Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (Week of July 5th, 2021)
- Status
I agree. I think often times, leading in the moment gets relayed as, "it's a done deal". If you recall, Jon Rosenthein reported Garcia was going to commit on Tuesday, but then retracted his statement. That's likely where the change comes in. National analysts are better because they don't announce anything until it's final. We get ongoing accounts, which aren't always going to be accurate for ongoing negotiations
drsmitty74
- Rochester
Committed to Texas a couple weeks ago.
www.burntorangenation.com
Texas lands pledge from UMass C transfer Tre Mitchell
Chris Beard and the Longhorns landed a highly-productive talent as a position of need on Tuesday.
www.burntorangenation.com
This. They were one of the first to tell us it shifted to UNC. People are just emotional and feel played. But that's what happens when you get information about ONGOING negotiations. Now people want someone to point fingers at. It's okay to be mad. We're all pissed. I just wish people didn't take out their anger on our own
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
I think insiders could boost their credibility by using less definitive language. Saying "hearing Garcia to Illinois" or "there will be fireworks next week" are easy gaffes that can be hedged against by making less of a "promise".
What I will say is that it's all in good fun and we all know *deep down* that we aren't here for the quality of information, rather the quantity of it.
There are still only so many spots on a college roster and a lot of very talented athletes. We will get our share and the coaching staff will create a winning environment. So go relax and remember these are "First World Problems" which are not really problems!!! I think the coaching profession is going to get a lot more stressful seeing that some of your players are going to be making more than half of the assistants and local businesses will be less patient with mediocre results. The power is quickly shifting to the athletes and it may be wise to have theses college coaches go to a few seminars put on by the NBA to teach them on how to manage this new crop of "Professional Athletes".
madillini4
Ozamataz Buckshank
- Millywaukee
My skepticism regarding “insiders” (none of whom I ever have called out by name) is based on my observation that almost always they (a) merely parrot tidbits reported on a premium site, usually within minutes after said tidbit appears on that other site, or (b) state as “fact” something that only a principal (coach, player, family) could possibly know. Every now and then a poster appears who is a family member of a player, or a HS coach of a recruited player — to me, THAT’S an insider. Most of the rest likely are just dudes who get a kick out of leading strangers to believe they are some sort of connected.
Any true insider (coach/player) for the most part is not going to be happy with somebody close to him constantly posting private info to the internet, and will stop confiding in the leaker. The one exception to this being a true insider who INTENTIONALLY leaks info in an attempt to make himself look good (hello Chin). But even there, a professional typically will use a legit media reporter for that purpose rather than some anonymous internet nobody. I mean … think about it.
I never believed the “insiders” who implied that OA might stay, that Garcia was leaning our way, or the dozens of other AC and recruiting misses they’ve breathlessly reported as “looking good!” over the past year. And I do very strongly believe Kofi is gone, based on his own words … to a legit reporter at ESPN. I hope that I’m wrong, of course.
Any true insider (coach/player) for the most part is not going to be happy with somebody close to him constantly posting private info to the internet, and will stop confiding in the leaker. The one exception to this being a true insider who INTENTIONALLY leaks info in an attempt to make himself look good (hello Chin). But even there, a professional typically will use a legit media reporter for that purpose rather than some anonymous internet nobody. I mean … think about it.
I never believed the “insiders” who implied that OA might stay, that Garcia was leaning our way, or the dozens of other AC and recruiting misses they’ve breathlessly reported as “looking good!” over the past year. And I do very strongly believe Kofi is gone, based on his own words … to a legit reporter at ESPN. I hope that I’m wrong, of course.
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Whenever there is an unexpected delay, you can count on it swinging the other way. Heard he was coming but UNC just started throwing out numbers which are probably inflated, but when you go from room and board to $1mil potential in earnings, you're gone. We were giving reasonable estimates. Again, there's a lot of dark money here. Staff will need to adjust those algorithms for inflation.
At this point, I feel like we just need to pay them directly. This mirage of "sponsored" money is a sham that is all about potential earnings. Make them employees and having a roster salary pool that boosters and/or sponsors can donate into on top of what the university provides.
Kids now get paid, which is better than it used to be but a lot of them will be sold on a lot of dollars they will never see. If people want to get in an open bidding war for Kofi, let it happen.
NIL should be what they can earn on top of a salary. Right now they are working for tips.
At this point, I feel like we just need to pay them directly. This mirage of "sponsored" money is a sham that is all about potential earnings. Make them employees and having a roster salary pool that boosters and/or sponsors can donate into on top of what the university provides.
Kids now get paid, which is better than it used to be but a lot of them will be sold on a lot of dollars they will never see. If people want to get in an open bidding war for Kofi, let it happen.
NIL should be what they can earn on top of a salary. Right now they are working for tips.
Because I'm a schmuck, I'm going to allow myself to get excited about Kevin Obanor even though I don't think he's coming here. But a man can dream.
Correct
Two crystal balls for Jalen Duren this morning...on Rivals.
Not good for the Kofi sweepstakes.
Not good for the Kofi sweepstakes.
Thanks for the clarification
Garcia chose UNC. The announcement that was supposed to happen yesterday evening, not happening sort of sealed the deal that something was going on behind the scenes. Staff was confident, couple other people from programs in his recruitment were confident he was probably coming here. That’s recruiting…
In other news, lots of talk about Duren to Memphis. He is not eligible to reclass yet and if he wants to then he will have to take courses outside of Montverde to do so. It could happen and from what I am told, he is likely to re-class and wants to try and team up with Emoni somewhere. Memphis likely might be that spot for them.
Jalen Washington is also likely committing to UNC within the next couple days from what I was told. He is down to UNC, Stanford and Purdue. Looks like a commitment this weekend.
With Garcia going elsewhere. All eyes and efforts turn to Kofi, and we will see what happens.
In other news, lots of talk about Duren to Memphis. He is not eligible to reclass yet and if he wants to then he will have to take courses outside of Montverde to do so. It could happen and from what I am told, he is likely to re-class and wants to try and team up with Emoni somewhere. Memphis likely might be that spot for them.
Jalen Washington is also likely committing to UNC within the next couple days from what I was told. He is down to UNC, Stanford and Purdue. Looks like a commitment this weekend.
With Garcia going elsewhere. All eyes and efforts turn to Kofi, and we will see what happens.
Tacomallini
- Washington State
don't we have Bill the Wizard or WizardBill on the board?
sacraig
- The desert
I don't know. I think many of them (if not most) are actually connected, but we have to think about how they are connected. They probably aren't getting info direct from players, their families, or the coaching staff. In all likelihood, our insiders' connections are some combination of DIA staff members, folks plugged into high school and AAU ball, or other similar folks who have some degree of separation from the principals.
In short, the issue isn't with those types of insiders sharing their information that turns out to be imperfect. The issue is with so many posters here who treat everything said insiders say as gospel without considering the likely sources and the path it took to reach this message board. The information we get may often be completely legitimate based on what the insider(s) have been told, but has probably already gone through one or more layers of playing telephone before it reaches us. It also likely comes overwhelmingly from pro-Illini sources and so will naturally tend to be somewhat biased in our favor.
At the end of the day, just don't get so hung up on whether these alleged insiders are 100% accurate. That's an impossible standard.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Thank you ,my brother..................
Worth noting...I read on Twitter that Garcia was offered a scholarship from UNC in 2019 and his lead recruiter was none other than Hubert Davis. The recruitment ended when they got the commitment from Walker Kessler
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal
1990-June 30, 2021: Illinois painstakingly follows rules, other major CBB programs say "Lol have fun with your rules, loser, we're going 'cruitin."
July 1 - July 7, 2021: "Whoa, this NIL thing might level the playing field, Illinois looks to be at the leading edge of it!"
July 8, 2021-forever: Illinois painstakingly follows rules, other major CBB programs say "Lol have fun with your rules, loser, we're going 'cruitin."
July 1 - July 7, 2021: "Whoa, this NIL thing might level the playing field, Illinois looks to be at the leading edge of it!"
July 8, 2021-forever: Illinois painstakingly follows rules, other major CBB programs say "Lol have fun with your rules, loser, we're going 'cruitin."
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