Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (July-August 2016)

[Joel Goodson]

This is a great question. It seems like every fan base thinks they have the best strength and conditioning coach, especially when talking about recruits.

"Just wait until (insert name - usually singular) gets a hold of him."

Should be enough to put us in the top half of the B1G.

Yes, fan bases are notorious for hyperbole and homer-ism. That said, the proof is in the pudding: Fletch's results are pretty darn amazing. I've been an avid follower of college hoops for 40+ years and those results...just, wow!

Not suggesting Fletch will put us over the top w/any given kid, but he's certainly a positive.

 

[Illiniguy13]

This is a great question. It seems like every fan base thinks they have the best strength and conditioning coach, especially when talking about recruits.

"Just wait until (insert name - usually singular) gets a hold of him."

Any S&C coach at this level knows what they're doing. I'm sure every program has a well-qualified hire. With that said, it's another thing to have a coach who was a former player & can develop great relationships with their players. When it comes to us, I don't ever recall our fanbase & players having so much love for a S&C coach. I also don't recall our entire roster having such impressive results in such short time. I recall Egwu went through a major transformation in his time here, but he had an incredible work ethic.

 

[Illwinsagain]

Adding say 4-5 inches onto a D1 basketball player's vertical in a year or so is potentially worth a whole lot of money and should grab people's (recruit's) attention. If you're jumping higher, you are also faster, tire more slowly, etc. The verticle is a fairly accurate predictor to how athletic a person is, and everyone wants to be more athletic right? Adding 4-5 inches in a year BTW is freaking awesome.

 

[ChazzReinhold]

This is a great question. It seems like every fan base thinks they have the best strength and conditioning coach, especially when talking about recruits.

"Just wait until (insert name - usually singular) gets a hold of him."

Did we really ever talk about our S&C coach before Fletch?

 

[icengineer]

Did we really ever talk about our S&C coach before Fletch?

Basgier was routinely mentioned on here. Not to the extent that Fletch has been, but was lauded for his results.

 

[Tevo]

Any S&C coach at this level knows what they're doing. I'm sure every program has a well-qualified hire. With that said, it's another thing to have a coach who was a former player & can develop great relationships with their players. When it comes to us, I don't ever recall our fanbase & players having so much love for a S&C coach. I also don't recall our entire roster having such impressive results in such short time. I recall Egwu went through a major transformation in his time here, but he had an incredible work ethic.

Of course, I don't ever remember anyone from the team every talking about strength or measurable traits like vertical or bench press reps before. Certainly possible I missed it, but this idea of posting before and after pictures and announcing before and after performance numbers is a new thing to me. So I can't really say whether Fletch is doing the same or better than anyone else we, or anyone else, has or had. Do other schools post numbers like that?

 

[DragonIlliniFan]

Can somebody just please post a pic of Wilkes in the O&B?!

 

[TCTORNADO]

Basgier was routinely mentioned on here. Not to the extent that Fletch has been, but was lauded for his results.

It is pretty widely known that Basgier was the main reason for all our injuries and why we didn't make the dance the last 3 years.

 

[Obelix]

If you're first, at least you're pretty well guaranteed to get a visit. He could cancel, but he's unlikely to commit before he shows up. With each successive school, he's less likely to visit the next one. So going first gives you the best odds, that way... Has he visited all of these schools on unofficials? If he has then the "I wonder what that other school is like" effect is likely less significant. He's been to IU, he's been to XU (I think). Maybe he hears Groce's pitch, recalls how lame those other schools are, and tweets, "F it, I'm going to Illinois!"

Going first gives you the best odds for a visit, not necessarily the best odd of a commitment, which is the important thing here. Actually, the odds of a commitment significantly drop with every subsequent visit.

 

[Obelix]

Did we really ever talk about our S&C coach before Fletch?

Fletch seems to be doing an excellent job, but the reason we are talking about S&C is his strong presence on Illini social media, not necessarily an unbiased view of results vis-a-vis other programs.

Coaches and recruits do visit facilities and discuss S&C and quite often meet the S&C coach, but I seriously doubt that they will be very familiar with Fletch, or that it will be a big part of a recruit's decision. There are many universities that have excellent S&C programs and fantastic facilities, and great S&C coaches.

 

[Greensboro]

Going first gives you the best odds for a visit, not necessarily the best odd of a commitment, which is the important thing here. Actually, the odds of a commitment significantly drop with every subsequent visit.

So for Wilkes, if you could pick the visit order what number do you take (1 -5)?

I'm quite happy going first, as you move back in schedule the odds of even getting a visit go down.

 

[illini8507]

Going first gives you the best odds for a visit, not necessarily the best odd of a commitment, which is the important thing here. Actually, the odds of a commitment significantly drop with every subsequent visit.

So for Wilkes, if you could pick the visit order what number do you take (1 -5)?

I'm quite happy going first, as you move back in schedule the odds of even getting a visit go down.

I think it varies from recruit to recruit. With Wilkes, or any other recruit where we appear to be behind a few leaders, I'm glad to be first. It gives us the best chance of actually getting a visit, and the opportunity to set the bar high. If he started visiting his perceived leaders first there's a good chance he commits somewhere before ever getting to our campus.
So, in summary, I feel that him going first does increase our chances of a commitment. Not greatly, but I don't think odds were good (relatively speaking) before. If he scheduled us last I'd put those chances at 0% because I'd doubt he ever makes it that long.

If we were one of the perceived leaders for a kid, and pretty much guaranteed to get a visit, I'd absolutely want to be the last impression he gets

 

[Obelix]

So for Wilkes, if you could pick the visit order what number do you take (1 -5)?

That's different than the odds. That depends on how recruits feel about specific schools. For example, even before the visits, Brunson was going to take visits, Illinois going first was not an indication that we were leading. I also posted many times, that by the time Evans started taking visits, a pretty good source told me that if Evans left UI without a commitment, he was not coming back (i.e., OSU had not only closed the gap, but was leading).

With Wilkes, I am hearing that he makes it to at least IU. I hope he commits to us on his visit, but I'd be surprised if he does not take additional visits.

 

[Genesis]

So for Wilkes, if you could pick the visit order what number do you take (1 -5)?

I'm quite happy going first, as you move back in schedule the odds of even getting a visit go down.

This would be a great project for a graduate statistics project. Determine the probability of a commitment on the 1st, 2nd, etc, visit and how it varies based on how the recruit is leaning before the visit (crystal balls or some subjective analysis of recruits prior comments). I'd imagine more than a few athletic depts have already studied this extensively.

 

[Obelix]

This would be a great project for a graduate statistics project. Determine the probability of a commitment on the 1st, 2nd, etc, visit and how it varies based on how the recruit is leaning before the visit (crystal balls or some subjective analysis of recruits prior comments). I'd imagine more than a few athletic depts have already studied this extensively.

While getting the first visit on Wilkes does not indicate lead or better odds for a commitment, I am perfectly happy with the sequence. Wilkes is a recruit that was (is) a long shot, so at least he gets to listen to what we have to say. Groce is generally good on visits and it also gives us recruiting time for other players at his position.

As far as odds, if Wilkes takes all his planned visits and then makes an announcement, there will be a very slight advantage on the last visit, albeit a small one. If he does not take all planned visits, look at the last visit he took before announcement. It is almost guaranteed that it will be the school he picks (despite the fact that some Illini fans will still keep hope until announcement). That rule never fails, you stop planned visits and make an announcement, it is the last school.

So if Wilkes does not commit on his visit to UI, people better hope he takes all his visits.

 

[alaskaillini]

Fletch seems to be doing an excellent job, but the reason we are talking about S&C is his strong presence on Illini social media, not necessarily an unbiased view of results vis-a-vis other programs.

Coaches and recruits do visit facilities and discuss S&C and quite often meet the S&C coach, but I seriously doubt that they will be very familiar with Fletch, or that it will be a big part of a recruit's decision. There are many universities that have excellent S&C programs and fantastic facilities, and great S&C coaches.

I think Fletch is special because he gets the guys to buy in to what he is selling. On a visit, a recruit gets to see the players and talk to them, and may even see some of the guys work out. It wouldn't surprise me if Fletch wasn't a part of the sales pitch and has a positive impact on a recruit's view of the Illinois program. It may not be the deciding factor between Illinois and other programs that have great facilities and great S&C coaches, but at least Illinois can say it is one of those schools.

 

[Illiniguy13]

On a different note, lotta beef goin down on Mayan Kiir's twitter between Illini & VCU fans. He's retweeting everything and seems to be getting a kick out of it. I had no clue VCU was even in the hunt for Kiir.

 

[bigruss22]

On a different note, lotta beef goin down on Mayan Kiir's twitter between Illini & VCU fans. He's retweeting everything and seems to be getting a kick out of it. I had no clue VCU was even in the hunt for Kiir.

He doesn't have many offers, they are up there along with NC State.

 

[Mike]

Yes, fan bases are notorious for hyperbole and homer-ism. That said, the proof is in the pudding: Fletch's results are pretty darn amazing. I've been an avid follower of college hoops for 40+ years and those results...just, wow!

Not suggesting Fletch will put us over the top w/any given kid, but he's certainly a positive.

Exactly, you can talk about how good a strength coach/program is all you want, but results are the real metric. Let's wait and see how much better our guys are moving and then revisit the discussion. Think a lot of people (especially the old schoolers) will be pleasantly surprised that we move noticeably better and have higher ceilings this season.

 

[Adnarel]

On a different note, lotta beef goin down on Mayan Kiir's twitter between Illini & VCU fans. He's retweeting everything and seems to be getting a kick out of it.

I wish fans wouldn't be like that. It looks so stupid.

 

[zoggle101]

I wish fans wouldn't be like that. It looks so stupid.

What if they are trolls? The Illini are scaring people with the talent being accumulated.

 

[FiveStar]

It is pretty widely known that Basgier was the main reason for all our injuries and why we didn't make the dance the last 3 years.

I know you're just joking, and I don't know enough about what he was doing, but there's some pretty solid evidence that certain types of training can lead to imbalances that make injuries more likely. Injury prevention and flexibility are high on every S&C coach's job description, but let's be real, there were a ton of injuries under Basgier. Time will tell if Fletch's program leads to less injuries.

 

[Deleted member 10676]

This is kind of neat. Sort of like CBs except it's just a group of guys in GA, FL and PA doing the choosing (which I guess makes it almost exactly like CBs).
Corey Evans ‏@coreyevans_10 17m17 minutes ago We take a shot at predicting where and when the remaining top-125 uncommitted will land http://buff.ly/2bKlcWL

 

[whatahack]

What if they are trolls? The Illini are scaring people with the talent being accumulated.

If that is happening, that is really pathetic.
#getalife

 

[Obelix]

This is kind of neat. Sort of like CBs except it's just a group of guys in GA, FL and PA doing the choosing (which I guess makes it almost exactly like CBs).
Corey Evans ‏@coreyevans_10 17m17 minutes ago We take a shot at predicting where and when the remaining top-125 uncommitted will land http://buff.ly/2bKlcWL

Shows how difficult is to recruit and how tough it will be to compete in the B1G moving forward, even with a good class. Michigan State, Indiana, and Maryland continue to recruit at a very high level, and Michigan is also doing well with Beilein as a coach. Finishing in the top 5 in the B1G remains a big challenge.