Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

#926      
gville90
LvilleILL1 said:
There will be an adjustment defensively (Brad thinks he can be very good at this end), but offensively I expect a major impact right away.
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Suuuuper underrated reply to @I-L-L 1318
imo. Amidst all the recent Blackwell->Dookie drama, I think some of us *hand up* hadn’t really FULLY stopped to think of the impact QC might have.

I think of some of the defensive transformations Brad has helped oversee for players who started out more offense-centric (i.e. Trent Frazier, Ben Humrichous)…. we already know QC is offensively gifted and really gets after it on the glass. If he can make that adjustment on defense that @LvilleILL1 is talking about 😮‍💨….. our starting 5 is gonna COOK 🔥
 
#927      
skyIdub
mirk whisper.jpg
 
#928      
mysterio2525
Lakes333 said:
There are probably one hundred top college programs in the country that would run through a brick wall to have a roster like ours. Not worried about Duke, Florida or anyone else for that matter. We are going to be a literal nightmare for teams to match up against. Bring them all on and fear no one. ILL for life. :chief::chief:
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one hundred? triple that and you are still low. 357 probably closer to accurate
 
#930      
rtbritt
I-L-L 1318 said:
Honest question, am I crazy for thinking Coleman will be an upgrade from post injury Kylan? Love boz, but 49% from 3 is lethal even if it’s HS.
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Boswell shot 39% and 38% from 3 at Arizona and his sophomore year was on pretty high volume (made 66 3s). Wonder what he shot percentage-wise in HS.

Hard to project how well it translates.
 
#932      
lstewart53x3
Here’s my read on the Blackwell recruitment based on reading all 4 boards (Illinois, Duke, UCLA, and Louisville) during it:

— Just like Illinois insiders were confident in landing Blackwell from the jump, so were Duke insiders. According to them, Blackwell’s agent was having conversations about transferring there mid-season. I imagine those same conversations were happening on the Illinois side.

— My guess is dad really wanted him at Illinois, whereas he likely leaned Duke.

— While there was some noise around UCLA and Louisville, I doubt they were ever serious contenders. Blackwell’s agent is located in LA and went to UCLA, hence the visit. Louisville was likely used to drive the price up. But it sounds like it was always a two horse race between Duke and Illinois.

— The day Andrej announced his return, we fell out of the running for Blackwell. Two days later, Coleman signed. That points to Brad needing to make a decision: keep both Andrej and Coleman and pass on Blackwell or lose one or possibly even both by continuing to pursue Blackwell.

— Even if the staff chose to continue pursuing Blackwell, there was obviously no guarantee we would’ve landed him. Duke would’ve still been hard to beat.

— Blackwell going to Duke who’s stacked at guard (to me) points to the usage concerns being more internal than with Blackwell.

— I give Blackwell credit. When he entered the portal, he said he wanted to win. Louisville might’ve been a bigger bag, but he honored what he said he wanted. Though, I wish it would’ve worked out for him here.
 
#933      
lstewart53x3
One other thought I’ve had:

Originally I was nervous about our European pipeline getting more competitive, since we’ve have had so much success with Euro players, but now I’m not mad one bit at a player like Vaaks being recruited by Providence last year.

Let other teams deal with the Visa challenges, having them arrive late on campus the first year, etc, then we’ll scoop them up in the portal a year or two later.
 
#934      
Fly Illini Fly!
lstewart53x3 said:
One other thought I’ve had:

Originally I was nervous about our European pipeline getting more competitive, since we’ve have had so much success with Euro players, but now I’m not mad one bit at a player like Vaaks being recruited by Providence last year.

Let other teams deal with the Visa challenges, having them arrive late on campus the first year, etc, then we’ll scoop them up in the portal a year or two later.
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Yep. plus they’ll be well developed by the time they arrive here and not just some unknown piece.
 
#936      
Trueblue777
Emerson Bigguns said:
What are "real minutes"?
Coleman Hawkins got about 6 min a game in 20-21. (167)
Goode snuck in at #98, and played 9 minutes a game.
DGL got about 7 mpg. (#148)

With a kid like Lee, I'm just not sure what his elite skill is...
With Brown, you can watch about 5 seconds of tape and see what his elite skill is.
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Ethan Brown >Brandon Lee
Better ball handler, passer, shooter.
Remains to be seen defensively but looks average at worst.
 
#937      
Second place is 1st loser
lstewart53x3 said:
Here’s my read on the Blackwell recruitment based on reading all 4 boards (Illinois, Duke, UCLA, and Louisville) during it:

— Just like Illinois insiders were confident in landing Blackwell from the jump, so were Duke insiders. According to them, Blackwell’s agent was having conversations about transferring there mid-season. I imagine those same conversations were happening on the Illinois side.

— My guess is dad really wanted him at Illinois, whereas he likely leaned Duke.

— While there was some noise around UCLA and Louisville, I doubt they were ever serious contenders. Blackwell’s agent is located in LA and went to UCLA, hence the visit. Louisville was likely used to drive the price up. But it sounds like it was always a two horse race between Duke and Illinois.

— The day Andrej announced his return, we fell out of the running for Blackwell. Two days later, Coleman signed. That points to Brad needing to make a decision: keep both Andrej and Coleman and pass on Blackwell or lose one or possibly even both by continuing to pursue Blackwell.

— Even if the staff chose to continue pursuing Blackwell, there was obviously no guarantee we would’ve landed him. Duke would’ve still been hard to beat.

— Blackwell going to Duke who’s stacked at guard (to me) points to the usage concerns being more internal than with Blackwell.

— I give Blackwell credit. When he entered the portal, he said he wanted to win. Louisville might’ve been a bigger bag, but he honored what he said he wanted. Though, I wish it would’ve worked out for him here.
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Bingo. The choice was made on our end and the fact that Coleman signed after Blackwell moved on cements that. Drej was the domino. That pushed Blackwell out and Coleman in. Blackwell has his on ball demands, I'm SURE that after coming off the bench last year, Drej had his demands/assurances and Coleman didn't want to be iced out if Blackwell still did decide to come.

Our insiders nailed it. There's only so much you can do when kids/parents have their own agendas. Just make the pieces fit as well as possible. We want a "super team" and they're chasing that NBA bag/dream and rightfully so!

That story is clear as day right now. I would HATE to be the coaches having to go through this every spring/summer.
 
#938      
Det_Illini_fan
If a John Blackwell commit to Duke over Illinois, and there’s no Illini fans around to ask why, did he actually commit to Duke?
 
#939      
ChiefGritty
Illin618 said:
Maybe fourth in the big ten… Illinois is going to struggle to guard athletic, physical PG/SGs man…
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We struggled with that last year and finished 2nd in the Big Ten, and we are still going to add someone to help in that aspect. (And for the record Blackwell doesn't defend well and would not have particularly helped, one of many reasons he didn't make a ton of sense as an addition)

There's always downside risk, but the fundamentals of offensive efficiency that make us hard to play against aren't going anywhere, and if we get above-median outcomes from Mirk, Andrej and Tomi we will be basically unstoppable on that end. There are not other teams in CBB who are returning that kind of skill level with experience playing together.

I-L-L 1318 said:
Honest question, am I crazy for thinking Coleman will be an upgrade from post injury Kylan? Love boz, but 49% from 3 is lethal even if it’s HS.
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If Coleman is a knockdown shooter, and there's no reason to think he won't be, he will fit a complementary role better than Kylan did.
 
#942      
bavanga3
NarrowJ said:
Good vs very good is splitting a hair a bit, but they have probably the 3rd best roster in the B1G right now

They return more minutes than anyone sans Illinois & Michigan State

6 top 100 players, same number as Michigan has (just for example)
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Their roster isn't that good.

They were a bubble team most of the season and lost their 2 best players plus another starter.

USC has 8 top 100 players, does that make them better than us? Or UCLA? Michigan has 8 until Aday or Johnson declares. Are you really worried about Xavier Booker because hes a top 100 player? High school rankings don't mean much. UCLA's best bet is the BIG is weak, because they're worse than last year. They'll be lucky to open in the top 25.
 
#944      
illinibbcz
For all of you in the know, I have a three-part question:

1. Since Coleman and Brown were both playing in Missouri, did they play at the same class level?
2. Did they ever play against each other?
3. Did they play any common teams and if so, how did their stats compare?
 
#945      
bavanga3
I-L-L 1318 said:
Honest question, am I crazy for thinking Coleman will be an upgrade from post injury Kylan? Love boz, but 49% from 3 is lethal even if it’s HS.
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Defensively, yes you'd be crazy. Offensively, its not close, Coleman wins. If he adds muscle and is physically somewhat imposing on defense by the end of the year, you're not crazy at all.
 
#948      
bbpeoria
lstewart53x3 said:
Here’s my read on the Blackwell recruitment based on reading all 4 boards (Illinois, Duke, UCLA, and Louisville) during it:

— Just like Illinois insiders were confident in landing Blackwell from the jump, so were Duke insiders. According to them, Blackwell’s agent was having conversations about transferring there mid-season. I imagine those same conversations were happening on the Illinois side.

— My guess is dad really wanted him at Illinois, whereas he likely leaned Duke.

— While there was some noise around UCLA and Louisville, I doubt they were ever serious contenders. Blackwell’s agent is located in LA and went to UCLA, hence the visit. Louisville was likely used to drive the price up. But it sounds like it was always a two horse race between Duke and Illinois.

— The day Andrej announced his return, we fell out of the running for Blackwell. Two days later, Coleman signed. That points to Brad needing to make a decision: keep both Andrej and Coleman and pass on Blackwell or lose one or possibly even both by continuing to pursue Blackwell.

— Even if the staff chose to continue pursuing Blackwell, there was obviously no guarantee we would’ve landed him. Duke would’ve still been hard to beat.

— Blackwell going to Duke who’s stacked at guard (to me) points to the usage concerns being more internal than with Blackwell.

— I give Blackwell credit. When he entered the portal, he said he wanted to win. Louisville might’ve been a bigger bag, but he honored what he said he wanted. Though, I wish it would’ve worked out for him here.
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I'm no insider but from reading all the various tea leaves this seems the most likely scenario and, if true, was correctly played by the Illini staff imo. BTW, I was mentioning to an Illini fan buddy days before on Blackwell, when it looked like he was leaning Illini, that I liked Vaaks even more than Blackwell (although must admit I thought the pairing would be killer). I think Vaaks could be an absolute star with this team if he takes to Underwood's coaching.
 
#950      
My2Cents
RichardKeenesCousin said:
I wouldn't mind hearing why everyone's exes broke up with them.
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Long story short, years ago a high school player wore a University of Illinois jersey to school around announcement time. He didn't commit to Illinois and I lost my mind and well, after seeing that, she said I might have a problem and broke up with me! women I tell ya....rolls eyes /s
 
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