That is what will happen. If you count THT as a guard then make that 2 special spots, BU is going to go hard after both of them.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (April 2017)
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That is what will happen. If you count THT as a guard then make that 2 special spots, BU is going to go hard after both of them.
We were, and we were in Wilkes' top 3 as well.
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RedRocksIllini
- Morrison, CO
6pm Central Time on Wednesday is going to be about 7am Thursday in Hong Kong. They'll never get the announcement there since it will happen in the past. Believe me...I read The Island of the Day Before so I know whereof I speak.
Kids gonna be good. Heard he really likes MSU, and that he has taken a few unofficial visits there, but no offer yet.
That Illinois is desperate and lesser-than without a recruiting boon is baked into the cake of what any current high school student understands about Illinois Basketball. It's not about any other school, that's just part and parcel of what the brand is.
We don't hear it because that's the way we understand the situation too. When columnists and TV pundits talk about Illinois needing to lock down Chicago recruits or fans being hungry for so-and-so we just hear it as "water is wet". It's our own view of the program being reflected back at us.
I agree with the general point of all fanbases being the same, but Illinois does have unique attributes. The size of our internet fan following relative to our overall fanbase as well as our level of success is unique (related to the engineering and computer science focus of the school maybe?). We punch way, way above our weight in commenting and click-generating, which is absolutely not lost on media outlets. We are also far, far more focused on basketball recruiting than any other program that has had a similar lack of success. Other fanbases under similar circumstances would probably check out more in the offseason and focus more on football (even bad football), just because games and football have more general cultural gravity than recruiting and basketball.
At Illinois, the worse we get, the bigger a chunk of the activity basketball recruiting becomes. That's unique. My pet theory would be that it's a result of the narrative of our decline being told primarily by recruiting. As our universe has crumbled over the past decade, no one remembers Rich McBride's fingertips or "Warren, you idiot!", they remember Livingston's Cook jersey and "everything is fine, goodnight" and the Cliff hat trick. That is also very unique.
We have defined ourselves as "the school that gets kicked in the nuts and made the bridesmaid by the big boys". We reflect that out into the world, and gobble up the content that reflects that back to us. We have built a self-fulfilling prophecy, a vicious cycle.
IllFanInMi
I
Guest
All I know is my 11 year old daughter bleeds green and white, has multiple pictures with Izzo, players, signed basketballs, all of it. I will be coaching her softball game tomorrow night, game time ironically at 6:00, at which time I will have my phone on and will be sure to yell to her loudly that Smith is going to Illinois!
If he doesn't, then I will gladly tell her he is a Sparty, let her smile and tease me for yet another recruiting punch to the esophagus, and then be pissed again until the next big recruit gets my hopes up.
Oh this has got to swing in our favor at some point, let's hope it starts TOMORROW!
If he doesn't, then I will gladly tell her he is a Sparty, let her smile and tease me for yet another recruiting punch to the esophagus, and then be pissed again until the next big recruit gets my hopes up.
Oh this has got to swing in our favor at some point, let's hope it starts TOMORROW!
If you think Wisconsin is better at winning than Kentucky then I can't help you.
Bo did a really good job at Wisconsin, but there is a reason that people just consistently bring Bo Ryan as the sole example, and not many more in P5. Bo Ryan is more of the exception to the rule and people seem to be running out of examples.
But you should send your thoughts to Underwood, anyway, because obviously he did not subscribe to your theory and DID go out and hire Orlando Antigua and Chin Coleman. Actions speak louder than words.
No we have a guy staked out in front of Edwardsville HS in a station wagon with binoculars. Lol
I honestly think Trent Frazier would agree to do this if we asked him.
icengineer
- Southern Illinois
Well he definitely knows his stealthy go anywhere any time under any conditions vehicles. That's an FJ60 he's perched on there!
I L L
Trent already knows what's about to go down. Regardless of what Mark's wearing. Just take a look at his twitter.
This is the best new username I have seen in a long time :thumb:
Obelix - I don't think that's the case Kentucky vs Wisky
I also think Kentucky is the exception to the rule re 5 star recruiting as they're the only ones currently stacking them up and moving them out at their current rate.
Going after 5 stars and missing them, combined with below average coaching has gotten us where we are. I feel the answer to the riddle isn't "get more 5 stars". I feel it's easier to get better coaching with an identity (we have), win games, THEN the recruits we need to be on the top tier will follow.
I'm not saying you are wrong, talent wins. What I am saying is you can coach up your talent to a level that makes the 5 stars want to come and play without having to solely rely on them to get here before we can win.
And it doesn't have to be either-or.
The story of Illinois Basketball 2006-2017 among the few fans that are still here is virtually 100% about the recruits we didn't get.
The story of Illinois Basketball 2006-2017 among the majority of fans that gave up and tuned out during that period is primarily about the MASSIVE degree to which we underperformed with the talent level we DID have.
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
If you can consistently muster 25 win seasons without relying on recruiting, there would be absolutely no need for recruiting. It would mean that you discovered the magic formula to consistently win without talent. The reason that coaches place so much emphasis on recruiting is that they do not believe there is such magic formula.
I can tell you one thing and will stay behind my statement, IF we can win the B1G and NC for the next 5 years, it does not matter if we lose Mark Smith tomorrow. Sure...
I want Eric Gordon, or whoever is the Eric Gordon today. Don't tell me to select the next diamond in the rough or the next Van Vleet five years from now. Tell me the lesser recruit you want to select today instead of Mark Smith. Today! Playing Monday morning QB does not really work.
And how much of that rests at the feet of the previous staffs who bought into winning the recruiting trail rather than trying to win on the court? Losing recruits doesn't mean we can't set screens, run an offense, guard our asses off etc etc etc. Almost as if there is a ready-made excuse before a season starts as to why we won't make the tournament: "remember Cliffmas and the Snider fiasco, we are doomed, woe is us..."
TheFameProtector
- Champaign
I generally think our fan base comes off as too thirsty online as well, especially when tweeting at recruits on Twitter.
That said, I don't get the sense in this reflecting out into the world lingo. That's just the reality of the last ten years. Columnists aren't writing views they read on IL fan boards and our views aren't shaping theres. We don't gobble up the content that reflects our views back at us, we gobble up the content (period), which just so happens to reflect the state of the program.
Yeah, we're in a sorry space now - having lost a lot over the last 5-10 years.
Sure, most of us think we're looking better with two great hires for the big revenue sports, but the fact we've been bad makes it easy to say we need to a program changer. I believe we'll be fine without Smith, but we'll be so much better with him and he can speed things up big time. And the latter half of that statement makes fans really, really want him to choose us. Call it thirsty, call it whatever you want - I call it a sleeping giant of a fanbase with a few numnuts out there lacking internet-based social cues.
We've been bad, BUT we were good for a long time, good enough to rank us as a top 15 program all-time. And when you were that good, you have people that really want to get back to that point. And while that is a truth, I don't think "the media" is shaping their whole discourse towards getting clicks so we can feel validated in how we feel. They're reflecting the state of the program, and many of them write things that echo our own sentiments because they, themselves, are fans of the program too.
Right.
Also no amount of "Wisconsin guys" or if you are Weber "Purdue guys" was going to help Weber or Groce be successful. There was enough talent there to compete. The recruiting misses took on a life of their own after these guys couldn't win with rosters loaded with top 100 guys
I would dispute that.
You are actually the one who brought that comparison, Kentucky vs Wisky, not me.
Again you brought Kentucky up, nobody is making the point that Illinois will keep on bringing 5 star players at the rate and consistency of Kentucky. You hire Orlando Antigua and Chin Coleman to significantly upgrade recruiting AT Illinois, not to become Kentucky.
Smith choosing anybody but Illini would be shocking. IMO 
have been the leaders throughout the process, before and after the coaching change.
have been the leaders throughout the process, before and after the coaching change.This is very fair and I don't disagree with this premise. But we've missed on these types because we don't win. We've also missed on the diamonds in the rough because we've been begging these 5 stars to come. We are missing on both sets of players! There has to be a better way to target both. Winning would be phase one in that dept.
Illiniwek06
- N of I-80
+1. I think this may be my biggest pet peeve of these boards - when the exceptional case is applied as a rule. I'll be so pumped if I never read/hear "Trey Burke says hello!" ever again.
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