Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#176      
ChiefGritty
RollChief said:
At this point I’m almost afraid to make any comments on here with the fear of jinxing something and ending up in fan board jail…

but every day that passes where we don’t get a portal announcement from Mirk, the twins, Stoj or Jake is a day won
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Eh, that hasn't tended to be how this works. Lots of guys portal late when they see how things are shaking out.
 
#177      
March2TheArch
ttlong5 said:
Insiders believe Caleb is out the door via the portal and Cayden will start at PG. They're trying to key in on a scoring guard to feature.

FWIW, Blackwell just started following Flory Bidunga on Instagram today. Guess who has a visit scheduled to Duke for Sunday?
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#180      
RollChief
ChiefGritty said:
Eh, that hasn't tended to be how this works. Lots of guys portal late when they see how things are shaking out.
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Yeah I suppose that's a good point when you're talking about role players, or guys with an agent that can field inbound on their behalf and understand the market before entering... I suppose I was going off recency bias from last year where all of our guys who left through the portal besides DGL had announced by the Saturday after the portal opened. DGL was the last and went Wednesday, 8 days after the portal opened.

It also feels hard to compare this year to other years with the condensed entry window.
 
#184      
One Man Fast Break
IllinitripleJ said:
Why is Duke even bothering with Blackwell? They have guards Caleb Foster, Dame Sarr and Cayden Boozer returning for next year. They were ranked numbers 17, 81 and 19 coming out of high school. Sarr will be possibly the best defensive guard in the country next year. Plus Duke is bring in two top 15 freshmen guards next year ranked in the top 15. I have my doubts that Duke is interested in Blackwell. Why would they with all the talent they have at guard next year?
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If Duke didn’t have those guys in the mix, then we wouldn’t even be in the discussion and he would have committed to Duke already. They want Blackwell and Foster is probably out, but his role is a lot more clear here.
 
#186      
IllinitripleJ
ttlong5 said:
Different positions. If Blackwell does choose Duke, he'd start at the 2 with Sarr at the 3. Remember, Sarr is 6'8'' and a defensive menace.
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Maybe we can still convince Sarr to come to Illinois and to play him at guard. If Sarr wants to be a small forward, would Illinois be interested in him? Or is Duke all in in paying Sarr big NIL money.
 
#189      
ttlong5
IllinitripleJ said:
Maybe we can still convince Sarr to come to Illinois and to play him at guard. If Sarr wants to be a small forward, would Illinois be interested in him? Or is Duke all in in paying Sarr big NIL money.
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From what I've heard, Sarr will return to Duke.
 
#190      
Curbelo Fanboy
Fighter of the Nightman said:
I know a lot of it is speculative and we have seen a range of estimates for where Illini Basketball NIL ranks nationally ... but the range has been relatively tight from just inside the top 10 to in the #16-20 range (at least from what I can recall). We have also heard indications that there has been a VERY significant increase in our donors' appetite to open up their checkbooks after the Final Four run.

I'll defer to the insiders, of course, but I have to believe we are now clearly in the top 10 or very close nationally* as far as our NIL war chest goes.

* It's also my impression that there could be a pretty large group of programs all within a tight range, making the difference between #8 and #18 somewhat small and very volatile by season?
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I am by no means an NIL "player". I did buy some of the ILL IPA for the Iowa game tho. That being said, the tourney run this year erased a lot of the doubts that I as a couch coach with thousands of wins on the couch had about Brad & his staff. Objectively, he made several tactical tweaks this year over the balance of the season. We were less reliant on a 3 or die mentality tho we did slip back into that a few times. Much less so as the year went on. Mixed up the D more than before. Concerted effort to get the ball inside, etc.

Alleviating those concerns makes me feel much more optimistic that he will keep Illinois at a high level & make some return trips to elite 8, final 4 & maybe the elusive brass ring. I'd imagine a lot of the big money donors sense that as well & in this new age, now is the time to go for it. Unleash the checkbooks & bring in the difference making talent that can get the job done. I saw enough out of this years group that retaining the key guys (minus Wagler of course) with some additions that can score the ball (Blackwell &/or others) puts us in prime position to cut the nets on Monday night as soon as next year. We potentially have pocket Aces & this is the time where you need to go all in financially. Leave no stone unturned. I pledge to buy more of the IPA if it helps!
 
#192      
CoachHooleyHoo
AssemblyHallForever said:
This is do or die season for Diebler
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This is really weird to me. Why would Diebler be on the hot seat. Went 8-3 when he took over from Holtman, then 17-15 in his first year, & 21-13 with tough loss in the tourney in his 2nd year. Not only that, he's a good coach. I'm not a Buckeye fan in the slightest, but I just don't see how he's on the hot seat.
 
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