Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (March 2017)

[Peoria Pipeline]

I'd be shocked if Smith doesn't end up at Illinois.

 

[westcoastillini]

Alright, who is feeling in the mood to take something that happened on Twitter and spin it into the most completely ridiculous, ominous thing ever? If you are:

Pickett, who met with Underwood today, retweeted DaMonte's tweet with the questioning/pondering/thinking emoji.

Have fun.

Hopefully it's just the recruits having a little fun with the fan base.

 

[TylerK311]

Hopefully it's just the recruits having a little fun with the fan base.

Happens A LOT. I'd believe it. Honestly, retaining Walker was huge. I think we'll be in good shape.

 

[combes]

Two thoughts. 1. The St. Louis metro area has been and will continue to be a hot bed for recruits. Keeping Walker was a no brainer. I am sure that was a done deal before BU reached Champaign. With Zo and Ford it's going to be a battle. 2. We don't have many players coming back and I am concerned about how many can succeed under BU system. Lucas for sure. Kipper and Finke probably. JCL and Black not so sure. DJW a good fit that appears to be transferring. I hoped the Groce firing would change his mind but it doesn't appear so.

I see JCL fitting in. Black, for sure. Not so DJ. He has a low motor. I was hoping it would improve when he got to college. It hasn't. That won't fly in Underwood's system.

 

[mdonsbach]

It will be interesting of those who have been offered will no longer fit this system. Mainly Finke and Ayo for '18 is who I'm interested in.

 

[Smultronstallet]

Does Mark Smith like other school's tweets? I see him like many pro-Illinois tweets. Obviously, I'm not using this activity to see if he will choose the illini. I'm just curious.

He's been liking just about any tweet that mentions his name. Pro-Missouri, pro-Illinois, pro-Butler, etc.

 

[CARPET]

I'd be shocked if Smith doesn't end up at Illinois.

Agreed 100%

 

[Captain Bubbles]

Just a few thoughts I have. I could be right or wrong:

Tilmon is so tall and athletic, he can run down the floor like a deer. I think when Walker and Underwood visit him, they will go over how they will use him in the offensive and defensive sets. I think Tilmon can be used effectively in Underwood’s system.

The real question is DaMonte Williams. Due to his ACL injury, I think he’ll redshirt this year if he’s not ready to go.

 

[MrOizo]

So what are the thoughts with the crystal ball picks for Mizzou? 3 picks for Mizzou from 3/16 through today... Including Jerry Meyer. Are these guys wrong on these often? No flips since Walker joined BU I guess, but damn.

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

 

[helppitch]

It's interesting that Underwood met with Pickett today, and Tilmon tomorrow, I wonder when he plans to meet Williams? Will he meet Frazier with him so heavily committed?

I heard he already had visited Frazier. Hope we can keep the class recruiting class together. I'm not counting our chickens before they hatch. Hope to see all our recruits reconfirm their commitments soon.

 

[MrOizo]

I heard he already had visited Frazier. Hope we can keep the class recruiting class together. I'm not counting our chickens before they hatch. Hope to see all our recruits reconfirm their commitments soon.

Agreed, no assumptions. I hope these players remain excited to play with each other, for Walker, and for the coach with the #1 offense in 2016-2017. Recruiting isn't always logical, sadly.

 

[MrOizo]

I mean, if we lose any now it's a disaster. Well, Tilmon anyway. And you might put Smith in that category too.

I could flip that too, though. Get Tilmon and Smith and we had absolutely every ball bounce our way the last two weeks for the first time since....?

 

[7yearillini]

I could flip that too, though. Get Tilmon and Smith and we had absolutely every ball bounce our way the last two weeks for the first time since....?

Since Rosemont, March, 2005.

 

[TCTORNADO]

Giving one of your three spots to a member of a failed staff is a pretty big piece of capital to spend only to end up with nothing.

That wouldn't be good would it, but I don't think that will happen.

 

[The Galloping Ghost]

Giving one of your three spots to a member of a failed staff is a pretty big piece of capital to spend only to end up with nothing.

Worst case scenario, a change can pretty easily be made in a year. Yeah, it would hurt our recruiting this year and next, but it's a fixable issue.

For now, let's just see how tomorrow goes with Tilmon.

 

[MadSeason]

I have great confidence in Underwood as a basketball coach. This will be his first test as savvy recruiting operator.

If he gets depantsed on Tilmon after keeping Walker, that would not be a great start. I don't expect that, but I always brace for the worst.

Agreed with everything you said. Fortunately if I had to win a recruiting scrum that is "exotic" so to speak Bob Huggins and Frank Martin would be two of the first guys I would turn to to win a street fight like this. Underwood has seen these up close

 

[TooHot4Tots]

I have great confidence in Underwood as a basketball coach. This will be his first test as savvy recruiting operator.

If he gets depantsed on Tilmon after keeping Walker, that would not be a great start. I don't expect that, but I always brace for the worst.

Yet you said JT is a better fit for CM......:thumb:

 

[TCTORNADO]

Roster management got Groce in trouble, don't think we'll see that from BU.

 

[sdfidaho]

That's the piece of it that's a question mark for me. I think in one year at OSU we saw this was a guy who belonged with the big boys from a system building and game planning perspective. But making the right long-term roster decisions is a tricky thing when coaching at this level.

Especially when he starts adding in all of those one-and-dones:thumb:

 

[TCTORNADO]

That's the piece of it that's a question mark for me. I think in one year at OSU we saw this was a guy who belonged with the big boys from a system building and game planning perspective. But making the right long-term roster decisions is a tricky thing when coaching at this level.

Travis Ford left him with a lot more talent at OkState than what Groce has. I think he will be forced to be proactive immediately whereas Groce sort of waited until year 2.

 

[SescIllini]

I watched an analysis of Underwood's spread offense to try and get a handle on what we're going to see in the coming years. Finke is tailor-made for an Underwood offense. We should see his numbers jump next year.

I thought the same thing regarding Finke. I think the smart IQ BB players with multi skill sets will have a premium. I think TJL, Finke, and Kipper are best suited for the offense and its multiple options. Black with a developed 3 pointer and a similar game to Roger Powell would be a good player in the system.

I have some concern with JCL because his dribbling, passing, and ability score for layups is suspect. But he is our best shooter so he will find good minutes.

Regarding recruits Tilmon's game definitely fits at the 5, no issues with the new offense and options off it as long as he is willing to learn it. But his skill sets fit the offense well. In fact I think all the new recruits and M Smith would do well.

 

[ballislife17]

I thought the same thing regarding Finke. I think the smart IQ BB players with multi skill sets will have a premium. I think TJL, Finke, and Kipper are best suited for the offense and its multiple options. Black with a developed 3 pointer and a similar game to Roger Powell would be a good player in the system.

I have some concern with JCL because his dribbling, passing, and ability score for layups is suspect. But he is our best shooter so he will find good minutes.

Regarding recruits Tilmon's game definitely fits at the 5, no issues with the new offense and options off it as long as he is willing to learn it. But his skill sets fit the offense well. In fact I think all the new recruits and M Smith would do well.

I think that Tilmon will definitely benefit from being able to get out in transition in the quick tempo offense that BU wants to run, but I do wonder how he will fair in the halfcourt. If the few ESTL games I watched him play in, he really wasn't very good at passing out of double teams. Now, that doesn't mean that he can't pass while not double teamed, but I 100% expect Finke to start at the 5 if they are both in CU next year. Hopefully, Tilmon is able to learn the offense quickly much like TJL learned our "offense" this year.

 

[MadSeason]

Travis Ford left him with a lot more talent at OkState than what Groce has. I think he will be forced to be proactive immediately whereas Groce sort of waited until year 2.

I'm not sure that is accurate if you go by recruiting rankings, particularly if Tilmon sticks.

If we go by production I'm still not sure it is accurate as Carroll was a role player until Underwood got there.

 

[SescIllini]

I think that Tilmon will definitely benefit from being able to get out in transition in the quick tempo offense that BU wants to run, but I do wonder how he will fair in the halfcourt. If the few ESTL games I watched him play in, he really wasn't very good at passing out of double teams. Now, that doesn't mean that he can't pass while not double teamed, but I 100% expect Finke to start at the 5 if they are both in CU next year. Hopefully, Tilmon is able to learn the offense quickly much like TJL learned our "offense" this year.

The video of Underwood's offense doesn't really give you the option to double team. You always seem to have 1-2 players cutting towards the bucket and 1-2 at the wings lining up for 3's. When those options don't materialize another rotation quickly follows for multiple scoring threats. Tilmon can add to his threat by being able to hit the free throw jumper and being able to pick and pass to cutting players for layups. If Tilmon needs to pass out of a double team post position we are not running the offense well.

 

[Obelix]

Travis Ford left him with a lot more talent at OkState than what Groce has. I think he will be forced to be proactive immediately whereas Groce sort of waited until year 2.

Groce was very proactive right away. He was able to get in with Nunn (that was a surprise), was able to keep Hill, and signed Colbert (highly regarded) and Mav. Also brought Rayvonte Rice who ended up a very good player. He also was able to get in the recruitment of DJax, Snider, and Cliff although he missed. His failure was that he was not able to get a B1G PG, even later with Brunson and Evans, nor a B1G post player (other than developing Mav). But he was very proactive, I do not believe one can say that Groce waited until year 2.