redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
I NEED to know the next domino!
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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I'd be absolutely shocked, like completely flabbergasted, if Illinois didn't land a transfer that ranks higher than Podz on all those "portal rankings" that get floated on (which, of course, you can take or leave for what they're worth)
I said this a few weeks ago. When you have 14 or 15 scholarship players someone is going to be unhappy & not get playing time. Add in the fact that you have 2 Super seniors, an All American center & a graduate transfer & that leaves very few precious minutes available for freshmen. You could even argue the fact that they recruited over podz. Now that narrative depends on how you see things. Podz had a year of experience, but i dont know if he is going to be better than Epps. Podz leaving has opened up time for the freshmen. Ill take Shannon & a veteran ball handler & call it a day.
If the staff gave him feedback that his game isn’t fitting their system or something then I get it. Basically told that he was at the end of the bench. Otherwise he should have seen that there are a ton of guard and wing minutes available next year and been confident he would earn them.
Why would it? Please stop with this thought process.
Adam Miller started EVERY SINGLE GAME for a top 4 team and then…… entered the portal.
Podz problem is a recruiting problem, and we as fans better get used to it. Brad and staff are recruiting at a high level. If kids do not think they have a path towards playing time….. they will transfer. Period.
It has nothing to do with playing time he did or did not receive last year. All about the makeup of next years roster. He does not see playing time, so he is moving on. Wish him the best!!
Without the extra year granted for covid and the open transfer portal Podz would have been on the floor quite a bit. He would have gotten a lot of experience for better or worse. Just didn't work out well for him here. I hope he gets plenty of opportunities wherever he lands.
sacraig
- The desert
No. Kid wanted to start next year. How is he gonna do that here?
Bigtex
- DFW
But I can say that for many others who were over hyped this year:
Hutcherson
Williams
Bbv
Doesn’t mean they weren’t useful or productive at times.
I didn’t see enough of podz to form an opinion
Loyalillini10
- Urbana, IL
This bums me out a little. I like Podzz I think he can be a great player. Best of luck in the future, young man!
illini80
- Forgottonia
I agree. When he signed, he had no idea that Trent and DMFW would be back and didn’t know Plummer was coming. That’s a lot of minutes. I thought he had a role going forward, but obviously not the one he wanted and I wish him well. I don’t blame the staff or Underwood for how it worked out either. We played the guys that gave us the best chance to win. Period.
Ramey and TSJ with Kofi coming back and we are going to have a very good year. I don’t love the new normal, but the staff certainly looks like they know how to work within it.
He's gonna be good wherever he lands
I have nothing to base this on, but why do I feel like he'll end up at Indiana. Maybe because they could use a PG who can shoot.
Loyalillini10
- Urbana, IL
To be fair, DaMonte was pretty important in many of Illinois’s wins last season.
Well I don't get the BBV love either. I think he is.....less than elite. Hutcherson just can't stay healthy. Not much you can do about that. Williams, well I think we can upgrade with Rodgers.
I think not seeing enough of Podz is the point. We saw Goode and Melendez because they were better. Skyy, Epps, and Rodgers are going to see the floor. Goode and Melendez will see the floor. That's 5 guys for 3 spots already. Bring in Shannon and that's 6 guys. If you're the #7 guy, you might not be loving life.
If you're recruiting well there will be transfers. It's basically succeed or be recruited over. The team is just fine, and more times than not, the players are just fine in their new home too.
Trent, Giorgi, Ayo, Wolf, Kofi. He plays the ones that either A.) deserve it or B.) havent passed the guy in front of them. I dont think Podz was quite in Group A but that didnt matter, because he certainly fell in Group B
Also, we had a Freshman win Big Ten 6th Man of the year with Curbelo last season.
I hate to see it to as I think Podz will be good as well, but depth is a good thing.
Not really talking about Podz. I was specifically thinking DMW taking minutes away from RJ/Goode, which hurt us definitely in the tournaments.
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