Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (October 2020)

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#853      

ChiefIllini

C
ChiefIllini
ChocolateThunder said:
Groce seems to have found his niche at Akron. 24-7 last year and a 1st place conference finish. I do not recall who is lead recruiters were? Was it a case of not having great lead recruiters or Groce's inability to "close the deal" on talented recruits one too many time?
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Groce had many faults. Class/position balance being one of them. He was also incredibly unlucky here, WRT to injuries, but definitely something that recruiting correctly would've alleviated and also not something that cost him his job. he'll get another shot at a P6 job, his recruiting chops are just fine at that level. His coaching will have to step up big time if he wants to retain a P6 job.

In any case, the losses BU has experienced dont quite feel the same way as the Groce ones did. Not sure if it's better or worse, but a lot of Groce's losses were trending as sure fire, where as BU seems to just hang around. I think it hurt more during the Groce era, maybe because we didnt have as clear a path as BU has provided, but in any case, it doesn't feel like losing many recruits really hurts our team. Of course the Nesbitts of the world would've provided a big boost, but we still have multiple options at the positions he would've played.

Hopkins is again a luxury, albeit a bigger one. WAR analogy here, I think Hopkins is worth much more than any of the wings we 'lost'. Mac is the only recruit that I personally feel would mean the difference between winning and losing 4 or 5 more games in 2021-22--Hopkins is extremely close to that number though.
 
#855      

drsmitty74

drsmitty74
Rochester
drsmitty74
TMC999 said:
Did Big Tim from Kentucky call us "hayseed Illinois fans"? As he's posting from a horsebarn at Keeneland? Thanks Tim-Bob. FYI we're also ranked ahead of UK right now, so go dip that.
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Just an FYI....
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#858      

Emerson Bigguns

Emerson Bigguns
Emerson Bigguns
ChocolateThunder said:
Groce seems to have found his niche at Akron. 24-7 last year and a 1st place conference finish. I do not recall who is lead recruiters were? Was it a case of not having great lead recruiters or Groce's inability to "close the deal" on talented recruits one too many time?
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John has worked in Ohio for 15 of the last 20 years. The relationships he built in those years at Xavier and OSU under Matta, and subsequently at Ohio probably come in handy when mining for gems in that region. He's back in his comfort zone, and its working again. Good for him.

I just never felt they guys he did manage to get progressed a lot year to year, and I never got the feeling the team improved as the season went along. At least not to the degree of the teams we were competing against.

John is a good mid-major coach. Good=Average/Below Average in the B1G. If you can't out-recruit or out-coach your competition, you end up with a 41% win percentage in conference.
 
#859      

Illini_1979

Illini_1979
Oregon
Illini_1979
sacraig said:
Fair enough, but @whitesxfan2012 is a known commodity with a history of peddling good info, so take heart in that. I wouldn't call it 100%, as anyone can attest who was around for Cliffmas, but about the only way I'd feel more comfortable with free insider info from a board like this is if @stuemke5 stopped by to confirm.
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I was trying to figure out what the photo had to do with this post until I figured out it is an advertisement. :) For a minute, I thought @sacraig was peddling sheds.
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#860      

JFGsCoffeeMug

JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
Chicago
JFGsCoffeeMug
hooraybeer said:
in the past when there has been a run of predictions to one school leading up to an announcement, that almost always ends up being the place. if no movement prior to his announcement, would be a statistical "outlier" for Illinois to be the choice
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I don't think there have been "a run of predictions" yet. If that happens, I suppose it will happen in the next couple of days.
 
#866      

Calvin

C
Calvin
ChiefIllini said:
Groce had many faults....In any case, the losses BU has experienced dont quite feel the same way as the Groce ones did.
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I feel the same. Seems like this staff casts a wider net and is in on more top guys to begin with. Also, I think Underwood is a much better coach in the traditional sense of the word, and so if he goes to plan B or C in recruiting, there's a better chance we've still found a BIG caliber player. Groce seemed highly dependent on his strength (recruiting), and struggled at the other aspects of getting his team ready.
 
#867      

Illini_Mac

I
Illini_Mac
a 2023 city kid to keep a name on is Taevion Collier 6'5 PF from Curie High School also is Cliff Alexander little Brother.
 
#872      

robjilla

R
robjilla
Illini_Mac said:
a 2023 city kid to keep a name on is Taevion Collier 6'5 PF from Curie High School also is Cliff Alexander little Brother.
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I heard that he had a good showing at the Freshman/Sophomore event from the last weekend but I agree. Show caution with that family. Brad better be at Kenwood and St Rita every week. JJ Taylor transferred from Morgan Park to Kenwood. He is Steve Taylor's (Simeon) little brother. They also have a few other pieces over there. St. Rita has too many guys to name, but James Brown is a 6 8 freshman or soph. He is one to watch.
 
#875      

TwoElevenEastDaniel

TwoElevenEastDaniel
Cochrane's-Orchid-Tonic
TwoElevenEastDaniel
robjilla said:
I heard that he had a good showing at the Freshman/Sophomore event from the last weekend but I agree. Show caution with that family. Brad better be at Kenwood and St Rita every week. JJ Taylor transferred from Morgan Park to Kenwood. He is Steve Taylor's (Simeon) little brother. They also have a few other pieces over there. St. Rita has too many guys to name, but James Brown is a 6 8 freshman or soph. He is one to watch.
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I hear Quam is an assistant at Kenwood now. I am guessing that may help.
 
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