Said every college basketball coach ever.
but did they all say it adamantly?
Said every college basketball coach ever.
but did they all say it adamantly?
I remember the good ole days when we lost recruiting battles to other B1G programs or blue bloods. I can't remember a single loss to Iowa State. I don't think we've ever competed for a recruit with VaTech.
I thought Nolley is from Georgia? How are him and Ayo related, besides the fact that they are both good players?
You... you guys know that programs suffering a decade of slow decline take more than one offseason to rebuild, right?
Underwood hasn't coached a single game for us yet. I think it's a bit premature to paint him and his program a failure because a couple of recruits went elsewhere.
Youre correct, and I agree with you, but everything starts with the players. Personally, Im not as anxious as most here, but as fans I dont see how we can feel optimistic without some recruiting successes.
Im not talking about star counts or rankings. The mantra has been this staff doesnt care about rankings, and theyre going to recruit players that fit their system. Thats great. Lets get all the 200 and 300 ranked bigs that fit the system. The concern is that theyve identified players that presumably fit the system, and have failed to land them against modest competition.
With Castleton and Conditt out of the picture now, staff could do a full-court-press on Bryan Penn-Johnson. I'd be okay with that.
You... you guys know that programs suffering a decade of slow decline take more than one offseason to rebuild, right?
Underwood hasn't coached a single game for us yet. I think it's a bit premature to paint him and his program a failure because a couple of recruits went elsewhere.
Can someone tell me why Ayo is considered an Illini lean? I can't recall him or anyone saying anything about the Illini.
No doubt about it that it's premature to paint the staff as a failure. In fact, it's lunacy at this point. Basketball is about winning games, not winning recruiting battles.
Yes, winning recruiting battles is ultimately what helps us win games. But final judgment has to be based on the performance on the court.
All that said......I think there's a valid sense of frustration (or at least there will be if we lose Nolley and/or Ayo) that we seem to need to prove ourselves on the court first before we get recruits, whereas lots of other programs are winning their recruiting battles with brand new coaches.
LSU already has a 5-star and a high 4-star kid committed under Will Wade. NC State has a top-100 kid already for their 2018 class. Indiana has three 4-star kids lined up already. Ohio State has a pair of 4-star kids. The same argument that "Coach needs a year to prove himself on the court before he'll start landing kids" doesn't seem to apply to these schools.
But, this could all become moot by Saturday night.
like watching everyone else open awesome presents on xmas and being last to open yours, we just gotta hope it's something good:thumb:
We've been the kid that doesn't get a present. Just disappointment. Hopefully, this staff turns it around and we get the best present of all.
I think a more charitable interpretation of Underwood's comment is that he wants people who are really excited to be at Illinois (e.g., Frazier).
With Castleton and Conditt out of the picture now, staff could do a full-court-press on Bryan Penn-Johnson. I'd be okay with that.
Kedric Prince@KedPrince4
Been a bad week recruiting wise, totally get it. But felt the Landers quote was extremely positive.
8:31 PM - 4 Oct 2017
https://twitter.com/KedPrince4/status/915781352561217538
I still think Nolley is coming here, no inside info, but those tweets from the girls basketball player a few weeks ago is sticking out heavily in my mind where she specifically told Illini fans to not get our hopes up about him coming here and I even think she called him a lair or said he can't be trusted...
No doubt about it that it's premature to paint the staff as a failure. In fact, it's lunacy at this point. Basketball is about winning games, not winning recruiting battles.
Yes, winning recruiting battles is ultimately what helps us win games. But final judgment has to be based on the performance on the court.
All that said......I think there's a valid sense of frustration (or at least there will be if we lose Nolley and/or Ayo) that we seem to need to prove ourselves on the court first before we get recruits, whereas lots of other programs are winning their recruiting battles with brand new coaches.
LSU already has a 5-star and a high 4-star kid committed under Will Wade. NC State has a top-100 kid already for their 2018 class. Indiana has three 4-star kids lined up already. Ohio State has a pair of 4-star kids. The same argument that "Coach needs a year to prove himself on the court before he'll start landing kids" doesn't seem to apply to these schools.
But, this could all become moot by Saturday night.