A colleague of mine is a former UK cheerleader and has been a well connected booster for 30+ years. I asked about basketball and he said he'd be surprised if Whitney didn't commit soon to UK. He told me about Matthews and Ulis to UK so he's at least 2 for 2 (I told him Ulis to MSU and he laughed so I guess he knows more than I do at least!). TFWLIW
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (July 2018)
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A colleague of mine is a former UK cheerleader and has been a well connected booster for 30+ years. I asked about basketball and he said he'd be surprised if Whitney didn't commit soon to UK. He told me about Matthews and Ulis to UK so he's at least 2 for 2 (I told him Ulis to MSU and he laughed so I guess he knows more than I do at least!). TFWLIW
BillyBob1
- Champaign
Did he know who Whitney was 2 weeks ago?
IllFanInMi
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He probably didn’t, most in Blue Grass land likely don’t worry about recruiting like we do because they usually get whoever they want. Could you imagine how boring it would be following message boards all off season discussing recruits when all you have to do is wait until your existing team decides if they’re entering the draft and then sign a handful of 5 Stars?
IMO - Whitney is EXACTLY the kind of recruit we get nut punched on. Would be thrilled to be wrong, but I’ve moved on from him, HE GONE!
Deleted member 14522
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DJ Jeffries decommited this afternoon from Kentucky. He was a 6'7" small forward... I was hoping that the fact they already had a 5 star wing would be a negative in the Whitney recruitment.
It would be a nut punch to pick Mizzou or a B1G program over us. Can't blame or hate on a kid for picking Kentucky. Kudos to him if he picks Illinois but most of us on here would pick Kentucky over Illinois if we were 17 year old elite prospects.
Not me. Seriously. If I'm already NBA good I'm going where I want to go. And that would be Illinois, considering I've been a nearly life long fan.
Most recruits are not really fans but making a business decision on their future. And there is nothing like "already NBA good" very few fit that category, players ranked higher than Whitney.
Deleted member 8213
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No offense but its probably pretty easy to be a UK "insider". If they offer a kid good chance he picks them you don't really need a magic 8-ball... especially when its kids like Ulis and Matthews who they weren't fighting with Duke, UNC, or KU over.
Within a year or two we wont have to worry about Elite prospects picking UK or anyone else over us...they will pick the NBA.
And then we will all be striving for the next tier down kids...the kids that don't go to the NBA but are excellent. And we will be losing those battles too just like now. It will all still be in the same proportion.
Like Kahlil Whitney, a kid who is not ready for the NBA straight out of HS but probably needs a year or two.
I mentioned that 247 is skewed for classes prior to 2010. That is the sole reason for the selected endpoints. Look at how their composite ranks our 2009 class:
https://247sports.com/college/illinois/Season/2009-Basketball/Commits
Rivals is an option, but only goes to the top 150, so there would be a lot of NRs.
Draft Express RSCI is another option, but they handle transfers differently, so it is more work cross referencing.
So, 8 more top 100 in 7 classes from 2003 - 2009? That's 11 in their last 16. Illinois had 21, iicr.
No it won't. By not allowing 1 and done you're unable to provide the 5 stars starting minutes right away due to the prior class still being there. Other schools can offer that immediatley.
sacraig
- The desert
There are a heck of a lot more of those kids than there are would-be lottery picks coming out of high school. Will we lose some of the next year to the UKs of the world? Yes. Will there be enough talent for the rest of us still? Also yes.
Right. As I have always said, Illinois has had more than enough talent to be successful as the program has gone up in flames.
In this millennium, our most talented football team went 3-9 and our least talented basketball team was a 5 seed.
UK fans can be just as knowledgeable and crazy about recruiting as UI. Believe it or not, there are other passionate fan bases beside U Of I.
No offense but they still miss out and back off of players. Duke and others still beat out UK for 5 stars.
KrushCow31
Former Krush Cow
- Chicago, IL
Team Shield shudders at slant block I.
Always good to be mentioned. Didn't know we were in on him. I think with the right personality, a big can learn a lot of skills from Underwood that translate to an attractive quick 5 prospect in the NBA.
Also, I'll save you the click. He's got 10/10 crystal balls for West Virginia right now, not that it means as much this far out.
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Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Ugh. The MIF are not beholden to us. Whitney is not beholden to the MIF.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Tshiebwe destroyed Wiseman (the #1 ranked '19) in their recent head-to-head. He's underrated (~50) and would be a great get. Going to be difficult though, obviously.
sacraig
- The desert
- Why does everyone somehow think landing Ayo gives us some kind of pipeline with MIF? If anything, I'd think Coleman would be the one giving us a pipeline, and even that seems like a stretch.
- Even if we do have inroads, why does anything think that MIF coaches are somehow forcing their players to go in one direction even if it isn't their will?
- Our relationship with MIF does seem to be greatly improved, but that doesn't mean we get all their prospects. It just means we get a seat at the table. Before, we were always just an also-ran. We still have to close the deal.
sacraig
- The desert
Sort of, though BU was watching him like 3 days ago, so not that quiet.
Deleted member 4333
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2020 Nimari Burnett wants to visit.
https://writingillini.com/2018/07/30/illinois-basketball-nimari-burnett-looking-visit-illini/
https://writingillini.com/2018/07/30/illinois-basketball-nimari-burnett-looking-visit-illini/
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