Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (October 2017)

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#3,651      
He obviously has strong ties to Chicago, playing his freshman season at Solorio in the CPL, and the Fire on the AAU circuit (who he still plays for). I believe he still has family in Chicago as well. Being out East now, he's gotten a lot of offers from programs in that region, including Georgetown recently.

The question with Whitney will be if he wants to stay out East or not. The fact that he's still playing with the Fire is a good sign. He's also already visited us and seemed to really like it.

I think we'll be in that recruitment until the very end.
Antigua has NY/NJ ties, Chin has the Chicago ties, he's buddies with Ayo.

I'd be thrilled with Ayo THT, and a 5th year big this year, the Liddell, Okoro, and Whitney next year.

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#3,652      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Whitney brings A+ athleticism for a big. And he can play a bit too. 'Course, there's the question about whether he'll stay east (nod to TownieMatt). Liddell and Whitney are both excellent players and they're not cut from the same cloth. I'm greedy, I want both. Obviously, they might see it differently.
 
#3,653      
I'll take a slight edge in coaching over a slight edge in recruiting any day of the week...

This. And most of Mizzou's recruiting successes can likely be traced back to the special situation with being able to land Michael Porter, Jr. Mizzou was a dumpster fire, but pretty much got lucky that Porter became available (both the son and dad) and was an hometown kid. I know Martin has several recruiting successes everywhere he has been, but it would have been hard to recruit anyone to Mizzou without Michael Porter, Jr.

It'll be interesting to see what happens once Porter leaves. I can imagine if they have a disappointing year, that the honeymoon will be over pretty quickly.
 
#3,654      

TownieMatt

CU Expat
Chicago
Whitney brings A+ athleticism for a big. And he can play a bit too. 'Course, there's the question about whether he'll stay east (nod to TownieMatt). Liddell and Whitney are both excellent players and they're not cut from the same cloth. I'm greedy, I want both. Obviously, they might see it differently.

Whitney isn't really a big. He's your classic wing player. Would actually fit really well with Underwood's system given his athleticism and ability to get to the basket.

Liddell also a great fit as an athletic big guy. I see him as a more explosive version of Leron.
 
#3,655      
This. And most of Mizzou's recruiting successes can likely be traced back to the special situation with being able to land Michael Porter, Jr. Mizzou was a dumpster fire, but pretty much got lucky that Porter became available (both the son and dad) and was an hometown kid. I know Martin has several recruiting successes everywhere he has been, but it would have been hard to recruit anyone to Mizzou without Michael Porter, Jr.

It'll be interesting to see what happens once Porter leaves. I can imagine if they have a disappointing year, that the honeymoon will be over pretty quickly.

And I mean a disappointing year based on realistic expectations. I've heard too many Mizzou fans say that they are basically a lock for the Final Four.
 
#3,656      

EfremWinters84

S. Carolina
If Archie doesn't win at Indiana, where does that leave IU 5 years from now? Do they get removed from that list altogether?

I had a post in another thread months ago admitting hiring Archie is without question a great move. He was a top 3 candidate, and arguably #1 depending on how you rank guys like Gregg Marshal.

I do think its questionable how he will translate to the BIG with a BIG schedule. For example, he's never played more than 2 ranked teams in a single season (not counting tournament). His Elite 8 run was Aaron Craft floater rolling in off the rim away from being knocked out first round. Outside that run his tournament resume isn't impressive. Great coach, I just don't think he's as proven as he's made out to be. I won't be surprised if Indiana remains middle of the pack B10.
Removed from the blueblood list....seriously? No way!

After 116 years of consistent success, including 5 national championships and 8 Final Four appearances, Indiana is locked-in for the long haul. A mere 5-year stretch of .600 basketball is not going to remove them from "the list".

Perhaps if they go into a prolonged 35-40 year hiatus with only 10 NCAA tourney invitations --- and no Final Fours --- we can then revisit the topic. (NOTE: NCAA basketball has been around a lot longer than just the 21st century. Bobby Knight was D-O-M-I-N-A-N-T during his tenure. Not many coaches roll-up three national titles at one school.)

Just look at how much we have sucked over the past 10 years, and we're still hovering at Top 10 all-time
 
#3,657      
Tim Finke is a player that would be ok on our roster and possibly very good on a team like Wisconsin. But I have full trust in the staff, if they pass on him for another, it's for a reason. If he ends up here, they believe in him.


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#3,658      
Whitney isn't really a big. He's your classic wing player. Would actually fit really well with Underwood's system given his athleticism and ability to get to the basket.

Liddell also a great fit as an athletic big guy. I see him as a more explosive version of Leron.

Ej,Okoro, Whitney, all seem very good recruits, but EJ seems most likely to commit. His ties with Mark Smith seems to be a big plus. The other 2 will be heavily recruited, so they will have many visits, but we have had UV with all 3. So......Focus on THT, and a good big now?
I think so.;):illinois:
 
#3,659      

IllFanInMi

I
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Tim Finke is a player that would be ok on our roster and possibly very good on a team like Wisconsin. But I have full trust in the staff, if they pass on him for another, it's for a reason. If he ends up here, they believe in him.


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Agreed, all you have to do is look at who is on our roster at the 1-3 spots and realize Groce/BU have those spots locked and loaded. Finke as a 4* 6'6" SG will surely excel in many programs; unfortunately as far as the Illinois roster is concerned it likely is not a good fit for either party. At this point I am much more concerned about the 4-5 spots. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the positionless concept gets thrown around here, but bball is bball and you still need bigs! Perhaps you don't need the prototypical 5 as in traditional bball, but you still need length, athleticism, boards, and the ability to defend the other teams bigs; afterall this is the smash mouth B10 and the teams will have length and strength in the paint. Hmm, I keep thinking about that 10' Taco from the NIT last year.


Sure, a plethora of highly talented and athletic 3/4's are huge, but not many teams go tremendously far without the paint handled. MSU was a great example last year, they lost their 2 main bigs (Schilling & Carter), still had Nick Ward, but were at a large disadvantage nonetheless. Man, big Mav would be great to have around!


Not to mention, why would Black and Finke stick around for their 5th year? Can't one team only give a kid 4 years of scholarship $? Sorry, but I am not up to speed on the whole 5 year thing, but memory tells me this is why they leave, so another school can give them $, maybe I am off?
 
#3,660      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Martin caught lightning in a bottle with the Porters. But they're short timers (1 season and 2-3 seasons). A guy like Ramey could sustain them from being a flash in the pan. Which is why I desperately want him elsewhere, anywhere (ok, maybe not IU, but I digress).
 
#3,661      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Agreed, all you have to do is look at who is on our roster at the 1-3 spots and realize Groce/BU have those spots locked and loaded. Finke as a 4* 6'6" SG will surely excel in many programs; unfortunately as far as the Illinois roster is concerned it likely is not a good fit for either party. At this point I am much more concerned about the 4-5 spots. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the positionless concept gets thrown around here, but bball is bball and you still need bigs! Perhaps you don't need the prototypical 5 as in traditional bball, but you still need length, athleticism, boards, and the ability to defend the other teams bigs; afterall this is the smash mouth B10 and the teams will have length and strength in the paint. Hmm, I keep thinking about that 10' Taco from the NIT last year.


Sure, a plethora of highly talented and athletic 3/4's are huge, but not many teams go tremendously far without the paint handled. MSU was a great example last year, they lost their 2 main bigs (Schilling & Carter), still had Nick Ward, but were at a large disadvantage nonetheless. Man, big Mav would be great to have around!


Not to mention, why would Black and Finke stick around for their 5th year? Can't one team only give a kid 4 years of scholarship $? Sorry, but I am not up to speed on the whole 5 year thing, but memory tells me this is why they leave, so another school can give them $, maybe I am off?

Yes, you're off.
 
#3,662      

IllFanInMi

I
Guest
Yes, you're off.



Then explain, well explanation not really needed, but there is a huge reason why the list of 5th year transfers is 100X longer than the guys that stay for a 5th year.
 
#3,663      
Ayo's real name is Quam, but that's his Dad's name also, so he goes by Ayo. His Dad, also like Mark Smith's Dad is a coach. You've got to like those coach's sons.
 
#3,664      
Love how Ayo, constantly states the good days, bringing back the history, the glory days, when it was ILL INI and fashionable.

Look forward to the time he plays and the recruits he can help with...hell maybe he gets the Okoro, Whitney, EJ class to come and stays more than one, which I believe will happen.
 
#3,665      

UofIChE06

Pittsburgh
Then explain, well explanation not really needed, but there is a huge reason why the list of 5th year transfers is 100X longer than the guys that stay for a 5th year.

Playing time or exposure. MF and LB will have both at UI
 
#3,666      
Whitney isn't really a big. He's your classic wing player. Would actually fit really well with Underwood's system given his athleticism and ability to get to the basket.

Liddell also a great fit as an athletic big guy. I see him as a more explosive version of Leron.

While most on here make fun of the "fit Underwood's system" talk, this is spot on. These two guys are athletes that can play multiple positions. Liddell especially would be a good fit as he has a polished post game and can stretch the defense out to the three point line.
 
#3,667      
Removed from the blueblood list....seriously? No way!

After 116 years of consistent success, including 5 national championships and 8 Final Four appearances, Indiana is locked-in for the long haul. A mere 5-year stretch of .600 basketball is not going to remove them from "the list".

Perhaps if they go into a prolonged 35-40 year hiatus with only 10 NCAA tourney invitations --- and no Final Fours --- we can then revisit the topic. (NOTE: NCAA basketball has been around a lot longer than just the 21st century. Bobby Knight was D-O-M-I-N-A-N-T during his tenure. Not many coaches roll-up three national titles at one school.)

Just look at how much we have sucked over the past 10 years, and we're still hovering at Top 10 all-time

Not quite correct. IU has never been a blue blood. Elite during Knight's years, absolutely. 116 years of continued success would make them a blue blood, but they haven't had that. Don't want to overdue the numbers, but their average finish in the by decade is: 00's - 5; 10's - 7.5; 20's - 6.9; 30's - 4.6; 50's - 4.1; 60's - 3. Only 8 big ten titles before Knight, 5 of them shared. National championship in 1940 - finished second in big ten to Purdue. Best decade was 50's - one shared and three outright big ten champs.

This isn't 116 years of continued success.
 
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#3,668      

IllFanInMi

I
Guest
Playing time or exposure. MF and LB will have both at UI



I get it, the Thorne's of the world go from Charlotte to Illinois all the time, but there has to be more to it? I do believe the school you transfer to has to have a program of education (Masters Level +) not available at the school you leave, so that could be the biggest loophole.


Using your theory, Finke and Black would be well served to play out their 5th year at U of I, unless of course a better positioned team comes calling.


I did not bring this up to uncover all the details of the 5th year grad. transfer rule, but did want to correlate the recruiting of "bigs" for 2018 and how that could impact our success on the court. Let's assume one of LB and TF transfer out, unless we get some bigs for next year, we will really need G to be a definitive force in the paint. Long story short, let's get some bigs for next year, even if they are space/foul eaters.


Speed and athleticism are tremendous, but I place a high value on strength; it is a hard force to deal with.
 
#3,669      
Removed from the blueblood list....seriously? No way!

After 116 years of consistent success, including 5 national championships and 8 Final Four appearances, Indiana is locked-in for the long haul. A mere 5-year stretch of .600 basketball is not going to remove them from "the list".

Perhaps if they go into a prolonged 35-40 year hiatus with only 10 NCAA tourney invitations --- and no Final Fours --- we can then revisit the topic. (NOTE: NCAA basketball has been around a lot longer than just the 21st century. Bobby Knight was D-O-M-I-N-A-N-T during his tenure. Not many coaches roll-up three national titles at one school.)

Just look at how much we have sucked over the past 10 years, and we're still hovering at Top 10 all-time


I have lived in IN since 1988 & have a lot of friends that are diehard IU fans. They really like A. Miller but one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is that he lacks the "swagger" that Knight carried and they know it. Those who pay attention to the larger B10 scene KNOW that BU has the good version of a "Knight-Like" swagger. They don't admit it but me thinks there is a bit of envy towards our situation....
 
#3,670      
Hope Tim Finke doesn't turn into Brian Cardinal 2.0

Quote:
Originally Posted by miketherevelator View Post
Badgers Fan Base‏ @BadgersMBB
The Badgers are now talking to 2018 6'6 SG Tim Finke following Tyler Herro's unexpected de-commitment.
https://twitter.com/BadgersMBB/statu...00454077956096
I hope this doesn't turn out like Brian Cardinal where we let someone with a family connection to our program go to a Big Ten rival and have a great career. But he does seem like a Wisconsin type player


IMHO it won't matter... I don't believe WI will be able to slow this scheme (score in first 7 seconds) down! Also, the years of being schooled by wisky are soon coming to an end.

It's a lot easier to slow down a well-coached team than to speed them up.
 
#3,671      
IndyILL said:
They really like A. Miller but one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is that he lacks the "swagger" that Knight carried and they know it. Those who pay attention to the larger B10 scene KNOW that BU has the good version of a "Knight-Like" swagger. They don't admit it but me thinks there is a bit of envy towards our situation....
I don't know why. Archie is going to take them places, and it's better for the program and the kids if he doesn't do it the same way Bobby did. But sure, Underwood was also a good hire for us, and I can see the green monster visiting other programs over it.
 
#3,672      
Removed from the blueblood list....seriously? No way!

After 116 years of consistent success, including 5 national championships and 8 Final Four appearances, Indiana is locked-in for the long haul. A mere 5-year stretch of .600 basketball is not going to remove them from "the list".

Perhaps if they go into a prolonged 35-40 year hiatus with only 10 NCAA tourney invitations --- and no Final Fours --- we can then revisit the topic. (NOTE: NCAA basketball has been around a lot longer than just the 21st century. Bobby Knight was D-O-M-I-N-A-N-T during his tenure. Not many coaches roll-up three national titles at one school.)

Just look at how much we have sucked over the past 10 years, and we're still hovering at Top 10 all-time

To keep this recruiting related... how important is IU's "status" to their recruiting? And how long does that "status" last without winning?

For the record, IU has a 60% win pct over the last 25 years averaging a 20-13 season. 1 FF, 1 E8, and 4 S16 appearances. The lone E8 was 25 years ago (other than the FF obviously). I get that IU fans see their program as better than those results, and their recruits see it that way too. That isn't close to Blue Blood though.
 
#3,673      
Not quite correct. IU has never been a blue blood. Elite during Knight's years, absolutely. 116 years of continued success would make them a blue blood, but they haven't had that. Don't want to overdue the numbers, but their average finish in the by decade is: 00's - 5; 10's - 7.5; 20's - 6.9; 30's - 4.6; 50's - 4.1; 60's - 3. Only 8 big ten titles before Knight, 5 of them shared. National championship in 1940 - finished second in big ten to Purdue. Best decade was 50's - one shared and three outright big ten champs.

This isn't 116 years of continued success.

Well put. Their brand still resonates with recruits more than the success would normally dictate for some reason.
 
#3,675      
I have lived in IN since 1988 & have a lot of friends that are diehard IU fans. They really like A. Miller but one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is that he lacks the "swagger" that Knight carried and they know it. Those who pay attention to the larger B10 scene KNOW that BU has the good version of a "Knight-Like" swagger. They don't admit it but me thinks there is a bit of envy towards our situation....

This is Hoosier Hysteria weekend and both Garland and Langford are attending. It is critical that IU get one or both of these guys. Archie's intitial recruiting efforts in no way contain the impact recruits that are necessary to return them to blue blood status. They need Zeller/Yogi/Bryant types to get it done.
 
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