Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (October 2018)

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#577      

IllFanInMi

I
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If you build it they will come, hopefully that works in Champaign and not just Hollywood.
 
#580      
Coach Walker was in Danville last Sunday for a JUCO tournament. Wabash Valley's Levi Cook is a 6'10" 280 lbs post player and former DePaul recruit that Illinois may have some interest .

Very concerning. Big sign that we wiffed on all our Big targets. Scramble mode
 
#581      
Affirmative: Ayo (hiring a coach that ultimately yields only one highly ranked player, if that happens),
Ridiculous. What does Chin have to do to prove himself at this point? His hiring is the biggest positive of the Underwood era this far and now we're listing it as a negative. He signed our top PG/best recruit in a decade plus, our top wing recruit, and our top big man recruit. Hes in on the seemingly only recruit we even have a chance with to sign on in November. He was a great hire. He needs a lot help from the other 2 though.
 
#584      
Affirmative: Ayo (hiring a coach that ultimately yields only one highly ranked player, if that happens), Giorgi, (missing out on Flo Thamba, then scrambling and missing Valdir Manuel, only to full court press on his teammate and the last possible big man from the Patrick school), Mark Smith ( retaining Walker for a single player that didn't really fit and ultimately transferred just because he was Mr. Bball),
Andres Feliz (digging into juco after missing on Ramey), DeLaRosa (plan Z transfer).

Negative: Alan Griffin (possible diamond in the rough that staff got in on before Syracuse, others could show enough interest)

Possible either way: Tevian Jones and Samba Kane (neither were the plan A recruits like Nolley and Castleton, but are possibly impressive gets, and if "back up plans," show some recruiting chops.)

Not saying that's how everything really happened just arguments someone could make.

If someone ever makes the argument that the recruitment/signing of Ayo was a negative in any sense, but especially recruiting, they have lost all credibility. Not just with Illinois basketball, but with everything, ever.
 
#587      
Very concerning. Big sign that we wiffed on all our Big targets. Scramble mode
There were nearly 50 college coaches in Danville on Sunday. I have seen nothing that indicates the Illini has "wiffed" on any of our current big targets. Coach Walker obviously there to scout. I do not know if he was targeting any particular recruit. I only mentioned Cook because he could be a good fit for a position in need. I have no idea if the Illini have any interest in Cook , but he was very impressive against JUCO opponents. Each season , there is an escalation in college basketball transfers. Coaches need to have a long list of recruits in their back pocket just in case.
 
#589      
The negative here is amazing. Place has turned into an echo chamber with calls for firings. Even some of the folks who said to let it play out are convinced nothing good will happen before the early signing period ends.

We deteriorated under Groce, and before him, the last years of Weber. Program was missing the tourney consistently and under-performing. Underwood comes in, and doesn't get nearly the buy-in he needs his first year. That's not that unusual, although you certainly see times when it happens.

This fall, we're in on a lot of high level recruits --more than you would think given recent performance, and folks are in a tizzy that we haven't landed one. OTOH, I'm pretty certain that if we didn't push for top-50 guys, folks would be complaining. None of these guys individually are a good bet, but the more chances you have, the better.

We really shouldn't have much to complain about until we see what the class looks like.
 
#590      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Well considering he hasn't been to UK that seems like at least ok news. Likely UI or WVU

Yep. In the absence of further info, there's little doubt that WVU is the heavy favorite. Another hope for a pure business decision. Would be monumental.
 
#595      
Ridiculous. What does Chin have to do to prove himself at this point? His hiring is the biggest positive of the Underwood era this far and now we're listing it as a negative. He signed our top PG/best recruit in a decade plus, our top wing recruit, and our top big man recruit. Hes in on the seemingly only recruit we even have a chance with to sign on in November. He was a great hire. He needs a lot help from the other 2 though.

+1.

Chin is far and away the best recruiter out of all 3 assistant coaches right now. If UK didn't get involved with Whitney he was ours and Chin did a great job on that recruitment.

Antigua can't seem to reel in anything but 3 stars, if he reels in Kofi or OT all is forgiven but the chances of that are slim to none.

Walker can't get anything at all...

Time for some changes if we don't get any top 100 kids this class.

Paying these two guys WAY too much money for them to be performing like this on the recruiting trail.
 
#596      

socalini

So Cali
Oct 21st Oscar commitment date
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#597      
In 2017 we lost Morgan, Thorne, Hill, and Williams and replaced them with Ebo, Alstork, and Vesel in terms of big men. Certainly not a recruiting success. In 2018 we replaced Black, Finke, Ebo, Alstork and Vesel with DeLaRosa, Kane, Giorgi, Jones, and Higgs. If DeLaRosa is healthy, this is an upgrade IMO. Next year we lose AJ and DeLaRosa and if we are to see improvement, the recruits must be better than the players we are losing by defensive position. My question is Shannon better than AJ? If not we are losing ground.
 
#600      
Next year we lose AJ and DeLaRosa and if we are to see improvement, the recruits must be better than the players we are losing by defensive position. My question is Shannon better than AJ? If not we are losing ground.
I think that is the wrong question. Kids get better, so saying a freshman needs to be an improvement over a senior isn't the total picture. We will be fine at wing, DW, TJ, KN...with another year of experience. Our real problem has been bigs, if we repeat last year and lose all of our bigs we will be in trouble. We need a combination of a few more bigs & getting this year's freshman bigs back so they can grow into the role.
 
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