Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#427      
soupy17
NarrowJ said:
Afternoon B1G portal update:

Skyy Clark (G, UCLA)
Aleksas Bieliauskas (F, Wisconsin)
Jayden Reid (G, Northwestern)
Justin Bolis (F, Nebraska)
Amarion Dickerson (G/F, USC)
Jaziah Harper (F, Maryland)
Harun Zrno (G/F, Rutgers)
Denis Badalau (F, Rutgers)

docs.google.com

B1G Roster Tracker

docs.google.com docs.google.com

B1G rosters getting smaller
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Maybe I missed the explanation, but looks like you don't have Morez on the Michigan list. Are you assuming he goes pro?
 
#428      
Oracle21
Shouldn’t every player that is good get in the portal and see what the offers are? Or do they already know what the offers are thru their agents before they even get in?

Does Illinois ever tell a guy “if you get in the portal we are moving on and any offer you had from us for next season is rescinded?”. How does it work?
 
#430      
BoiseBaller
AirTran said:
Clearly you are right.

But our options (in terms of minutes) are far less limited than people think. The best player to replace Keaton at 1 / 2 - David Mirkovic. Not saying that will happen - but if everyone returns, the staff and the players are going to be looking for the best "fit" not necessarily a particular position as some others are suggesting. Other the Andrej (he's going to be on the weakside wing, which is going to cause all sorts of problems defending) Tomi and Z everyone else can adapt to who is on the floor.

Understand your sentiment - and not trying to be controversial - But I don't see Blackwell as a great fit.

He's not a great passer

He's an OK defender

He's a good rebounder.

He's a good 3pt shooter. He takes shots inside the arc, that aren't a fit here.

He wouldn't be our number 1 or number 2 offensive option - those are going to be Andrej and Mirk.

He wouldn't play 35 mins here either - not if everyone comes back.

The issue with Blackwell (and the offense Wisconsin runs) is that he needs 13 - 15 shots a game and shoot 8 threes a game and that is NEVER going to happen at Illinois.

We went through a similar discussion when A.J. Storr was available 2 years ago and a similar conversation about Brandon Podziemski 3 years ago. Blackwell needs to touch the ball 60% of the possessions. The offense we run is based on the exact opposite. Keaton Wagler took 20% of our shots last year. Blackwell is NOT Keaton Wagler otherwise he would be a second team All - American and declaring for the NBA draft.

I could be (an am willing to be) wrong about this, but I don't see the interest on the part of the Illini players or staff for this one.

If Z, Tomi, Mirk, Andrej, Ty and Jake all stay... I don't think we hit the transfer portal all that hard. One of the 4 Freshman is going to get minutes, Jason Jakstys - who was getting small minutes prior to blood clot is going to be a difficult decision. Given the crew we have - I think the ultimate decision or who else is brought in will be made more by the players than the coaches this year. The team aspect of this group is really unrivaled.

There are only 200 minutes per game and if all 7 come back.... they are going to be better next year than they were this year. So, 160 of the 200 minutes are already spoken for. We are going to use an 9 man rotation to start, that will ultimately turn into an 8 man rotation owing to injuries or consequences we can't predict.
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This is all discounting what Blackwell wants and what he’s willing to do to fit. Andrej took a significant reduction from his volume at Cal and was a major piece on a FF team.

I think it’s more important to see how he fits from a culture standpoint.
 
#431      
ColSLU69
This makes way more sense than Ty being that guy.
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This guy and Ty will never play the same position on a basketball court, in my opinion. Why compare them?
 
#434      
HouTexIllini
Assume you had a $10 million budget this year and will have $15 million next year. Five members of our current eight-man rotation are eligible to return. Presumably, all five of their agents have received inquiries about the willingness of those players to transfer elsewhere for a price.

Question: How much will you offer to keep each of those five players?
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I don’t like this game!!! J/k
 
#435      
NarrowJ
soupy17 said:
Maybe I missed the explanation, but looks like you don't have Morez on the Michigan list. Are you assuming he goes pro?
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Yes, anyone who is predominantly mocked in 1R is being left off. Which reminds me I need to remove Mara now as well after his recent climb.
 
#437      
soupy17
NarrowJ said:
Yes, anyone who is predominantly mocked in 1R is being left off. Which reminds me I need to remove Mara now as well after his recent climb.
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That was going to be my follow-up, Morez was off but Mara was on. Thanks!
 
#438      
PasadenaIllini
Couldn’t agree more.

Michigan won last night bc of their lead guard. Florida won last year bc of a lead guard. UConn last night bc of the lack of a lead guard. I think that’s why we didn’t win it all.

Let’s go get a above average lead guard!
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No way Michigan even makes the final four without Aday Mara. He was the difference maker on both ends of the court yesterday. UCONN's best runs happened with him off the court.

I don't know if it's realistic, but I'd love to see Big Z get to that level of dominance.
 
#439      
Kendall Gill’s Uncle
I thought the story at the time of Skyy's transfer was that he needed to because Brad was a mean coach. Would be the greatest of ironies if he got the extra year and then transferred back.

I had mentioned to my son during the B10 tournament that Skyy was playing the way we hoped Boswell would -- playing lock up D and hitting open thress. I actually think Skyy matured a lot -- Mick actually was super complimentary of him as a player and especially on defense this year -- but nearly impossible to see him circling back to Illinois.
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I feel like he left because Matthew Mayer punched him in the face.
 
#442      
Dawgss4life
I would like some good news to start dropping today. Please and thank you very much.
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Want good news? Stop believing anything you read on here for the next several weeks. These knuckleheads you people call “insiders” are nothing but people taking their best guess. I’ve watched them for years.
Most info is common sense. I actually work within the “the building”. Last year I gave every bit of what was happening and tried to calm all of you down when your insiders (lol) said AS wouldn’t be coming here. I told you how good Mirk was. I told you we wouldn’t miss anyone except MJ. I told everyone to relax yet your so called insiders caused you all stress
 
#443      
nyc_illini
Kernal12 said:
I thought the story at the time of Skyy's transfer was that he needed to because Brad was a mean coach. Would be the greatest of ironies if he got the extra year and then transferred back.

I had mentioned to my son during the B10 tournament that Skyy was playing the way we hoped Boswell would -- playing lock up D and hitting open thress. I actually think Skyy matured a lot -- Mick actually was super complimentary of him as a player and especially on defense this year -- but nearly impossible to see him circling back to Illinois.
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that’s not what i remembered. i recalled he had no issue with Brad or the staff or the program in general and in fact respected Brad so much that he was the one who pushed his Louisville teammate, Tre White, to transfer here.

The person he did have an issue was certain Monster energy drinks aficionado
 
#444      
Username
RonC said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2041606087594414186
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You know the last WI gatorade player of the year that came to IL was a first round pick.

Adam Moseley GIF by TodaysSportsHistory
 
#447      
FreshlySqueezed
Well, he never said it didn't apply to Houston or Florida. ;)

That said, it's an absurd take. A conference tournament title and an Elite 8 is never a bad season for Purdue. That was their 5th Elite 8 or better in 45 years and they hadn't been to a Final Four since 1980 until Zach Edey came along.

Also, Purdue basically played pretty close to actual expectations. Arizona and Michigan played way above expectations. Purdue can't help that.
 
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