They had all of those players this year and more and still got beat by Iowa is the round of 32. I think we will be able to compete and beat them should we match up.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
Duke consistently wins, has an unparalleled marketing machine, and pays top $$$. I hate them, but that is what they are. You can nitpick the 'usage' angle all you want, but it's not rocket science
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The irony of Blackwell to Duke is they may still have Evans, Caleb Foster, Cayden Boozer and Dame Sarr all back at the 1-3 spots - all of whom will be wanting to improve their draft stock for next year - but Blackwell was afraid to come here because he wouldn't get enough usage? Blackwell might not even start on that team if Evans is back!
that's nice of his dad to bring him to watch Illinois play
As fun as it might be for someone to try, in today's game, that's likely to just be "40 minutes of wide open threes and free throws". Teams also got really good at quick reversal concepts and diagonal passing.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Again, I think this has been said perfectly clearly by the insiders but bears being made explicit: Blackwell wasn't "afraid" of Stojakovic and Coleman, Stojakovic and Coleman were "afraid" of Blackwell.
We have Andrej back because we've secured him in the alpha dog perimeter scoring role he thought he was committing for in the first place.
That's okay! That's more than okay, that's really good. We were a better team with his usage growing in the tournament.
And once he's stuck here as of midnight Friday (the NBA early entry deadline), we're going to get someone to pass him the ball and guard the little jitterbug guys he doesn't want to.
Definitely disappointing with how much the Insiders were gassing up Blackwell coming here as super likely, and now we just gotta sit here and pretend like we wanted Vaaks and Jake Davis retained more the whole time? Nah. This is disappointing for sure. The difference between a (pre-season) "very good" team and a pre-season "ELITE" team. Today, we lost a recruiting battle. It's as simple as that. We don't lose all of them, and it's good to be in the mix. Hopefully in the future we start winning these recruiting battles. This guy had a chance to join a Final Four team returning 62 % of its scoring but with its two lead guards both gone, and he said no thanks and took that Duke cash instead. It's a bummer for sure.
They're also losing a lot of usage in Boozer and likely Evans.
If Foster comes back, they've got a bit of a logjam at guard
6'3' junior PG/CG Jalen Cox had very good stats for Colgate in the 25-26 season. He averaged 17.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists in 29.7 minutes/game. He shot 52.1% on FGs, including 36.5% on 3-pointers (0.6-1.7/game), and 85.0% on FTs. Cox was named 1st Team All-Conference on Defense each of the last 2 seasons. If the Illini were to add Cox via the portal (after the portal closes), I think that Cox should be allowed to COMPETE for playing time with Vaaks and Coleman. And at worst, if Cox ended up being the third guard in the Illinois rotation next season, he would be an excellent backup guard in the rotation, one who could also sub for Vaaks and/or Coleman if/when either of them gets injured or sick. In my opinion, there would/should be more than 10 mpg available for that "third guard position" next season.
I mentioned another possible portal target in a post yesterday: 6'3" junior PG Tylen Riley (Tulsa). [15.0/3.9/4.4 and 44.8/38.9/87.1] Again, if the Illini were to add a player like Riley, he should be able to come in and compete for playing time. He would either earn a starting spot or become an excellent 3rd guard in a championship rotation.
I am NOT down on Coleman, on Morillo, or Brown. I am NOT "doom and gloom" on the Illini's chance to have a great season without adding Cox, or Riley, or any other portal guard. I do NOT think I know more about recruiting or roster building than Brad and the staff. But I do have an opinion. And I'm just expressing my opinion to other Illini fans. I thought that is what this site is all about.
Yup. We made our choice and got 2 of the 3.
I'm not complaining at all about the route we took. That said, it must be nice to be Duke and have 6-8 Burger Boys and still add top portal players.
There were mixed messages with Blackwell. It was first said he got cold feet because his agent got in his ear that he wouldn’t get the usage here that he wanted. Then it was said that we’d have a portal/decommit if he came on. I mean who really knows, he went to Duke which should have been the most predictable thing all along anyhow.
Let's see if they keep all those players.
Imagine Boozer & Foster are set and Evans is departing. Looking at Bryson Howard and Rippey.
Expecting Duke to lose a guy or two now.
Whatever you want it to apply to.Is this referring to recruiting… or just about cottage cheese?
Love you Pru.
Howard probably?
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
Any specifics that you tell us?
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
The truth of the matter is that it could have been a combination of all those factors. And at this point, it does not matter why.
The general rule of recruiting holds true for this particular recruiting data point...If Duke really wants somebody, they generally get them.
I am personally excited to see the development of the guys who we retained. Andrej was banged up almost the entire year...I would love to see him fully healthy. Mirk should hopefully get better too. Tomi was off for much of the season, but if the tourney Tomi returns next year...wow.
Our future prospects for next season look fantastic, and the betting market reflects that!
Duke isn't bringing in Blackwell to have him sit behind Boozer, Rippey, or Foster.
If I'm Cayden Boozer I'm thinking twice on what next year will look like, because right now I'm competing against a lottery pick to be the first guard off the bench.
Ha! LvilleILL1 beat me to it:
LvilleILL1 said:
Expecting Duke to lose a guy or two now.
It’s fun, both for basketball fans and for big men themselves, that the college game has this very different evolution than the NBA. If you’re a premium big on the cusp of the NBA vs. a guard, the relative reward for coming back seems to be even higher than other positions.