Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (January-March 2017)

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#901      
Deleted member 14522
I saw Finke at the Highland shootout this year and came away very impressed. I really hope we get him because his fundamentals were great. Very good size, could handle well against pressure, could post, and good range on his shot from outside. He seems like a player that will do great in college regardless of the system he plays in. I was surprised he was only ranked in the 90s. Kid can PLAY.
 
#903      
Wittsdream
IlliniCards24 said:
Regarding Finke: He absolutely loves Roger Powell. I heard that Vandy is in the lead because of that.

We need to get Roger back in Champaign.
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Would love to have Roger on the staff, along with Deon Thomas to coach the big men. Add them to Walker, and I think you have a very good assistant coaching staff to teach fundamentals and shepherd these kids. Problem is Dustin Ford makes a lot of the play calling, so getting rid of him would put the onus on Groce and one of the new assistants to spearhead the pre and in-game strategy.

This is where losing a guy like Brandon Miller really hurts.
 
#904      
Wittsdream
chief78 said:
Fudd had a press conference stating he wasn't interested in the Illinois job.
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He kinda wants to keep that on the low down. ;)

elmer-fudd-koch-square-resize.jpg
 
#905      
Deleted member 14522
Liddell for Belleville West is going to be a great post player. Defensively he already is a game changer. He had some great swats against Edwardsville earlier this year. He will be the future player I want the most in the Metro East area. I think he has already scored 1000 points and he is only a sophomore.
 
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#907      
IlliniInOK
cardsillinifan said:
I saw Finke at the Highland shootout this year and came away very impressed. I really hope we get him because his fundamentals were great. Very good size, could handle well against pressure, could post, and good range on his shot from outside. He seems like a player that will do great in college regardless of the system he plays in. I was surprised he was only ranked in the 90s. Kid can PLAY.
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I feel like he's the kind of guy Wisconsin always used to get. Just good at everything and when he's a JR/SR he puts it all together and you just shake your head at every box score that says he put up something like 16 pts, 6 boards, 4 assists, a steal and a block
 
#908      
FatGreg
As others are saying, we seem to have a good chance with Mark Smith, Finke, Liddell, Marquise Walker, and Hargrove, along with a puncher's chance at landing Dosunmu, Okoro, Perry Cowan, and Adam Miller. There are also several highly regarded local kids that we haven't discussed much: Ousame Ndim, Mario McKinney, Nobal Days, et al. Even landing a fraction of that regional talent haul would position us to compete with almost anyone in terms of raw skill and athleticism.

Get Smith, Finke, Okoro, Liddell, and Miller and it will be hard not to stumble into a couple Elite Eights by '22.
 
#909      
IlliniCards24
IlliniInOK said:
I feel like he's the kind of guy Wisconsin always used to get. Just good at everything and when he's a JR/SR he puts it all together and you just shake your head at every box score that says he put up something like 16 pts, 6 boards, 4 assists, a steal and a block
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He actually does remind me of Dekker in a way.
 
#910      
FatGreg
IlliniCards24 said:
He actually does remind me of Dekker in a way.
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I've watched Finke a bunch and I feel very confident that he'll outplay his ranking. He's a streaky but good shooter, great size for a wing, great motor, underrated athleticism. I won't be surprised if he ends up on an NBA roster someday. Also, like Dekker, I won't be surprised if Finke has a late growth spurt.
 
#911      
OldGreg
For a while there, the young Finke was a top 50 player in his class but after a less than spectacular AAU circuit this summer, his rankings fell off a bit
 
#912      
IbleedOandB2014
Finke and the Maroons are going to get bounced tonight by the Mahomet-Bulldogs. You heard it hear first.
 
#915      
TownieMatt
FatGreg said:
As others are saying, we seem to have a good chance with Mark Smith, Finke, Liddell, Marquise Walker, and Hargrove, along with a puncher's chance at landing Dosunmu, Okoro, Perry Cowan, and Adam Miller. There are also several highly regarded local kids that we haven't discussed much: Ousame Ndim, Mario McKinney, Nobal Days, et al. Even landing a fraction of that regional talent haul would position us to compete with almost anyone in terms of raw skill and athleticism.

Get Smith, Finke, Okoro, Liddell, and Miller and it will be hard not to stumble into a couple Elite Eights by '22.
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I think we have a decent shot at Ayo as well. He has quite a few offers from P5 programs, but none of the true blue-bloods have offered. I suspect they're laying off to see how his shot develops. He's not a bad shooter, but he has an awkward release and doesn't get a ton of lift on his jumper. Regardless, with his ability to get to the basket and set up teammates, he'd be great in the pick-n-roll.

From what I've seen, we're also in a great spot with Liddell, and I suspect we'll be in it until the end with Finke, Walker, and Miller as well. I assume Smith is waiting out the Groce situation before making a decision (which is smart on his part).

Okoro is more of a mystery to me, does anyone have any insight? Does he have any UI ties? For some reason he just feels like a guy that might go elsewhere, but maybe I just have a bad feeling about Normal kids thanks to Keita Bates-Diop.
 
#916      
EJ33
Dan said:
Frazier on cusp of history as Wellington eyes state title

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...b-wellington-frazier-0303-20170302-story.html
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Excellent article.

This season Frazier — ranked the 107th best prospect in the nation by 247Sports.com — has been nearly unstoppable, averaging 27.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists for Wellington, which is 27-3 heading into its 9A semifinal Friday against Osceola (28-2).
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Pretty high praise from the locals:

So where does Frazier stack up all-time in Palm Beach County?

Another championship would certainly put him in the mix near the top with former stars like Jackie Manuel, Eddie Shannon, Alonzo Gee, Derek Harper and Otis Thorpe.
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#917      
Wittsdream
I think we're just a Whitman pledge to Groce away from garnering commitments from Smith and Liddell. The other ones might be a bit tougher to land, just due to the glut of guards (Walker and Cowan), and you never know what blue bloods will come in to swoop up Dosunmu and Okoro.

But, if all we did was just added Smith and Liddell and a bunch of filler scrubs over the next 2 classes (highly unlikely), we would still have a core group of:

Tilmon, Liddell, Nichols, Smith, Frazier, TJL, Pickett and DMW after Black, Finke and JCL graduate. I still think Finke and Hargrove are decent bets to don the orange and blue, with Okoro and Dosunmu in the crapshoot category.

Anyway, the future on the recruiting front is about as bright as it's been since the '09 to '11 stretch.
 
#918      
bbpeoria
IlliniInOK said:
I feel like he's the kind of guy Wisconsin always used to get. Just good at everything and when he's a JR/SR he puts it all together and you just shake your head at every box score that says he put up something like 16 pts, 6 boards, 4 assists, a steal and a block
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Just saw Finke v Okoro a couple weeks ago and we made the same comparison. Finke has good size both in height and muscle and just seems like he can do a little of everything. Would love to get him and a big in that class.
 
#919      
FatGreg
Wittsdream said:
I think we're just a Whitman pledge to Groce away from garnering commitments from Smith and Liddell. The other ones might be a bit tougher to land, just due to the glut of guards (Walker and Cowan), and you never know what blue bloods will come in to swoop up Dosunmu and Okoro.

But, if all we did was just added Smith and Liddell and a bunch of filler scrubs over the next 2 classes (highly unlikely), we would still have a core group of:

Tilmon, Liddell, Nichols, Smith, Frazier, TJL, Pickett and DMW after Black, Finke and JCL graduate. I still think Finke and Hargrove are decent bets to don the orange and blue, with Okoro and Dosunmu in the crapshoot category.

Anyway, the future on the recruiting front is about as bright as it's been since the '09 to '11 stretch.
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Whenever Central IL/Peoria and the STL metro have a talent boom like this, we tend to clean up on the recruiting front and then win a lot of games. I hope the coaching situation is stabilized one way or another ASAP, because it would be tragic for the program to miss out on this windfall.

When we returned to the top of the Big Ten between '99 and '01, it was on the backs of Frank Williams (Peoria), Marcus Griffin (Peoria), Sergio McClain (Peoria), Brian Cook (Lincoln, IL), and Robert Archibald (STL metro). Let's do it again!
 
#920      
bbpeoria
Okoro

TownieMatt said:
Okoro is more of a mystery to me, does anyone have any insight? Does he have any UI ties? For some reason he just feels like a guy that might go elsewhere, but maybe I just have a bad feeling about Normal kids thanks to Keita Bates-Diop.
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I agree I could easily see Okoro elsewhere. I don't think there would be much tie in with Illinois the school or state and after seeing him play recently he could be an elite prospect.

Not too many prospects have his size in both height and build combined with his speed and jumping ability. He also has good low post footwork. I know he is old for a soph but it is still hard to believe he is only a soph. He has the look of a nice NBA four right now and, if I am guessing right now, will be a one-and-done.
 
#921      
bbpeoria
Wittsdream said:
I think we're just a Whitman pledge to Groce away from garnering commitments from Smith and Liddell.
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Anything to back that up or just conjecture? That would be phenomenal on top of the young talent already on/or coming to campus. Personally, my semi-realistic dream class for 2018 is Finke and Liddell.
 
#923      
FatGreg
bbpeoria said:
Anything to back that up or just conjecture? That would be phenomenal on top of the young talent already on/or coming to campus. Personally, my semi-realistic dream class for 2018 is Finke and Liddell.
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Liddell is 2019, unless I'm very confused. Semi-realistic dream scenario is probably (assuming standard attrition): Dosunmu, Finke, and a big in 2018, followed by a 2019 class of Liddell, Okoro, Terrence Hargrove, Marquise Walker, and Perry Cowan and/or another wing scorer.
 
#924      
ILHoff
bbpeoria said:
Anything to back that up or just conjecture? That would be phenomenal on top of the young talent already on/or coming to campus. Personally, my semi-realistic dream class for 2018 is Finke and Liddell.
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Liddell is 2019. At 6'7" with long arms and a pretty shot that extends out to 3, I think he has a chance to be the best player to ever come out of Belleville. Obviously he'll need to keep working, but he's a heck of a player.
 
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