Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#201      
Scoregasm
Grandpa said:
My father-in-law said that The Whiz Kids were highly ranked in high school.
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s01e08 GIF
 
#203      
hoopsfan47
ImGonnaBeILL said:
It might not happen Year 1 at Illinois given the experience in front of him, but I'd wager a good amount of money that Zavier Zens is going to make a big impact in college basketball at some point. If he were to somehow happen to be pressed into action this season, I don't think he'd be overwhelmed as a role player.

Think he was REALLY slept on. Guy has 3 level scoring ability, the ability to play on and off ball, and an already very solid frame to build even more. JMO If he were a couple inches taller (which may still happen) he'd be a 4-5 star guy,

He's a dude you're going to be able to put out as a role player no matter who else you have on your team
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Great post and insight. It sometimes amazes me how kids with talent that Brad likes for his system get quickly overlooked by our posters in spite of decades of history...and one lower ranked kid that is a one and done lottery pick. Zens intrigues me for several reasons.
1. Positional size...and likely future growth.
2. State POY but lowly regarded factor here. (Where have I seen this before?)
3. Three level scorer.

So much depends on what he has between the ears and in his heart...and only he knows. But he is a potentia gem who is on the roster and awaiting to get "Fletched". Can't wait to see what he can do...especially with a sophomore jump.
 
#208      
nichi
nichi said:
No. Gill was kind of a late bloomer.

Derek Harper was our first McDonald's AA in 1980. Followed by Bruce Douglas and Efrem Winters in 1982. Then Lowell Hamilton in 1985, Nick Anderson in 1986, Marcus Liberty in 1987, and Deon Thomas in 1989. Richard Keene was Lou's last one, I would have to look up the year.

Other McDAAs: Marcus Griffin, Frank Williams, and Brian Williams were Lon Kruger recruits in the late 1990s. Dee Brown was recruited by Self in 2002.

Some other highly ranked, top 50 recruits Eddie Johnson in 1977, Larry Smith 1986, kiwane Harris. Also, transfers Ken Norman and Kenny Battle in their high school classes. Of course, Deron Williams was top 50.

Going way back to the misty past before the McDonald's All American team; some candidates for a best ever recruits list would include Skip Thoren, Rich Jones, Nick Weatherspoon, Billy Morris, and a number of others.

The 247 best ever list appears to start with with the 2003 class?
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Argh, Brian Cook, not Williams. Garris, not Harris.
 
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#210      
lstewart53x3
Fly Illini Fly! said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2052042875177750609
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The interesting thing is, Duke’s as good as they’ve ever been. Kentucky had one of the most expensive rosters in the sport last year. It was just completely mismanaged + of course had a lot of injuries which certainly didn’t help. And now it looks like all the money in the world can’t attract them a good squad this year. Agents know too, go on a visit to Kentucky, that’ll increase your value, then choose a program that wins.
 
#212      
Brosky
I hope our players--the new ones and the returnees--will be on campus and in the gym this summer. At least they'll get acquainted with one another that way.
 
#213      
bavanga3
Think Will Riley is a much more apt comparison for Coleman than Wagler. Riley bigger but expect their roles to be much closer.
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Huh? A 6'8" forward who didn’t start is a better comp? Coleman is our starting pg from day 1 and he's 6'3". How is he more similar to Riley than he is to Wagler? Score first mentality is the only similarity.
 
#214      
Homecoming 2019
lstewart53x3 said:
The interesting thing is, Duke’s as good as they’ve ever been. Kentucky had one of the most expensive rosters in the sport last year. It was just completely mismanaged + of course had a lot of injuries which certainly didn’t help. And now it looks like all the money in the world can’t attract them a good squad this year. Agents know too, go on a visit to Kentucky, that’ll increase your value, then choose a program that wins.
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Pope was a bad hire, they fumbled that search from the jump.
 
#215      
illiniwil
Curbelo Fanboy said:
As an aside, Rich McBride was rated #1 in his class in like 8th grade or freshman year. He was fully grown by basically freshman year of high school so had a physical advantage. As he got older he started having some injury troubles that took away some of his pop by the time he got to Illinois. Still a good player but not a top prospect.
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has was also not the best player on his HS (Lanphier) team.
 
#217      
Mobi
lstewart53x3 said:
The interesting thing is, Duke’s as good as they’ve ever been. Kentucky had one of the most expensive rosters in the sport last year. It was just completely mismanaged + of course had a lot of injuries which certainly didn’t help. And now it looks like all the money in the world can’t attract them a good squad this year. Agents know too, go on a visit to Kentucky, that’ll increase your value, then choose a program that wins.
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In NIL era, you absolutely need a good coach unless you are Duke. 🤣🤣🤣
 
#219      
jrichisamazing
lstewart53x3 said:
The interesting thing is, Duke’s as good as they’ve ever been. Kentucky had one of the most expensive rosters in the sport last year. It was just completely mismanaged + of course had a lot of injuries which certainly didn’t help. And now it looks like all the money in the world can’t attract them a good squad this year. Agents know too, go on a visit to Kentucky, that’ll increase your value, then choose a program that wins.
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College basketball and the transfer portal is very comparable to European soccer IMO. And anyone who follows that knows many clubs spend an insane amount of money, and it does not guarantee wins.
 
#220      
Calvin
Guy says NIL and the portal have brought equality?? I suppose if you're Kentucky you think that. Pay for play only works to equalize things though if you've got money, or exceptional talent evaluation and development. It's more like Animal Farm equality, where everyone is equal, just some are more equal than others.
 
#221      
Noblesville Illini
illiniguy24 said:
I might be in the minority here, but I personally don’t count transfers who didn’t commit here out of high school when talking about signing McD’s AA’s or “highest ranked recruits” such as Andrej or Boswell

Especially if they transferred as Juniors
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There in lies the rub. The old model (pre portal) was to bring in talent as freshman, highly skilled, and assume that they stay until they either go pro or graduate. So, that’s why we rated recruits as a gauge of our talent on the floor. Well, that’s only a part of the equation now. Transfers instantly can boost your talent in a year. IMHO, if you bring in TSJ and he elevates the teams skill, do you or don’t you consider him a recruit? I lean towards yes.
 
#223      
wc_illini
Noblesville Illini said:
There in lies the rub. The old model (pre portal) was to bring in talent as freshman, highly skilled, and assume that they stay until they either go pro or graduate. So, that’s why we rated recruits as a gauge of our talent on the floor. Well, that’s only a part of the equation now. Transfers instantly can boost your talent in a year. IMHO, if you bring in TSJ and he elevates the teams skill, do you or don’t you consider him a recruit? I lean towards yes.
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But their H.S. ranking is less relevant than their transfer ranking. To do otherwise would be like evaluating a H.S. recruit by their old rankings as an underclassman.
 
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