Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (November-December 2018)
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So we're not even a month into the high school season, traveled back from Maui in that time, 9 games in 22 days all told, but Chicago is crying for attention. Sheesh.
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IlliniDent
- Chicago, IL
We were, all over the country
BananaShampoo
Captain 'Paign
- Phoenix, AZ
Yeah, I'd cut 'em some slack given we have had a crazier schedule than most schools out there, but you'd think someone on our staff could have at least made ONE of these kids games at some point. Like Matt C. said: "Do better".
SampsonRelpenk
- Edwardsville, IL
Failing to sign most of your class in spring -> recruiting in the winter/fall for current class -> few resources for future classes.
Deleted member 746094
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Ouch! No way to spin that. Better get really good at landing kids outside of Chicago as you can read the disconnect the CPL coaches already have with BU. Travel, knee, blah blah... This is disappointing.
illiniCA
- DC Area
where were we?
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal
If only there was some technology or device that would let our coaches communicate with these HS coaches without having to actually be there in person and tell them "Hey, we're not gonna be there as much as we'd like, but don't worry - we're not blowing you off"
Those, other, schools, installed their O/D before the season started. They now have time to visit JRs and SOs.
Well BU did do Face Time with EJ and Okoro when his Lil Rascal wouldn't fit on the plane for in homes.
Rivals reporter Doug Bucshon has called the sun times article an absurdity and untrue.
So you think that would stop Chicago coaches and writers from complaining about us not being up there in person? LOL
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal
On the record in the Sun-Times? Yes, I think it would.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal
Also, the lede is really buried there - we haven’t done anything to patch up the Simeon relationship? That’s inexcusable.
The reality is currently and for the last 15 years or so that the ONLY reason to recruit Chicago for the most part is for the high 4* or 5* players as most all others aren't ranked high enough or skilled enough to make it in the B1G. Those kids don't want to come here because it's not cool to do so. All the 5 stars and high 4 stars want to go to blue blood or the like schools....the coaches want to be made to feel like they are the guiding force
Javon Carter is an exception, of least recruited player who did very well. Chicago coaches want us to "kiss" the windy city arse, to get told NO repeatedly. Lets get the other kids who may want to come here, be successful (cool), and then see which kids want to come here, whether we swoon over them or not.
Ayo is an exception, but even that recruit coming here is at a price of looking bad (THT), who knows, but why keep throwing eggs in the basket to constantly have them broken all the time (chicago big recruits going elsewhere).
Javon Carter is an exception, of least recruited player who did very well. Chicago coaches want us to "kiss" the windy city arse, to get told NO repeatedly. Lets get the other kids who may want to come here, be successful (cool), and then see which kids want to come here, whether we swoon over them or not.
Ayo is an exception, but even that recruit coming here is at a price of looking bad (THT), who knows, but why keep throwing eggs in the basket to constantly have them broken all the time (chicago big recruits going elsewhere).
Tell me about all of those great Simeon-Illini players in the last 20 years, Matt.
IllFanInMi
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Guest
Maybe the staff is playing hard to get, I mean courting these kids from birth hasn’t worked so well. See Tilmon, EJ, Whitney, etc....
RichBradIllini
- Peoria
And to add this from the article...
"Piper says that Young’s DJ Steward and Morgan Park’s Adam Miller are important targets for Underwood and Illinois. Underwood hasn’t been out to see either player so far this season."
Deleted member 643761
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Interesting. The entire article was about attendance at games so from reading it you would have no idea whether they were taking advantage of that "technology or device". My take is that they probably have been but putting that in the article would have dulled the hatchet.
The Sun-Times being such a bastion of great journalism and all.
DudeIllini
- Malibu
It doesn't really matter whether it's true or fair. We need to fix it if that's the perception with those coaches. That's just recruiting, fair or not.
Perception becomes reality. Chicago coaches and the AAU scene are well know for their pitfalls, but you cant let even the this stuff start. This is not the first time we have heard this complaint about a coaching staff at Illinois. To echo a prior poster, it is unforgivable to not have tried to explain what went wrong with THT. You have to make that right. Recruiting is the lifeblood of any program. The current state of our program cannot take a hit like this. Quite simply like it or not, truthful or not ,this looks awful. One last thing, I know Underwood had a knee replacement but the other coaches didn't. the travel schedule sucked but everyone should have know that and planned accordingly. This program is just really hard to get excited about right now and almost every game or every day it just seems to become more evident, Underwood is not the man for this job.
BlindLoyalty
- FartNoiseMotivation
Nobody needs to write an article to make Illinois Basketball and its coaches look bad. They are doing just fine on their own.
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