Equally worried about his injury. We know that Adam can play at the highest level. Skyy is a bit more of an unknown. That said, if a 5 star has interest in the Illini, you fight for that commitment.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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illini80
- Forgottonia
I know he never got completely comfortable with his shot last year, but he came in as a shooter. There is no reason to believe he wouldn’t be at LEAST average. He also was starting to drive more at the end of the season. Lots to like imo. We are losing 2 lock down defenders and he is proven in that area, but we will just wait and see. If he and Brad want to make it work they will. If not, it doesn’t really matter what our opinion is. Lol
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Oops. I was referring to Hawkinson from SHG.
Skyy injury similar to Damontes as a HS senior?
illini80
- Forgottonia
Delete. Saw your edit @alexander58
That is my understanding. Damonte is one of my all-time favorite Illini players. As good as he was in high school though, he isn’t even remotely close to the talent level of Skyy. Skyy would be our biggest recruiting win in about 20 years.
It saddens me I missed seeing that team in person. I gotta say though…Chicago King was certainly slouch…they were ranked # 1 in the nation after all.
EDIT: How come we let Iowa poach Payne?
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Sounds good...seems like Skyy is a potential great get.
Forget Hawkinson....get Huff to decommit from Gonzaga and grab him. 6'11"- great handles, passing skills, great footwork, agile and unlimited range. Wonder how hard staff went after him or if was always enamored with the Zags. Maybe Powell was on this. Not many bigs with those skills.☹
And layups.
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But cover up that tiger tattoo
It's been a lot of years, but I'm thinking one or both of Payne's parents went to Iowa.
Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.
Maybe he does, or not. He got injured, and I hate that for him. What is one concern for me, he had a starting position on a big ten championship type team, but needed something else. I have zero problem if he thought he would have a better opportunity at pg, or to score 30 points a game somewhere else. It is a business in that respect, he could be recruited over, others may have better skills interfering with his personal plans, etc.. To me, if I was to give advice to the coach, likely those same circumstances will never go away. Maybe we have already recruited better options at the guard positions, or will have the chance to get those from the portal. Then what, he won't be happy, already transferred twice. Too many risks for him, and the program.
Boyd Batts and Quin Buckner. 33-0. No opponent came within 14 points of them. Even my high school, Lyons Township High School, 31-0 in 1970 cannot claim such dominance in every game.
I will only believe he's coming back if I see an Insta story with an Illiniwek tattoo a la Hawk from Cobra Kai.
I took a glance last night, I think it was something like they averaged 87 a game, and their opponents in the mid 50's. I thought at the time they could have beaten many college teams.
Yeah, no disrespect intended. Both those Quincy and King teams were declared national champs. As for Michael Payne, let's just say that Bruce Douglas was not going to go to the same high school as Payne, and the Illini ended up getting the better player.
The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
This is a tremendous turn of phrase. I don't know what it means. I don't want to know what it means. I'm just glad it's in my life.
UncleBob
- San Clemente, CA
Agree on Thornridge and Quincy. Only undefeated Collinsville in 1961was close to being as dominant. Bogie Redmon to IL and Fred Riddle to Iowa.
What happened to Otto Brown?
I have never seen him play, but what are you basing his being our biggest recruit in 20 years on? He looks to be ranked around 30, which is similar to Ayo and Adam, and he is coming off surgery that is significant enough that it was a primary factor, according to Skyy, in his decision to decommit from KY. I've also seen posters call him a "top 10" recruit (I think), so I could be missing something or looking at outdated rankings.
He was ranked in the top 15 virtually everywhere until his injury. His injury made him fall down to the late 20s.
Ahh, got it. Thanks.
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