Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (March 2018)

[Deleted member 631370]

Has he scheduled a visit to anyone yet?

He's been to Mizzou on unofficial visits -- or at least one of them.

He has already visited Oklahoma State and Texas in an official capacity. That was post-decommitment. He had official visits planned for Villanova and UCLA, but cancelled both of them.

So he has 3 official visits left. Per 247, he didn't take any official visits before committing to Louisville -- everything was unofficial.

 

[t7nich]

Assuming you mean April, that's a little ways off. Why not before the start of the signing period on the 11th?

Signing period goes into May. And there are some dead periods from now til the 11th. Staff could be trying to get the last visit? (Assuming that date is legit)

 

[UCantHideYer]

Visiting on the 25th.

Wednesday visit fits right in.

 

[SescIllini]

He's been to Mizzou on unofficial visits -- or at least one of them.

He has already visited Oklahoma State and Texas in an official capacity. That was post-decommitment. He had official visits planned for Villanova and UCLA, but cancelled both of them.

So he has 3 official visits left. Per 247, he didn't take any official visits before committing to Louisville -- everything was unofficial.

Im sure his visit to Louisville was unofficial. Difficult to expense the activities Pitino planned for him.

 

[BananaShampoo]

Im sure his visit to Louisville was unofficial. Difficult to expense the activities Pitino planned for him.

Ha! Good one.

 

[Peoria Pipeline]

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we know what we'd get with Finke, and we'd only get it for 1 more year. Effectively replacing Finke with a freshman big who has 4 years to grow in the system, while probably not an upgrade next season, could be considered an upgrade to the roster in the long-term.

It's kinda similar to asking the question, would we take a 1-year grad transfer with Finke's stats or a freshman?

I personally would love Finke's experience next year, so I do consider his leaving to be a tough loss for the roster.

Experience doesn't mean much when you're lacking in skill.

 

[westcoastillini]

Looking forward to April 11th!

 

[illiniguy24]

Experience doesn't mean much when you're lacking in skill.

That’s what she said.... [emoji16]



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[Peoria Pipeline]

No comments in this? We finished 2nd for him iirc and I want to say he visited. Or he planned to visit before verballing to UCONN and canceled.

Edit: He did indeed take an official visit here

I just don't see us getting involved. With the guys already committed, and the high profile recruits next year, it just doesn't make sense right now.

 

[t7nich]

No comments in this? We finished 2nd for him iirc and I want to say he visited. Or he planned to visit before verballing to UCONN and canceled.

Edit: He did indeed take an official visit here

1. Would he want to be the 3rd big in our 2018 class?
2. Staff likely set on an immediate impact transfer big.
3. Now if Vesel leaves, then narrative could change..?

 

[SescIllini]

Dejounte Murray the back up pg for San Antonio Spurs looks and plays like Ayo. Very similiar build, handles, style.

 

[Oldtoysrock]

Mack is going to Louisville, Capel is going to Pitt

My bad. That’s what I meant.


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[Obelix]

2. Staff likely set on an immediate impact transfer big.

Immediate impact transfer bigs are few and far between. If you find a big who can help, you take him regardless, especially since many of existing bigs are projects. Chances are only a few will make an impact, so it's a numbers game.

 

[t7nich]

I just don't see us getting involved. With the guys already committed, and the high profile recruits next year, it just doesn't make sense right now.

Immediate impact transfer bigs are few and far between. If you find a big who can help, you take him regardless, especially since many of existing bigs are projects. Chances are only a few will make an impact, so it's a numbers game.

No argument here. I would understand if they got back in on him.. But man, with the mass exodus of players these days the transfer route is so appealing. My guess is they’ll stick with that route.

 

[Illiniwek06]

I heard otherwise.

Haha this board funny AF

 

[mattcoldagelli]

Yes......if Ramey is sending signals that he's legitimately interested, we pursue.

But if he's that interested, at some point he needs to schedule a visit. Right?

Unless he schedules a visit, I'm working off the assumption that we are some sort of back up contingency, but by no means one of the leaders.

I mean, yes - there’s usually a very low cost of entry to any recruitment, and if the player is good enough (like Ramey is), you should stick around until it costs you something.

The challenge is that often, by the time it costs you something, it’s too late - that’s a lesson we’ve learned multiple times over the past decade.

 

[TCTORNADO]

March 29 thru April 5th, NCAA recruiting dead period.

 

[ivwilsoniv]

March 29 thru April 5th, NCAA recruiting dead period.

Welp... See you guys on April 6.

 

[illiniwil]

i wonder how certain schools that have high numbers of transfers are successful while others are not?
is there a strategy or type of player that excels? it seems our transfers have had less success than we expected. Penn State, Nevada, anybody else? South Florida, U Mass
were not successful.

 

[Deleted member 8632]

To all Loyalty folk. Have a great Easter weekend! April 11th will be an exciting day!

 

[skyIdub]

March 29 thru April 5th, NCAA recruiting dead period.

 

[ILL in IA]

To all Loyalty folk. Have a great Easter weekend! April 11th will be an exciting day!

Are we rising from the dead as a program?

 

[Second and Chalmers]

The challenge is that often, by the time it costs you something, it’s too late - that’s a lesson we’ve learned multiple times over the past decade.

Knowing when and how to quietly walk away from a recruitment is an under-discussed, underrated skill of a college basketball staff, and is an order of magnitude more difficult at Illinois.

 

[TownieMatt]

I get the opportunity cost argument, but I seem to be one of the few that is all-in on this Ramey pursuit. Given that we have a Freshman All-Conference PG and a top prospect already on board, the staff can afford to take a flier on Ramey. Sign him and you've got an instant impact playmaker. Miss and you've still got two guys that can very effectively run this offense. The risk-reward makes sense to me.

 

[Second and Chalmers]

Sign him and you've got an instant impact playmaker.

Who very possibly causes one of your two crown jewels to transfer at some point in the relatively near future. That's why I don't get the Ramey push. Ayo and Frazier both need to be ball-heavy, offense-initiating point guards. College basketball history, including famously at Illinois, is replete with teams that used two of those guys at once to great effect. But not three, particularly not in this system that prioritizes length on defense.

Transfer numbers are exploding in college basketball. Guys with big opportunities elsewhere (true of Smith, Frazier, Ayo and certainly Ramey) don't just sit around on the bench or out of position anymore.

Maybe an optimistic case is that the three guys challenge one another and the best two rise and the other one leaves, but can you be 1000% sure of that? And also, that only heightens the opportunity cost argument. We could be pushing our way into a recruitment that fills a hole and doesn't unbalance the roster.

Ramey is a stud, and if he's dying to come here you take him and figure it out later. But spending big man-hours pushing our way into that recruitment has never made a ton of sense to me, though obviously the player himself is not the only factor as he's the son of a prominent AAU coach in a market we're trying to break into more generally. Those kinds of calculations are ultimately ones that it's tough to analyze from the outside.