Transfers Thread

#51      

FeelYourPaign

FeelYourPaign
So Cal
FeelYourPaign
I am a little surprised that Nelson would leave if it is for fear of playing time.
He's seen the injury bug bite and bite hard. Even if he is #2 on the depth chart, wouldn't that provide a fair bit of playing time . . . and even more in the unfortunate event of an injury?
 
#52      

BMo79

B
BMo79
UofI08 said:
I guess I just worry that when you start losing rotational and starting players, it's impossible to stack classes and build depth.
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If these were Lovie guys then maybe your worry is spot on, but these are not Lovie recruits. Its the Purge so Lovie can add more of HIS guys, we wont have depth for at least another class after this one, 19 and 20 is when we can start being more concern on things happening on the field. Because then we will be seeing all lovie guys playing
 
#53      

TeamWilliams

T
TeamWilliams
I doubt hugs like him are leaving due to playing time. I think they are abandoning a sinking ship. The ship may find a way to survive but that day may seem to far away for players with a year or two left to give
 
#54      

BZuppke

BZuppke
Plainfield
BZuppke
A sinking ship? I think the second part of your post makes sense - they won't be here long enough to enjoy the rewards of what Lovie is trying to build. But I disagree this is a sinking ship.
 
#55      

wma500

wma500
wma500
CAHALL15 said:
Tell me that Lovie isn’t our coach anymore, Josh isn’t our AD, or we have a few true freshmen transferring, then I’ll start to worry. We are going to play Lovie’s guys which happened to be a group of true freshmen. We will do the same next year plus sophomores.

We won two games this past year so I’m not fazed by any of this.
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Does the fact that Illinois is ranked 13th in the Big 10 in this current recruiting cycle concern you? It's become a huge red flag for me. I'm all in on Lovie and the patience that's required to rebuild this thing. But rebuild with...what? We're talking about replacing players who've transferred out, with players from an incoming recruiting class that ranks near the bottom of the Big 10.

Lovie's still tearing the old house down, but the lumber being delivered for the new place ain't grade A stuff.
 
#56      

BMo79

B
BMo79
wma500 said:
Does the fact that Illinois is ranked 13th in the Big 10 in this current recruiting cycle concern you? It's become a huge red flag for me. I'm all in on Lovie and the patience that's required to rebuild this thing. But rebuild with...what? We're talking about replacing players who've transferred out, with players from an incoming recruiting class that ranks near the bottom of the Big 10.

Lovie's still tearing the old house down, but the lumber being delivered for the new place ain't grade A stuff.
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a lot of that can change depending on who and how many more we add, look at Minny at 6th with 24 3* till the class is filled im not to worried, but im not really worried about the star ranking any how
 
#57      

MadSeason

MadSeason
MadSeason
BRucks said:
Those all big ten FR accolades are inflated. The vast majority of conference freshmen either redshirted or got little play because they were behind better veterans. They weren't considered for freshman honors. Our guys played out of necessity. There are many freshmen around the league who are better than some of our all conference guys.
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How do you know they are better if they didn't play or played sparingly?
 
#58      

MadSeason

MadSeason
MadSeason
wma500 said:
Does the fact that Illinois is ranked 13th in the Big 10 in this current recruiting cycle concern you? It's become a huge red flag for me. I'm all in on Lovie and the patience that's required to rebuild this thing. But rebuild with...what? We're talking about replacing players who've transferred out, with players from an incoming recruiting class that ranks near the bottom of the Big 10.

Lovie's still tearing the old house down, but the lumber being delivered for the new place ain't grade A stuff.
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I think with the number of under ranked recruits we had show well this year, you have to trust the staff knows what they are doing on talent evaluations. We saw too many success stories this season to not trust the process as far as recruits are concerned.
 
#60      

Illiini

Illiini
In the land of the Nittany Lion
Illiini
We supplied almost a quarter of BTN’s all-star freshman team. And no one had more honorable mentions. True, we had more to choose from, but still, what we had is good enough to make the cut.
 
#61      

NScale

N
NScale
Chieftain13 said:
IMO, there isn't a single player on the current roster that is a program defining talent

I remember reading a comment from a HS coach that if he started mostly freshmen he'd be lucky to win a single game.
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Epstein. He was the best player on our team, now it's Blake Hayes.

And a skinny HS freshman is a far cry in terms of growth and development from a college freshman.
 
#62      

CAHALL15

C
Central Illinois
CAHALL15
wma500 said:
Does the fact that Illinois is ranked 13th in the Big 10 in this current recruiting cycle concern you? It's become a huge red flag for me. I'm all in on Lovie and the patience that's required to rebuild this thing. But rebuild with...what? We're talking about replacing players who've transferred out, with players from an incoming recruiting class that ranks near the bottom of the Big 10.

Lovie's still tearing the old house down, but the lumber being delivered for the new place ain't grade A stuff.
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Nope.

Bennett Williams (2 star on Rivals) wasn’t a highly touted guy, but looks like the real deal. Alex P wasn’t a 4 star, but could be a starter for the next few years at tackle. Isiah Gay was an after thought, but showed he can play as did Nate Hobbs (was a 2 star initially), Tony Adams, Louis Dorsey, Mike Epstein, Bobby Roundtree, and others. None of those guys were 4 or 5 stars, either.

If the staff continues to evaluate well, find guys who fit their system, and develop those players, then their rating upon signing doesn’t bother me.
 
#65      

UofI08

U
Chicago
UofI08
All I know is this staff better have some damn good recruits lined up. Losing this many contributors off a roster with no depth or experience is usually not a solid recipe for building a team.
 
#66      

TeamWilliams

T
TeamWilliams
UofI08 said:
All I know is this staff better have some damn good recruits lined up. Losing this many contributors off a roster with no depth or experience is usually not a solid recipe for building a team.
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If this isn't wheels falling off, i.e. players who contribute, I don't know what is as far as our roster is concerned
 
#67      

UofI08

U
Chicago
UofI08
TeamWilliams said:
If this isn't wheels falling off, i.e. players who contribute, I don't know what is as far as our roster is concerned
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I really worry that this goes the same way Beckman/Cubit went. Suck horribly for 2 years, then be barely mediocre and somewhat competitive in years 3 and 4.
 
#69      

BZuppke

BZuppke
Plainfield
BZuppke
It is reasonable and fair to question what is going on in light of a 2-10 season and some of these transfers. We really don’t know what other factors are involved in these transfers. Players are usually ‘true to their school’ even when they’re not winning. I would draw no conclusions as to these transfers but for now trust and support JW and Lovie. I still believe that we are on the right track.
 
#70      

UofI08

U
Chicago
UofI08
Everyone was expecting transfers after the season, but these are not "dead weight" transfers. These are legit contributors. This is realistically what we lost in the last 2 days:
1. Senior starting capable linebacker with 2 years of experience.
2. Rotational/Depth lineman with starting experience. A 4 star recruit that everyone wanted who would still only be a redshirt junior next season. Linemen typically develop slowly.
3. Starting safety, still only would be a junior next season. Made freshman All-B1G last year.
4. Senior rotational/depth DT with experience.

We're not just losing 3rd stringers guys.
 
#72      

ChiefIllini

C
ChiefIllini
Illinibatt said:
If he wanted these guys, I'm guessing he could have convinced most of them to stay.
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He played most of them a decent amount of time...

They were talented players that helped the team this year and would've helped the team next. Maybe he didn't value begging them to stay, but I can guarantee you he didn't just give them a wave goodbye.
 
#73      

UofI08

U
Chicago
UofI08
Random question. During the player year-end interviews, are they told about any future staff changes? Would hate to see someone transfer because of a bad apple on the coaching staff, and then see that coach replaced a month later.
 
#74      

BlueGuy27

B
BlueGuy27
ritster said:
This would explain Tito not giving a crap and throwing the flag back at the referee. Emotions boiled over and knew he would not face any consequences here.
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Just speculating here, but it is definitely worth looking at this another way. Lovie and staff are not just rebuilding the program by improving on field performance, they are also changing the attitude in and around the program.

While you might lose upperclassmen who have shown production (something I would disagree with simply because tackles don't mean a player is performing well), you are putting yourself in a better position moving forward. I'm sure Tito is a good guy with the best of intentions, but you can't have guys that throw flags back at referees on your roster. This is in addition to his suspension earlier in the season. Those actions and that kind of attitude is a leech on the success of the program.

Regardless of why they left, the additional scholarships are a huge benefit to the rebuild. While it may cost us a win or two next season, the purpose of the rebuild is not to win 4-5 games in 2018, but to win 7-8 games from 2019 on. We need to use scholarships on guys that can help us win in the future, not on guys that produce a product that show just how far we fell during the Beckman and Cubit years. Getting closer to a full class this year will only speed up the rebuild. It is tough on the upperclassmen, but needs to happen if we want to fully rebuild.
 
#75      

EyeoftheIllini

EyeoftheIllini
EyeoftheIllini
So are we now at 5 transfers announced? How many scholarships will we have for this class? According to Rivals we've signed 14 so far.