Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (April 2018)

[mikedILLINI]

BU SFA teams were 9th, 4th, & 4th in the whole Nation with regards to total assists. Last year we were #184 in the country. Clearly, he's after assists. Ramey and Feliz fit the profile. Can't speak for Ramey, but Feliz' on the ball defense is very good.

do last years numbers being so low have to do with our in ability to assist or make wide open shots im thinking it was both.

 

[Deleted member 654622]

That is the kind of thinking that has gotten us where we are, left holding the bag. From the timing, it looks like Antigua knows Feliz and likes him. Underwood will lay it out for Ramey, they want him badly, but cannot wait. If he does not commit tomorrow, they will accept Feliz. Ramey and his dad are worried about Courtney having the ball, at the end of games. They saw what Trent Frazier did last year and Ayo likes the ball also. So if BU cannot convince Courtney and his dad that he will be the man, he will be gone. The number 1 PG in Junior College isn't a bad backup plan.:thumb:

The hot hand gets the ball in crunch time. You want the ball, play well, earn it, don't expect it to be given to you.

 

[haasi]

BTW, Okoro is taking an OV to Oregon this weekend. Guess the reclassification is heating up again. If he turns 20 during the season (next season), he's ineligible. No info on his DOB.

What’s the whole story on this? Okoro came over from Nigeria and has no known birth records, and when he enrolled in school in US he came in as class of 2019? And there’s an IHSA rule that bars players who are 20, and it’s possible that Okoro is already 19? And that might be one reason he’d reclassify to 2018?

Assuming all the above is correct, is there really a risk that IHSA would be able to find his birth records when his DOB has never come out?


If he reclasses, I assume we’d go after him very hard right now.


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[NBB1979]

ok - this will be more concise since it didn't post the first time. But - I've read that BU needs to tear down and rebuild, or there's a culture issue at Illinois, etc.

So - I wanted to re-visit last years roster:

Black - inherited player (turned pro)
Jordan - inherited player - best season in college BB last year
Lucas - inherited player (transferred)
Finke - inherited player (transferred)
Nichols - inherited player - an enigma - VERY good at his best

Frazier - inherited recruit that BU re-recruited
DWilliams - inherited recruit that BU re-recruited
MSmith - BU recruited (transferred)
Ebo, Alstork, Vesel - all BU recruits


I would argue that BU had plenty of influence on LAST YEARS roster - I think the "rebuild" and "teardown" arguments are straw men - this was BU's roster - he recruited 55% of last years team the remaining five players, three were at critical positions of need (PF/C) - then you have Lucas and Jordan, which were serviceable players for us last year.

Just my opinion - Go Illini

 

[TCTORNADO]

do last years numbers being so low have to do with our in ability to assist or make wide open shots im thinking it was both.

Good point, last year's team shot a miserable overall .439%. The SFA teams were 26th, 7th, and 69th FG% in the country, so your theory holds.

 

[NBB1979]

The hot hand gets the ball in crunch time. You want the ball, play well, earn it, don't expect it to be given to you.

could not agree more :thumb:

Go Illini

 

[TownieMatt]

do last years numbers being so low have to do with our in ability to assist or make wide open shots im thinking it was both.

Both.

And it's a hold over from Groce when we didn't move off the ball or make incisive passes. We played a ball screen offense with a bunch of guys standing around on the perimeter. Groce was also maniacal about not turning the ball over. Turnovers are bad, but so is never making a cutting pass that could lead to an easy bucket because you're terrified of turning it over.

Passing and moving without the ball are the two most under-appreciated skills in basketball. Remember how well the '05 team moved without the ball and found the open guy? Groce didn't get that. Underwood does. So far, the guys that played under Groce haven't been able to break those bad habits.

 

[Second and Chalmers]

We played a ball screen offense with a bunch of guys standing around on the perimeter.

Last year? False.

 

[Dren1]

Doesn't sound as if Trice is necessarily a lean as many suspected. In fact after this read, I would be hard pressed to say K-State may be a lock for him. Very very good comments about Weber and style etc.

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/kansas-state/article207917554.html

I don't know if anyone is thinking that he is still a lean to us. All signs lately seem to point to us cooling on Trice and/or him preferring a different destination.

 

[rockillini]

ok - this will be more concise since it didn't post the first time. But - I've read that BU needs to tear down and rebuild, or there's a culture issue at Illinois, etc.

So - I wanted to re-visit last years roster:

Black - inherited player (turned pro)
Jordan - inherited player - best season in college BB last year
Lucas - inherited player (transferred)
Finke - inherited player (transferred)
Nichols - inherited player - an enigma - VERY good at his best

Frazier - inherited recruit that BU re-recruited
DWilliams - inherited recruit that BU re-recruited
MSmith - BU recruited (transferred)
Ebo, Alstork, Vesel - all BU recruits


I would argue that BU had plenty of influence on LAST YEARS roster - I think the "rebuild" and "teardown" arguments are straw men - this was BU's roster - he recruited 55% of last years team the remaining five players, three were at critical positions of need (PF/C) - then you have Lucas and Jordan, which were serviceable players for us last year.

Just my opinion - Go Illini

Good opinion. The one thing to think about is Underwood had very little time last year to acquire players and didn't really understand what he had or needed, so he had to take what he could get for the most part to fill some big holes.

 

[Deleted member 654622]

BTW, Okoro is taking an OV to Oregon this weekend. Guess the reclassification is heating up again. If he turns 20 during the season (next season), he's ineligible. No info on his DOB.

I didn't put much stock in this when I heard it originally, as I assumed a lot of other schools were going to get involved in Okoro when he started getting noticed. However, (stick with me) one of my bosses played college ball with an Oregon assistant. He told him, that Oregon was going to start going in hard on Ramey and Okoro. Looks like they got one to nibble at least

 

[Illinoise]

Last year? False.

Underwood didn’t want to run this but was forced to way more than he would have liked to. They didn’t get consistently get good looks from the motion he prefers to run. A lack of players with the ability to finish at the rim renders the spread pretty ineffective.

 

[SampsonRelpenk]

Back to TJ: ecstatic to have him on board, but based on his ranking, film, and the fact that it's so late in the game, I expected more of a battle for his services.

 

[TownieMatt]

Last year? False.

Under Groce. True.

 

[foby]

Back to TJ: ecstatic to have him on board, but based on his ranking, film, and the fact that it's so late in the game, I expected more of a battle for his services.

I expected us to not have a shot. Ecstatic that I was wrong.

 

[Kramer116]

so this visit means we've passed on Ramey?

No we have an in home visit today with Ramey

 

[Joel Goodson]

Back to TJ: ecstatic to have him on board, but based on his ranking, film, and the fact that it's so late in the game, I expected more of a battle for his services.

I expected us to not have a shot. Ecstatic that I was wrong.

Had AZ been in play, we probably would have been an also ran. So, thank goodness for that. Mack leaving for Louisville undoubtedly helped too. Also, credit to Jones for realizing that Illinois is a great fit for him.

 

[EyeoftheIllini]

So how well have the top JUCO recruits made the transition to high major basketball in past years (specifically PG's)?

I just have a hard time thinking the staff would take a Feliz commitment if Ramey is still on the fence. If you slow play Feliz and miss out, oh well we still have Frazier and Ayo. Plus Damonte can play emergency PG in a pinch.

Didn't have a lot of time, so I just looked at last two years JUCO recruiting had -- 2015 and 2017 (for some reason no 2016) and PGs in the top 50. In 2017, there were 7 such players and in 2016 there were only 4 listed as PGs.

2017
9. Semajae Haynes-Jones -- Wichita St. 11.0 mpg, 5.3 ppg, 1.3 apg, 41.3
FG%
13. Chris Darrington -- Tenn 8.4 mpg, 2.6 ppg, 0.8 apg, 36.5 FG%
17. Josh Webster -- Texas Tech 5.6 mpg, 0.3 ppg, 0.7 apg, 15.0 FG%
18. Corey Davis -- Houston 30.2 mpg, 13.1 ppg, 2.4 apg, 44.4 FG%
33. Michael Miller -- N. Texas 12.2 mpg, 3.6 ppg, 0.5 apg, 44.2 FG%
38. Chris McNeal -- New Mexico 24.5 mpg, 9.5 ppg, 2.7 apg, 37.2 FG%
44. Delfincko Bogan -- TN-Martin 27.3 mpg, 9.3 ppg, 3.0 apg, 48.5 FG%

Some might remember Bogan. He had 23 pts (3 of 5 from 3pt), 4 rebs, 6 asts, 7 steals against the Illini this year.

2015
22. Jaylen Brantley -- Maryland 8.4 mpg, 2.4 ppg, 0.6 apg, 47.4 FG% and Sr year 16.8 mpg, 4.9 ppg, 1.0 apg, 38.2 FG%

36. Bryce Jones -- Murray St. 31.9 mpg, 12.7 ppg, 4.2 apg, 39.1 FG% and Sr year 31.0 mpg, 12.0 ppg, 3.5 apg, 36.5 FG%

37. Justin Pride -- Cal-Bakersfield. 17.8 mpg, 3.9 ppg, 2.8 apg, 34.7 FG% and Sr year 17.2 mpg, 3.0 ppg, 2.3 apg, 38.8 FG%

51. Dedrick Basile -- Cal-Bakersfield. 29.3 mpg, 12.0 ppg, 3.7 apg, 46.9 FG% and Sr year 29.8 mpg, 12.6 ppg, 3.0 apg, 43.9 FG%

Not sure what this shows, since I have no idea how these guys compare to Feliz. But definitely a mixed bag.

 

[haasi]

No we have an in home visit today with Ramey

Who else coming to visit him today? Cuonzo? Anyone else?

He’s taken officials to OK State and Texas and unofficial visits to Mizzou and Illinois. I guess he’s seen enough to make his decision



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[ILL in IA]

Not sure what his ranking was, but Rob Gray at Houston was a JC guy. He was a SR this year, so he wouldn't have shown up in last years numbers. I didn't watch any Houston ball outside of his tournament games, but the kid was a stud.

 

[skyIdub]

I can’t imagine Ramey or Okoro wanting to play in the PAC10 over the B1G or SEC.
Eugene is a beautiful campus though.

 

[IlliniinIowa]

Last year? False.

Under Groce. Not Underwood. Read before you rail on people....

 

[haasi]

I can’t imagine Ramey or Okoro wanting to play in the PAC10 over the B1G or SEC.
Eugene is a beautiful campus though.

Idk about okoro, but nothing to indicate Ramey could pick Oregon given that he’s reportedly close to a decision and hasn’t visited. Oregon has a tremendous class coming in and between that, the program’s recent success, and Oregon being a very nice place to live I definitely understand the appeal.


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[skyIdub]

Also, if Ramey is really as torn with this decision and his dad is worried about him having the ball, what an easy sell for BU to show him how Trent and Ayo are 110% on board with doing whatever role it takes for Illinois, and Ramey can distribute to Kipper, Frazier, Ayo, Tevian, Griffin, et al. etc. etc.
Plus he can get time off the ball too.

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[TCTORNADO]

No we have an in home visit today with Ramey

Has this been confirmed anywhere other than message board rumors??