This made my Sunday complete!!
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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The nut house
pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
SampsonRelpenk
- Edwardsville, IL
Those two takes to the bucket have me ALL IN.
and 69 others
“Timeout South Carolina”
I'm not saying this won't happen, but generally the 3-point percentages of guys coming from other programs have not gone up at Illinois besides Jake. Ben, KB, AS, and Z are all down from their previous stops. I don't know if there's a reason, but now I'll wait for AirTran to tell me how evil I am for pointing this out.
pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
Illini , it's full of $$$$$$$$....................It really really is..................
But it's my way
L LThese all star games, with all the “I’m gonna get mine” mentality are tough to watch, but Morillo stood out as someone understanding he wasn’t the only guy on the floor. He’s a winner.
I think there is a good chance with Vaaks it goes the other way. He had a a handful of games that were 1-11, 0-10, 0-6, 1-7 that drag his 3pt% down. Doubt his light will be green enough to pile up too many stinkers of that sort here, let alone the value of playing in a much better offense with much better surrounding talent.
Well, at the end of the day what I have learned is to trust the coaches judgement on players and there ability. The transfer portal record for this coaching staff is clear. 90% of the players they bring in via the portal, lead to improvement in the team.
Wide set of skills. He could also put some time working on driving and finishing with his left hand.
Landon davis redshirts...ooph
Vaaks has nothing to do with Andrej. He is replacing Wagler's role. They are going to add someone to replace Kylan as well.
Blackwell.
Vaaks is certainly a PG 1st and wont take Andres spot. However, at his size he appears to be able to do about anything Jake can do. Vaaks could certainly play any of the 1, 2 or 3 if asked to. I feel he is being brought in to play PG on offense but if he matched up on D with a 3 bwtrer than Blackwell or Coleman if Dre was out then defensivly his size makes him versitile on both ends if needed.Vaaks is not a 3
Vaaks’ skill set feels like he could fit the Wagler role. Big combo guard with an off the dribble shot.
Morrillo with his basketball IQ reminds me of Ayo. Constantly thinking on the floor making the right play. Vaaks is Wagler lite. This coming season could be another special year if we get the players we are expecting.
What an easy sell for the Illini to Vaaks. Lets get him signed!
After last season I never thought I would say this but it’ll be very hard to replace Ben.
That's likely the #1 preseason team, or at least top 3 depending on how others fill out their roster. A couple of thoughts on team make-up
1) The offense will be elite elite - our efficiency would likely shatter what it was this year which was #1 all time most of the year, slipping ot #2 at the end
2) Andrej becomes critical to retain in this lineup - not only his ability to get to the rim and finish, but his defense will be sorely needed, he's the only on-ball defender that can stay in front of someone on this entire roster (except Ty, if he stays). So while we can replace Andrej's scoring it will be really hard to replace his overall skill set, which makes him a high priority to retain in my mind
3) Morillo - I was super impressed with him last night - Brad certainly has a type! - positional size, great court vision, pick and roll player who can get to the rim and pull up from three. On the downside, he couldn't stay in front of anybody defensively (mind you he was going against quicker, smaller 5 star guards) and struggled a bit when the quicker guards got up in him (similar to Keaton this year), but the upside is tremendous with this kid and he'll play right away
4) Coleman - we need someone who's a steady ball handler and on ball defender - I wonder with a summer of Fletch he can become that, he can already stroke it and will be a player from day 1, but we need that skills set and don't have it if Lee leaves, so in an ideal world he gives us that
5) PF reserve spot - it's not obvious who will get the ~10 minutes to back up Mirk, maybe it's Jake and/or Morillo on any given night in a small ball lineup, or maybe we see the twin tower lineup a little more this year in those few minutes, but we don't truly have that Ben replacement for his minutes.
Can one of us be in charge of hanging Wagler's jersey in the SFC? I'm 66, out of shape with poor eye sight, but I have not or ever been an employee of the University or the SFC. So I gotta believe I'm overqualified.
This is where Illinois was in pace last season (possessions per 40 minutes):
This is where they were this season:
In 2025 Illinois averaged 114.6 points per 100 possessions.
In 2026 Illinois averaged 124.9 points per 100 possessions (this number was hurt so bad by the UCONN game — both UCONN games rather — but anyways).
So, playing slower helps our offensive efficiency. It was the biggest adjustment the staff made from last year to this year.
This is where they were this season:
In 2025 Illinois averaged 114.6 points per 100 possessions.
In 2026 Illinois averaged 124.9 points per 100 possessions (this number was hurt so bad by the UCONN game — both UCONN games rather — but anyways).
So, playing slower helps our offensive efficiency. It was the biggest adjustment the staff made from last year to this year.
Yes, clearly there was a major shift in pace philosophy - but it was based on personnel. We didn't have a TSJ and Wagler was much better with a deliberate pace, so it was really based on that.
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