Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#426      
RabidDawgClassic
the juiceman cometh said:
Maybe people are confused?

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Was Matthew Mayer really that bad of a teammate? I get that he was a unique personality who loved his energy drinks, but by credible accounts, the guys on the team liked him — with the notable exceptions of Skyy Clark and Jayden Epps, two guys who did turn out to be problem childs on that team. Despite his bad showing in the NCAA tournament, Mayer was instrument in several wins that likely would’ve been losses otherwise.
 
#427      
HensonHall71
RabidDawgClassic said:
Was Matthew Mayer really that bad of a teammate? I get that he was a unique personality who loved his energy drinks, but by credible accounts, the guys on the team liked him — with the notable exceptions of Skyy Clark and Jayden Epps, two guys who did turn out to be problem childs on that team. Despite his bad showing in the NCAA tournament, Mayer was instrument in several wins that likely would’ve been losses otherwise.
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I don't think it was an issue with Mayer in the locker room - by all accounts he was well liked as you point out. It was his play on the court and his "hero ball" style that I think Indy was referring to - he had a clear goal of showing his outside game to get to the pros so it was "Mayer time" with no shut-off valve. RJ has some of that in him and a reason why he was benched in the tournament. He's obviously one of the best players in the country, but we just need to make sure he'd be coming in with the right mindset to be a winning player and his role and what role the coaches want him to play would be the same.

I continue to think another ball dominate guard can work for us - we can use another primary scorer and I don't think Petrovic won't fit in if he doesn't have the ball in his hands 33 min a game, I think he can be a rotation piece if we get someone more proven. Having too many good players is a good problem to have.
 
#428      
mysterio2525
illinifan1987 said:
I kind of felt like I had to. I missed a golden opportunity to put a bundILL discount on there :ROFLMAO:
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Not All Heroes Wear Capes Nerd GIF by Verohallinto
 
#429      
illinifan1987
RabidDawgClassic said:
Was Matthew Mayer really that bad of a teammate? I get that he was a unique personality who loved his energy drinks, but by credible accounts, the guys on the team liked him — with the notable exceptions of Skyy Clark and Jayden Epps, two guys who did turn out to be problem childs on that team. Despite his bad showing in the NCAA tournament, Mayer was instrument in several wins that likely would’ve been losses otherwise.
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One Hundred Sgn GIF by SomeGoodNews

But when it comes to Skyy, he didn't stick around long enough to form worthwhile opinions against his "2 month teammates"
 
#432      
pweo
RabidDawgClassic said:
Was Matthew Mayer really that bad of a teammate? I get that he was a unique personality who loved his energy drinks, but by credible accounts, the guys on the team liked him
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What kind of culture did he promote? Honest question, no clue here.
 
#433      
Battle89
theNewGuy said:
Are you insinuating that Illinois has interest?

EDIT: Man loyalty is pretty dead right now if this is getting posted by INDY and after an hour it only has 3 likes.
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Felt this way for a week or two now. Can't recall a period where I posted so little.

It's awesome that the roster is already set and kudos to the staff for doing so, but I'm about to pick a fight just for fun... 😜

1747842988773.png
 
#434      
DevILLDawg
Indy Illini Fan said:
If giving a kid a chain is “tampering” … Boy do I have some stories for y’all … 😂😎
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I'd love a tell-all tales from the recruiting trail book/documentary someday.
Just to see how creative and how much time and effort went into finding elaborate ways to get a leg up in the recruitment of a 17 year old. Absolute cinema to me!
 
#436      
PepeSilvia
RabidDawgClassic said:
Was Matthew Mayer really that bad of a teammate? I get that he was a unique personality who loved his energy drinks, but by credible accounts, the guys on the team liked him — with the notable exceptions of Skyy Clark and Jayden Epps, two guys who did turn out to be problem childs on that team. Despite his bad showing in the NCAA tournament, Mayer was instrument in several wins that likely would’ve been losses otherwise.
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I still like Mayer and think he was just put in a situation where he was asked to do too much because the freshman guards were bad.

Mayer would have been a monster on that elite 8 team. A Domask/Shannon/Mayer/Guerrier/Hawkins lineup with Ty off the bench would have been incredible.
 
#440      
ColSLU69
So, there is one possible roster spot that Illinois could possibly fill for the 25-26 season. (Or the Illini could choose to leave that spot open, perhaps for a mid-season transfer.)

Several players have been mentioned recently as possible transfers on this thread. Four seem like lesser, but more affordable options: SF/SG Puff Johnson (Penn State), PG Alec Millender (IU Indianapolis), CG Jalen Cox (Colgate), and SF Rodney Johnson Jr (Tennessee Tech). A fifth player, SG Damari Monsanto (UT San Antonio)' might also fall into that category. Then there is another category of probably better, but more expensive players, as possible transfers: SF Keonte Jones (Cal State Northridge) and SG Ali Dibba (SIU Carbondale). And there are maybe two other players, much more expensive, but possible stars: SF/SG Jamir Watkins (Florida State) and SF RJ Luis (St. John's).

Do you believe that the Illini should add one more player? Or leave that spot open? And why?

From which category do you think the transfer should come? And which of the above players would you most like to join the Illini as a transfer? And why?

If the one player comes from the first category above, I'm thinking that Jalen Cox might be the best addition. He could back up both Petrovic and Boswell, he's a sophomore, and Coach Crocker could help with his recruitment. (But I also think that Damari Monsanto would be a nice addition, with his excellent 3-point shooting [42.0%] and his 93.3% on FTs.) If Illinois was to take its one player from the middle category above, I'd prefer Ali Dibba. He's an experienced, tall SG that averaged 17.2 points/game last season for the Salukis, and I think that a backup guard is a bigger need than a (good!) SF like Keonte Jones. (Rodgers and Davis can both play SF behind Stojakovic.) Lastly, if the Illini were to take its one player from the third category, I would prefer Jamir Watkins. I think he's not a potential "problem" like Luis might be. And Watkins is a proven scorer as a SG or SF. He would fit very well in the Illinois offense. Watkins and Stojakovic playing together as wings for the 25-26 Illini would be WOW!
 
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#444      
ptgrd23
Interesting how $NIL and transfer portal have levelled the playing field between the "dirty" programs and the rest. Total roster change-over.

A new generation of coaches have learned how to win in this environment.

Struggling "blue bloods"

Indiana (fired coach)
KY (pushed Calipari out)
North Carolina (Davis will be fired soon)
Louisville (fired coach)
Arizona (fired coach)
Kansas - won 17 big 12 titles in his first 20 season, finished 5th and 6th last 2 years.

Recent new powers ...

UCONN
Houston
Auburn
Florida (?)
Purdue
 
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#445      
logjam
BU usually keeps a scholly back in case a valuable mid season transfer comes available...@ColSlu69
.
 
#448      
Serious Late
DevILLDawg said:
I'd love a tell-all tales from the recruiting trail book/documentary someday.
Just to see how creative and how much time and effort went into finding elaborate ways to get a leg up in the recruitment of a 17 year old. Absolute cinema to me!
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Read Hot Dog Money. Great book.
 
#449      
Indy Illini Fan
RabidDawgClassic said:
Was Matthew Mayer really that bad of a teammate? I get that he was a unique personality who loved his energy drinks, but by credible accounts, the guys on the team liked him — with the notable exceptions of Skyy Clark and Jayden Epps, two guys who did turn out to be problem childs on that team. Despite his bad showing in the NCAA tournament, Mayer was instrument in several wins that likely would’ve been losses otherwise.
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Everyone likes hanging out with the goofy guy until it’s time to be serious and get down to business and the goofy guy doesn’t know when to shut it off …
 
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