Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (October 2018)

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#603      

Illwinsagain

Cary, IL
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I have no idea what is implied by this video, but I love it!
 
#606      
+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.

O sure I agree and I think Chin was a great hire. The points in the original post weren't my personal feelings about the staff, their operating with purpose vs. confusion, or of their competence. I'm a huge Ayo fan.

For some reason though, there has been enough negativity going around, that it seemed possible some might actually take that line of thinking.

Like I said, they were hypotheticals someone might believe about Giorgi, Feliz, the rest of the class, etc. I wasn't there to follow the coaches around and observe what really happened and wasn't saying that's how those situations really played out. Someone else might argue from the other end of the spectrum, that all of the recruits show a great recruiting strategy and competence, with multiple backup plans and filling the class at every position.
 
#608      
+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.

Well, how long do we give them, and who wants to volunteer to let them know that they need to see the two Bobs?

 
#609      
Piper is a homer.
He said Liddell to Illinois right before the visit and then changed it to OSU when no one else said to Illinois.

That is true, but IMO part of it is expected. He covers Illinois, depends on the Illini fans and their subscriptions, and also gets his information primarily from the staff. Some of his picks help rally fan support for visits (e.g., Liddell, Oscar T, Shannon) which is something that the staff needs but can't do directly themselves. In exchange, they feed him some information. It is a two way street. I know it becomes annoying at times (especially when the chips are down) but some of it is understandable given the nature of his job.
 
#610      
Quincy Guerrier - Who knows, maybe 40% Oregon, maybe 40% Syracuse, 20% Illinois.
EJ Liddell (Committed to Ohio State on Oct. 1st)
Terrence Shannon (Commitment announcement: Nov. 1st) - Who knows. Our best chance to get anyone is Shannon... I'd put our odds at 33%...
Oscar Tshiebwe (Commitment announcement: Oct. 21st) - Likely WVU
Anthony Walker - Likely Miami

Putting those OVs to good use!
 
#613      
Quincy Guerrier - Who knows, maybe 40% Oregon, maybe 40% Syracuse, 20% Illinois.
EJ Liddell (Committed to Ohio State on Oct. 1st)
Terrence Shannon (Commitment announcement: Nov. 1st) - Who knows. Our best chance to get anyone is Shannon... I'd put our odds at 33%...
Oscar Tshiebwe (Commitment announcement: Oct. 21st) - Likely WVU
Anthony Walker - Likely Miami

Putting those OVs to good use!


I wonder if Underwood has tried drinking coffee? I've heard coffee is for closers.
 
#614      
+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.

It all starts and ends with the head coach.

It seems that assistants have become the easy target diverting blame to them. I do not know much about Walker, but I know for a fact in my conversations with many HS and AAU coaches that Orlando Antigua is very well liked and receives much praise. They really like him. That is even more concerning at the core given our recruiting misses.
 
#615      
But what would you recommend?

When you have a glaring need and lack of bodies at a position, make an early get of a developmental player who you like and can land with comparatively less effort a priority.

Good recruiters aren't just able to close in drawn-out free-for-alls with major programs for top talent, they are also able to lock down and get quick and easy commits in the recruitments of less hyped players who they like. Combine that ability with really good scouting and you've got a stew going, and a lot of man-hours to dedicate to supplementing that base with a star or two.
 
#616      

Deleted member 649710

D
Guest
Its gonna be Def Con 1 in here on November 1st if/when Underwood whiffs on OT & TS. And that will be unreasonable. The quick fix isn't going to happen here. Illini Basketball has been too irrelevant for too long. BU is going to need to deliberately build this thing up over a period of years. If he can get to the dance for a couple years in a row with underdog teams, and gets a player or two to the NBA (Ayo, maybe?), then he'll have something solid to sell to Top 50 players. #realitycheck
 
#617      

sacraig

The desert
Quincy Guerrier - Who knows, maybe 40% Oregon, maybe 40% Syracuse, 20% Illinois.
EJ Liddell (Committed to Ohio State on Oct. 1st)
Terrence Shannon (Commitment announcement: Nov. 1st) - Who knows. Our best chance to get anyone is Shannon... I'd put our odds at 33%...
Oscar Tshiebwe (Commitment announcement: Oct. 21st) - Likely WVU
Anthony Walker - Likely Miami

Putting those OVs to good use!

That's really easy to say in hindsight. If you knew for a fact that a given player on an OV wasn't going to eventually commit, might I suggest you share your crystal ball with the staff?

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#618      

No surprise there. I think we should all be prepared for a fall recruiting shutout. If that happens, I will really be questioning the staff strategy. If we get shut out, unless it is part of a greater strategy of some kind, it would seem to indicate a problem to me and hopefully gets identified. Maybe they swing for the fences in the fall knowing there will be other options in the spring. IDK. Maybe we are targeting the wrong guys. Maybe recruiting is tough for some reason because of the university of its facilities or location or whatever. I hope I'm worried for nothing but I'm prepared for the shut out.
 
#620      
It's all well and good that we have two different threads for recruiting and the 18-19 season, but I think some people are failing to connect some dots as a result.

The outlook isn't likely to improve in the spring if we finish 13th in the B1G as projected.

And does an empty recruiting class have any impact on potential transfers out? That's a bit speculative but it can't help.

Over on the other side of Kirby, the architecture of what's being built, the plan, is crystal clear and being followed. You may not like the plan and the plan may not work, but it's right there to be seen and moving along step by step. Brad Underwood acquired Ayo Dosunmu at the price of one of his assistant slots, and beyond that it's one big shrug emoji.

Don't disagree. I don't like what I've seen of recruiting. Tons of talent coming through and leaving. Tons of talent leaving the state for exotic locations like...Iowa State. The Mark Smith relationship looks like it has probably shut us out of the STL area for some time. The signs are bad. But I am no coaching staff insider so I can't say the plan is bad for sure.
 
#621      
When you have a glaring need and lack of bodies at a position, make an early get of a developmental player who you like and can land with comparatively less effort a priority.

Good recruiters aren't just able to close in drawn-out free-for-alls with major programs for top talent, they are also able to lock down and get quick and easy commits in the recruitments of less hyped players who they like. Combine that ability with really good scouting and you've got a stew going, and a lot of man-hours to dedicate to supplementing that base with a star or two.

A couple of assumptions that are not necessarily true. First, you assume that we can outscout and outdevelop players compared to the rest of the upper echelon B1G, which we have really no proof that we can do. Given that BU's own choices in the first year (Alstork, Smith, Ebo, Matic) really washed out, it really puts at least some doubt into that thinking. Furthermore, most of the hopeful positive outlook this coming year is centered more around Ayo (the high ranked star) than some of the hidden gems. Without Ayo? Can you imagine?

The second assumption is that that we are losing highly ranked recruits because of lack of time devoted to them. I do not think that is necessarily true either. We are getting many to visit and show initial interest, but at the end we have not shown the ability to close the deal with them. That will not likely change if we target less of them, it may actually decrease our chances of that star or two.

Our current problem is closing on highly ranked players who give you better chances at improving the talent level that is needed to compete in the B1G. I do not think our problem is getting lower ranked players that we can develop. Most of our Spring recruits would actually fit that category, wouldn't they?
 
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