Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

#226      
iLL 89ers
skyIdub said:
Lmfao...anyone here that actually.....really.......honestly, believes that a Final Four team returning 65-70% of it's production from the most efficient offense in CBB history....THAT ALSO ADDED a Top 5 portal guard AND 2 top 10 (position) freshman SG's AND Wisconsin Mr. Basketball AND a top 25 (position) combo guard....isn't competing for a NC......needs to take the weekend off of this board.

Sure, I get it's your "opinion", but it's really dumb.

I'll bet all of my Loyalty Beach houses and a gallon of your favorite cottage cheese we will receive pre season #1 votes.
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This....100% .SAY IT LOUD AND PROUD....Agree to fullest....Awesome POTD!
 
#227      
SescIllini
Attended the Portsmouth Invitational, a player out of Georgia Tech Kowacie Reeves looks like the portal type that might still be out there. 6-7 jumper, shooter, athletic...possibly under the radar. He was playing against AJ Storr, today looked to be the better NBA prospect. Never heard of him, is McLain out of NC State similar? I think we can move Andrej to shooting guard if Vaaks is the PG, add a good athletic shooting wing.
 
#229      
NarrowJ
Since early Friday:

Gabe Dynes (C, USC) enters the portal

Ty'Reek Coleman (G, Illinois St) commits to Iowa
Andrew McKeever (C, St Marys) commits to Iowa
D.J. Wagner (G, Arkansas) commits to Maryland
Maban Jabriel (F, Queens University) commits to Maryland
Kyan Evans (G, North Carolina) commits to Minnesota
Winters Grady (G/F, Michigan) commits to Minnesota
Malick Kordel (C, Michigan) commits to Minnesota
Boden Kapke (C, Boston College) commits to Nebraska
L.A. Pratt (G, Northeastern) commits to Northwestern
Jimmie Williams (G, Duquesne) commits to Ohio State
Jasper Johnson (G, Kentucky) commits to Oregon
Christian Gurdak (C, Virginia Tech) commits to Rutgers
Azavier Robinson (G, Butler) commits to UCLA
Victory Onuetu (F, Hofstra) commits to Wisconsin

Zavier Zens (G/F, HS) commits to Illinois

docs.google.com

B1G Roster Tracker

docs.google.com docs.google.com
 
#230      
BBlock24
skyIdub said:
Lmfao...anyone here that actually.....really.......honestly, believes that a Final Four team returning 65-70% of it's production from the most efficient offense in CBB history....THAT ALSO ADDED a Top 5 portal guard AND 2 top 10 (position) freshman SG's AND Wisconsin Mr. Basketball AND a top 25 (position) combo guard....isn't competing for a NC......needs to take the weekend off of this board.

Sure, I get it's your "opinion", but it's really dumb.

I'll bet all of my Loyalty Beach houses and a gallon of your favorite cottage cheese we will receive pre season #1 votes.
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The Office Thank You GIF
 
#234      
CoalCity
gville90 said:
Time for my first Kool Aid post. 🙏🏾 Zero reasons to doubt @LvilleILL1, @Indy Illini Fan - their record speaks for itself.

But as an “outsider” for some reason I’m still (foolishly?) holding out hope that we land Blackwell. Things don’t seem to add up. If our read on Blackwell is true (i.e. he wants to win)…..

1. Contention: haven’t heard he’s canceled the IL visit yet. Staff, players, his Dad, the Flyin’ Illini, can push in all remaining chips on this final piece and sell the vision.

2. Usage: Louisville/Duke/etc. aren’t exactly short on talent either — not sure those situations are dramatically cleaner for his camp.

3. Bag: sounds like were competitive. And who knows… a legacy who catapults his Dad’s Alma Mater to a prohibitive preseason favorite? Extra NIL?

4. Winning: of the finalists, Illinois offers Blackwell the most predictable path to a natty

To be clear — the current roster is already 🔥🔥🔥. What a time to be an Illini fan: already set up to be elite and hoping to push into that “inevitable” tier.

It ain’t over till it’s over. 🤞🏾
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You left out

5. Chemistry: does this guy who seems to want to maximize himself for the NBA as well as get the alpha worthy bag after 3 years of not being an alpha on an ok team alter the balance in the locker room?
 
#239      
CoalCity
Second place is 1st loser said:
I see the continued commentary that he pushes us up the ladder. When I see a guy that removes his interest because he's not going to shine enough, visions of Matt Mayer comes into my head. We were so excited to get him, but ultimately, it was a terrible marriage because he wanted to get shots up. He wanted his and if he didn't get it, he wouldn't get back on defense. Anyone else remember that?

I'm not saying that this would be remotely the same situation, but it does look like wherever he ends up, he's going to want his shots and he's going to obviously want to be featured and not be part of a shared ball, winning cures all approach.

Hey, he sees his dream and money at the end of the rainbow so close that he can smell it and wants that spotlight. I can totally understand that line of thinking. Can't fault a guy for that.

However, if you're Illinois and you already have a bunch of mouths to feed.....you need to be careful to keep that balance in your locker room. Part of what made last year's team special was that there were no me first guys. Drej could have definitely been that way, but he put the team first and came off the bench. Something tells me, he got some assurances that won't be the case again, which might be where the bottleneck is? I'd hate to be a coach trying to manage all of this and putting together a team that fits vs a team that has resentment towards the guy at the locker next time him.

There are a lot of teams out there with a really, really good roster, but they just don't mix. That's not us thankfully and BU needs to make sure that stays the case.
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Totally agree with this assessment
 
#241      
Illinifan74
My2Cents said:
Question for the cottage cheese fans. Does the spice or addition you add to the cottage cheese change depending on what you are eating the cottage cheese with? Edit...not meaning with a fork or a spoon but meaning pork, fish, beef etc :)
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Really depends on my mood. Doritos are my go to, but lays plain chips or cheese its are just as good.
 
#244      
floorburn
Oldskoolkoach said:
Ya, we played 9-14 several times this year in the last few minutes of the game. Important to not get anyone hurt when up by 50 against critter schools like the UC santa Cruz Banana Slugs, evergreen state Geoducks, and Scottsdale Artichokes.

Very few teams play more than 8, but we are wanting 15 guys each making 1-5 mil, all B10, entire All-American team 1st-3rd. National title and then take the team over to NBA Finals and win it too. Dream roster is around 40 million
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Geoducks! 🤣
 
#245      
Emerson Bigguns
FloorGeneral said:
Not sure if most people realize how difficult it is to start doing something you haven't ever done against elite competition. It's easy to say "1 offseason of shooting jumpers or developing a post game, etc is all it takes" However, translating it into a full-speed game is very different. I'm sure we've seen those summer runs where NBA players who never shoot 3's can't seem to miss but come an actual NBA game, they don't even look to take the shot. It's a combination of mental practice + physical practice. There's levels to this and it's easier said than done.
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Sure, but I suspect these are skills they have all been actively working on prior to this summer. You can’t tell me OA hasn’t been working with Z on developing a back to the basket game. To your point, he may not have felt great about it yet.
I think expecting Mirk’s shot to get a little more consistent and his handle to get a little tighter isn’t some pie in the sky expectation. The skills are there. I think he’s going to drop some of that baby fat too.
Tomi just needs to play like he did in the tournament consistently. Seems like he lost confidence in his low post game at some point. He seemed to have found it again in March.
Defensively, they were so much better in the tournament collectively. They know the effort it takes. They know what to do. The twins are running out of time to prove they can play at the next level. I would hope they realize how important it is to get in on tape consistently.

Having the whole front court together all summer is going to pay dividends. If they all focus on doing whatever Fletch asks, we will see guys who get bullied less, and who can sustain effort longer. Those things alone will make them markedly better players.
 
#246      
Kendall Gill’s Uncle
PapaKvells said:
Yes AND…

Everyone keeps comparing next year’s guards to this year’s and marginalizing it because Wagler was so good. That’s valid, but we’re seeing how great players are leaving a legacy starting with Ayo with impacts that outlive their time in Champaign. We started attracting talents like TSJ, Riley, KJ, Wagler and now Coleman, Vaaks and ZZ. The staff is also getting better and better at utilizing them and developing them which will attract more.

I raise this because this every new season you bring in outsiders is a mystery and it is normal to expect regression or a worst case scenario. But the way the program is attracting talent and developing it, the floor is much higher than it would have otherwise been. Even with a regression in the backcourt, I expect the backcourt to be pretty good. But with the synergy and continuity in the front court, I expect them to improve and more than offset any regression in the backcourt because I think the falloff in the backcourt won’t be so stark.
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Well said! I think this board still have scars from Greg Egboiden and Matic Vessel (sp on both). These players aren’t those guys.
 
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