that is going to happen.
 
#700      

ILL in IA

Iowa City
Let's take a deep breath and look things over. Becuase the timing of this doesn't pass the "BU is too hard to play for" reasoning IMO. If that was the case, why wait till now. Unless backchanneling was done by another program, now would seem to be the worst time for Ebo to leave. This makes me think it is more to do with family, school, or personal.

And of the 5 transfers not counting black, Smith and Ebo seem to be the only ones that we would have wanted to stay, or didn't have a replacement set to come in. And I'm not 100% sure something won't work itself out with Ebo gone.

I'm concerned but I think we will be just fine.
 
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