First post. Couple of thoughts.
BU’s in your face style is no different than the HOF coaches still walking up and down the sidelines for Duke, MSU, KU, WVU and there are a lot more probably to add to the list. Give him a chance to win on the court and this topic will disappear from the forum. A lot of these kids thrive under this type of discipline and environment because they have never been pushed in their lives. From grade school, to high school and into their communities they have only ever been told how they are the best. Reality is a tough pill to swallow for a lot of these kids.
I have been a UofI fan since the late 90’s as I grew up playing against Frank, Marcus and Serg and battled them all through high school. When they decided on Champaign I was an immediate Illini fan. That being said, those times have passed. So has the Flyin Illini as far as relevancy. If BU is selling the late 80’s we are in trouble because this current generation of recruits doesn’t care. Okoro is a perfect example. He was the perfect example of a recruit that was shown what a major college athletic program should look like and he jumped on the first flight out of Central IL. Makes his decision easy. If you don’t get my point, Google Oregon’s facilities. These kids want what they see the pros have and a lot of the Top 50 schools damn near offer that in regards to facilities and athletic amenities. I have only visited campus a few times in the past few years, but UofI is playing catch up to say the least.
If you’re EJ (or any other Top 50) and you go to a tOSU football game with 2 other Top 50 recruits and witness that atmosphere. You then come to a Friday night game against a B10 power in PSU in front of a measly 35K people with two recruits that probably tell you Champaign isn’t their top choice. Do you think his decision is hard? Basketball is important, but these are still 17 to 18 year old kids. They want to whole experience.
BU has a vision. He and his staff have worked hard and put out a ton of offers because they know they are building a program from the ground up. Rebuilds are for programs that have been down for a couple years. We have been irrelevant for over a decade now. To have any Top 100 kids even considering UofI is an accomplishment in itself. BU takes the big swings hoping to land one, but with the understanding wins need to come on the court before the EJ Liddell’s of the world commit to him.
It’s going to take more time than any of us want to allow, but that’s just the reality of the situation.