Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (April 2017)

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#4,501      

Illiniman94

I
Illiniman94
Peoria Illini said:
Wisky and Butler and Xavier, etc., do what they do, because they have coaches that know what they want to do. The last 12 years of Weber and Groce, I don't think we did. I think Weber was swayed by the fans on who would "should" be getting, instead of finding players to fit his motion offense. Big case in point... Shaun Pruitt.

Groce I think had a problem with not committing to a system or a system that worked.

If Underwood can get the recruits that work with his system, then the wins will come and the recruiting will be easier and we can pick the guys that fit the Underwood Way.

BTW, neither Kruger or Self always hit home runs with recruiting. Kruger hit paydirt with the Manual Trio and Self hit paydirt with Dee Brown. But guys like Johnson and Krupalija and Archibald weren't our first choices . Neither was Deron Williams, Augie, Powell and Head. We missed on guys like Bracey Wright and Sean Dockery, etc.

But guys like Dee and Deron and Augie and Powell worked well in Self's High Low offense and then also in Weber's motion offense.

We need to find guys that play the Underwood Way regardless of where they are at in the rankings. Then we will be like the Wisky and Butler.
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well said...I don't think we were irrelevant since 05(and yes I liked weber a lot because I think he was a very good x's and o's guy and he did some personal things for my family that I will never forget) but things started to slide after the EG bull!!!! and the Jamar Smith wreck. Those two things killed our program and we never really recovered...even thought Brandon and DJR were two great recruits who dont' get their due......Groce took over a sputtering ship and sunk it...
 
#4,504      

Peoria Illini

P
Peoria, IL
Peoria Illini
#4,508      

aluma

A
aluma
RichardKeenesHair said:
I'm all for being realistic, but come on
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You mean like making 9 NCAA tournaments since 2007
A top 10 recruiting class in 2017
Top 30 in 2016

How many NCAA tournaments have we been to within the last 10 years?

If I'm a recruit, and I care most about going to the NCAA tournament and winning, I'm choosing Xavier over Illinois right now.

2nd round
elite 8
sweet 16
sweet 16
first round
sweet 16
first round
sweet 16
2nd round
elite 8
 
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#4,509      

skyIdub

skyIdub
Winged Warrior
skyIdub
WheatonIllini08 said:
Moore to KU
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#4,510      

RickBB

R
RickBB
Second and Chalmers said:
huge, voracious, self-doubting, and teeny-bopper romantic internet fanbase.
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I'd say that a majority of fans aren't really self doubting at all, but those who are sure have a lot of time to talk about their misery on different message boards.

I just find it ironic that you are the one defining the fanbase as such. You seem like a good dude S & C, but I don't know how you go through life with your death-colored glasses on.
 
#4,511      

Second and Chalmers

S
Second and Chalmers
aluma said:
You mean like making 9 NCAA tournaments since 2007
A top 10 recruiting class in 2017
Top 30 in 2016

How many NCAA tournaments have we been to within the last 10 years?

If I'm a recruit, and I care most about going to the NCAA tournament and winning, I'm choosing Xavier over Illinois right now.
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Since the last time Illinois made the NCAA tournament twice in a row (2007, when Ayo Dosunmu was in first grade), Xavier has been to the Sweet Sixteen more times (6) than we've played NCAA tournament games total (5).
 
#4,513      

illinifan87

I
The Windy City
illinifan87
Trying to think back to Livingston and Alexander.

Despite the Brian Cook jersey, how confident were we in landing Livingston? Or was Duke always the heavy favorite?

I remember with Alexander it was neck and neck between us and Kansas. Day of the announcement was insanity. Reports flying everywhere, rumors Groce was told by Alexander he got him, etc. But insiders still believed Kansas had the edge.

Seems like there's a ton of smoke about Smith and Illinois. From all over the place. Maybe that's not accurate or something changes, but this one feels different. Or at least I hope so.


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#4,515      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
Second and Chalmers said:
I don't think Illinois fans appreciate the way our internet schtick affects the way the program is covered. This is a particularly noticeable example, but this sort of framing is in everything that gets written about Illinois Basketball.

Other programs are strong and valid in their own right, Illinois is lost in the desert thirsty for in-state stars and only those players committing will validate the existence of the program. Wins are meaningless, but so are losses. Big recruits in the state of Illinois are a means to an end for other programs, but they are our entire raison d'etre.

I think that is an absolutely atrocious brand both to sell to fans but especially to be out there in the minds of recruits. And it is fueled by the codependent relationship between clicks-hungry basketball writers and our huge, voracious, self-doubting, and teeny-bopper romantic internet fanbase. They write that about us because that's what we believe about us. Look in the mirror.
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I agree. However, I think the best way to combat that is to, ya know, have NORMAL fans who think U of I is the best thing in college sports and are always ready to believe that the best is yet to come (literally, every other fan base in America behaves this way if they even get ANY good news ... look at how Missouri fans are acting, for God's sake) rather than constantly ridiculing "unrealistic" fans who are too optimistic and letting this "that is so Illinois!" attitude prevail for a second longer. We have no excuse to be bad, and if we are, it's the leadership's fault. Period. We're not cursed, we don't face any inherent disadvantages (in fact, quite the opposite), and it's high time our fans start acting like it. Living in Iowa City, my state pride for Illinois and team pride for the Illini is through the roof and manifests itself in a much more "counter-Hawkeye" way than most of our instate fans, it seems, but we could use a healthy injection of Ohio State types, frankly.
 
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#4,516      

kcib8130

kcib8130
Parts Unknown
kcib8130
illinifan87 said:
Trying to think back to Livingston and Alexander.

Despite the Brian Cook jersey, how confident were we in landing Livingston? Or was Duke always the heavy favorite?

I remember with Alexander it was neck and neck between us and Kansas. The weeks leading up to the announcement were insanity. Reports flying everywhere, rumors Groce was told by Alexander he got him, etc. But insiders still believed Kansas had the edge.

Seems like there's a ton of smoke about Smith and Illinois. From all over the place. Maybe that's not accurate or something changes, but this one feels different. Or at least I hope so.


Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk
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FIFY
 
#4,517      

Peoria Illini

P
Peoria, IL
Peoria Illini
illinifan87 said:
Trying to think back to Livingston and Alexander.

Despite the Brian Cook jersey, how confident were we in landing Livingston? Or was Duke always the heavy favorite?

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk
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I thought everyone thought Livingston was going straight to the NBA anyways, so they thought he'd choose Illinois just because it was the state school, but never play here.
 
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#4,521      

RichardKeenesHair

R
RichardKeenesHair
Second and Chalmers said:
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.
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I'm relatively new to Loyalty, so I say this with some modesty, you are a really interesting dude. Have you ever been to the UK or UNC boards? If a recruit was ever going to be turned off all they have to do is tune into those places for a few minutes. Ohio St. and Michigan's football boards make this place look like an abandoned park, and redneck stuff gets said on there that you wouldn't let a child read. Illinois' fanbase comes off as it is, one that is incredibly passionate. Period
 
#4,522      

illinifan87

I
The Windy City
illinifan87
Theory on Moore. That original leak from the Chicago Tribune came a day after Smith's visit to Illinois and the rumor he'd cancelled his OSU visit no? Plus the rumor about Smith giving the staff a silent verbal?

Then Moore backtracks once he sees Smith is going to visit OSU, thinking maybe Illinois isn't out of his recruitment.

Now he officially commits to Kansas a day before Smith's announcement? When Kansas and Illinois were the clear leaders in Moore's recruitment?

Is my timeline accurate? If so, that's interesting. Unless it's pure coincidence.

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#4,523      

Deleted member 10676

D
Guest
Deleted member 10676
RichardKeenesHair said:
There is no denying that Xavier has been more successful than us. That wasn't my point. Ayo is Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, UNC and us...and only us because we are the state school, we have connections and he loves the Illini. Xavier has as much chance at him as you and I do getting him to suit up for our rec league. Illinois might not have much of a better chance, but it is better than Xavier
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did you read the interview? https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/schools-push-for-versatile-guard-dosunmu
Xavier: “Coach (Chris) Mack and Coach Luke Murray, they’re tremendous. They have been recruiting me the hardest, I would say. They came up to my school about three weeks before the EYBL started. They call, they come to all my games, they visit, they make the NCAA Tournament every year, and they make the Sweet 16; they are an elite program.”
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#4,525      

Deleted member 10676

D
Guest
Deleted member 10676
RichardKeenesHair said:
You really believe that? He's grown a couple of inches this year and is likely to be a Top 20 recruit, at least, maybe a Top 5-10 guy by the time it is all said and done. And he's just magically going to pick Xavier because they were on him first? Have you watched a recruitment for a guy like that before? I'll freely say that Illinois only has a shot because there are connections, but ALL of the big boys will be in on that one
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I've been watching basketball recruiting for over 50 years and I have no more idea of why a kid picks where he goes now than I did when I was a teenager.
So yes, when a kid says a coaching staff is tremendous and it's an elite program, I think he could pick them.
 
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