Thanks! That's what I needed. I'm also pretty busy today, and didn't want to spend my entire lunch break sifting through yesterday's thread.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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Interesting development on the Watkins and Sarr front
What's more likely:
1) We keep getting lucky
2) Our efforts in multiple directions bear fruit
It's very clearly number 2. We're "getting lucky" at the same time we're striking out on a lot of Plan A's. That's a result of having good contingency plans. I mean, does TSJ come here even as his backup option if Kofi comes back? Clearly Kofi was Plan A. Does TSJ want to play on a team that has a guy like Kofi clogging the lane, where scoring option #1 is an entry pass into an AA big man? Probably not.
This comp works pretty well on the defensive end, but the biggest difference between the Ivicic twins and the Lopez twins is both Big T and Z can shoot threes. Plus Big Z is actually considered the better shooter of the two.
Outside of one outlier season, Robin hardly ever shot threes and shot under 30% for his career.
Only posting this because I have seen this take other places as well. Media folks, right or wrong, do not view our current pieces as being elite and do not view Andrej as a #1 option. For those who don't want to watch the full video, they essentially said that Illinois would be bringing Andrej in to be 'the guy', while Duke, Kentucky, and them are not. They press further on to say that they view Andrej better as a second or third scoring option and view Duke/Kentucky as going for a title next year and us just wanting to compete in the Big Ten. Yikes.
Now, Sleepers has a history of Illinois disrespect, but I have also seen this other places as well. Also, just seeing the writing on the wall with lack of pre-season hype and rankings.
Personally, I think Tomislav is going to be a stud next year and should/could be viewed as a potential first scoring option. At the very least, the offense will flow through him. I do think, however, who we get next to him (Andrej, if we land him) will matter more than we all maybe care to admit.
Now, Sleepers has a history of Illinois disrespect, but I have also seen this other places as well. Also, just seeing the writing on the wall with lack of pre-season hype and rankings.
Personally, I think Tomislav is going to be a stud next year and should/could be viewed as a potential first scoring option. At the very least, the offense will flow through him. I do think, however, who we get next to him (Andrej, if we land him) will matter more than we all maybe care to admit.
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No he’s not. He couldn’t guard any guards smaller than him the last time he played. Do you realize how bad the defense was in 2023-24? And that team had Shannon on it, Hawkins on it, and Rodgers starting every game. Ty Rodgers is absolutely not an elite defender of any guards.
John Tonje was the 243rd ranked transfer last year by a majority of "experts." Portal rankings even more than high school rankings are a joke.
Even if it's disrespect it's a good counterbalance to some of the takes around here that are too rosy. Sleepers has been far more honest about our financial situation and has generally been earlier to announce when we're out on guys this offseason while around here there's a lot of "Don't worry, maybe he'll take our $1M offer. Other school's $3M means nothing!"
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
247 finally puts Andrej in its rankings, at an absolutely ludicrous #34.
No way on earth would I rather have Cedric Coward or Rodney Rice.
He should be in the Josh Dix/Ryan Conwell area.
247sports.com
I wonder if Tonje's explosion after an injury riddled failure to launch at his first major conference school is the reason Coward is getting so much hype. Similar profile.
No way on earth would I rather have Cedric Coward or Rodney Rice.
He should be in the Josh Dix/Ryan Conwell area.
2025 College Basketball Transfer Portal Top Prospects
2025 College basketball Transfer Portal Top Prospects
247sports.com
In theory it's easier to do portal rankings since you have some good data to work with, but they make some weird decisions.
I wonder if Tonje's explosion after an injury riddled failure to launch at his first major conference school is the reason Coward is getting so much hype. Similar profile.
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It will look good during noncon and we will be excited....then conf hits and we will get trucked and ditch our final four dreams.
You might want to be a consultant for Universities to let them know they are wasting money on top rated players when they can get equal or even greater value in the bargain bin. Seems to be a huge market in doing so.
Absolutely ridiculous, borderline inexcusable from a company trying to claim they’re the best at that. Small side note: Trotter was on the inquirer pod last week(ish) and mentioned the 247 recruiting staff have to individually watch transfer tape then they all discuss what to rank them and where. Sounds semi makeshift and honestly impossible to have a science down for it to begin with. I believe he claimed a 96 is an all league player though.247 finally puts Andrej in its rankings, at an absolutely ludicrous #34.
No way on earth would I rather have Cedric Coward or Rodney Rice.
He should be in the Josh Dix/Ryan Conwell area.
2025 College Basketball Transfer Portal Top Prospects
2025 College basketball Transfer Portal Top Prospects
Trying to remind myself transfer rankings are almost pointless.
Oh, I absolutely agree. Hell, look no further than Marcus Domask.
I do find it interesting that many don't view Andrej quite as high as apparently the staff does, though. More viewed as a great 2nd or 3rd option on a championship contender than a 1st. You just have to trust the staffs gut on something like that at the end of the day. The one thing I do disagree with the Sleepers in that video is when they said making him a first option, even with better players around him, would be just a slightly better version of Cal. Couldn't the same argument of been made with TSJ leaving Texas Tech? We know how that turned out.
I think Boswell and Tomi are very good players, Andrej could be a 15-18 PPG guy on hopefully better efficiency. If we get another starter-caliber guard/wing next to him that would jolt us up on the contender tier.
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- Batavia
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Every year high-efficiency mid-major studs move higher and higher in these rankings as it becomes clearer and clearer how well that translates to a major conference.
imho this is the key. don't know if we have the $$$ to make it happen, but a lot of pressure will be on the three of Kylan, Tomi, Andrej to produce significant numbers. and really none of them are proven enough to feel highly confident averaging 18-20 PPG on a top-tier team.
I find Sleepers very entertaining, and have been a fan for several years. That said, they have a very understandable bias, for their own teams. I totally get that, I am extremely biased in favor of the Illini. They are funny and informative about the Big 10 in general, but their takes are slightly skewed against us, especially now since both their Michigan and Michigan State were very good last year.
Closing time. Zero excuses here, get it done.
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