Highly disagree, hes exactly the type of player we need. Have you watched him play? Rumor is he decommitted because there are some big time teams interested.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (January-February 2018)
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He's a warrior but not highly skilled. If he was 6'9" he'd be a top 50 guy, but he's not.
I think Payton is the type that could be great but you don't know. With a guy like Liddell you know he's going to be great. I think that's the difference.
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Interesting. Their leading scorer is this guy, a SR guard from Proviso East (Maywood, IL).
They also have Sagaba Konate, a 6'8" 260lb Soph F, who is averaging 11.5 pts/8.9 Reb/3.8 blk in Big12 play.
A couple of 3* players outside the top 150.
- Peoria, IL
We've started to see the development of Ebo already this season, and Matic is starting to get a little more comfortable as well. We do need more bigs, but these two will contribute more than a few people on this board think they will.
I was hoping someone would do some type of research like this. I’m guessing outside of the blue blood types, that most of the top 25 is similar.
Does anyone remember how bad Mav was his freshman year? These kids still have a few years to develop, lets not write them off yet. However, I agree, we desperately need to add some quality youth at that position.
- Sarasota, Florida
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
I agree, but I am highly encouraged by the growth that Spicy G has had under this staff. I mean this is like his 3rd(?) year of playing organized basketball isn’t it? If he continues to develops this much more over the next year, I think he can become next years’ starter at the 5.
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I agree, but I am highly encouraged by the growth that Spicy G has had under this staff. I mean this is like his 3rd(?) year of playing organized basketball isn’t it? If he continues to develops this much more over the next year, I think he can become next years’ starter at the 5.
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Ebo already can play 15+ mins. Thats a pretty big contribution.
I think Matic is gonna need another year or two. Would like to see him really bulk up. Reminds me a lot of Finke, for whatever that is worth.
- Sarasota, Florida
- Peoria, IL
Matic does need to bulk up and get comfortable in America. I think he's a better passer than Finke. If he can come closer to being like a Mo Wagner, I'd be happy.
- Cincinnati, OH
This has been one of the best stories of the season. Wasn't sure if he would ever be a contributor, but kudos to the coaching staff for identifying him during the recruiting period and helping him develop. Really excited to see if he can take the next step and start providing more offensively in 2019.
Yes, everybody gets that we need bigs, but Underwood started with only Finke/Black in the 3 returning classes and he brought in 2 this year (both late by the way). He needs to add another 1 or 2 bigs in both 2018 & 2019 as well...unfortunately you don't get out of multiple years of under recruiting bigs overnight.
- Aurora, IL
Here's the thing, stars and rankings are important to look at, but class balance also needs to be a major consideration. If all of the recruits above are point guards, this team would be terrible either way, even with the best coaching. That's what Illinois is struggling with now. They may need to settle for lower ranked big men, just to get the right bodies on the floor to compete.
- North Bethesda, Maryland
If we had either Nanna or Maverick right now, this team would be on the plus side in BIG W's vs. L's.
This might also be true if we got half the production we were expecting from Mark Smith.
Eh, we've been within a possession of like what 4 or 5 games? We probably aren't on the right side of .500 in conference with Egwu or Mav, but I think we do add two or three games to the win column.
Oh I think we would be. Just having that height for an extra couple of blocks. The added arm span to throw a lob to occasionally could be a difference maker when it comes down to a couple possession difference final score. Those sort of things can sometimes be the spark that set other offensive things in motion as well.
We need bigs badly. There is set to be additions to the class for next year, but Ayo doesn’t excite me at all. I think he will really struggle against bigger players. He lacks athletics and speed needed to be great there
How come we can’t get that YMCA big guy? You know, the one very mid major has that ends up playing well all 4 years. Bigs just need to be able to move in this system. Athletics meeting.
How come we can’t get that YMCA big guy? You know, the one very mid major has that ends up playing well all 4 years. Bigs just need to be able to move in this system. Athletics meeting.
- Los Angeles
Looks like you are setting the bar a little too high there. It would be good if he eventually turned into what Finke is now.
To me they're both half of what we need. Mav had the bulk but not the athleticism, ebo has the athleticism but not the bulk, yet.
I've always noticed Cinderella teams have a big, strong, athletic post player that can really defend. The points he gives are often put backs but his main contribution is defense. That's what we need. I'm thinking Konate at West Virginia. Give me a rock that lets the other guys do their thing.
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- Elmhurst, IL
- Des Moines, IA
If I remember correctly, the big guys at the YMCA weren't very good, that's why they were playing at the YMCA and not with the high school team.
Or they couldn't make the grades to be on the high school team, I'm from Decatur and that was case quite often unfortunately.
I really hate to say it, but I agree with Ward. Much like Mark Smith, a lot of people are expecting way too much too early from Ayo. There are reasons besides Chin Coleman that the blue bloods weren’t a factor in his recruitment.
He’s a below the rim player that scores a lot of his points at the rim in HS, which he won’t be able to do nearly as much at the high major level. He also has a fairly low release on his shot and not a ton of elevation, which concerns me. He’s not overly quick nor overly athletic, and his size is probably overstated by at least and inch or two, although he does have some longish arms.
I love the optics of his commitment and think he will be a good to very good player for us in his time here, I just think we need to be realistic about his development timetable and his limitations.
He’s a below the rim player that scores a lot of his points at the rim in HS, which he won’t be able to do nearly as much at the high major level. He also has a fairly low release on his shot and not a ton of elevation, which concerns me. He’s not overly quick nor overly athletic, and his size is probably overstated by at least and inch or two, although he does have some longish arms.
I love the optics of his commitment and think he will be a good to very good player for us in his time here, I just think we need to be realistic about his development timetable and his limitations.
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