One of my favorite BU quotes:
"We're the University of Illinois. We don't have to beg anybody to come here."
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (October 2018)
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"We're the University of Illinois. We don't have to beg anybody to come here."
Are we talking chocolate chip cookie cake? With frosting?
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skyIdub
Winged Warrior
sacraig
- The desert
Using this logic, no recruit would commit anywhere, though. Our fanbase is no different than any other on Twitter. They all have keyboard warriors who say awful and creepy things to recruits when they go elsewhere. It's truly unfortunate.
Illinois has one of the most active fanbases online which is both good and bad. It’s not really that flawed of logic since most recruits don’t decommit. On top of that it’s a decommit from from a top instate target that was favored to go to Illinois the first time around and is still favored. This is irritating many fans and there are a lot that are being vocal about not wanting Shannon and the perceived drama about his playing us. The responses on Twitter have been overwhelmingly negative compared to other targets so I could see why he’s salty about it. Still it’s unlikely the reason he chooses to go elsewhere, but it could be another reason others are using to get him to go elsewhere.
I think this quote reflects the misguided and unsupported arrogance that the fans feel good about but has gotten us to this place with recruiting. We all want it to be true but it isn’t. It’s fan bait drivel.
No elite recruit is pounding down our door. If we want to recruit low level guys, no problem. But the high talent recruits unfortunately really do need to be convinced to come here. They make every school beg. We’re no different.
That's fair. A rebuild looks rough until you get over the hump. We didn't have buy-in last year from the guys who carried over, and that's not really Underwood's fault. This year we'll have that, and that could mean a huge difference in how play and how we project the roster down the road.
I watched the BIG media day with Underwood, Trent, and AJ, and man AJ was well spoken. Could definitely see him being on air some day after basketball. It was a nice dose of optimism for me. Having shooters on the perimeter makes any team dangerous, and both Trent and Ayo can drive. Once you get some inside out going, and play with effort, you can hang with most any team. I'm not expecting a miracle this year, but I do think we'll make considerable progress from last year.
"Beg" is too strong of a word, but given our current status, we really need to do a lot more convincing to attract talented recruits. All kidding aside, the biggest problem with the previous statement is not the second part, but the first. We love this tough talk "we are the University of Illinois" and we do not need to do this and that, pretending somehow that we are currently among some elite group in college basketball based on some accomplishments of the past. The truth is "we are the University of Illinois," right now is more synonymous with being irrelevant in college basketball for the last 12+ years. That is the truth.
We've heard all this tough talk before, "we are the University of Illinois" we do not need Chicago and AAU, they need us. That was nonsense. The Chicago AAU programs (like MIF) elevated themselves among the top in the nation, while we slipped into irrelevancy. We need them more than they need us, and the same is true for talented recruits.
I also find it hypocritical that love the current tough talk "we are the University of Illinois" but quite a few do not believe of the potential (not current status) of our program. We often hear that we should not "expect" this and that (e.g., talented recruits) because of some exogenous constraints (e.g., resources) that have nothing to do with coaching, management, and administrative decisions. Yet, our main problem in the last 12+ years has been exactly that. Bad administrative, management, and coaching decisions. JMO.
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There is no correlation between BU's statement, and childish people who post nasty things to prospects.
When did you start recruiting for big ten universities? We? lol I find it funny that a short time ago, you were throwing out that great recruiter, the HOF coach dollar bill as an example of how bad things have become with Illinois basketball recruiting. I can understand how people associated with AAU would love dollar Bill. I have no idea why anyone would think you know better about recruiting than the staff hired by UofI. Wow. Do you see the correlation between the shoe companies, AAU, the programs getting the top prospect, and the FBI evidence, or do you just want it to go away?
Ha! That’s funny. Sorry, I got nothin
Huh? My post says that there is a correlation? My post had zero to do with twitter posting. Maybe you want to re-read. Posting on twitter has to do with idiots who feel a need to say things to recruits when they do not commit to us and will not change under any coaching regime. Idiots will be idiots, and have always been.
Obviously reading comprehension and you do not see eye-to-eye.
Dollar bill... how original. You must be stuck in 2003.
First of all Bill Self had nothing to do and never mentioned in my post. But if you imply that Self cheated at UI to get Dee, Deron, Augie and all recruits that signed with us, then fine. But if FBI evidence is something that bothers you so much, then accusations against OSU is something that you may want to consider. For the record, I personally see the Bill Self era as nothing but a positive for Illinois.
Syracuse now has 3 commits for '19. Anyone know how many ships they have left? After today, I thought that they were full and that Tyus Battle was back which means they are over by one? Isn't Oregon over by one?
Will this lead Guerrier to commit to us or will he tell us to kiss his Duerrier?
https://247sports.com/college/syrac...lass-123319213/Amp/?__twitter_impression=true
Will this lead Guerrier to commit to us or will he tell us to kiss his Duerrier?
https://247sports.com/college/syrac...lass-123319213/Amp/?__twitter_impression=true
According to Verbal Commits, Syracuse has 1 available still and Oregon has 2 available.
GortTheRobot
- North Bethesda, Maryland
November seems so very far away. However, it means things can change as the landscape shifts with other commits. I would love to see a tracker of the main competition for our targets, the open schollies each has, and the timeline of commitments...that doesn't mean I can or will do it...I want someone else to do it for me...I will take an OV to their place to see them work on it.
The second semester starts in 2019 though. I don’t know the details of these things but it would be sensible enough to me that a 2019 recruit could use a 2019 scholarship in January of 2019.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
It's more about 13 active scholarships at any given point. If a team has 13 active scholarships for the 2018-19 school year (Fall 2018, Spring 2019), they wouldn't have a scholarship available until someone is off scholarship. It would only be available for Spring 2019 if someone graduates in December.
It varies but recruits generally personally inform the coaches before announcement. It is a gesture of respect and appreciation. They still thank them during the announcement, but it is the proper thing to do in private as well. The timing varies, it ranges from days in advance (even weeks) to just a few hours before announcement.
What is surprising is that a recruit also announces the timing of when he plans to tell coaches. That is very unusual.
Oscar doesn't seem like your usual guy. Part of the reason I think there's more than a glimmer of hope for Illinois in this recruitment (no inside information at all, just a hopeful gut feeling). Hugs will be tough to beat but it sure would be nice for another branch of his coaching tree to land a big one.
ILL in IA
- Iowa City
The only time our online presence has impacted a recruitment. NICE!
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