Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (October 2018)

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#526      
I'm convinced that Ole Ward is the reason TSJ has not and will not commit to UI. We really need to make it a rule that he can't weigh in on recruits...
 
#527      

sacraig

The desert
Add to that list that we now have a coach that has an offense let alone knows how to run one.

True.

With Groce, I seemed like we basically had an offense of individuals, which roughly translates to no offense unless you have a bunch of studs who are basically playing street ball with refs. Without that, it's just hero ball. His tenure, then, ultimately came down to whether or not he could recruit at a very high level to make that work, and it turned out that he couldn't. Without that, his teams couldn't really do much and ended up perennially at the bottom of the B1G.

Underwood in contrast, has a well-defined offensive system that seems (based on his prior teams) to be effective even if he doesn't have a team full of future NBAers. Now, I think we would all agree that he still needs to recruit at a high level in order for his system in order to compete for B1G (and eventually National) Championships, but it seems his system likely requires a lower bar for recruiting for success than did Groce's.

My hope, then, is that even if we don't land the big fish now, a bunch of medium fish will work to show substantial improvement over our last several years, which will have a positive impact on recruiting, which will have a positive impact on our record, which will have a positive impact on recruiting, which will have a positive impact on our record, which will have a positive impact on recruiting, ..........................., ..........................., ..........................., ..........................., ..........................., ..........................., ...........................

Prove me right, Brad!
 
#530      
That's when you know you have a good recruiter.
Or...you know....have been in the ncaa tournament in the past 5 years and are a relevant program and have put players in the NBA....do I need to keep going?
 
#531      

JFGsCoffeeMug

BU:1 Trash cans:0
Chicago
Step 1: Establish low expectations over the summer as a defense mechanism.
Step 2: Get overly-excited about any early success once the season starts.
Step 3: Predict a return to national relevance.
Step 4: Things don't work out.
Step 5: Watch the rest of the games anyway.
Step 6: Look forward to next year.
Step 7: Repeat.

It has become a yearly tradition for me.
 
#535      
The Shannon recruitiment has really been weird and throw in The Show to DePaul and it makes it even weirder. Corey Evans of Rivals has said that TSJ has stated that FSU is at the top of his recruitment.

Depaul: “They are still in my recruitment. They are recruiting me pretty hard and they are still at the top ..."

Texas Tech: “The visit went good. I feel like that is a place that I can be. ..."

Illinois: “I felt at home during the visit. It is home. ..."

Florida State: “They are at the top of my recruitment. ..."


https://basketballrecruiting.rivals...k-on-rise-in-advance-of-possible-fall-signing
 
#537      

Dan

Admin
Early Signing Period: November 14-21
 
#538      
How can FSU be leading for Shannon when they have THREE commits that play his position for 2019 already?
Per 247, FSU has 2 SF commits that are ranked 40 and 192, plus a SG juco transfer. What might be at least as relevant are the existing rosters. We look to be in pretty good shape at the 1-3 positions for the next couple years if our players (minus AJ) all return. I don't know about FSU, etc.
 
#539      

socalini

So Cali
Depaul: “They are still in my recruitment. They are recruiting me pretty hard and they are still at the top ..."

Texas Tech: “The visit went good. I feel like that is a place that I can be. ..."

Illinois: “I felt at home during the visit. It is home. ..."

Florida State: “They are at the top of my recruitment. ..."


https://basketballrecruiting.rivals...k-on-rise-in-advance-of-possible-fall-signing

Illinois: "If I do decide there, I am going to make the best out of it.”

I don't even know what that means, but doesn't sound very promising.
 
#541      
Illinois: "If I do decide there, I am going to make the best out of it.”

I don't even know what that means, but doesn't sound very promising.

what does any of it of it mean out of context?

Depaul: “... they are still at the top ..."

Texas Tech "didn’t promise me anything ... just told me that I could be one or two-and-done."

Georgetown: “They said that I can ... change their program.”

Florida State: “They are at the top ..."

How can FSU be leading for Shannon when they have THREE commits that play his position for 2019 already?

They are probably not actually. In context, "at the top" apparently means one of the schools he is still considering.
 
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#544      
We always have the "slow play" discussion and it hasn't been as relevant this year. The only player I can think of is Anthony Walker. This is sending off a whole slew of warning bells and alarms. Where did all of our "backup" options go? Furthermore, who are our backups to the backup targets? As it's been covered, we can't be shut out in the fall signing period. I'd take a loaf a bread at this point. It's versatile and can cover 1-4 with ease once fully rolled out.
 
#545      
True.

With Groce, I seemed like we basically had an offense of individuals, which roughly translates to no offense unless you have a bunch of studs who are basically playing street ball with refs. Without that, it's just hero ball. His tenure, then, ultimately came down to whether or not he could recruit at a very high level to make that work, and it turned out that he couldn't. Without that, his teams couldn't really do much and ended up perennially at the bottom of the B1G.

Underwood in contrast, has a well-defined offensive system that seems (based on his prior teams) to be effective even if he doesn't have a team full of future NBAers. Now, I think we would all agree that he still needs to recruit at a high level in order for his system in order to compete for B1G (and eventually National) Championships, but it seems his system likely requires a lower bar for recruiting for success than did Groce's.

My hope, then, is that even if we don't land the big fish now, a bunch of medium fish will work to show substantial improvement over our last several years, which will have a positive impact on recruiting, which will have a positive impact on our record, which will have a positive impact on recruiting, which will have a positive impact on our record, which will have a positive impact on recruiting, ..........................., ..........................., ..........................., ..........................., ..........................., ..........................., ...........................

Prove me right, Brad!

I believe with Groce, we were stuck with a sub-par coach. Most guys weren't getting markedly better, and they certainly didn't seem to have an offensive system beyond "set a screen at the top of the key and try to get to the rim. When that doesn't work, give the ball to Malcolm and get out of the way."

Underwood has actual plays he can call. The question is, can he make players? We need to be patient in order to see if BU is just a guy with a system, or a guy who can COACH. Some fans are awfully quick to come to a determination on a coaches ability to develop talent. Firing coaches typically only sets the timetable for success back, due to player exodus. We have certainly had our share of highly regarded recruits leave the program for one reason or another over the past several seasons. It would be nice to have a senior laden Illini squad someday...
 
#547      
From watching last year and studying BU’s offense while at his previous stops, this is my idea of how the offense works for bigs.

If the ball is in the short-corner, the high post guy can cut to the ball-side block for a post up when not setting a screen for a perimeter guy. Or cut to the opposite block for a lob.

Any other time our bigs would post is if they work from the high-post or if they come down and set a screen for the initial cutter so that the defense switches a wing/guard onto him. The ball would then be thrown back up-top and then downlow.

With the added length on our perimeter, guys like Kip, Ayo, Jones, Griffin are likely going to be in more post-up spots than many of our bigs, which is another reason why our offense should be better this year (and Damonte forgot to mention him earlier). Along with the added ability to post up, it helps to have the added length so that when our bigs are backing someone down, the ball is more likely to be thrown downlow.

Last year we had some size with Alstork and Smith, but they either weren’t thrown the ball, or were too indecisive in those spots and looked lost/uncomfortable.

We need bigs who can run the floor, have good lateral quickness, and are comfortable setting screens and with the ball 12-15 feet from the basket. I think Kane has a lot of potential there, Giorgi was recruited heavily because of his comfort level in that spot as he played on the perimeter and the high-post frequently in high school.

Liddell would have been the absolute perfect recruit, but we missed him. Obviously added size is a bonus, but Underwood has proven that his system works with undersized bigs.

Give me a class of Shannon+ 2 bigs that are long and comfortable on the perimeter and i’m happy. It’s cliche but stars don’t matter, it’s all about fit! The last regime struck out on talent and couldn’t get guys who fit.
 
#548      

ChazzReinhold

Mom! The Meatloaf!
We always have the "slow play" discussion and it hasn't been as relevant this year. The only player I can think of is Anthony Walker. This is sending off a whole slew of warning bells and alarms. Where did all of our "backup" options go? Furthermore, who are our backups to the backup targets? As it's been covered, we can't be shut out in the fall signing period. I'd take a loaf a bread at this point. It's versatile and can cover 1-4 with ease once fully rolled out.

How do we come to the conclusion that someone is being "slow played." Fans on a forum not talking about a player has no correlation to whether or not the staff is focusing on that recruit.
 
#549      
Might be time to fire up the JUCO tracker. That was Underwood's specialty at SFA.
 
#550      
So as a hypothetical, would folks here be willing to trade places with Kansas State (for the purposes of the 2019 recruiting class only)? They have four guys signed up and are done for the time being, but only one is a fringe top-100 player and the rest are in the 300s.
 
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