Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (November-December 2018)

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#757      

PlayAZ

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PlayAZ
illini0440 said:
FWIW I've heard some very positive/encouraging things on the Kofi front as of late/
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Hopefully you are correct, according to articles/etc...pretty strong Uconn/Cuse lean with UCONN leading. Now that they are showing some life again, I would say both would be hard to beat...hope I am wrong, 1 and done no matter there.
 
#760      

Illiniwek33

Illiniwek33
Illiniwek33
NewFan2011 said:
Roger luther and augie were all plan a guys. Not sure what you're thinking. Bradford as well.
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That 100% depends on your definition of "Plan A". I remember Roger, Luther and Augie being highly thought of in Illinois, but Nationally they were closer to top 75-100, and none of them were the #1 recruit for us at their position at the time. Didn't Rob Judson have to persuade Self to even take Luther and part of that reason was he was the first CPL recruit (Chicago Manley) to play for Illinois since 1994? Luther was 6th in Illinois Mr. Basketball voting his Senior Yr. He had had an impressive run in the State Tournament and had played very well his Sr. Year. He was voted 1st team All-State that year.

Augie was the #14 Power Forward by Scout in his class and #11 Center by Rivals. He had interest from schools like Wake Forrest, Purdue, Northern IL, Notre Dame and Illinois was damn lucky to get him. However, Self was looking at bigger fish Nationally that year to fill his Center spot. So, Plan A? Probably more of a Plan B that year.

Roger was a Lon Kruger recruit and was 4th in Illinois Mr. Basketball voting his Sr. Year. He was a top 100 recruit, but was considered undersized as a PF at the college level. He had a great IHSA resume though and was considered a solid pick up. Not Plan A and a bit of a project for Kruger, but he obviously became one of the most important Illini of all-time.

These three guys all had these things in common: All were hard workers, played with a warrior's mentality, from Illinois, very good IHSA players, wanted to play for the Illini and were not the first choice of the college head coaches at the time. I'm certainly glad we ended up with all of them.
 
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#761      

Illiniwek33

Illiniwek33
Illiniwek33
NewFan2011 said:
The Dee Augie year we kinda had four plan A guys in Illinois. Add in Michael Thompson and Dockery. Pretty amazing to think about how we got the two best guys over Duke. At the time, it certainly wasn't clear who got the better end of the deal.
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Almost had Ike Diogu that year. Was in his Final 2-3. Thompson & Dockery were higher rated guys that Self recruited heavily. Funny that it worked out so well for us. Some of God's greatest gift are unanswered prayers.
 
#762      

tpbradley

tpbradley
tpbradley
Illiniwek33 said:
Almost had Ike Diogu that year. Was in his Final 2-3. Thompson & Dockery were higher rated guys that Self recruited heavily. Funny that it worked out so well for us. Some of God's greatest gift are unanswered prayers.
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Well, initially we probably thought we were standing outside the fire, looking for two of a kind (working on a full house), but our shameless pursuit of "friends" in low places that summer ultimately led us pretty far in the dance.
 
#763      

TwoElevenEastDaniel

TwoElevenEastDaniel
Cochrane's-Orchid-Tonic
TwoElevenEastDaniel
Illiniwek33 said:
Almost had Ike Diogu that year. Was in his Final 2-3. Thompson & Dockery were higher rated guys that Self recruited heavily. Funny that it worked out so well for us. Some of God's greatest gift are unanswered prayers.
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I remember being in the DI sports department the day of Dockery's official visit. The confidence level was pretty high.
 
#764      

Joel Goodson

Joel Goodson
respect my decision™
Joel Goodson
PlayAZ said:
Hopefully you are correct, according to articles/etc...pretty strong Uconn/Cuse lean with UCONN leading. Now that they are showing some life again, I would say both would be hard to beat...hope I am wrong, 1 and done no matter there.
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Watch out where the Huskies go, don't you eat that yellow snow.
 
#767      

billybaroo

billybaroo
Pebble Beach, CA
billybaroo
HoopCity said:
Legendary JC Coach John Spezia is coaching Yves Knumba A Junior at LaSalette Boys Academy located near Georgetown, Illinois is 6'11" with 86 inch wing span who has made tremendous progress over the summer! He will be one of most dominant players in Central Illinois as he leads a young untested LaSalette Team starting Monday at Paris against Chrisman then Paris on Wednesday! He runs the floor and alters shots in the lane! He has developed a jump hook and continues to improve offensively! He has drawn numerous NCAA Division 1 interest! per Coach Spezia post
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Proper spelling is Yves Nkomba. Not much out there.
 
#769      

Atgers

A
Birmingham, AL
Atgers
Peace Frog said:
Does anyone remember the tv show featuring dockery and eddy curry? Will Bynum also?
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Yes. Luther Head was also on it. He dominated in an All-Star game between kids from Chicago and New York.
 
#770      

Deleted member 643761

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Deleted member 643761
Illiniwek33 said:
That 100% depends on your definition of "Plan A". I remember Roger, Luther and Augie being highly thought of in Illinois, but Nationally they were closer to top 75-100, and none of them were the #1 recruit for us at their position at the time. Didn't Rob Judson have to persuade Self to even take Luther and part of that reason was he was the first CPL recruit (Chicago Manley) to play for Illinois since 1994? Luther was 6th in Illinois Mr. Basketball voting his Senior Yr. He had had an impressive run in the State Tournament and had played very well his Sr. Year. He was voted 1st team All-State that year.

Augie was the #14 Power Forward by Scout in his class and #11 Center by Rivals. He had interest from schools like Wake Forrest, Purdue, Northern IL, Notre Dame and Illinois was damn lucky to get him. However, Self was looking at bigger fish Nationally that year to fill his Center spot. So, Plan A? Probably more of a Plan B that year.

Roger was a Lon Kruger recruit and was 4th in Illinois Mr. Basketball voting his Sr. Year. He was a top 100 recruit, but was considered undersized as a PF at the college level. He had a great IHSA resume though and was considered a solid pick up. Not Plan A and a bit of a project for Kruger, but he obviously became one of the most important Illini of all-time.

These three guys all had these things in common: All were hard workers, played with a warrior's mentality, from Illinois, very good IHSA players, wanted to play for the Illini and were not the first choice of the college head coaches at the time. I'm certainly glad we ended up with all of them.
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Are you really suggesting that because "none of them were the #1 recruit at their position" they weren't plan A?

Plan A to me is someone who you offer early and whose commitment you'd accept. That certainly was Augie. Roger as well, although there's a caveat with Kruger who made offers early to guys who shouldn't have been suiting up for us. Luther was a late get by Self as he walked in the door, so a Plan A but one in the Spring.

Augie committed in July of 2003. Are you saying that the other bigger fish had already committed to other programs so Self had to move on? That certainly wasn't my recollection.
 
#771      

Deleted member 643761

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Deleted member 643761
coryfor3 said:
His career would’ve been better here.
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I suppose, but only if Deron was on the team. Dee is maybe my favorite Illini of all time, but Deron more than anyone made other players better. So Dockery with Deron would have been tremendous. Without him, he'd be Dockery
 
#772      

goillini30

goillini30
goillini30
HoopCity said:
We need a report from this game tonight.
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I saw him play in a fresh/soph tournament that I coached in last year, and I thought he was a long way away from being D1. But, I think he's pretty new to the sport, so he could be showing rapid improvement.
 
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