Well we also heavily pursued Josh Dix early on and didn’t get him. If we had, I’m not sure that Andrej would’ve also come.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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Don’t count out LSU with Haggerty … Price is getting real high …
They’re selling Wright on the Thornton role and a giant pile of cash …
Too bad; entertaining player imho.
Is this a make or break year for Diebler?
Never should’ve gone to Kentucky …
Think some of these kids are learning … Pope ain’t the guy …
First off, Im not saying that I believe this.
I heard from someone with supposed ties to KW's family, that his parents really want him getting a degree and that he's staying in college. I just found it interesting.
I heard from someone with supposed ties to KW's family, that his parents really want him getting a degree and that he's staying in college. I just found it interesting.
I liked this kid last year … Don’t think IU put him in the right spots …
Asking price is way too high for a role player though …
Out of curiosity, what's the interest level of someone like Terrence Hill Jr? Or evaluation of his abilities for our program? I loved what I saw in the tournament, and I keep feeling like we need some more high athleticism, gritty defensive guards that can make plays with speed. But I would worry about culture fit of course. Just seems like he'd be a discount over Blackwell, but I might be overestimating his scouting report.
All the twitter buzz indicates Illinois / Duke.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
It was Sarr while the season was still going, then Dix, then Andrej.
I'm sure the conversations had been going on throughout, but hard to imagine Andrej prioritizing us if we'd already added a megabucks wing scorer.
Every portal season it's the same thing, hot and heavy with a top ranked name, the bidding gets feverish, we back off, quietly lock up Plan B behind the scenes, and when the season arrives we have a better season than Plan A does.
They’re giving him the resources and he’s got the 5 star coming in …
Sneaking in isn’t going to cut this year …
Ohio State is also pretty over rated as a job … It’s not nearly as good of a job as people make it out to be …
KW as in Keaton Wagler?? There is absolutely 0% chance of him sticking around to get a degree. Can get that online during his off-season training programs in the league.
Played for Deerfield a few years ago. Wasn't great.
You are not wrong- Andrej committed 5 weeks after our season ended so this board had 5 weeks of speculation, innuendo and rumors to go through
Starting with AJ Storr is already committed- we had an agreement in December to Josh Dix is the top target to Dame Sarr we are leading for, to Jackson is visiting this weekend and we have a good shot to Will Reilly is coming back, big donors have stepped in. However through miss after miss, when the board would say “that was our last hope” the insiders would consistently say “No, there is another” and Andrej was that mystery guy they we were targeting from the start who hadn’t entered the portal until late - it just took him to finally visit and some wine on the porch with Peja to seal the deal. So whether you want to call him 1A or not, they clearly tried to get others here that didn’t work out
We also had the NBA decision looming for Will Reilly so he didn’t officially declare until April 14th, so I’m sure that impacted timing of others willing to commit to us- we shouldn’t have that this year
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
I feel like we’d need to add a Rodman somewhere.
IlliniwekKDR
- Colorado Springs, CO
Yea, a degree is important, but locking in a chance to make hundreds of millions of dollars is importanter.
Hey, maybe one of you guys know since some of you are plugged in behind the scenes. What ever happened to the NILClearinghouse having to approve all of these deals and make sure they are "fair market value" or whatever. I read articles saying they were rejecting tons of deals, but I see zero impact on the portal season.
Yeah it would seem to go without saying now but Brad and the staff have more than earned the benefit of the doubt. One of their greatest strengths seems to be the ability to resist overpaying and ELITE
pivoting. So even though we often haven’t landed early targets, we’ll be just fine either way. I’m here with popcorn to enjoy the ride. I trust the staff to figure out any fit issues and to put the pieces together, whatever they and up being, in a way that works.
Oh but I AM rooting for lots of retention. I care more about that, especially with the front court, than about whether we get Blackwell. (He’s a great player and I’d be happy to get him too though)
It’s not necessarily about the degree … You can get that while being in the NBA …
I had a conversation with his parents and I should start by saying that they seem like great people … Very down to earth …
They just want the best situation for him and for him to be happy …
If that’s coming back to college … Great … If it’s going pro … Great …
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Full octane pay for play was 100% legalized in college sports the day the original NIL rule got put in place and anyone who spends a second thinking about or trying to put that genie back in the bottle is wasting their time
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
In the ideal world he'd play one more year in college in order to be a more complete player. Especially in strength/ability to play thru contact at the rim. But as we all know, the NBA drafts on potential & not on the finished product. 40 years ago a kid with his build would have been chewed up & spit out of the NBA at such a young age. He would have stayed in school, gotten bigger & come out a grown man ready for the league.
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