Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (January 2019)

[Deleted member 643761]

Always in the back of your mind but if you somehow get CB there's no chance. Plus, Antigua is a guy you don't want to cross so I can't see it happening. As I've said before, Antigua has the juice! Its drippin' all over him!

But I would like to remind folks about a certain 5* center who recently posted a snapchat on his official visit stating he was bored with a time filter reading 2am that had us all, including myself, ready to throw the whole program away! Just get rid of everybody!!

But yeah, that guy, he's on our team now! And if you read his commitment statement, I highly doubt King Kofi (aka Big C) is going anywhere!!

Man that 2am snapchat seems like century's ago!

Go back and read the last recruiting thread. Another wasted OV. Who brings a kid when school is out. Etc. Etc.

Lots of foolishness spouted. For months as it turns out.

Sun times writer was probably chortling a couple weeks ago about how we would end up with Michael orris type players.

 

[Goldtop]

Is there some legit concern that I have missed that Antwan January will back away from his verbal?

 

[westcoastillini]

Is there some legit concern that I have missed that Antwan January will back away from his verbal?

.... and we are back to normal.

 

[Goldtop]

.... and we are back to normal.

Not at all. And not trying to start anything. As I was reading through the last 6 pages I came across a couple posts that seemed to infer a hope that January comes to the beloved, and this was the first I had heard of any concern. I must have miss read. Carry On. Yay Kofi!

 

[jmwillini]

Not at all. And not trying to start anything. As I was reading through the last 6 pages I came across a couple posts that seemed to infer a hope that January comes to the beloved, and this was the first I had heard of any concern. I must have miss read. Carry On. Yay Kofi!

Agree, too many posts about why there are no stats or only for one game. Lots of questions. Hoping he comes.

 

[MadSeason]

Not at all. And not trying to start anything. As I was reading through the last 6 pages I came across a couple posts that seemed to infer a hope that January comes to the beloved, and this was the first I had heard of any concern. I must have miss read. Carry On. Yay Kofi!

It was likely in reference to January not signing early. There is some talk that he has to get his transcripts in order and then will commit in April. I don't think it is necessarily January backing away from his commit

 

[jmwillini]

Oh, and by the way, WELCOME KOFI !!!!!

 

[201154JC]

Evening fellow Illini fans. I noticed on a Rivals video that Kofi and Kahlil play together at Pangos All American Camp.
Makes one wonder if there is a sliver of a chance that Kahlil is thinking about backing out of his verbal to the Wildcats.
Obviously, I'm thinking of the Ayo, Kofi and Kahlil connection.

 

[jmwillini]

So nice to see good news on the recruiting front for both revenue sports.

 

[Deleted member 746094]

Love what he said in his announcement and loved even more his abilities in the paint. May only have him for one year, but his impact could be felt for many more.

Great job to BU and OA on this one. Oak Hill’s coach obviously likes OA and BU seems to have made a good impression as well. Not a bad pipeline to open up.

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

Evening fellow Illini fans. I noticed on a Rivals video that Kofi and Kahlil play together at Pangos All American Camp.
Makes one wonder if there is a sliver of a chance that Kahlil is thinking about backing out of his verbal to the Wildcats.
Obviously, I'm thinking of the Ayo, Kofi and Kahlil connection. Any thoughts?

I think that with landing Kofi the chances of him thinking about it have increased, but I don't know if he will back away from UK.

One thing that I have heard is that if Jaden McDaniels winds up committing to UK, we could possibly see something happen.

IMO, The real thing to watch is how many UK players go pro, and how many stay another year. IMO, Keldon Johnson and PJ Washington are the only sure-fire 1st round picks on that roster, so if UK is returning everyone but those 2 that could have an impact as well. Especially if McDaniels commits.

It is promising that he is not a signed player, and the MIF connection certainly helps.

Anything can happen, but I think at the end of the day he probably winds up at UK, and I really hope I am wrong.

 

[201154JC]

I think that with landing Kofi the chances of him thinking about it have increased, but I don't know if he will back away from UK.

One thing that I have heard is that if Jaden McDaniels winds up committing to UK, we could possibly see something happen.

IMO, The real thing to watch is how many UK players go pro, and how many stay another year. IMO, Keldon Johnson and PJ Washington are the only sure-fire 1st round picks on that roster, so if UK is returning everyone but those 2 that could have an impact as well. Especially if McDaniels commits.

It is promising that he is not a signed player, and the MIF connection certainly helps.

Anything can happen, but I think at the end of the day he probably winds up at UK, and I really hope I am wrong.

Appreciate your insight.

 

[Deleted member 633632]

Funny to see the MIZZOU fans getting a little nervous apparently. Sturdy was going toe to toe with one in that Kofi commitment tweet!

 

[CAHALL15]

January may have some academic qualification issues per some reports, but assuming he doesn’t, and we don’t lose anyone besides AJ and Adonis, we’re going to be a deep team next year. We’ll have 4 legitimate Big Ten bigs. If BU can close with one more wing commitment from Christian Brown or dare I say, Khalil Whitney, we’d really get some recruiting momentum for basketball.

Whitney remains a bit of a dream, but it’s interesting that he didn’t sign during the fall and his Twitter no longer says “Kentucky commit.”

 

[IlliniFan25]

Welcome aboard Kofi. Can't wait to see you suit up for the O & B! Go ILLINI!

 

[BananaShampoo]

Man, so thinking more about Kofi... He's the highest ranked big man commit we've had since Meyers, and before him Brian Cook. Thing is, even though Meyers has him in height, Kofi has a body already ready for the B1G. Meyers needed a year to put on some muscle before he really became effective despite having already excellent athleticism. It's rare for us to get a big man who is ready to make an impact almost immediately, so let's hope all goes well and BU and and OA are able to work their magic with him as they have guys like Leron and Giorgi. Between those guys plus January (assuming he makes it) and hopefully a more mature and ready Kane and Higgs we should have enough big men with height and skill to not get pushed around and abused under the glass anymore. It should really change the complexion of this team.

 

[ILL in IA]

I'm just here as a safe place after the Bears game. I never thought the recruiting thread would be that type of place for me

 

[Peoria Pipeline]

Love what he said in his announcement and loved even more his abilities in the paint. May only have him for one year, but his impact could be felt for many more.

Great job to BU and OA on this one. Oak Hill’s coach obviously likes OA and BU seems to have made a good impression as well. Not a bad pipeline to open up.

I think Kofi is going to be a great college player. He's not the prototypical NBA player these days though. Look how great J. Okafor was in college, and hes struggling to stay in the league. I think he is here a couple years at least, which is awesome.

 

[bombayIllini]

Hmmmmm.

The 2 AM boring was actually lit!!! The empty campus sounded good. A yelling, demanding coach is good for the future. ........

What is this world coming to?

Is there really rumblings in Lex in Ton?

 

[DeeForThr33]

it’s 11:42 PM on Sunday night. Cody Parkey damaged many of our hopes and dreams for the Bears. The illini lost a tough one to Northwestern. But...but...

a big three of Ayo+Trent+King Kofi, along with contributions from Kipper/Feliz/Damonte and the sophomore leaps for Samba, Georgi, Griffin, Jones along with added depth in the front court with January+Higgs will skyrocket this team to a top half finish and a bid on selection sunday in 2020.

 

[Deleted member 746094]

I think Kofi is going to be a great college player. He's not the prototypical NBA player these days though. Look how great J. Okafor was in college, and hes struggling to stay in the league. I think he is here a couple years at least, which is awesome.

Appreciate the insight. I literally watch no NBA basketball. I would have assumed Okafor was a double-double guy in the NBA. Having Kofi for 2+ years would be tremendous.

 

[DeeForThr33]

One last thing: Say we land one more wing in this class whether it be Brown/Archie/Shannon/?

We will have a roster that includes

Kane 7”0
Cockburn 6”11
January 6”10
Georgi 6”9
Higgs 6”8
Jones 6”7
Nichols 6”6
Wing TBD 6”6ish
Griffin 6”5

last time we had a roster with 8+ guys over 6”6? 2007-08

Last time we had a roster with 11 guys 6”5+? 1989.

 

[Dbell1981]

Funny to see the MIZZOU fans getting a little nervous apparently. Sturdy was going toe to toe with one in that Kofi commitment tweet!

Kofi will destroy Tilmon on the block. I hope they really enjoyed the 1 win they will get against the beloved.

 

[blackdog]

I think Kofi is going to be a great college player. He's not the prototypical NBA player these days though. Look how great J. Okafor was in college, and hes struggling to stay in the league. I think he is here a couple years at least, which is awesome.

Okafor is a soft skill guy who plays no defense. That's why he's not sticking in the NBA. There's still plenty of room for a traditional banger type, just look at Steven Adams.

 

[Dbell1981]

Okafor is a soft skill guy who plays no defense. That's why he's not sticking in the NBA. There's still plenty of room for a traditional banger type, just look at Steven Adams.

Especially with guys like Ayton in the league. Kofi is a big dude and he picked a great system and style to get him ready for the next level. BU will put him to the test.