Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

[Tacomallini]

Previous relationship. Played for BU. No rules about that. They can talk however much they want.

Makes more sense than my workaround theory, that they were just discussing Fortnite.

 

[EyeoftheIllini]

I would be a terrible coach, because I think, regardless of play or whether they stay or transfer, we need to care about Andre (and every other player). They are people, not just pieces of a puzzle for us fans to fit together to win games. I want what’s best for our players as human beings. And as far as Adam, how much more LOYAL can you get than saying, “I made a mistake in transferring out, and I want to come back”? I support Illini players and coaches. This is called life. I hate to see us saying “we’d be better off without,” or “I don’t want so-and-so.” I want to cheer ‘for’ people, not against. Sorry, I’ll climb down off my horse now. Just my 2 cents. Go Illini!

I think our coaches do care about Andre and all the players as people. Just look at the fact BU has been in contact with Miller all year even though he transferred. If this season and all the social media naysayers and much worse have had a drastic negative impact on Curbelo, then transferring might be what is best for him as a person and player.

I hope he doesn’t transfer, and that is coming from someone who isn’t head over heals in love with Curbelo as a player. I thought the preseason 3rd team all American nod and early entrance into the NBA was a huge stretch. But that is what fans and media do. And when a player doesn’t meet expectations — especially someone as up and down as Curbelo — sadly, they turn on him. I’ve always had my doubts whether he’d develop to the point where he’d be consistent game in and game out. He has great vision and passing talent, but he seemed unable to adjust his game to the game circumstances. All that said, I hope he stays — cuz he’s an Illini.

 

[illini0440]

He asked if it would be a waste of time….I said no as in it wouldn’t.

 

[the juiceman cometh]

I will be as heartbroken as anyone if Belo leaves, but I feel like failure is maybe a bit too strong a word. Struggling for the term, but it’s somewhere between failure and adversity. In todays college BB, roster turnover is inevitable. I hope he stays and works through it but the kid just had an awful year on a number of levels. Would totally understand if both parties mutually agree its best for him to get a fresh start somewhere new.

We lose one of our key pieces, but Epps is a bucket getter coming in. We look to be in a great position to land Clark who would also provide scoring and playmaking from that position in addition to giving us more size. And who knows who else will be available in the portal. In the end we will be fine. But Belo is and will be special and I will root for him wherever he goes.

Roster turnover is inevitable, but when possibly the most talented basketball player on the team feels the need for a "fresh start" somewhere else, it is absolutely a failure by some, if not all, parties involved.

 

[PlayDeeBrownNote]

This is just not true.

A college ball player’s growth strategy is not commenting on other people’s negative posts about them. They play basketball on tv in front of thousands/tens of thousands/hundreds of thousands of people each week.

Their social media growth is based on their ability to play the game. The better they play basketball/the more games their team wins, the more followers they’ll acquire.

So they have a different growth strategy than a typical influencer.

If being on social media negatively impacts your ability to play that game, reading/replying to comments can be a net negative to your growth.

Obviously they shouldn’t interact with negative posts, I never said they should. But c’mon dude, if you think you can just “set it and forget it” in regards to your social campaigns, regardless of who you are or what your product is, you will not be maximizing your results.

 

[illinigiant80]

I'm from here in Peoria and I was told by someone very close to the Manual program that Adam wasn't crazy about leaving really but a certain family member was encouraging him to do so. After the tweet I saw his mother make maybe things could change.

Wild speculation on my part, but maybe he just decided to start making decisions for himself & not solely rely on input from others. Family members and close friends may want what’s best for them instead of what’s best for the person going thru a situation. Maybe he’s at the point in his young life where he’s ready to make his own decisions that best suits him. Maybe Adam stays at LSU, comes here , or transfers to another school. Hopefully it’s more of his decision. He’s probably had people in his ear his entire bball career from junior high and on.

 

[NarrowJ]

What is all this failure stuff re: Curbelo? I thought he had a concussion, and then covid (and then subsequent conditioning and other issues due to both)?

 

[FrankNitty30]

Meh, there's a lot the staff can't control despite their best efforts. And the unusual nature of what AC has gone through, combined with how that's negatively affected his play has put everyone in a tough position.

I do think there are lessons to learn, and they should do a post mortem so they understand what things specifically led him to feel less supported during his struggles. I feel the same way about how the team played tight in the tournament --really think they need to get into what sort of signals the coaches are sending, and whether those contributed. I know Alabama football uses a sports psychologist to help with performance, and my totally uninformed, outsider view is that is something they should look into given how noticeable the gap in focus was in the tourney games. Whatever level of nerves played into it, that's something players and coaches can work on.

I do not think anyone is blaming the staff. I think a lot of the blame is pointed directly at the toxic nature of social media and the fact that some of our Illini fans chose and justify being asshats to our players. That is not on the staff.

 

[sacraig]

What is all this failure stuff re: Curbelo? I thought he had a concussion, and then covid (and then subsequent conditioning and other issues due to both)?

It's just message board fans building a narrative. It doesn't necessarily have to match reality.

 

[jumpingjack]

@illini0440 @Indy Illini Fan @LvilleILL

If I were to start working on a Skyy or TSJ “What If they committed to Illinois” edit, do you think it would be a waste of time? Or should I got for it…

 

[ginabackes00]

My assumptions on Miller returning…imagine you’re a young adult who was juggling his love for a team and his love for a parent, especially during the season. (He still played well and continued to improve.) You decide to follow a parent’s belief, you transfer, get injured, and still support the players on the team you transferred from. Now, you lose your coach and there are potential infractions. You still have a good relationship with your previous coach. Sometimes you realize you left something good and you get a second chance to go back. The point is, he has never been negative about his time here or about the team. He played well when he was here. I think the staff knows where he’s at physically and mentally. Trust the process And have a little grace for a young man.

 

[BoiseBaller]

I don’t disagree with alot of this. A person especially an athlete does have to deal with the adulation and the criticism. In a vacuum that is great and even accurate.

However, Belo’s case has to be judged on the facts as pertaining to Curbelo. Fans who criticize him have completely brushed aside his serious physical, and psychological issues he has had to battle through. Mostly so they can “vent” because they think he should “handle it.”

He became a lightning rod of criticism for being a show off. I don’t think he is. I think he just sees a completely different game than most. Which also means he needs to hone that talent and mature in it. He is not a show off.

He was unfortunately saddled with this ridiculous comparison of the record when he played vs the record when he didn’t. Once again, in a vacuum that might seem fair. But it does not take into account who they were playing. Where they were playing. Who else was out? Which is ok me of the other players had bad games, etc.

It was all garbage arguments and commentary. It also reached levels in which the media picked up on it. So at the end of the day the fans most definitely had a hand in where we are now.

You are right, Belo and Belo alone gets to choose how he wants to progress. The sad thing is that one of his factors he has to weigh is the ridiculous behavior of our fans.

You can choose to dismiss because “all fans do this.” Or, “he needs to deal with it better.”

I choose to be better than that lazy level of fandom that lashes out because the team I root for lost games.

I keep reading about the "fan impact" but the simple fact is that in the age of social media he's going to have to deal with that at any place he plays. Many are worse than IL. He's going to have to ignore/filter it whether here or his next stop. I dislike it, but that the reality of the current landscape.

One thing I wish he didn't have deal with was our reporters asking him about it. I find that to be tacky on their part. A few of the questions he had to take about him being "polarizing" were out of line. JMHO.

Given my first statement above, and Belo's response, it's possible the fan impact is the least of what is weighing into his decision here. He may have far more going on than any of us know about.

 

[jumpingjack]

I do not think anyone is blaming the staff. I think a lot of the blame is pointed directly at the toxic nature of social media and the fact that some of our Illini fans chose and justify being asshats to our players. That is not on the staff.

This.

It's just message board fans building a narrative. It doesn't necessarily have to match reality.

I mean, other than the social media aspect being directly mentioned by players themselves .

 

[derrick6]

"they just don't need the NIL money", "they should be tougher" "just stay off social media" "play better and the fans won't be mean" "he didn't apologize for his play"...
Some of the horrendously ignorant takes on this that have appeared here in the last 24 hours. Extrapolate that by six months, add in no effective moderation on most platforms, a much larger absolute number of trolls, and you start to see why college athletes have started to push back on fan treatment, inside or outside the competitive bounds.

I actually think NIL pressure is probably a bigger driver than fan treatment, or at least it goes hand-in-hand.

Now you are not just performing for your athletic success but you have “real” obligations based on your name reputation. I would suspect for most athletes that aren’t an automatic NBA draft choice this is additional pressure to be dealt with. Taking money from a non-university counterparty to do something well has its own challenges.

 

[lstewart53x3]

Obviously they shouldn’t interact with negative posts, I never said they should. But c’mon dude, if you think you can just “set it and forget it” in regards to your social campaigns, regardless of who you are or what your product is, you will not be maximizing your results.

I work with influencers everyday.

Engaging with an audience in the comments section can help, but is not required. Very few influencers I work with reply to comments on their posts. They post their own content often, yes, but very rarely interact with their followers in the comments.

 

[NarrowJ]

I mean, other than the social media aspect being directly mentioned by players themselves .

So we know 100% that is why he's transferring? I don't think that we do, and that's what @sacraig means when he says it is mererly a narrative being built.

 

[UltimateInsider]

If Curbelo does leave, really hope he ends up at Miami. Laranega seems perfect for him and he’s such a good coach.

Fellow insiders, if Adam Miller does transfer/come home, is there any hesitation on either end in terms of him not being granted immediate eligibility?

 

[derrick6]

The players aren't the only ones posting on social media. Illinois Basketball posts IG clips before and after all of the games.
the clips are very well done. Most of the replies are positive but some are disgustingly toxic and addressed to specific players. So even if a player is not posting himself, he still is subject to abuse.

Off means off. As in, stay off social media during the season. Lol.

Seriously though, even the positive can affect one’s play for the negative…it is best to focus in on what the coaches tell you rather than the fan base or marketing arm of the DIA.

 

[jumpingjack]

So we know 100% that is why he's transferring? I don't think that we do, and that's what @sacraig means when he says it is mererly a narrative being built.

Of course not. But it's also clearly not "just message board fans building a narrative" to say the social media abuse exists, it was heavily directed at Curbelo, and the team was quite aware of it.
Either way, if he leaves for a controllable reason, it's certainly a failure to lose him to another program. And if that controllable reason was that a segment of our fanbase treated his social media account as a carnival dunk tank, it's a pretty plausible narrative.
Do you think Trent would've felt the need to send the keyboard warriors statement out if the guys in the locker room were ok?

 

[FinallyMadeAnAccount]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1508131591180201985

It's go time Brad and Tim.

 

[Calillini]

Here is my two cents on Belo (not that anyone asked) because I am really torn.

He was so good as a freshman. Winning 6th man, seemingly playing more under control, averaging 4.2 assists and 2.6 TOs.

He obviously regressed this year averaging 3.2 assists and 2.8 TOs, struggled with decision making.

Was this the familiar sophomore slump? The concussion certainly had an affect.

He is obviously a talented player. The question is..who is the real Curbelo? Is the juice worth the squeeze...

Hard to believe that the real Belo is the season where he suffered a serious concussion (based on recovery time) and barely practiced with team as opposed to the one season where he was 100% healthy and a total rookie in one of the toughest leagues in basketball. Which one was the outlier?

 

[logjam]

If BU has been talking to him as suggested all season...I don't think this time around they are going to coddle him. He either wants to be all in or he doesn't. Who talks to him shouldn't make a difference.

Seems a former head coach can speak with former players..but with him not officially in the portal yet it seems prudent to not have other coaches having contact. How do I know this? I have my admissions merit badge.

 

[NarrowJ]

Of course not. But it's also clearly not "just message board fans building a narrative" to say the social media abuse exists, it was heavily directed at Curbelo, and the team was quite aware of it.
Either way, if he leaves for a controllable reason, it's certainly a failure to lose him to another program. And if that controllable reason was that a segment of our fanbase treated his social media account as a carnival dunk tank, it's a pretty plausible narrative.
Do you think Trent would've felt the need to send the keyboard warriors statement out if the guys in the locker room were ok?

Don't know about Trent. Thought we were talking about Andre?

We do know about the injuries - covid, concussion(s), lingering ailments from both, conditioning.

We don't really know much of anything about any mental/emotional damage via social media. Just a bunch of speculation and narrative-building.

 

[mhuml32]

Imagine in 2012 being told in ten years how rosters would turn over ever year, it’s crazy how much the last decade has changed college basketball.

Oh and also it’s not just Kentucky and Kansas paying players now.

This never was the reality

 

[illini27jake]

Speculation so its probably way off but it really seemed like Curbelo wasnt ready to be one of the faces of the team. Even early in the season vs the random schools he was getting caught up in talking trash with the other teams coaches and what not.