Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#451      
Illini4Christ
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This is the recruiting king, the undisputed heavyweight recruiter in the world, the master of disaster for the other programs, the legend…THE MAN!
 
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#452      
BretMyBeachHouse
Illini2010-11 said:
The quality of the roster and wins are generally highly correlated. Cal won a ton of basketball games at Kentucky almost every season (as does North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, etc.). His issue was not making it out of the first weekend of the tourney the last 3 seasons (and Kentucky has high standards). Part of that is roster construction, getting team chemistry, and a major part coaching deficiencies.

More often than not, it is easier to win more games when you have the superior horses. Sure there will be examples like Podz, but those are likely outliers versus the rule. I will take the Brad approach over the Weber and Groce approach any day of the week.

I believe the coach should always be looking to recruit over players to make the team better, and the players should make it very hard to be recruited over through practice and game results.
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I agree with pretty much all of this.

But there absolutely are guys who are more talented who aren't worth the headaches. You've heard insiders proclaim as much on many occasions.

The idea that Skyy Clark and his uber talent was a good idea is ludicrous.

I'm on record many times saying the coach should always be looking to recruit over everyone on the roster. But it has to be done intelligently. It's not an automatic that you take the number 20 class of 2024 player over a less rated guy on your roster.
 
#453      
lstewart53x3
BretMyBeachHouse said:
The job of the coach isn't to upgrade the roster. It's to win. Cal was wearing out his welcome for that very reason.

All that glitters isn't gold. Finding shiny new jewels and randomly adding them to a necklace doesn't necessarily make it more beautiful.

There's all sorts of spin out there but we essentially dumped podz two years ago to get skyy Clark.

Last year was a master class on team chemistry. It remains to be seen which of the last two years this season will most resemble.
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In the 10 years before Brad got hired, we were 78-102 in the B1G.

In the past 5 years with Brad, we‘re 69-31, which is good for the most wins in the B1G over that span.

Dude knows how to win.

+ we’re living in a brand new world of college basketball and NO coach knows the exact formula yet. But I’ll trust the guy who's willing to change his offensive and defensive philosophies year over year (sometimes even mid year!) to figure it out.
 
#454      
Brosky
lstewart53x3 said:
In the 10 years before Brad got hired, we were 78-102 in the B1G.

In the past 5 years with Brad, we‘re 69-31, which is good for the most wins in the B1G over that span.

Dude knows how to win.

+ we’re living in a brand new world of college basketball and NO coach knows the exact formula yet. But I’ll trust the guy who's willing to change his offensive and defensive philosophies year over year (sometimes even mid year!) to figure it out.
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That's exactly why I'd like to see BU play some zone this year. Not all the time, of course. But with our size and length, it could be very effective from time to time.
 
#455      
Kostas
idoc13 said:
Some seriously weird takes going on here today. Upgrading the talent of the roster is a ALWAYS a good thing. It was a good thing in the past and it’s a good thing in the present.

If you don’t want to be “recruited over” then get better.
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This is EXACTLY what I tell my kids. Don't get mad; put in the work.

Someone is always waiting to eat your lunch (errr... Drink your milkshake). Doesn't matter if it's basketball, ballet, or math class.
 
#456      
pruman91
lstewart53x3 said:
In the 10 years before Brad got hired, we were 78-102 in the B1G.

In the past 5 years with Brad, we‘re 69-31, which is good for the most wins in the B1G over that span.

Dude knows how to win.

+ we’re living in a brand new world of college basketball and NO coach knows the exact formula yet. But I’ll trust the guy who's willing to change his offensive and defensive philosophies year over year (sometimes even mid year!) to figure it out.
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#457      
Calvin
idoc13 said:
Some seriously weird takes going on here today. Upgrading the talent of the roster is a ALWAYS a good thing. It was a good thing in the past and it’s a good thing in the present.

If you don’t want to be “recruited over” then get better.
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Very true. I think that the staff here is well ahead of the curve. I'd love to be a fly on the wall in some of the conversations they have about rosters. There's a tremendous gap between college and NBA, with only a couple dozen guys making it each year, often on potential. Guys like Hawkins who can impact the college game but are borderline NBA are likely to do really well in college if they act like the free agents they are. Sucks as a fan to have the high turnover, but it's how the game works. For diehard fans with a good program, I think we can follow the changes and still enjoy it. I shudder to think what it would be like if Groce were still coach.
 
#458      
Brosky
There would be nothing to worry about, because we wouldn't have all these good players.
 
#459      
splitter
BretMyBeachHouse said:
The job of the coach isn't to upgrade the roster. It's to win. Cal was wearing out his welcome for that very reason.

All that glitters isn't gold. Finding shiny new jewels and randomly adding them to a necklace doesn't necessarily make it more beautiful.

There's all sorts of spin out there but we essentially dumped podz two years ago to get skyy Clark.

Last year was a master class on team chemistry. It remains to be seen which of the last two years this season will most resemble.
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Podz wasn't dumped/recruited over, he was challenged to win the job. He transferred and on, won the job and much more. Skyy quit, transferred and transferred again and is now sorry he did. Hope things will work out for our portal players, those coming in and those leaving. Even Luke who grew up dreaming about wearing clown pants. He will always be orange even if he shaves his head.
 
#460      
ChiTown
Don’t know why people keep rehashing this Podz scenario everytime,if the staff keeps holding on to every underwhelming prospects because they don’t want to miss out on the next Podz this program will be in the gutter very quickly.Please stop beating on a dead horse…….
 
#461      
Emerson Bigguns
BretMyBeachHouse said:
The job of the coach isn't to upgrade the roster. It's to win. Cal was wearing out his welcome for that very reason.

All that glitters isn't gold. Finding shiny new jewels and randomly adding them to a necklace doesn't necessarily make it more beautiful.

There's all sorts of spin out there but we essentially dumped podz two years ago to get skyy Clark.

Last year was a master class on team chemistry. It remains to be seen which of the last two years this season will most resemble.
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Cal wore out his welcome because of the insane expectations of the fans/stakeholders. In 12 years, he won 2 national championships and 77% of his games. They went 77-30 over the past 3 years. It’s not like they were bad.

Have that stretch at Illinois & you’d get a statue & an arena named after you.
 
#462      
IllinoisIntegrity
ChiTown said:
Don’t know why people keep rehashing this Podz scenario everytime,if the staff keeps holding on to every underwhelming prospects because they don’t want to miss out on the next Podz this program will be in the gutter very quickly.Please stop beating on a dead horse…….
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90 Day Fiance Mike GIF by TLC

Some younger folks here seem to get overly emotional and attached to players who choose to leave. I care about the players who choose to wear the O&B now and those who were loyal, not the ones who walked away.

As for the portal and NIL, these high school/college athletes wanted cash and wanted freedom to transfer. Now they’re being paid, can go to the highest bidder annually, and are treated no differently than pro free agents. They can do the work & earn their place on the court or be benched & recruited over. They can’t have it both ways.
 
#463      
jamarvelous31
BretMyBeachHouse said:
The job of the coach isn't to upgrade the roster. It's to win. Cal was wearing out his welcome for that very reason.

All that glitters isn't gold. Finding shiny new jewels and randomly adding them to a necklace doesn't necessarily make it more beautiful.

There's all sorts of spin out there but we essentially dumped podz two years ago to get skyy Clark.

Last year was a master class on team chemistry. It remains to be seen which of the last two years this season will most resemble.
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You looked at 2 years and made some wild and borderline incoherent statements based on turnover.

Why not instead focus on the last 5 year's results (I think Underwood is doing just fine):
• Program’s first NCAA Elite Eight appearance since advancing to 2005 national title game
• Big Ten’s winningest team in league play over last five seasons (69-31, .690)
• 69 B1G wins from 2019-20 through 2023-24 are most in school history over five-year stretch
• Four straight NCAA Tournament appearances (fifth precluded by COVID-19 cancelation in 2020)
• NCAA Tournament wins in three of the last four years
• One of only five schools nationally with five straight 20-win regular seasons
• Three Big Ten Championships in last four years
• Five straight top-five B1G finishes, including top-two finishes three of the last four years
• 2024 B1G Tournament Champions
• 2022 B1G Champions
• 2021 B1G Tournament Champions
• Led B1G in wins in 2021
• 2021 NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed (fourth in school history)
 
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#467      
BretMyBeachHouse
jamarvelous31 said:
You looked at 2 years and made some wild and borderline incoherent statements based on turnover.

Why not instead focus on the last 5 year's results (I think Underwood is doing just fine):
• Program’s first NCAA Elite Eight appearance since advancing to 2005 national title game
• Big Ten’s winningest team in league play over last five seasons (69-31, .690)
• 69 B1G wins from 2019-20 through 2023-24 are most in school history over five-year stretch
• Four straight NCAA Tournament appearances (fifth precluded by COVID-19 cancelation in 2020)
• NCAA Tournament wins in three of the last four years
• One of only five schools nationally with five straight 20-win regular seasons
• Three Big Ten Championships in last four years
• Five straight top-five B1G finishes, including top-two finishes three of the last four years
• 2024 B1G Tournament Champions
• 2022 B1G Champions
• 2021 B1G Tournament Champions
• Led B1G in wins in 2021
• 2021 NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed (fourth in school history)
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I wasn't focusing on anything. I was trying to make a point by using the two seasons.

I don't think Underwood is doing fine. I think he's doing fantastic. I literally would not swap him out right now for a single other coach in the country, even if there are a few that I think are better (Musselman, for example).

It's real simple to me. And actually, the five year stretch proves it even more. I'm guessing if we looked at the rosters, during those five years we only had one team with even close to the lower level of experience in college and with Underwood than this team. That was the team that really underperformed and quite frankly, disappointed a good number of fans.

Last year was one of the most incredible jobs of coaching we've ever seen at Illinois. If we have similar success it will be primarily because of the coaching, because youthful talent that hasn't played much together is no sure thing to have success.
 
#468      
IlliniNash
ChiTown said:
Don’t know why people keep rehashing this Podz scenario everytime,if the staff keeps holding on to every underwhelming prospects because they don’t want to miss out on the next Podz this program will be in the gutter very quickly.Please stop beating on a dead horse…….
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Exactly, Podz had his chance and did not show much in practice to start over others. Maybe he would have if he stayed. He really did not give himself a chance to fight for a starting job because he left after a freshman year. Decided to transfer out to a mid-major to get more time. All is good.
 
#471      
jamarvelous31
BretMyBeachHouse said:
I wasn't focusing on anything. I was trying to make a point by using the two seasons.

I don't think Underwood is doing fine. I think he's doing fantastic. I literally would not swap him out right now for a single other coach in the country, even if there are a few that I think are better (Musselman, for example).

It's real simple to me. And actually, the five year stretch proves it even more. I'm guessing if we looked at the rosters, during those five years we only had one team with even close to the lower level of experience in college and with Underwood than this team. That was the team that really underperformed and quite frankly, disappointed a good number of fans.

Last year was one of the most incredible jobs of coaching we've ever seen at Illinois. If we have similar success it will be primarily because of the coaching, because youthful talent that hasn't played much together is no sure thing to have success.
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Boswell-KJ-Tre-Hum- Ivisic-Booth are collectively better than and (counting pro time) as experienced as Podz-Goode-Hawkins-Hansberry-Dain-Harris.

Just because they're new here doesn't mean they're new.
 
#472      
LadyLoyalty
Sorry if we trust Brad’s judgment more than yours. Of all your bad takes, this may be the most ridiculous. These are professional athletes now and are being treated as such. Get over it.
 
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