Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (July-August 2017)
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RichBradIllini
- Peoria
Where are you getting that??? He was a pre-season first team all-stater prior to his senior year in HS and McD's All American after his HS senior year
Castleton is clearly a project big or Florida would not have asked him to go the " 5th yr prep school" route. It is basically the same as redshirt w/o burning a ship. Conditt totally dominated Castleton in a head-head basis earlier this summer. Of course, I've been a Sow advocate all along. He's ready now!! Has a B1G body and defensively is a rim protector. Runs the floor extreme.y well.
Haha, watch all this go out the window and OA pull off DeSousa.
So because Florida's eval is he should go to prep school, that means its 100% that he's a project? Sounds more like that's merely Florida's opinion of him to me.
IlliniDent
- Chicago, IL
:thumb: i've watched dozens of tapes of all 3 plus some live coverage and Sow standouts, particularly defensively which is the way a Freshman will see the floor fastest. Sow is at Prolific Prep which has one thing in mind and that's to get guys ready for college. Sow making honorable mention All Peach Jam was huge. When you look at Sow's body and motor , it's easy to see why he's ready.
I'll take Conditt second and Castleton 3rd, but for the ranking freaks Castleton wins hands down if rankings are your bag. Speaking of rankings, Spicey G is #515 on 247 composite.
Maybe I am different to most but could easily see us taking 2 of Castelton, Sow, and Conditt. The reason is that we desperately need bigs and Okoro is in no way ours to lose. Liddell also is more of a 4 than a C. As a result, I could see us over signing by 1 to take a second C for insurance purposes. Also we could then redshirt one of them, giving us insurance for 2019 and because all 3 are project bigs in their own way and any would benefit from a RS year. Then, if we land Okoro and Liddell we would help to replace Black and Finke and based off attrition/quality of players, have solid depth in the post for the next several years, allowing players to mature rather than be thrown into the fire from day 1. None of our current/possible future bigs are sure things beside maybe Okoro and as a result, getting some depth early will only help us for the future.
That would not be good regardless of how 2018 recruiting goes. Hopefully they will want to continue to be part of the BU program revitalization.^^^^^^^^
Wouldn't it be something if both Black/Finke went elsewhere as 5th year grads.
I think the 2018-2019 team can be really special given BU system will fully be in place and our current freshman mature in it.
I also agree with Illinident that its good to have a healthy pipeline of bigs in the que.
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IlliniDent
- Chicago, IL
^^^^^^^^
Wouldn't it be something if both Black/Finke went elsewhere as 5th year grads.
Would be a nightmare haha
I think the key to having good bigs is to rarely rely on Freshmen or even Sophs to put up significant minutes (assuming they aren't 5* quality bigs). As a result, you go after top players like Okoro, but you should always have guys like Castleton/Conditt/Sow in the system that have had 1-2 years to grow and improve before they become a key player. This means always having some extra depth at the position. Sure some players may not make it and transfer or if we get a top C the 5* will probably play right away, but at least it gives us upper level bigs who are far more physically mature and able to hold their own in the B1G. Too often the last 10 years we have been relying on bigs that weren't ready and as a result were always taking 5th years to help plug up holes in the post.
They are the most concerning positions, Illinois definitely needs some quality bigs.
Notice the qualifier I put before that statement:
In fact, I highly doubt it. My point was there's a lot of talk about him being able to find a diamond in the rough kind of kid (ala Matic) and turn him into a B1G big. If he can find Matic in a couple months, why should we worry about other bigs given the fact he will have many more months to evaluate and find players.
In fact, I was being a little facetious. In a vacuum, especially for the next couple years, our bigs are our weakest group.
I am very familiar with UF roster and needs, as I follow them closely as well.
It's not so much their eval, just roster issue. They are in good shape with Weaver (6'4" PG-combo), Emit Williams (6'8" PF..beast),Khavon Moore (6'8" SF) and still in the final group for Moses Brown.
They only have 3 scholarships. Williams, Weaver, and Moore are guys you don't turn down. They are in on 2 other top 100 PG as well and planned on taking a PG and a Combo.
Not much room for CC, so they set a visit late in the fall cycle and stall.
BU has stated, he could play with smaller players, but I'm sure he wants 2-3 quality posts. We have went from Castleton and Conditt to our 2019 bigs. We will be fine if we get 1 big this year, and 1 next year. Liddell is going to be a beast, and by his next year top 50,4-5 Star.
Can't see us taking 2 bigs this year, if we do take 2 we have 2 projects. Our focus IMO, should take one, see how season goes, then figure out if it 2 bigs in '19 are necessary.
Guards and long wings will be the focus, us getting high quality players at those slots, with this offense, will be the thing that wins. We will need rebounds and post defense, but 3-4 players on floor will be quicker and smaller.
Castleton and Conditt coming to visit. Think we will have to make a choice very soon.
IlliniDent
- Chicago, IL
BU has stated, he could play with smaller players, but I'm sure he wants 2-3 quality posts. We have went from Castleton and Conditt to our 2019 bigs. We will be fine if we get 1 big this year, and 1 next year. Liddell is going to be a beast, and by his next year top 50,4-5 Star.
Can't see us taking 2 bigs this year, if we do take 2 we have 2 projects. Our focus IMO, should take one, see how season goes, then figure out if it 2 bigs in '19 are necessary.
Guards and long wings will be the focus, us getting high quality players at those slots, with this offense, will be the thing that wins. We will need rebounds and post defense, but 3-4 players on floor will be quicker and smaller.
Castleton and Conditt coming to visit. Think we will have to make a choice very soon.
The problem with this line of thinking is what if we can't land Okoro and Liddell? If we miss out on 1 or both we are stuck with 3 project bigs. We need some depth at that position in order to make sure that we will be ok. There is very little chance that all 3 will pan out or will be ready by the time they are Jr/Soph. This could leave us very short in the post.
I would bet a beach house on EJ commit before we start practicing next fall.
IlliniDent
- Chicago, IL
That would be great, however still doesn't necessary solve our problems at the 5. He would be a fantastic get, but we will need depth at the C spot. Also, until he commits we can't count on him to be there next year.
I would gladly take Conditt and RS him, give him a year in the weight room with Fletch and let him be a part of the 2019 class. He isn't the type of guy that would scare off Liddell or Okoro and at the same time could be a huge piece by the time he is a RS Jr.
IlliniDent
- Chicago, IL
Yes, but the 5 is still the 5 regardless of it being "positionless." We still need someone who can play in the post, and have some height on defense. So while the 1-4 (and especially the 1-3) are completely "interchangeable," the 5 is still somewhat of a true position. So sure, while EJ would be a huge get for us b/c of his ability to play the post as well as on the perimeter, we still need guys who can play the somewhat traditional 5 spot. Conditt and Castleton are perfect examples of guys who as the mature can probably move out and play the "4" spot as well due to their ability to shoot and handle the ball. This helps make taking both of them not completely out of the question.
All speculation and no commits makes homer, something, something.
What do you mean "homer"
Pretty sure he means...
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I don't see Conditt or Castleton coming on board if remote thought of RS. And we'd love the luxury of taking both, but I don't see either coming if not believing they'd be the number one. I don't think Castleton came out and said it, but he sure dumped Xavier quick when they got a big to commit.
I can't read/hear "something something" without thinking of that.
Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
Cmon now, when we recruit against KY or others we use the five stars are NBA guys anyway to our advantage.
When recruting FOR us, we point out how OA has put so many guys into the NBA you should want to play for him
Recruiting 101 :thumb:
I know! I considered both of those truths as I was posting, and I felt dirty for bring it up. Never mind, I've chugged some O&B punch and I'm back onboard the OA Express!
Joel Goodson
- ties will be resolved
Don't see Conditt playing anything more than spot minutes at wing. Offensively, yeah, no problem. Defensively, I don't think he can cover D1 wings. Complete mismatch.
Definitely love Conditt's potential though.
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