Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (August 2019)

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#226      
Not sure how anybody can be satisfied with only 2 players in the top 100 among 4 recruiting classes.
17, 18 and 19. That’s three classes. And Underwood had about 5 minutes to recruit the 17 class. Yet to be seen if we will pull any top 100 guys in the 20 class.

I’m not saying recruiting has been great. But let’s be honest about the underlying facts before editorializing.
 
#227      
17, 18 and 19. That’s three classes. And Underwood had about 5 minutes to recruit the 17 class. Yet to be seen if we will pull any top 100 guys in the 20 class.

I’m not saying recruiting has been great, but let’s be honest about the underlying facts before editorializing.

Mark Smith was also a top 100 recruit, so it's really 3, but valid point.
 
#228      

Tophe

Middle TN
Hawkeyes finally got their Ullis!
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#229      
Not sure how anybody can be satisfied with only 2 players in the top 100 among 4 recruiting classes.

That is more top 100 recruits than Texas Tech had last year. It is not how your recruits rank but how they play.

I would add that I am not satisfied with the record the last couple of years, but I was satisfied with the play.
 
#231      

WiscIllini

Madison, WI
That is more top 100 recruits than Texas Tech had last year. It is not how your recruits rank but how they play.

I would add that I am not satisfied with the record the last couple of years, but I was satisfied with the play.


You were??? I mean at times I liked what I saw but overall, it’s stunk. Yes, we have individual players that have been good, but we have played consistently as a team outside of a small mid-season stretch last year.
 
#232      
Great job at picking the biggest outlier! I hope we can all agree that our recruiting of top 75 kids improves.
I hope we recruit players good enough to win a lot of games. I agree that recruiting rankings are generally a good proxy for this. But some coaches are able to ID underrated players and win with them. If Underwood shows he’s consistently able to recruit Giorgi’s (TBD), I won’t care if they’re ranked in the 300’s. And I’d much prefer that to recruiting top 100 guys that won’t help us win games (due to injuries, behavioral issues, etc.) as occurred at the end of Weber’s tenure.
 
#235      
umstance. Are you satisfied w/our current cachet WRT top 75 guys?
Not sure how anybody can be satisfied with only 2 players in the top 100 among 4 recruiting classes.

1. It's silly to include 2016. So Let's just look at the last 3 recruiting classes (2019, 2018, 2017).
2. Let's include the Top 101 since 100 and 101 are both just arbitrary #s.
3. Let's look at the recruiting rank as of the time of signing - so we wont include players like Giorgi who are clearly in the Top 100 for their class now but were not at time signing.
4. Let's use the 247 Composite Rankings.
5. Let's compare to other B10 Programs

Top 101 Per 247 Composite:
2019: Kofi Cockburn #44
2018: Ayo Dosunmu #32
2017: Mark Smith #79
2017: Trent Frazier #101 on 11/9/2016 (date of signing)

* Illinois has 4 (not 2) Top 101 Recruits in the past 3 classes.
* Illinois has 2 Top 51 Recruits in the past 2 classes.


In the 2017-2019 Recruiting Classes:
* Indiana---------had 4 Top 101 recruits (2 Top 51)
* Iowa------------had 2 Top 101 recruits (0 Top 51)
* Maryland------had 6 Top 101 recruits (2 Top 51)
* MSU------------had 6 Top 101 recruits (2 Top 51)
* Michigan-------had 3 Top 101 recruits (1 Top 51)
* Minnesota-----had 3 Top 101 recruits (1 Top 51)
* Nebraska------had 3 Top 101 recruits (2 Top 51) - if you count Cameron Mack who has NOT signed
* Northwestern-had 3 Top 101 recruits (0 Top 51)
* aOSU-----------had 6 Top 101 recruits (3 Top 51)
* Penn St--------had 1 Top 101 recruit (0 Top 51)
* Purdue---------had 2 Top 101 recruits (1 Top 51)
* Rutgers--------had 2 Top 101 recruits (1 Top 51)
* Wisconsin------had 1 Top 101 recruits (0 Top 51)

Only Maryland, MSU, and OSU had more Top 101 recruits than Illinois (and only 2 more).
Only OSU had more Top 51 recruits than Illinois (and only 1 more).
Illinois is out recruiting Wisconsin, Rutgers, Purdue, Penn St, Northwestern, Nebraska, Minnesota, Michigan, and Iowa.

So to answer your question of "How can anyone be satisfied with only [4]2 players in the top 100 among [3]4 recruiting classes?" Because that is better than 9 of the other 13 Big 10 schools. Additionally we have players playing at a level much higher than what they were originally ranked when they signed which speaks way more about our coach/staff's ability to develop a winning program than counting the number of stars on your roster.
 
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#236      
Point being that recruiting rankings are hardly correct on guys. Weber had any number of top 100 guys and how'd that turn out after '06?
I don't put that so much on recruiting numbers as balance, Weber, and some bad luck... we were short pg through the end of Weber through Groce era...We over used McCamey, when you had to play Jeff Jordan, Maniscalco on a bum ankle, Ahmad Starks, I think it tells you how bad it was or maybe that we were recruiting Orris/James at pg. At bigs we only had 3 yrs from Richmond/Leonard combined., stretch those over the 9 years he was here and I don't think Weber killed it with recruiting top 100.
 
#237      
You were??? I mean at times I liked what I saw but overall, it’s stunk. Yes, we have individual players that have been good, but we have played consistently as a team outside of a small mid-season stretch last year.
Yes, without going into a lot of detail. We had a young team, they played fast, and they never gave up as a team. It was satisfying to watch because you could see that these kids were growing and were going to continue to grow as players. W-L record is probably less important to me than most people though.
 
#241      

sacraig

The desert
You were??? I mean at times I liked what I saw but overall, it’s stunk. Yes, we have individual players that have been good, but we have played consistently as a team outside of a small mid-season stretch last year.

I think if you look at where we were in Groce's final year in terms of not only record, but also style of play, offensive system, etc., you can't deny there is improvement almost across the board. The one glaring exception is the W-L columns. That's obviously the most important place we need to see results, but it's hard to deny the improvement in most other aspect of our game, and we saw in that midseason stretch last season where we are headed if/when the team puts all the pieces together consistently.

I, for one, remain optimistic.
 
#242      

illini80

Forgottonia
Few are not optimistic. I see Kofi as likely a 2 year guy. Ayo will be a 2 year guy or we have a problem. Two 2 year, top 100 players in 2 years is not enough. That should be easy enough to agree on without pages of dissection trying to prove it wrong. Obviously not tho.

I will be shocked (and disappointed) if that doesn’t improve right along with our record. I think the expectation by most is to regularly compete for B10 championships and that won’t happen unless recruiting continues to improve. Which I think it will.
 
#244      

WiscIllini

Madison, WI
I think if you look at where we were in Groce's final year in terms of not only record, but also style of play, offensive system, etc., you can't deny there is improvement almost across the board. The one glaring exception is the W-L columns. That's obviously the most important place we need to see results, but it's hard to deny the improvement in most other aspect of our game, and we saw in that midseason stretch last season where we are headed if/when the team puts all the pieces together consistently.

I, for one, remain optimistic.

Oh, I’m optimistic and I definitely saw those things. But I still wasn’t “satisfied” and I thought there were things Underwood could have done to make the last two seasons a little less painful. Very certain this season we’ll start getting back to more consistently good basketball.
 
#247      
Personally, I would rather go to the tournament every year and suck at recruiting than recruit top 100's and not make the tourney. Of course, doing neither is... well... never mind.
 
#249      
I don't put that so much on recruiting numbers as balance, Weber, and some bad luck... we were short pg through the end of Weber through Groce era...We over used McCamey, when you had to play Jeff Jordan, Maniscalco on a bum ankle, Ahmad Starks, I think it tells you how bad it was or maybe that we were recruiting Orris/James at pg. At bigs we only had 3 yrs from Richmond/Leonard combined., stretch those over the 9 years he was here and I don't think Weber killed it with recruiting top 100.
Didn't Orris play in the G League last year?
 
#250      
Personally, I would rather go to the tournament every year and suck at recruiting than recruit top 100's and not make the tourney. Of course, doing neither is... well... never mind.

Well that is just a hell of a Groce idea there.....
 
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