Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#577      

Tables@EddieMunster

T
Tables@EddieMunster
zentrails said:
If lots of other teams aren't trying to poach your coach then you don't have a very good coach.

Any recruiting news anyone?
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Season 3 What GIF by The Lonely Island
 
#578      

hoopsfan47

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hoopsfan47
LvilleILL said:
Lots of really positive DGL buzz right now from the first few days of practice
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As one who is as skeptical as anyone pertaining to frosh contributions, I am pulling for DGL to make all those who count him out to have to eat their words. Nothing like having hundreds of Illini fans...who are supporters of a team to which DGL has pledged his collegiate years...discount his talents and count him as a non-contributor...especially for a team the dearly needs someone who can distribute the ball with skill, hit shots dependably, and stay in front of other B1G guards.

But...................he is a freshman. Yet, not join that crowd of naysayers until I see him play....with my support. Thanks for the news LvilleILL.

And my interest in his ability to dunk registers just below my interest in how much dust there is on the underside of the SFC hardwood resting on the concrete.
 
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#581      

Illinini

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Illinini
Indy Illini Fan said:
Let me introduce you to a man named John Calipari … Rick Barnes was pretty dang good … Fired … 🤷🏻‍♂️

Regular season is not what we play for … Sure getting that Big Ten championship is nice but if that’s the bar for “winning” then that’s a pretty low bar for how much talent we’ve had …

Tournament success … All that matters …
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Touché but I think a program with 8 national championships can have higher expectations than one with 0.

As for the rest of that idk how we went from not winning big ten championships for almost two decade to being too good for them. And if we sneak in the tournament as an 11 seed but make the sweet 16 I think underwood’s seat should definitely be hotter and id really question anyone who disagrees so no, while it’s the most important it’s far from ALL that matters. Feels like Whitmans mad that HE decided to make underwood a top ten paid coach. Im not against moving on from Underwood if the right candidate’s are lined up but not making the sweet 16 next year being the last straw seems ridiculous
 
#582      

Combo

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Combo
Goillinikobd said:
I pulled out an interesting part of the article

In addition the idea of Coleman Hawkins as a versatile swiss army knife has always been greater in thought than practice. Over his three year career he has proven to be a below average 3PT shooter (28.1%) despite his desire to prove otherwise (four 3FGA per game last year at 28%), is as likely to turn it over as make a good pass (1.8 APG to 1.5 TOV career, 3 APG to 2.5 TOV in 2022-23), has poor shot selection in crucial moments, and doesn’t offer a true low post scoring presence despite his 6’11’ stature. He’s an above average defender with switch-ability, but in essence should be a solid role player offensively (3rd/4th option), instead of a primary offensive focus. If Illinois is going to be good next year, a lot rests on Hawkins becoming a more mature and focused player, which at this point in his career he simply hasn’t proven yet.

The roster in short just feels a touch incomplete. If they could somehow add a primary play maker like Rutgers Paul Mulcahy, who just recently entered the portal, it would spring the rotation up several spots for me, but after personally being much too high on Illinois last season, this feels like prove it to me spot for the Fighting Illini in 2023-24.
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Excellent write up IMO.
 
#586      

Combo

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Combo
BTM33 said:
I'm a fan...he has high level explosion, leaping ability and one of the highest ceilings on the team.

I think it’s understood they are going to try to avoid playing a Freshman at PG. But I hope he puts some pressure on them.
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Not too focused on his explosive leaping ability (though it’s certainly nice).

What he should concentrate on is running the offense the coaches want and playing defense. Unless we miraculously come up with a veteran PG, he’s got a heck of an opportunity in front of him.
 
#588      

Second place is 1st loser

S
Second place is 1st loser
Combo said:
Not too focused on his explosive leaping ability (though it’s certainly nice).

What he should concentrate on is running the offense the coaches want and playing defense. Unless we miraculously come up with a veteran PG, he’s got a heck of an opportunity in front of him.
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At 165 lbs, I question his ability to play defense, as a Freshman, in the Big Ten.
 
#590      

Illinini

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Illinini
dbeverly26 said:
Sure, if he loses the major boosters all bets are off (and I won't pretend to act like I know what's up there, anyway). I made a comment a while back about being less confident that the AD will make good choices here because power seems to be migrating even more towards high-dollar donors in the NIL era, and those donors tend to be...well, they tend to be a bit less patient and more emotional than you'd prefer your CEO to be, I guess. And I've got no idea how much truth there is to some of the more recent rumors that have been floating around regarding Williams and some other stuff, but all of that is important in how hot his seat should be.

As for using his past tournament success or lack thereof to judge his ability to rack up some tournament wins in the future, though? I'm not sold.
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Agree big time with all of that
 
#595      

PIT_ILL

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PIT_ILL
Indy Illini Fan said:
Next year is make or break … When you’ve got guys like Sean Miller, Eric Musselman and others that would be interested … Boosters willing to support a move if it’s necessary …

It makes making a move a little easier …
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I assume Whitman is good enough to know he has something better lined up before moving on from Underwood. As the past decade plus showed you can do a lot worse.
 
#596      

BRucks

BRucks
BRucks
This talk of Whitman firing Underwood seems silly to me. Granted, the basketball performance this year wasn't what we wanted with a (tie for) fifth place in the conference. Most of the athletic teams at Illinois did poorly and many finished lower than men's basketball. Heck, Underwood is one of our brighter stars.
Illinois finished 13th in the conference in the winter learfield cup standings and 14th in the fall standings.

Jan 12OverallStandings Update (PDF) - National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics

Jan 12OverallStandings Update (PDF)
nacda.com nacda.com

April6DIConferenceUpdate (PDF) - National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics

April6DIConferenceUpdate (PDF)
nacda.com nacda.com

Baseball tied for 8th out of 13
Basketball tied for 5th of 14
Women's basketball tied for 5th id 14
M cross country 6/12
W cross country 9/14
Football tied for 5th of 14
M golf 1/14
W golf 1/14
M gymnastics 4/5
W gymnastics 5/10
M outdoor track 9/13
W outdoor track 8/13
M indoor track 11/11
W indoor track 10/13
M tennis 4/10
W tennis 4/14
Wrestling 10/14
Volleyball 7/14
W soccer 10/14
W softball 12/14
 
#598      

Bryce Hopkins

Bryce Hopkins
Bryce Hopkins
WhiteHorseWings said:
View attachment 26560
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Shall we take a little trip down memory lane? Remember when our practice HOF'er Austin Hutcherson was giving our nba draft pick Ayo "fits in practice"

Screen Shot 2023-06-15 at 9.55.54 PM.png



It's that time of year when over zealous practice reports pile in, take it with a grain of salt. If DGL can run a semblance of an offense, count me in. But if we see a repeat of last year where coleman is taking logo 3's or MM is taking iso step back jumpers due to a lack of a facilitator, then at least we'll have these practice reports to look back to fondly
 
#600      

Bacon Butkus Swanson

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Bacon Butkus Swanson
LvilleILL said:
🤷‍♂️Just thought I would share that. He has looked really impressive from once I heard and dunked on our best player
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That’s wonderful news if true…. I think? A couple legitimate questions.

Who’s considered our “best” player? If he’s our best player, why’s he getting dunked on in practice by a freshman?
 
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