Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (May 2020)

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#141      
Any word on the Foster Jr front? I had posted a headline that indicating he was taking an Illini visit last year, but couldn't confirm if that happened. He did list the Illini recently. Seems like a pipe dream with how little news there's been connecting him to the Illini.
 
#145      
Looking at the Illini program like a marketed product, what are our competitive advantages that we are selling that differentiate us and would make a kid like Foster choose us? Because to a player like him, we are still very much a vision vs. a known commodity. If you watched "The Last Dance", we are Nike vs. Addidas/Converse. So how do we convince a high caliber player to consider us?
  • Player development (proven w/ Kofi, GB, Ayo, Trent, Alan Griffin) - skill, IQ, and body strength - I'm sure they are selling their plan for how they make Foster into a next level guy
  • Playing time - competition at the 4 is low comparatively to what he would get at the blue bloods, so playtime is almost a guarantee, though I'm not sure a guy like Foster would shy away from competition...but just saying it's a difference that we have vs. them.
  • Coaches - of course, relationships are always a selling factor. Hard to quantify, but it's one that got us to the table. Do we know if any of the coaches have an in somewhere?
  • B1G competition - playing in a premier conference and testing against top competition
Unfortunately, I don't think we can differentiate on "winning culture" or "guarantee we'll be in the tourney" or "history of NBA player development"

Our vision is still a vision...but the pieces are in place for success. Ace Wolf, AC are no slouches and can complement Foster's game. But as we saw, getting to the tourney is no easy task and it's not just getting to the tourney but getting to the second weekend which gives the players exposure, national stage attention. So Foster has to believe that 1) we make the tourney and 2) have a shot at making it far to show-off his skills

Tough sledding, but they've done it before. However, I think the Coaches and their prior relationships played a large role in getting Ayo/Adam (Chin), Kofi/Andres Feliz/and Andre C. (OA). I'm not sure we have that with Foster unless someone knows?
 
#147      
Have no idea to possibility but Foster far and away my first choice. Position of need and two yrs before he can go pro. Particularly true if Kofi doesn’t return.
 
#149      

The words "best" and "ever" are inaccurate. Those would be the highest rated recruits according to 247sports since circa 2003. Plus the pre-2010 rankings look fishy to me. For example, in 2009, they have Tyler Griffey 95 (0.9611) way ahead of D.J. Richardson 110 ( 0.9506 ) and Brandon Paul 125 (0.9445). Rivals had Richardson and Paul is the top 50; Griffey in the top 125.

It's hard to say who was actually our best recruit ever. In my time: Rich Jones (1964), Nick Weatherspoon (1969), and Marcus Liberty (1987) were definitely consensus top 5. Lowell Hamilton (1985) and Nick Anderson (1986) were at least top 10.
 
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