Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (August 2018)

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#1,376      
Sadly, I believe this is spot on.
This has been the state of college basketball for too long now. The shoe companies and their many agents ID the players by the time they're freshman, then steer the top players to UK and Duke with the promise of playing one season then cashing in with a first round guaranteed contract, a big shoe contract, and an agent that fronts big bucks betting on the big commission. Maybe changing the rules about declaring for the draft would weaken the grip of UK and Duke, Maybe not. You can bet the NBA is more on the side of the shoe companies than the universities.
 
#1,377      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
This has been the state of college basketball for too long now. The shoe companies and their many agents ID the players by the time they're freshman, then steer the top players to UK and Duke with the promise of playing one season then cashing in with a first round guaranteed contract, a big shoe contract, and an agent that fronts big bucks betting on the big commission. Maybe changing the rules about declaring for the draft would weaken the grip of UK and Duke, Maybe not. You can bet the NBA is more on the side of the shoe companies than the universities.

Is that you, Don Quixote?
 
#1,379      
This has been the state of college basketball for too long now. The shoe companies and their many agents ID the players by the time they're freshman, then steer the top players to UK and Duke with the promise of playing one season then cashing in with a first round guaranteed contract, a big shoe contract, and an agent that fronts big bucks betting on the big commission. Maybe changing the rules about declaring for the draft would weaken the grip of UK and Duke, Maybe not. You can bet the NBA is more on the side of the shoe companies than the universities.

It's a nasty cycle. These guys don't even need to really cheat anymore since their brand is already associated with winning.
 
#1,380      

Dan

Admin
Walker [2019 F Anthony Walker] will start the visit process off with an official visit to Illinois September 6th
https://247sports.com/college/baske...ker-cuts-list-sets-six-visit-dates-121071509/


Updated Illinois Official Visits list. (List is also posted on the first post of this thread)

Anthony Walker____2019 F____Sept. 6th________Western Illinois game weekend
Oscar Tshiebwe____2019 C____Sept. 7th________Western Illinois game weekend
Quincy Guerrier___2019 F____Oct. 5th-7th_____No football game
EJ Liddell________2019 PF___Oct. 12th________Homecoming weekend
Jason Jitoboh_____2019 C____Oct. 11th-13th___Homecoming weekend


* Dates are approximate. Official Visits can last up to 48 hours.
 
#1,381      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Really like the Walker OV. With Higgs (his HS teammate and buddy) on board, this is a recruitment we can win. Love Walker's measurables. Had a good AAU season. Isn't in the rankings stratosphere, but he's a player, IMO.
 
#1,382      
The only thing that will weaken the grip of Duke is K retiring.

I wouldn't even bet on that. Pretty sure their recruiting comes from the boosters, not the coach. And I'd bet anything they have laid the groundwork for another big name coachm so when he retires, they won't have a problem transitioning.
 
#1,383      

TEYPAY

Springfield
I wouldn't even bet on that. Pretty sure their recruiting comes from the boosters, not the coach. And I'd bet anything they have laid the groundwork for another big name coachm so when he retires, they won't have a problem transitioning.
Almost always when a big name coach retires, there is a slide (at least for a while). Probably the only instance that there wasn't is Kansas (Williams to Self). Looked at what happened (for a while) after Dean Smith retired. Even Kentucky had some ugly years.
 
#1,385      
Almost always when a big name coach retires, there is a slide (at least for a while). Probably the only instance that there wasn't is Kansas (Williams to Self). Looked at what happened (for a while) after Dean Smith retired. Even Kentucky had some ugly years.

Unless Self takes over for coach K ;)
 
#1,386      

RedRocksIllini

Morrison, CO
Almost always when a big name coach retires, there is a slide (at least for a while). Probably the only instance that there wasn't is Kansas (Williams to Self). Looked at what happened (for a while) after Dean Smith retired. Even Kentucky had some ugly years.

If only Roy Williams had retired.
 
#1,387      
I wouldn't even bet on that. Pretty sure their recruiting comes from the boosters, not the coach. And I'd bet anything they have laid the groundwork for another big name coachm so when he retires, they won't have a problem transitioning.

Easier said than done. How many big name college coaches do you think there are? Off the top of my head I can come up with Self, K, Cal, Izzo, Roy and Brad Stevens and none of them are leaving their current gigs for Duke.
 
#1,389      
Tschiebwe would be enough for the entire 2019 class for me. It is the place where we lack proven talent.
Getting any top 100 C would be enough for me. There are so few that getting a C ranked ~ 100 is almost worth a wing ranked 50ish.

I have no doubts BU can fill a roster with solid talent, the problem is that kind of talent isn't good enough to win the conference. But i guess baby steps.
 
#1,391      

Illwinsagain

Cary, IL
So should we have an Official Visit grid thread like rbachhuber’s Scholarship Grid thread?
You can’t stop Illinois 2019 MBB recruiting, you can only hope to contain it.
Post #1 of this thread does a nice job of it.
 
#1,392      
Walker [2019 F Anthony Walker] will start the visit process off with an official visit to Illinois September 6th
https://247sports.com/college/baske...ker-cuts-list-sets-six-visit-dates-121071509/


Updated Illinois Official Visits list. (List is also posted on the first post of this thread)

Anthony Walker____2019 F____Sept. 6th________Western Illinois game weekend
Oscar Tshiebwe____2019 C____Sept. 7th________Western Illinois game weekend
Quincy Guerrier___2019 F____Oct. 5th-7th_____No football game
EJ Liddell________2019 PF___Oct. 12th________Homecoming weekend
Jason Jitoboh_____2019 C____Oct. 11th-13th___Homecoming weekend


* Dates are approximate. Official Visits can last up to 48 hours.


Would be interested to see the groups thoughts on the odds of getting 0, 1, or 2 of the above to commit?

0: 60%
1: 35%
2: 5%

Is that in the ballpark? (Honestly, hope my guesses are too pessimistic but I don't know that there are any of these that we feel great on)
 
#1,393      

Deleted member 649710

D
Guest
I wouldn't even bet on that. Pretty sure their recruiting comes from the boosters, not the coach. And I'd bet anything they have laid the groundwork for another big name coachm so when he retires, they won't have a problem transitioning.

Duke was good, not great, before K, and that’s where they will return after him. That school won’t be able to compete with their Tobacco Road neighbor over the long run in terms of facilities, tradition, academic leniency and $$$. They’ll be UCLA post-Wooden.
 
#1,394      

Deleted member 2050

D
Guest
I'm sure this has been touched on somewhere, but it seems encouraging that the Illini are being listed in so many top recruits "Final X" these days? I realize some may be a "courtesy", perhaps, but just making it to that final cut says good work is being done. I also realize not being the final selection also speaks volumes, though it feels like we're getting a ton more looks than during the two previous regimes.

Note: no supporting data, just an uneducated observation
 
#1,395      

Deleted member 186590

D
Guest
Really like the Walker OV. With Higgs (his HS teammate and buddy) on board, this is a recruitment we can win. Love Walker's measurables. Had a good AAU season. Isn't in the rankings stratosphere, but he's a player, IMO.

Agreed - these are the recruits we need to win right now. Should be the sweet spot of not so sought after that the national powerhouses are on him, but he's a High major player (100-200 in the rankings). Not a complete project like the 300+ ranked big guys we've gotten so far under BU.

We're offering playing time and a spot on a Big Ten team - we're the only ones offering that right now to him, we're the first official visit. Need to get a solid recruit to start our 2019 class
 
#1,396      
I'm sure this has been touched on somewhere, but it seems encouraging that the Illini are being listed in so many top recruits "Final X" these days? I realize some may be a "courtesy", perhaps, but just making it to that final cut says good work is being done. I also realize not being the final selection also speaks volumes, though it feels like we're getting a ton more looks than during the two previous regimes.

Note: no supporting data, just an uneducated observation
I dont think its true we are getting more looks than when Groce was head guy (I use the same disclaimer as you.) In fact, the bridesmaid rhetoric rang loud during the early 2010's. I find the usage of OV's questionable, though that's almost certainly recency bias with us "wasting" them last year.

Tangent: Getting Walker would be a fantastic first add. Should be the bread and butter of our recruiting classes, at least for now.
 
#1,397      

illini80

Forgottonia
Would be interested to see the groups thoughts on the odds of getting 0, 1, or 2 of the above to commit?

0: 60%
1: 35%
2: 5%

Is that in the ballpark? (Honestly, hope my guesses are too pessimistic but I don't know that there are any of these that we feel great on)
I'd go with
0: 75%
1: 24%
2: 1%

I will be very very happy to be proven wrong.
 
#1,398      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Getting Walker would be a fantastic first add.

Fantastic is a bit of a stretch, but definitely a VG get. Looking at the higher rated 4s we are in on (Liddell and Timme), there's no way we're slow playing Walker. Walker will have the size and athleticism to match up (much better, anyway) with the Tyler Cook and MSU types that have been feasting on us for a decade now.
 
#1,399      

Deleted member 186590

D
Guest
Would be interested to see the groups thoughts on the odds of getting 0, 1, or 2 of the above to commit?

0: 60%
1: 35%
2: 5%

Is that in the ballpark? (Honestly, hope my guesses are too pessimistic but I don't know that there are any of these that we feel great on)

I think you are too pessimistic for the group as a whole, just based on the math (although I realize BU recruiting has defied all statistical probabilities to date). If you assign a relatively pessimistic likelihood of getting each one, something like:
Anthony Walker - 25%
Oscar Tshiebwe - 5%
Quincy Guerrier - 25%
EJ Liddell - 5%
Jason Jitoboh - 25%

Then are chances of landing at least one of them is 62%
 
#1,400      

foby

Bonnaroo Land
Would be interested to see the groups thoughts on the odds of getting 0, 1, or 2 of the above to commit?

0: 60%
1: 35%
2: 5%

Is that in the ballpark? (Honestly, hope my guesses are too pessimistic but I don't know that there are any of these that we feel great on)

If we whiff on 5 officials after the events so far this recruiting season, then the sky really is falling.
0:40%
1:55%
2:5%
 
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