It’s not EDGs anymore …
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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It’s not EDGs anymore …
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Isn't the #1 offense in the country an identity?
I really think if we can get some guards that can drive and penetrate that would open a lot more potential for open outside shots and if they start falling opens up the lane for the “bigs”. The way I see these games in Big Ten going I would get small guards that can drive and know how to sell a foul going to the basket.
Transfer candidate..I watched a kid named Darin Smith Jr (Central Connecticut State 6 7" soph) . ...he basically took over game with St Francis (PA) a couple of weeks ago. Whoever lands him I think will be very happy....for Illini anyone?
band camp
- STL City
Isn't that the definition of a paper champion?
If any of the top players have been watching the Illini underachieve once again this year they are asking themselves why would I want to waste a year there. Although if they don't like to play defense Illinois is the place to go and they can chuck up the 3's from 90 feet out.
My guess is we will see a mass exodus from the roster at year end which will be just 2 more games!
Andrej will leave, Keaton turns pro, Mirk will transfer, Twins will go to West coast, Lee and Petrovic will move on to lesser teams,
My guess is we will see a mass exodus from the roster at year end which will be just 2 more games!
Andrej will leave, Keaton turns pro, Mirk will transfer, Twins will go to West coast, Lee and Petrovic will move on to lesser teams,
Stop bringing in tall Euro pros who can’t guard and aren’t passionate about college basketball…and most importantly, winning. Aside from Mirk, the others are just here to collect a paycheck regardless of the outcome. They don’t bring an EDG culture and Americans don’t always want to play with a team full of foreigners who can’t and won’t defend…call it what it is.
Get tough, athletic Americans. It’s OK if they’re on the shorter side if they’re fast, can pressure the rim, and defend. Get some inner city toughness and edge back on this team. We lost that when Tim and Chester left and it feels like we’ve burned bridges and to some extent have to go to Europe for their pros to be our stars…then fill around them with mostly under-recruited and mid-major transfers. Everybody is tall…great…but not everyone cares about winning above all else and it shows big time. There’s no killer mentality. I don’t want Ty back either…a true dawg and EDG never would’ve redshirted for a year the way he did and collected a full salary while doing so.
See if you can bring Mirk back and maybe Jake (roll player only, not as a starter). I hope BU is feeling the pressure big time.
Get tough, athletic Americans. It’s OK if they’re on the shorter side if they’re fast, can pressure the rim, and defend. Get some inner city toughness and edge back on this team. We lost that when Tim and Chester left and it feels like we’ve burned bridges and to some extent have to go to Europe for their pros to be our stars…then fill around them with mostly under-recruited and mid-major transfers. Everybody is tall…great…but not everyone cares about winning above all else and it shows big time. There’s no killer mentality. I don’t want Ty back either…a true dawg and EDG never would’ve redshirted for a year the way he did and collected a full salary while doing so.
See if you can bring Mirk back and maybe Jake (roll player only, not as a starter). I hope BU is feeling the pressure big time.
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We’re only 0.1 points ahead of Purdue now, so we may not be able to claim that anymore after today.
You can't have an identity to your program when you bring in an entirely new roster every year. This is what I've been complaining about for years now.
Wagler was a huge hit, awesome. He's gone next year, so we already don't have a conference championship or a tourney title, now all we have left is the NCAA Tournament otherwise that great player brought us some wins, but not much else. The same could be said about Riley or Jakucionis.
I think the frustration many have with Underwood is he is winning a lot of games, we love that. But where's the hardware? We're a very strong program. We expect to win a lot of games, so once we got back to that level, which we're very grateful for, it becomes table stakes. Now we're saying you've been here 9 years, you've brought in some great talent, multiple 1st round draft picks and AAs, but we've got 1 conference title, 2 Big Ten Tournament title, and 1 NCAA 2nd weekend.
You're getting paid a lot. There is a lot of money being pumped into the roster. You're doing really good, but we want great. Is Underwood capable of great? I personally don't think you're going to reach great by bringing in a new roster every year. You've got to get guys to mesh quickly and perform together quickly. The best season we've had we had a complete stud, Terrence Shannon, drag us to victories, and that was a very old team. Let's get some old guys that know the system so we can have a program identity.
I also wouldn't print the banner for #1 offense, we are now only .1 ahead of Purdue for offensive efficiency.
Fixed.
If you want DOGS then you have to recruit DOGS.
Watching Andrej play this year and during key moments when the game was on the line and seeing how he let the ball slip though his hands at a key moment that would have forced a foul and us at the line to extend the lead to a 2 possession game and in another close game not putting a body on his man or aggressively going after the rebound allowing another possession that tied the game. I can see why he came from losing programs. We don’t want that here. We want DOGS.
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
Morillo, Mirk, Jake will be nice core to build around. That's one tough, scoring center and a shooting guard away from being a legit contender if you can hit on enough backup/role player pieces.
This is purely my observation.
The top4 teams last season by a WIDE margin -- whom were all 1seeds and made the final 4 -- were FLA, Auburn, Houston, Duke.
The top4 teams this year by a fairly wide margin: Arizona, Duke, Michigan, Florida.
One thing all of those 8 teams have in common is an extremely physical and athletic FRONTCOURT. You're obviously implying a scenario in which we lose the twins -- in that case, I'd like to see us prioritize some athleticism at the 4/5 spot (to play alongside Mirkovic).
When you think about it, you have to wonder if he already has one foot out the door, possibly for some time.
I can't see him returning next year, whether it's trying the NBA route or the portal. I'd love to have Z back, but if Tomi goes I assume he will too.
looking forward to watching ethan brown, too. intriguing player
63 Split
- Mesa, AZ
My sense is Andrej and Bos are close friends…think Bos convinced Andrej to come to Champaign. With Bos now gone, I view Andrej as gone, too. Would love to see him return as he’s one that can drive the basket. But needs more development and he and his dad will look around for best place to do that. Maybe it’s Champaign, but with portal/NIL, can’t blame him for looking.
I agree on the turnover, i'd like a little less. Mirk, Jake, Ty, Lee, and Z are all guys id like back. Also agree on older players - which Ty, Z, and Jake would be. I also like the idea of bringing a "illinois guy" back as a senior every year, someone who this opportunity and spot means the world too instead of an international handshake deal. Tons of guys from Illinois go tear it up at mid-majors and lower levels, someone like Harmon every year is amazing.
Only thing id push back on, in the bolded atleast. Is @Second place is 1st loser right? Underwood looks to be a top 15 paid coach, and we are what? a Top 15-20 NIL program? To me, the "resources we have" are much like what you're saying with underwood and regular season wins - it's good, but are resources "great"?
Take the Haggerty example. Indy brought him up as us having interest and indicated he would come here and not necessarily be the guy. Candidly, I've just been around the block enough too many times here to know that won't be the case - if we get Haggerty and Mirk (also been around the block enough to know im not just locking in Mirk to come back), bring back those role guys, and pull in Morillo - That's gonna be our budget. We're not gonna have enough to go get someone else, and I do think the schools with "great" resources right now, have that ability.
Okay…let’s get specific. Who are we talking about?
Specific on programs or names? Impossible to know who will be in the portal for sure - so let's go off the great work Indy shares (much appreciated, Indy). IF illinois pulled in Haggerty and retained Mirk. A guy like Stefan Vaaks or Paulius Murauskas has been thrown out there - I'm 99% sure we couldn't also get either of them.
Similar to Sarr last year, once the price went up. We were out. Sure didnt stop Duke from bringing in the Boozer boys, and bringing back Isaiah Evans with Nnongba. Duke has the luxury of Sarr being a multimillionare "specialist" who can focus solely on defense and transition - Sarr for us would have needed to be a premier scorer. And i'm not saying the bar should be duke lol. But i also dont know if i wanna hear about our resources being elite, when its not a top 10 paid roster.
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