Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#601      
Second place is 1st loser
Troop44 said:
I was 99% there but after last night I'm convinced you cannot have a majority of your team be soft/skilled/finesse type players.

We have a few outliers on the team -Boswell and Morez mostly... You will not win BIG with a team like ours this year. You will run into a team at some point that is as big and more athletic than you and get killed(Duke, Alabama, Maryland x 2 etc...). I know those are top tier teams but that's where we want to be.

Brad has got to address this issue this off-season. He and the staff have got to recognize this issue .. right?? I hope the get some different guys for next year.

This type team works against inferior athletic teams but when you play a tough dawg mentality team watchout!!
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The problem is that our fan base, during the off-season, doesn't seem to understand this. The celebration comes with these overseas players with buildup because they're guards, exciting and we're told that they're NBA ready. They get here and they're nowhere close because while they're skilled, they are FAR behind physically.

There was, rightfully, a lot of excitement about guys like Riley, KJ and Tomi. Great talents, but just not ready physically or emotionally. They're playing like freshmen, which SHOULD be expected. I think that Brad's recruiting pitch is that we're running an NBA offense with the green light all the time with the one in, four out philosophy. That's a great recruiting tool, until you see freshmen running it against grown men.

We get pushed all over the place, especially defensively. There's no way that we're EVER going to beat a team constructed like Maryland, where we have absolutely no answers in the paint and if you double.....shooters get open looks.

We have to get older, we have to get bigger(not just height wise), we need to get FAR more physical and we have to get tougher. Sorry, but any guards coming down the lane against us need to know that they're going to pay a price. Look at what that did to us yesterday. Our kids were completely intimidated.
We need legitimate bigs badly(via portal), we need to bring some guys back for continuity (NIL) and we need to supplement the roster with what we currently have versus trying to find players all over the globe to be the "go to" guys.
 
#605      
NashvILLe05
CleverHandle1 said:
He looks to be more athletic. That's a start.
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Yes, for sure. After this season, I’m skeptical of freshmen European players who are projected one and dones. Sarr appears to be another one and done based on early 2026 NBA draft boards.

We need to focus our NIL on experienced American transfers who understand the toughness needed to succeed in college basketball…over freshmen European one and dones who who are making the required stop in college before going to the league. Illinois doesn’t mean to them what it did to Trent, DMFW, Ayo, TSJ…

Maryland took a different approach with experience, toughness, and reeled in a great American one and done with obvious passion for college basketball. I’d like to see us stay stateside more this offseason. No issue with Tomi, who is much more experienced Euro, but I’d prefer to stay out of the European club teams for freshmen.
 
#606      
CleverHandle1
NashvILLe05 said:
Yes, for sure. After this season, I’m skeptical of freshmen European players who are projected one and dones. Sarr appears to be another one and done based on early 2026 NBA draft boards.

We need to focus our NIL on experienced American transfers who understand the toughness needed to succeed in college basketball…over freshmen European one and dones who who are making the required stop in college before going to the league. Illinois doesn’t mean to them what it did to Trent, DMFW, Ayo, TSJ…

Maryland took a different approach with experience, toughness, and reeled in a great American one and done with obvious passion for college basketball. I’d like to see us stay stateside more this offseason. No issue with Tomi, who is much more experienced Euro, but I’d prefer to stay out of the European club teams for freshmen.
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I agree. Honestly, I loved the fact that BU was able to get KJ because initially I thought KJ would be a two-year starter. Tomas could be a two or three-year starter for this team, which is a good thing. I figure next year, Tomas will become more acclimated to American basketball.

It's good to have that pipeline, though. BU and staff might be able to get some of those European players like a Tomas who would stick around for a while. That tall Italian kid I think is one example. Having him coming off the bench and to relieve starters could bode well, especially with his size. Not sure if he is a starter coming in right away. In the end, though, it shouldn't be BU's main recruiting area.

It seems teams like Houston, Iowa State and others recruit tough players of which you speak. In a perfect world, BU and staff recruits MORE of those players who also have skill. It's obviously tough, though.
 
#609      
HailtotheChief
NashvILLe05 said:
I hope Sarr isn’t KJ 2.0. We need toughness and college experience next season. I’m skeptical of the European players, one of whom is 21yo, after this season to say the least.
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I'd take a guy like KJ every year. The issue is so many of our top players are new to college hoops and we just don't have anyone physically big and strong enough to match up with the true quality big men like our former own player Kofi, or TKR, Reese & Queen. Rez is ok but he is only 6'9" 225 and growing. Tomi is fairly slim and just doesn't match up. I stood next to Tomi and have also a few times with our former lottery pick Meyers. Tomi is not nearly as strong or imposing. Tomi is very tall and long and i do think he is tough. You can be tough as nails but if the dude your guarding inside is much broader, stronger,more athletic, and about as tall you can still be moved! We saw Kofi do it for 3 years! Our roster construction was done by our staff. We have a ton of skilled players but we don't have a true defending big, tall, strong guy that is truly built to defend a true dominant 5. Rez is ok at it but is young still growing physically, fouls too much and will get there. TKR and these 2 killed us. It's not due to effort! They are big dudes we dint have. We need roster balance in all areas. Your correct we need to have some older skilled guys like last year too that go with our young studs. I dont buy this our guys didn't try. Thet were careless with sime passes to start. They were over matched by Maryland twice this season and it wasn't a fluke. We play them 10x we may win 3 if our threes fall but otherwise we just don't match up strength wise.
 
#611      
Illiniindian
NashvILLe05 said:
It’s really hard when they have strong, experienced guards like MD (with their bigs) and who play hard nose D. Michigan had 2 bigs but weaker guard play that we could exploit on both ends.

Really, this Illinois team is what it is…talented but limited and inconsistent. This offseason let’s retain core guys, and focus on experienced college talent out of the portal to fill gaps. Need to get older, stronger, smarter, and tougher.
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Agree with all of this. We need Tomi to put on 20 lbs, Morez to stay healthy, and pick up one true frontline player, and we could be a pretty great team next year.
 
#612      
csd
This team sometimes plays like a bunch of freshmen.
 
#614      
NashvILLe05
HailtotheChief said:
I'd take a guy like KJ every year. The issue is so many of our top players are new to college hoops and we just don't have anyone physically big and strong enough to match up with the true quality big men like our former own player Kofi, or TKR, Reese & Queen. Rez is ok but he is only 6'9" 225 and growing. Tomi is fairly slim and just doesn't match up. I stood next to Tomi and have also a few times with our former lottery pick Meyers. Tomi is not nearly as strong or imposing. Tomi is very tall and long and i do think he is tough. You can be tough as nails but if the dude your guarding inside is much broader, stronger,more athletic, and about as tall you can still be moved! We saw Kofi do it for 3 years! Our roster construction was done by our staff. We have a ton of skilled players but we don't have a true defending big, tall, strong guy that is truly built to defend a true dominant 5. Rez is ok at it but is young still growing physically, fouls too much and will get there. TKR and these 2 killed us. It's not due to effort! They are big dudes we dint have. We need roster balance in all areas. Your correct we need to have some older skilled guys like last year too that go with our young studs. I dont buy this our guys didn't try. Thet were careless with sime passes to start. They were over matched by Maryland twice this season and it wasn't a fluke. We play them 10x we may win 3 if our threes fall but otherwise we just don't match up strength wise.
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Yes, we need to be anchored by experienced bigs and dawgs. Please note, I never said they didn’t try. I know we have guys playing hurt. To your point, we lack physicality and toughness.

I agree that roster construction was the problem. Our offensive approach has changed but imagine if we had Dain, Morez, Kylan, and the Fears brothers with Ty first off the bench? That’s more of the MD/MSU approach with smaller, faster guards pressuring the rim constantly (plus midrange game), everyone rebounding like crazy, and playing hard nose D.

I feel like we’re at a stylistic crossroads this offseason - either build to NBA 5 out jacking 3’s or the MD/MSU approach. I’d prefer the latter.
 
#615      
NashvILLe05
LvilleILL1 said:
I don't think this is fair. KJ has been bad for a month but having experienced guys back next year is gonna be huge and raise the floor from this season
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You’re right. That’s unfair to Tomi who is playing hurt and sick. I was wrong.

KJ has frustrated me a ton but I shouldn’t bucket them together. Plus KJ could be hurt and I’m not privy to that.
 
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#616      
Second place is 1st loser
I love KJ, but Brad's given him too much of a leash. He turns the ball over WAY, WAY, WAY too much and they're of the live ball variety. 4 assists to 12 turnovers the last two games. This type of poor play has been going on for the last 45 days. Is it a money thing? Maybe benching him hurts his draft stock and he's cognizant of that?

He really hurts us at times. There's nothing wrong with spending some time on the bench watching for a while. I'm not saying have him sit for a half, but enough time to slow his mind down and get his game back together. It worked for Riley, but apparently KJ is above that.
 
#619      
illinitiger
Second place is 1st loser said:
The problem is that our fan base, during the off-season, doesn't seem to understand this. The celebration comes with these overseas players with buildup because they're guards, exciting and we're told that they're NBA ready. They get here and they're nowhere close because while they're skilled, they are FAR behind physically.

There was, rightfully, a lot of excitement about guys like Riley, KJ and Tomi. Great talents, but just not ready physically or emotionally. They're playing like freshmen, which SHOULD be expected. I think that Brad's recruiting pitch is that we're running an NBA offense with the green light all the time with the one in, four out philosophy. That's a great recruiting tool, until you see freshmen running it against grown men.

We get pushed all over the place, especially defensively. There's no way that we're EVER going to beat a team constructed like Maryland, where we have absolutely no answers in the paint and if you double.....shooters get open looks.

We have to get older, we have to get bigger(not just height wise), we need to get FAR more physical and we have to get tougher. Sorry, but any guards coming down the lane against us need to know that they're going to pay a price. Look at what that did to us yesterday. Our kids were completely intimidated.
We need legitimate bigs badly(via portal), we need to bring some guys back for continuity (NIL) and we need to supplement the roster with what we currently have versus trying to find players all over the globe to be the "go to" guys.
Click to expand...
"Older, bigger (more physical) and tougher"

....sounds like a great recipe
....Brad, please cook that up!
 
#620      
HailtotheChief
CleverHandle1 said:
I want tough players like Morez and KB. No softies. I like him; he's tough.
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Well Tre is tough. Kylan is very strong physically for his position. Rez is above average as a 4 and is tough but can be over matched defending some 5s. Guys like we had in 290lb Kofi, now 1st Team AAC 6'9" 275lb Dain Dainja are the type of guys that we don't match up with this year. Purdues TKR, or Maryland's duo Queen and Reese are just to broad and strong for Rez or Tomi or anyone on our roster. Tomi is tough. He played through illness with a bad ankle. Martenelli won't stop those guys either. BU should have had someone with some beef and height to bang at least on our bench and we just don't. It's not realistic to expect Ben, Jake or Rez at 225lb to stop those types of players. It doesnt mean they are soft. We just don't have anyone currently on our roster to deal with players like that. We are giving up too many lbs of muscle to these larger very athletic big men. I bet next year we have someone that can match up with guys similar Queen or TKR. Rez is young and he may be able to with a few more lbs but right now he is at a phtsical disadvantage. Tomi and him are still tough, it is just a lot ask to stop those big guys.
 
#621      
HailtotheChief
NashvILLe05 said:
Yes, we need to be anchored by experienced bigs and dawgs. Please note, I never said they didn’t try. I know we have guys playing hurt. To your point, we lack physicality and toughness.

I agree that roster construction was the problem. Our offensive approach has changed but imagine if we had Dain, Morez, Kylan, and the Fears brothers with Ty first off the bench? That’s more of the MD/MSU approach with smaller, faster guards pressuring the rim constantly (plus midrange game), everyone rebounding like crazy, and playing hard nose D.

I feel like we’re at a stylistic crossroads this offseason - either build to NBA 5 out jacking 3’s or the MD/MSU approach. I’d prefer the latter.
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I agree with most of this but I don't agree with the only if we had Ty. Tre is not the problem and does what Ty does and much much more. Is Ty tough? Sure he is. Was Sincere tough? Yes he is. Neither would be playing or would they solve our problems defending these bigs. Tre, Kylan, Will and KJ are much better options. I do wish BU held KJ more accountable.
Maybe Dain may not be a stretch 5 but at 275lbs and skilled. We could've used him ir someone like him vs Maryland. How tough is Dain I don't know but he is physical and strong enough to compete vs those bigger guys. He wouldn't be easily moved inside. They can move anyone we have now. They showed it twice
 
#622      
HailtotheChief
NashvILLe05 said:
Yes, for sure. After this season, I’m skeptical of freshmen European players who are projected one and dones. Sarr appears to be another one and done based on early 2026 NBA draft boards.

We need to focus our NIL on experienced American transfers who understand the toughness needed to succeed in college basketball…over freshmen European one and dones who who are making the required stop in college before going to the league. Illinois doesn’t mean to them what it did to Trent, DMFW, Ayo, TSJ…

Maryland took a different approach with experience, toughness, and reeled in a great American one and done with obvious passion for college basketball. I’d like to see us stay stateside more this offseason. No issue with Tomi, who is much more experienced Euro, but I’d prefer to stay out of the European club teams for freshmen.
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I want talented guys no matter where they come from. Jamaica, Africa, France, Serbia, Canada or USA. There just needs to be a blend of experience and leadership to go with it. If you wouldn't want a one n done from Europe like a younger version of Luka or the current best player in the world Jokic. I'm sure if possible they would've been awesome in college. I just disagree. Your at a disadvantage if you dont recruit the world today.. I'll take a one and done lottery pick every year no matter where they are from.
 
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#625      
OrangeKrush1981
HailtotheChief said:
...Rez is ok but he is only 6'9" 225 and growing. Tomi is fairly slim and just doesn't match up. I stood next to Tomi and have also a few times with our former lottery pick Meyers. Tomi is not nearly as strong or imposing. ...
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Rez is listed as 6'9, 255 lbs
Tomi is listed as 7'1, 255 lbs (mononucleosis caused him to lose some 10 lbs)
 
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