Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#351      
redwingillini11
I am so sick of this BS...

How many freaking times are we going to hear about we have someone ready to join only to lose out as it become crunch time??

Yes, Brad defenders, he eventually gets the guys to fill out the roster. But our hit rate on really competitive recruitments just looks abysmal. Who was seriously recruiting KJ other than us? Who was seriously recruiting Tomi? Who was offering Riley a spot in the 2024 class? TSJ came here because he couldn't get into Michigan... I mean we are simply not a top tier destination for the elite targets. Why do we think that is suddenly going to change if Brad is unwilling to lift a finger to change his staff? It's just getting ridiculous.
 
#352      
csd
RimPressure said:
I gotta say, I really don't understand what seems to be somewhat personal attacks on Ben, especially at this point in time. It is a little more understandable to me in the heat of the season when he isn't performing up to what his expectations and playing time would warrant, but it almost seems like the guy can't win at this point.

If he is actually going to end up staying, I'm going to be rooting for him to bounce back and have a nicer year, because:
1) At this point I'm presuming he'd be taking a meaningful pay cut (some insider can correct me here if I'm wrong, but I think it was @LvilleILL1 that indicated he MIGHT just get some revenue share dollars at some point if he stays) DESPITE the market value for even role players seeming to ballon again this offseason.
2) ALL of the offseason moves we've made to date will directly affect his potential playing time - he will be competing with Big Z, Mirkovic, AND probably even Ty some for minutes at the 4
3) I've heard nothing but good things about how he conducts himself in the locker room and as a teammate. He got pulled from the starting lineup last year, was constantly criticized, had his minutes significantly reduced as the season went on, has essentially been recruited over at least twice over, and still might stay to have another go? I respect that.
4) And finally, at this point in time, Ben seems to be the target of criticism that should be directed at Brad, if you feel that Ben either shouldn't be on the roster or shouldn't play very much. Again, earlier it made more sense to be frustrated with Ben, but he's more of a known quantity now. Should Ben have taken himself out of games if he missed his first shot or two? Should he have refused to go in when Brad told him to? Should Ben have put himself in the transfer portal just to protect Brad from playing him too many minutes next year?

If you think we'd be better off with someone else like Monsanto, or whoever, fair enough. That could well be true. I'm not here claiming that Ben was good last year. But if Brad has decided that he wants Ben to come back for next year, how is that Ben's fault?
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Thank you!! For me, Illini basketball is entertainment. It doesn't affect income, cause injury, or hurt your children. I find it disgusting that "fans" on here lambaste this kid at every opportunity. Over the last week or so there has probably been over 500 pages dedicated to Ben H. Really? Get a life, take a walk and try to enjoy next season.
 
#354      
ChiTown
FI_8905 said:
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there's been a whisper campaign against Illinois basketball for a while now. Makes it tough to gain traction with top recruits and transfers. Not impossible, but harder than it should be. Donor fatigue also a factor. The landscape isn't what many fans want it to be or have been told that it is by the sycophants. That's just the truth.
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There has been whispers for few weeks, kinda posted about it few days ago but deleted it immediately……
 
#355      
My2Cents
My guess is some of the coaches sitting next to Brad, which led to losses of better coaches, as well as conflicts with/amongst the players because of this. Just trying to look at it as a Dad/Mother/agent.....some may not be interested in subjecting their kids to this. I in no way have a clue what is going on...especially behind closed doors...but I certainly would not be shocked if this is a Brad/Tyler/Hamer issue.
 
#356      
Heisenbobble
I really hope Whitman doesn't wait too long to move on from Underwood if things begin to fall apart. I'm not saying he should be fired now, but let's say he lands zero difference-makers in the portal and rolls out mostly the team he has (except adding a couple decent pieces). They finish ~8th-to-10th in the B1G and sneak into the Tourney as a bubble team then lose in the 1st round or play-in game. That would do it for me personally, but I have no idea what Whitman would think of that. It worries me that it'll take a serious backslide before he moves on even though, as you point out, Undy's made one second weekend in all his time here.
 
#359      
jsmoke2215
Indy Illini Fan said:
I’ve said it for a little while now … We’ve seen Brad’s ceiling … 1 second weekend in 9 years …

3 All Americans … 15+ top 100 players … 1 second weekend …

2 guys who finished their entire career with the program …
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Compared to the !!!! show that was happening before he arrived, you’re not even criticizing him. Yall really want Weber or Groce back? The truly elite coaches aren’t coming here.
 
#361      
Indy Illini Fan
ChiefGritty said:
Yeah I'm not going to lie, I grow somewhat weary of our most prominent poster's foghorn campaign against the co-winningest coach in the Big Ten the last 6 years.
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If the expectations for the program are competing for Big Ten & National Championships year in and year out … Which Josh Whitman will tell you is the expectation …

Are we meeting expectations or not ?

Last years team … Not good enough …

So far this off season … Not good enough …
 
#362      
Illini3458
BU will not have success if he does not have donor support. If his resume is not good enough then buy him out. Yes I know it’s steep but it’s useless keep him and not support him 100%. The nil numbers this year seem astronomically higher than last so yeah I’m sure he needs more money.

I like BU but if he’s not what donors want fire him. Bottom line we need a coach whose has the backing. If not he’s a lame duck coach.
 
#364      
TheodoreRex
When you say "literally no one else in the portal wants to even visit" are you saying that Brad isn't convincing people to visit? That players in the portal aren't interested in us? I guess I need it spelled out for me.
 
#368      
IlliniwekKDR
RabidDawgClassic said:
Isn’t donor fatigue a thing everywhere? I can’t imagine that’s just an Illinois thing.
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That's what I'm wondering is when the money runs dry on this stuff. There's no real expectation of financial return on these donations the way the system is set up right now, so there has to be a limit somewhere. For every school. Do we eventually see the market cool off for these kids once the novelty fades?
 
#369      
Heisenbobble
I'll never understand this way of thinking. So if we can't accept Underwood's results of occasional B1G titles with little real NCAA Tourney success, we're relegated to the Groce or later Weber years? Talk about a small-minded, narrow, black-and-white opinion! You know there are other good coaches out there, right? And Whitman didn't hire Groce and wasn't around for those miserable years.
 
#370      
NJB Illini
Indy Illini Fan said:
I’ve said it for a little while now … We’ve seen Brad’s ceiling … 1 second weekend in 9 years …

3 All Americans … 15+ top 100 players … 1 second weekend …

2 guys who finished their entire career with the program …
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And the fact that the 3 All Americans and brand success should be ringing across college basketball right now and it's not, that's a concern.

I thought last offseason we whiffed on a lot and then were told "wow, look what we put together 😤!", and yet a lot of us were like... umm, a super young, inexperienced team that yes, has talent, but are no way going to compete for a title (and we were right)? My gut right now feels about the same.

Having some retention is great, but we have no star. We have no All American level player. So we maybe get Adam Miller back, who cares? Nice piece, not even close to the realm of player we need.

These other teams are running away with some massive additions... Purdue, UCLA, Michigan, Washington, Wisconsin, hell, even Indiana. Illinois needs to get their act together and fast, or 7th place might be the norm again.
 
#371      
Indy Illini Fan
jsmoke2215 said:
Compared to the !!!! show that was happening before he arrived, you’re not even criticizing him. Yall really want Weber or Groce back? The truly elite coaches aren’t coming here.
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Why does everyone constantly try and compare where we are today to Groce … Let’s compare ourselves against our peers … 2nd most NIL in the Big Ten …

Groce was TERRIBLE … Didn’t meet expectations and was FIRED …

Brad raised the floor and got us back to respectability and I respect that and thank him for it … But when you raise the floor, you raise the expectation … Especially when people are giving you millions and millions of dollars … The expectation is to compete at the highest level …

As far as the bolded part … That’s just simply not true … There are multiple elite coaches who would LOVE the opportunity to coach here …

And this isn’t me saying fire Brad … But the expectations for this program are clear …
 
#372      
acmcco2
ChiefGritty said:
Yeah I'm not going to lie, I grow somewhat weary of our most prominent poster's foghorn campaign against the co-winningest coach in the Big Ten the last 6 years.
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Why can't both be true? I personally am thankful for what Underwood has done for the program and bringing us back to much loftier expectations. But I also acknowledge that maybe the program is reading more like the "duck on water" analogy than I thought it would with the success the program has seen under Underwood.
 
#373      
PeoriaIllini03
Let's run off one of the winningest coaches in ILL history because people with money and "connections" think they know what's better for a successful basketball program.

I'm sure any potential replacements won't take any of that into consideration at all..
 
#375      
csd
mhuml32 said:
Thoughts on Humrichous hate:

(1) Expectations were way too high for him coming into the season. Go ahead and search the website for last summer. There are many posts saying Humrichous had NBA potential, perfect replacement for Domask, he would be the second star behind Jock, etc.
(2) He struggled coming to the end of the non-conference schedule and it seemed obvious to everyone but the coaching staff that the rotation needed adjustment. Underwood stuck to his guns, pointed to tough-to-see benefits related to Hummer being out there as justification. Folks started to identify Humrichous as more problem than solution.
(3) Morez left and that seems like at least secondary fallout to choices made on Hummer's playing time.
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So, you think Brad would let Morez shoot 3's if he had gotten 8 more minutes a game?
 
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