IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
Just my opinion, but I don't want to see anyone run off this roster to make room for Whitney. He is not a shooter, and to play small forward for the Illini, you have to be able to shoot well and dependably. Jones has a good stroke and can develop into that kind of player with some pt, love, coaching, and confidence. If Whitney has never been a shooter, he likely never will be. Also, there is no guarantee that he will fit into team chemistry with his opinion of himself and his game or his willingness to make team success first priority. We have that now and running anyone off to make room for him is a huge gamble with likely failure. BU and staff know what they want and have proven willing to look anywhere to find those types of players. I am developing some trust in that, as well as their willingness to adapt to B1G coaching philosophies and junking what has proven does not work. I will give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their finding good kids who will work hard to learn the game....but I do not think KW is in their future plans. He needs to learn a lot about how the game is played at the top levels of college hoops, and it is quite different from the professional game. By the way, there are very, very few small forwards or big guards in pro ball who can't shoot pretty darn well.
I think Jones' situation is the same regardless of Whitney. There's been speculation he'd be leaving long before Whitney announced he was leaving Kentucky.