Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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As a coach that would really bother me... I get it .....you need to play your best in order to give your team its best chance to win.....but part of me would feel like saying, hey you don't want to be here then have a seat on the end of the bench....I'll play guys that want to be a part of this program
DReq
Always Illini
- Central Illinois
Then, as a coach, you might want to get your agent really busy getting you a new place to go because in this world, however bizarre, I don't see you winning much pulling that sort of stunt.
Yep, that's the reason I don't think I could handle coaching in this new portal era.
Ehhh.... I'm sure our coaches are using the 'back channel' approach as well. It probably doesn't bother them that much knowing a player this year is auditioning for next, unless it is just toooooo selfish (like maybe a Tre White sitch - who I think will move on to his 4th team in as many years).
Was this maybe the "conversation" that Brad and Tre had, potentially in public, in a moment of frustration that has caused his butt to be firmly planted on the bench. It seems like something like this would have been cause for the benching. If you're not all in until April, you're out.
Sure, fair enough. At that point you're onto the topic of whether paying a freshman to be that guy is a good investment, assuming you could potentially put the same or similar money toward an older, more proven player to anchor your team. I wonder how our big donors/boosters will view that in the coming offseason...
Also, I want to keep in mind that this is just 1 part of the puzzle. I think the fact that we had so much roster turnover REALLY put pressure on us nailing the majority of our transfer and recruit evaluations, since there were so many unknowns with the team coming into this year. And unfortunately, I think we missed on too many of those (esp. Ben and Booth, but also maybe Tre White? Not sure what the deal is there - tonight will be interesting if he's back in the rotation). But again - with so much turnover, I think it would have been a minor miracle if we had hit on something that could come together in a special way in 1 year. Of course we were hoping, but...
And I do think Brad deserves a lot of credit for adapting what he runs and does to fit his team personnel, but I also think that there are limits to that. I do think a certain type of roster works a little better for Brad, at least in the way he's been coaching lately. And that is to be top-heavy and have at least 1, and preferably 2 guys that are simply very good 1 on 1/iso players that can exploit matchup advantages.
We've had a string of those types with Ayo, Kofi, TSJ and Domask that have thrived here, but this year we don't really have a guy quite like that. I'm hoping we can find one this offseason. KJ and Will are great players, but I don't really consider them great isolation players that can consistently get good looks if we need one in a late shot clock or late game situation. They may become that someday, but it hasn't happened yet, imo.
Finally, I said we missed with the Ben H eval earlier, and I think we did, but I also think he could still be an asset to keep if he's willing to accept less of a role and less NIL, presumably. As a back-up shooter/quasi big off the bench, I think he could still contribute a lot if he's willing to stick around given those conditions. No idea if he'd actually want to do that though...
Ooh, can I guess who? Tre, Booth, DGL, and Ty!
It's also the reason that I'd leave the prep scene alone. You're developing someone and taking them through the growing pains for another program to get the benefit.
We have guys, Freshmen and Sophomores, that might not ever make their way back.
Find Juniors and Seniors from another program, add them to whoever does stick around and roll with it. I know people are looking at Sarr and the prep kid from the East Coast (name escapes me) and it sure sounds like a KJ/Riley situation.
Edit: If Tomi, Morez and Boswell are back(assuming Riley and KJ are gone) and if Ben comes back at a significantly reduced role, I'd be all about adding those guys. We need a more veteran, experienced, well defined team going into the season next year. Ridin' or dyin' with mostly freshmen or first year guys.....no thanks. I've seen enough of that this year.
We have guys, Freshmen and Sophomores, that might not ever make their way back.
Find Juniors and Seniors from another program, add them to whoever does stick around and roll with it. I know people are looking at Sarr and the prep kid from the East Coast (name escapes me) and it sure sounds like a KJ/Riley situation.
Edit: If Tomi, Morez and Boswell are back(assuming Riley and KJ are gone) and if Ben comes back at a significantly reduced role, I'd be all about adding those guys. We need a more veteran, experienced, well defined team going into the season next year. Ridin' or dyin' with mostly freshmen or first year guys.....no thanks. I've seen enough of that this year.
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You beat me to it. He'd be PERFECT coming off the bench for 12-15 minutes a game. The depth that would provide would be outstanding. We're leaning on him for big games, especially now, where we need REALLY big games. He's just not that guy. Not sure he'd accept that role his final.year.....especially with the way our fans have treated him. He may take that role, but it'll be with a different program. People here have a predisposition on him and that'd be too much to come back to.
We have games coming up where we're living and dying with KJ, WR and TI and STILL some are focusing on Ben. He has to be sick of it and there's nobody here that wouldn't be done. He's been the whipping boy, even when our "stars" were the ones puking games away.
Time will tell.
We have games coming up where we're living and dying with KJ, WR and TI and STILL some are focusing on Ben. He has to be sick of it and there's nobody here that wouldn't be done. He's been the whipping boy, even when our "stars" were the ones puking games away.
Time will tell.
Big Jack
- Decatur
Good points. I don’t think our evals were perfect, but I do think there’s been a mis evaluation on how the pieces fit.
We clearly built the team to have positional size and shooting. Only problem is, for whatever reason, we can’t shoot. What we can do is bludgeon people on the boards and defensively with our size. Yet we continue to roll lineups out like we are a 3 pt shooting team. Specifically, we’ve played Ben way too much. He would be great in a Luke Goode from last year type of role, but he shouldn’t be a 30 MPG guy.
I get it. It’s got to be frustrating watching shooters clank shots. But we should have pivoted to attacking the paint with our size much sooner. When we’ve done so we’ve been successful.
And Tre is really an enigma. The light bulb went on for him in December but just as quickly it flicked off. It did seem like he was trying to create and do more than what he’s capable of which has resulted in poor play and being in Brad’s doghouse. But he thrived cutting off KJ and really started to struggle when KJ missed time. Hopefully finds it again. Hopefully tonight.
Every team in the country as well, just how it is. Tons of kids have already reached out to Illinois
sacraig
- The desert
Bryce Hopkins?
Welcome to the NIL/Portal era. It’s free agency all the time. Funny how people react that current Illini are reaching out when players are reaching out to the Illini. Don’t be surprised.
Transfer portal always seems to work both ways.
Is Academic Progress Rate (APR) still a thing?
sacraig
- The desert
Maybe we’ll get a Dainja-like performance from 1 or 2 guys as we wrap up the regular season and they audition for new teams.
Well, there are also kids telling us that they are transferring gauging our interest. It's a two-way street
Yep … Recruiting never ends …
All jokes aside, feel bad for the kid. He would be in the league right now if not for injuries
Do we have time to make adjustments?
When is the trade deadline, anyways?
When is the trade deadline, anyways?
No. And I also don't tell my coworkers.
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