Had some free tickets given to me so I went to the Wabash Valley College game tonight and checked out Austin Trice. Illinois staff watched him a couple weeks ago. 6'7" forward avg. 13 pts, 13 reb/game (I think he leads the nation in reb.)
He didn't do much on the offensive end as he finished with 6 pts on 3-8 shooting, but I didn't think that was all his fault as the guards were not trying to feed him in the post. His points came from hitting the boards. He had 18 total, 5 offensive. He did miss 2 bunny putbacks in a row on the offensive glass that he should have made. But other than that he had a great night rebounding and also added 4 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl while committing no fouls or turnovers.
I wish I could have seen some of his post game. He is very athletic and rebounds well. A couple times after grabbing the rebound, he took off and started the fast break himself and made solid passes to the player down court. I don't know if we will extend him an offer or not, but if we do, I would gladly take him. His game needs some polishing, but from what I could tell tonight, he seems to have a good motor. I didn't see him sulk or complain when his teammates wouldn't pass it to him or when he didn't get a call. And when he missed those 2 bunnies in a row, he busted his tail to the other end and blocked a layup attempt. He can definitely play above the rim. I could see him being on the receiving end of some of those lob passes we have been seeing in this offense. We need someone that can finish those. Never hurts to have someone like him that can throw down a few dunks, rebound like crazy and get a couple blocks every game. We don't need him to score a bunch of points. I say go get him