Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (May-June 2018)

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#2      
jeremyninnes
1st post! Certainly hope we get news today of a visit by Okoro this weekend. I fear if it doesnt happen this weekend then we are done. But hoping for the best based on a few posters on here yesterday. Welcome to May everyone!
 
#3      
Second and Chalmers
At the end of the day we've just missed out on so many big recruits who seemed far, far more interested in Illinois by their actions and public comments and social media activity than Okoro does. I find it very difficult to be optimistic on this one, doubly so if we've run out of OV's.
 
#4      
WhiteRhino
jcgoldie said:
I don't know if Okoro comes to Illinois but this is a completely nonsensical argument. He just had an OV to Purdue and didn't even bother to tweet about it.
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And Bryce Golden said nothing about Butler before he committed to them.
 
#5      
ivwilsoniv
Second and Chalmers said:
At the end of the day we've just missed out on so many big recruits who seemed far, far more interested in Illinois by their actions and public comments and social media activity than Okoro does. I find it very difficult to be optimistic on this one, doubly so if we've run out of OV's.
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#6      
skyIdub
Second and Chalmers said:
At the end of the day we've just missed out on so many big recruits who seemed far, far more interested in Illinois by their actions and public comments and social media activity than Okoro does. I find it very difficult to be optimistic on this one, doubly so if we've run out of OV's.
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Other side of the bed S&C!! The other side of the bed!!:illinois::chief::shield:
 
#7      
UofIChE06
Second and Chalmers said:
At the end of the day we've just missed out on so many big recruits who seemed far, far more interested in Illinois by their actions and public comments and social media activity than Okoro does. I find it very difficult to be optimistic on this one, doubly so if we've run out of OV's.
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To be fair the recruitments under Underwood have been much quieter with less fan fare than under Groce. I wouldn't necessarily say I would feel confident Okoro picks UI but I don't think there has been all that much fanfare for any of his supposed final 3.
 
#9      
haasi
Expect the worst, hope for the best, avoid nutpunches
 
#10      
Fighter of the Nightman
I lose some credit as a somewhat eternal optimist type, but the "reasonable, grounded fan" attitude simply cannot co-exist with the "we're cursed" negative mentality, IMO. Stuff that happened under Groce - besides the fact that it continued a streak of sucking year after year - is pretty irrelevant to Underwood recruiting. There is no black cloud over the University of Illinois that good leadership can't change rather quickly. Whether or not we have the good leadership is, I guess, up for debate (I would argue we absolutely do), but the "X has happened before, so let's not get our hopes up" only makes sense if there is some logical connection between the two events, which would require you to believe there is something inherently unlucky about Illinois across coaches. I'd argue that's baseless superstition. We might not land him, but I don't see reason to be overly negative about our chances just yet.
 
#11      
haasi
Everything about being a fan is illogical


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#14      
Greensboro
UofIChE06 said:
To be fair the recruitments under Underwood have been much quieter with less fan fare than under Groce. I wouldn't necessarily say I would feel confident Okoro picks UI but I don't think there has been all that much fanfare for any of his supposed final 3.
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This is a fair way to look at it, but without much fanfare to either, put down the glass of orange kool-aid & it is hard to say we lead or trail either Oregon or PU, he also commented that new schools were calling so an outside chance that a top program that is losing someone to the draft also slips in late. We have a chance, but I would still bet on the field.
 
#15      
Newman
Fighter of the Nightman said:
I lose some credit as a somewhat eternal optimist type, but the "reasonable, grounded fan" attitude simply cannot co-exist with the "we're cursed" negative mentality, IMO. Stuff that happened under Groce - besides the fact that it continued a streak of sucking year after year - is pretty irrelevant to Underwood recruiting. There is no black cloud over the University of Illinois that good leadership can't change rather quickly. Whether or not we have the good leadership is, I guess, up for debate (I would argue we absolutely do), but the "X has happened before, so let's not get our hopes up" only makes sense if there is some logical connection between the two events, which would require you to believe there is something inherently unlucky about Illinois across coaches. I'd argue that's baseless superstition. We might not land him, but I don't see reason to be overly negative about our chances just yet.
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I don't think it's bad luck, it's just that our chances are never going to be good with national recruits until we can sell results instead of a promise. Not saying it can't happen though.
 
#16      
RockfordIllini
I'm not as concerned with pulling in big name recruits with this regime and as I was in the past.


Underwood seems to have types of players that he is looking for, i.e. a rim runner, athletic wing, shooter, etc. And I think he goes after players that fit those types, and it's pretty much first come/first serve by type. I'm sure he has preferences, but I don't think he gets caught up in whether a player is rated # 60 vs. 150 vs. 220, etc.


You could argue some of the commitments seem like reaches, desperation, etc. but I think it shows he has confidence in his system will work so long as he has the pieces to run it properly, and that he can beat you if is system is working.


That being said, I really hope we land Okoro. In the short term, I think he is far more likely to make an immediate impact than our current commits, and with him I think we are a tournament team next year. But again, I am just speaking in terms of likelihood. Who's to say Samba couldn't pull a Trent Frazier and leapfrog Okoro next year, even assuming we do get him?


I am excited to see how the system works with all of these new pieces. Go Illini!
 
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#18      
drewillini89
rtbritt said:
Recruit's satisfaction that they are fully wanted, basically.
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Guaranteed that once an OV opens up, if Okoro is still available or even has already committed to Illinois, he'll get an OV. Alan took his OV after already committing.
 
#19      
IlliniBrave75
Kedric Prince‏ @KedPrince4 16h16 hours ago
Spoke with #illini ’18 recruit Tevian Jones, the athletic wing talked about his conversation with Francis Okoro in person last weekend: I told him that we need him at Illinois in that orange and blue!

Dave Wischnowsky‏ @wischlist 16h16 hours ago
I'll be surprised if he isn't.

Dave Wischnowsky‏ @wischlist 16h16 hours ago
Just hearing good vibes from a number of people.

Kedric Prince‏ @KedPrince4 16h16 hours ago
Me too, found out tonight his roommate is this STUD from Chicago named Ayo Dosunmu.
 
#22      
Illwinsagain
IlliniBrave75 said:
Kedric Prince‏ @KedPrince4 16h16 hours ago
Spoke with #illini ’18 recruit Tevian Jones, the athletic wing talked about his conversation with Francis Okoro in person last weekend: I told him that we need him at Illinois in that orange and blue!

Dave Wischnowsky‏ @wischlist 16h16 hours ago
I'll be surprised if he isn't.

Dave Wischnowsky‏ @wischlist 16h16 hours ago
Just hearing good vibes from a number of people.

Kedric Prince‏ @KedPrince4 16h16 hours ago
Me too, found out tonight his roommate is this STUD from Chicago named Ayo Dosunmu.
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Wow, OK. I will back off the kool-aid, and just soak this up all natural like...
 
#24      
KrushCow31
I would like to see at least one crystal ball to Illinois for Okoro. Of course I take those with a huge grain of salt, but I like to see at least one before getting my hopes up.
 
#25      
stuemke5
Hope to have some details and info later tonight. Will share what I can
 
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