Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#851      

Dbell1981

D
Decatur, IL
Dbell1981
Noblesville Illini said:
I prefer talking about Krekel’s greaseburgers. I still remember watching Krekel grab the hamburger balls and smashing them flat on the grill on Water Street. This was back when MacArthur HS was still around. I went to Mt. Zion, but the MacArthur summer school kids would walk over and eat there for lunch. Grew up playing golf all summer at Nelson Park golf course and Fairies Park as well. Amazing how things change!
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MacArthur is still around. It is Stephen Decatur that closed as a high school and made into a middle school. Now it is only MacArthur and Eisenhower. Faries Park is now owned by ADM and public cant even fish at the lakefront there. Im living in Mt. Zion now.
 
#854      

Illinifan533

Illinifan533
Normal, Illinois
Illinifan533
Qwiksilvur said:
Possibly. I don’t recall Trent pouting during a game/refusing to go back in. That right there suggests a potentially different mindset than what Trent had/has. At a minimum that suggests a lack of buy in to the coaching. And if you haven’t bought in you aren’t going to improve.
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You can make the argument that the transfers of Miller, Curbelo, and Clark were mainly due to this lack of buy-in. Is it because Underwood and his staff don't clearly explain what will be expected, or is it because the guys believe it will be easier than it actually is? What is frustrating is that with guys like Miller and Curbelo, if they had "bought in" fully, they would have evolved into great players. Instead, Miller pouted since he was a secondary option and instead of putting in the work to improve the weaknesses of his game he went to LSU where he has remained the same player he was here. Curbelo had his concussion issues, yes, but at the end he seemed more concerned with doing his own thing than going along with the coaching staff.
 
#857      

Tevo

Tevo
Wilmette, IL
Tevo
GoodePodzMelendez said:
I am a proponent of a 10 man rotation which includes playing and developing young players. Iowa does it as they have developed quality players over the past several years under Fran. MSU does it, Maryland does it. But we do not. Name me one player that we have developed. I can name 1. Giorgi. That is it. Brad erred two seasons ago playing only 7 guys double digit minutes. Granted, it got us a B1G title but is that what we playing for? That team was exhausted after a rugged conference season. Williams should never have played 30 minutes a game. No other team in the conference would have done that. Podz, Goode and Melendez should have played double digit minutes. Coleman should have gotten over 20. Trent, basically so wore down toward the end of the year that he got sick. He played 34 minutes a game and many times near 38. Do not get me wrong, I love that Brad is here but he needs to address why we are losing players via transfer, Jones, Melendez, Podz, Miller, Curbelo, Epps, Clark etc. Are we not recruiting the correct fit or just settling? I think he needs to go deeper on the bench. FAU did not have 1 player with over 30 a game and played 11 guys double digit minutes. With a rough conference schedule every year, it seems to me that having a rested team would go a lot farther in March than a tired beat up team. The goal is a NC not just a conference title. Or at least a consistent 2nd weekend team year in and year out. Herb Brooks said it best, I am not trying to get the best guys but the right guys. It worked in 1980.
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Count me among the maybe very few who would prefer conference championships over Sweet 16's or Elite 8's, if the choice is one or the other. Conference championships means lots of wins all season long, as opposed to two or three wins in March.

Of course it's NOT one or the other, and having a team that can contend for conference championships year in and year out makes you MUCH more likely that you will actually get to a sweet 16 or elite 8. Seeding alone should tell that story. Being a Top 3 or 4 Big Ten team each year almost guarantees you a Top 4 seed in the tournament which immensely helps your chances of making a S16 or E8. Win every game you can, every time you play. Nothing in the post season is guaranteed.
 
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#858      

Illin618

Illin618
I forgot the last i in my username
Southern IL
Illin618
Question… what makes everyone think we are definitely landing RayJ?
 
#860      

Kendall Gill’s Uncle

K
Kendall Gill’s Uncle
ptgrd23 said:
JMO - I would love to see lineup of Goode, Rogers, Dainja, Harris and one of new players at PG

It would only have one shooter Goode but it would play great defense, rebound well and could score inside.

We might be surprised how much freshman Hansberry, DGS, and Moretti can help.

graduate transfers - Domask and Harmon could provide maturity and solid scoring. I am more optimistic about Domask since SIU is better program.

I hope Coleman comes back for senior year but will not be heartbroken if he goes NBA. Good character, hard worker, steady improvement. Drove me crazy last year with his sloppy passes and crazy 3 pointer attempts. At his current skill level I don't think he is NBA level. It is hard to improve while in NBA - look how Ayo plateaued his 2nd year. Better to come back and be like Brian Cook. 20 ppg/10 rbg all american.

TSJ was nice addition last year but flawed game. Cannot create his own jump shot. Drives to hoop but does not elevate in lane and his shot is easily blocked. He has already played 4 years in college so he may not be able to improve further. I think its time to see what the kids can do.

Time warp back to last year. I think Brad should have taken TSJ or MM but not both. We would have been better team by end of year and better positioned for 2024 playing the kids. Also may not have lost RJ, Jayden and Skyy to portal.
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You are 100% allowed your opinion and I agree with some of your thoughts. I don’t see that lineup happening though.
 
#861      

Kendall Gill’s Uncle

K
Kendall Gill’s Uncle
bluemountain said:
I won't be sold on BU being an elite coach until we contend for another BTT and get to an Elite 8. He has the financial resources to afford top tier assistants and players, so there is no reason we can't be a perennial top 25 team. I'm thrilled we got to enjoy the Kofi years, and I want to see whether BU can be more than a .500 coach in conference play without Kofi. He has earned that chance, but he has yet to make it happen. We were a popular pick to win the Natty in 2021 and we completely messed the bed, and you just can't ignore that when evaluating his record. I disagree that it's enough to be considered a threat to be a top 25 team; given our resources and with the right coaching it should be a given.
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I don’t get why he has to prove he can be more than a .500 coach in conference play without Kofi. He brought Kofi in. That’s part of coaching and he did that.

He’s going to bring in other high caliber players. When he does, are you going to say you need to see him be above .500 in conference play without them?
 
#864      

The Galloping Ghost

The Galloping Ghost
Washington, DC
The Galloping Ghost
sharpshot16 said:
I'll put it this way - the only thing we NEEDED to get in the portal was a PG....glaring hole with zero depth.

How many point guards in the portal have we been tied to/reported going after?
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#865      

Illin618

Illin618
I forgot the last i in my username
Southern IL
Illin618
sharpshot16 said:
I'll put it this way - the only thing we NEEDED to get in the portal was a PG....glaring hole with zero depth.

How many point guards in the portal have we been tied to/reported going after?
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This didn’t answer the question lol
 
#866      

RenoGray10

RenoGray10
RenoGray10
Noblesville Illini said:
I prefer talking about Krekel’s greaseburgers. I still remember watching Krekel grab the hamburger balls and smashing them flat on the grill on Water Street. This was back when MacArthur HS was still around. I went to Mt. Zion, but the MacArthur summer school kids would walk over and eat there for lunch. Grew up playing golf all summer at Nelson Park golf course and Fairies Park as well. Amazing how things change!
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Let’s go Braves!!
 
#872      

Illinirog70

Illinirog70
Illinirog70
The Sounds of Silence... crickets!

We need a shot erasing big...and a point guard...and a dead eye shooter! Are they out there? Hello?
 
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