Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#151      
Fly Illini Fly!
It's the status quo, if we're being legitimate. Not just basketball, but life in general. Every generation thinks the next is softer, less hard nose, work ethic, etc... than the previous generation. Has always been, and always will be.

The 12 year olds now will be saying the same thing 50 years from now about the 12 year olds then.
 
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#152      
Noblesville Illini
myspace said:
German.
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Animal House Reaction GIF
 
#156      
Fly Illini Fly!
Can anyone explain how exactly Zavier Zens was a maxpreps All American? Usually every one of these guys are 5 stars.

Here’s the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd teams this year (2026):

1st team:

— Quentin Coleman
— Colben Landrew
— Miles Sadler
— Jordan Smith Jr (player of the year)
— Tyran Stokes

2nd team:

— Abdou Toure
— Cam Williams
— Brandon McCoy
— Caleb Holt
— Jason Crowe Jr

3rd team:

— Luke Ertal
— Cayden Daughtery
— Christian Collins
— Caleb Gaskins
— Zavier Zens

Here’s the 1st, 2nd, 3rd teams from last year (2025):

1st team:

— Nate Ament
— Brayden Burries
— Cam Boozer (player of the year)
— Darryn Peterson
— Koa Peat

2nd team:

— AJ Dybantsa
— Malachi Moreno
— Braylon Mullins
— Caleb Wilson
— Tounde Yessoufou

3rd team:

— Mikel Brown Jr
— Kingston Flemings
— Nik Khamenia
— Jordan Smith Jr
— Tyran Stokes

…..

Every one of these guys listed are bona-fide 5 stars and potential lotto picks. Was Zens just massively under-ranked and we got a steal… or is it more of great HS production but not quite the NBA potential?
 
#157      
NarrowJ
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
Look at USC's roster... Jalen Cox is probably their 9th man.
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Crowd What GIF by Krater.ai


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Jalen Cox will start along with Rice & Arenas in the backcourt with Lewis, Jones & Bruns as reserves.

Forward spots are up for grabs - they have Cofie/Reibe but the 3 freshman bigs are all extremely talented.

Bruns, Hughes or one of the freshman will be their 9th man (ie, guy who barely plays at all and has next to zero impact)

You guys are just making sh1t up now.
 
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#158      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
NarrowJ said:
Crowd What GIF by Krater.ai


View attachment 50491


Jalen Cox will start along with Rice & Lewis in the backcourt with Jones & Bruns as reserves.

Forward spots are up for grabs - they have Cofie/Reibe but the 3 freshman bigs are all extremely talented.

They only have 11 players who aren't walk-ons. We have 12.

You guys are just making sh1t up now.
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I'm not.

Starters will be: Rice, Arenas, Lewis, Cofie, Reibe.

Bench will be Christian Collins, Ratliff twins, and Cox.

Really a heck of a roster.
 
#162      
wc_illini
NarrowJ said:
Crowd What GIF by Krater.ai


View attachment 50492


Jalen Cox will start along with Rice & Arenas in the backcourt with Lewis, Jones & Bruns as reserves.

Forward spots are up for grabs - they have Cofie/Reibe but the 3 freshman bigs are all extremely talented.

Bruns, Hughes or one of the freshman will be their 9th man (ie, guy who barely plays at all and has next to zero impact)

You guys are just making sh1t up now.
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So a dysfunctional program managed to get the #7, #19, and #30 freshmen and two decently productive starters from lower conferences to fight for the 8th and 9th spots? I thought anyone of that caliber wanted a clear path to more playing time.

For the record, I'm not focused on having a 9th man, but rather having another option for 5th-8th man in case someone doesn't pan out.

Edit: and I'm sure USC will find a way to be bad, so maybe they just manage to get the most overrated guys rather than just having bad coaching, but the players probably don't think they're overrated and would still want the playing time that similarly ranked players would want
 
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#164      
Illini B-Ball Fan
RollChief said:
Everyone is asking, who is the #9th man? If he’s real why won’t he show himself?

What if he’s been right under our noses this whole time?

I for one think he’s here with us, in the hearts and minds of loyalty posters who truly believe.
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Exactly, in other words - STANDBY. ; )
 
#166      
Fly Illini Fly!
NarrowJ said:
Crowd What GIF by Krater.ai


View attachment 50492


Jalen Cox will start along with Rice & Arenas in the backcourt with Lewis, Jones & Bruns as reserves.

Forward spots are up for grabs - they have Cofie/Reibe but the 3 freshman bigs are all extremely talented.

Bruns, Hughes or one of the freshman will be their 9th man (ie, guy who barely plays at all and has next to zero impact)

You guys are just making sh1t up now.
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I don’t think Cox starts over Rice / Lewis / Arenas.

From Rothstein 45:

“Projected Starting 5:

G Alijah Arenas

G Rodney Rice

G KJ Lewis

F Jacob Cofie

C Eric Reibe”
 
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#167      
21ChampaignSt
In honor of this ridiculous conversation, I submit for your consideration my nominee for the best 9th man in program history - Damir Krupalija .

Damir, appeared in 27 games averaging 5 points and 4 rebounds in 10 minutes on a B1G champion, 1 seed, Elite Eight team.

Many other players were considered but Damir stood out for his balanced and efficient contributions on a high level team.

Any other names come to mind for this truly elite achievement? Let's hear 'em.
 
#168      
NarrowJ
Fly Illini Fly! said:
I don’t think Cox starts over Rice / Lewis / Arenas.

From Rothstein 45:

“Projected Starting 5:

G Alijah Arenas

G Rodney Rice

G KJ Lewis

F Jacob Cofie

C Eric Reibe”
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Maybe.

He or Lewis will start and I think Cox is just the glaringly better and more versatile player... they're going to need a point guard because Arenas, Rice and Lewis are all shoot-first archetypes.

Anyhow, completely irrelevant as he isn't going to be #9thman.


wc_illini said:
So a dysfunctional program managed to get the #7, #19, and #30 freshmen and two decently productive starters from lower conferences to fight for the 8th and 9th spots? I thought anyone of that caliber wanted a clear path to more playing time.

For the record, I'm not focused on having a 9th man, but rather having another option for 5th-8th man in case someone doesn't pan out.

Edit: and I'm sure USC will find a way to be bad, so maybe they just manage to get the most overrated guys rather than just having bad coaching, but the players probably don't think they're overrated and would still want the playing time that similarly ranked players would want
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I wouldn't go so far as to label them dysfunctional. They lost their best player and 20ppg scorer six games into the season. They have proven they'll compile talent.

USC doesn't have a clear top 7/8 and the bottom two guys are pretty weak (Jones & Bruns) so there is playing time to be earned... obviously a vastly different situation than Illinois returning most of it's players from a F4 team.


PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
I'm not.

Starters will be: Rice, Arenas, Lewis, Cofie, Reibe.

Bench will be Christian Collins, Ratliff twins, and Cox.

Really a heck of a roster.
Click to expand...

They won't start 3 ball hungry, shoot first guys. Cox will start alongside Rice & Arenas and be a ballhandler/distributor. This is obvious.

Heck of a roster, agreed. A tier below Illinois, though.
 
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#169      
Fly Illini Fly!
NarrowJ said:
Maybe

He or Lewis will start and I think Cox is just the glaringly better and more versatile player... they're going to need a point guard because Arenas, Rice and Lewis are all shoot-first archetypes

Anyhow, completely irrelevant as he isn't going to be #9thman
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I mean that still doesn’t solve the argument because we’re saying one of Adonis Ratliff / Darius Ratliff / Christian Collins is the #9thMan. All 5 stars.
 
#170      
Second place is 1st loser
Fly Illini Fly! said:
Can anyone explain how exactly Zavier Zens was a maxpreps All American? Usually every one of these guys are 5 stars.

Here’s the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd teams this year (2026):

1st team:

— Quentin Coleman
— Colben Landrew
— Miles Sadler
— Jordan Smith Jr (player of the year)
— Tyran Stokes

2nd team:

— Abdou Toure
— Cam Williams
— Brandon McCoy
— Caleb Holt
— Jason Crowe Jr

3rd team:

— Luke Ertal
— Cayden Daughtery
— Christian Collins
— Caleb Gaskins
— Zavier Zens

Here’s the 1st, 2nd, 3rd teams from last year (2025):

1st team:

— Nate Ament
— Brayden Burries
— Cam Boozer (player of the year)
— Darryn Peterson
— Koa Peat

2nd team:

— AJ Dybantsa
— Malachi Moreno
— Braylon Mullins
— Caleb Wilson
— Tounde Yessoufou

3rd team:

— Mikel Brown Jr
— Kingston Flemings
— Nik Khamenia
— Jordan Smith Jr
— Tyran Stokes

…..

Every one of these guys listed are bona-fide 5 stars and potential lotto picks. Was Zens just massively under-ranked and we got a steal… or is it more of great HS production but not quite the NBA potential?
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The Keaton Wagler Syndrome (KWS) will forever be the argument/commentary for every three star, under recruited player to walk through the doors for us. Whenever there's a kid who has huge HS numbers, but doesn't have a decent offer list, many of our fans with KWS will bring up the wildest recruiting coo in NCAA Basketball history and will use it as a "what if".

Wagler was the one, singular, exception to recruiting rationality and was a unicorn to basketball recruiting.

Guys ranked outside of the top 100 are FAR FAR FAR more likely to get a meaningful college degree than get invited to a combine or play professionally ANYWHERE.

KWS will erode over the next decade.
 
#172      
lstewart53x3
NarrowJ said:
Maybe.

He or Lewis will start and I think Cox is just the glaringly better and more versatile player... they're going to need a point guard because Arenas, Rice and Lewis are all shoot-first archetypes.

Anyhow, completely irrelevant as he isn't going to be #9thman.




I wouldn't go so far as to label them dysfunctional. They lost their best player and 20ppg scorer six games into the season. They have proven they'll compile talent.

USC doesn't have a clear top 7/8 and the bottom two guys are pretty weak (Jones & Bruns) so there is playing time to be earned... obviously a vastly different situation than Illinois returning most of it's players from a F4 team.




They won't start 3 ball hungry, shoot first guys. Cox will start alongside Rice & Arenas and be a ballhandler/distributor. This is obvious.

Heck of a roster, agreed. A tier below Illinois, though.
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Torvik does have Cox as their 9th man in projected usage and minutes. But Torvik also isn’t very high on their roster overall. Has them at #31 preseason:

IMG_0587.jpeg
 
#173      
NarrowJ
lstewart53x3 said:
Torvik does have Cox as their 9th man in projected usage and minutes. But Torvik also isn’t very high on their roster overall. Has them at #31 preseason:

View attachment 50494
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Understand what the computer says/thinks...

But there is just no universe where USC plays 5 different bigs at the 4/5 spots while the only PG they have on the entire roster racks up DNPs

Editing just to add that I certainly wouldn't swap places with USC (not directed at you necessarily, just this thought that USC has it's roster figured out while Illinois is flailing away because we only have top 100 freshmen + a potential Euro add to fight for inconsequential garbage time minutes)
 
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#174      
EmeraldCityIllini
Levels to being the 8th/9th man as well.

Backing up a player who isn’t as established or touted is still more appealing from a playtime perspective. As opposed to agreeing to back up say, Mirk.
 
#175      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
NarrowJ said:
Understand what the computer says/thinks...

But there is just no universe where USC plays 5 different bigs at the 4/5 spots while the only PG they have on the entire roster racks up DNPs

Editing just to add that I certainly wouldn't swap places with USC (not directed at you necessarily, just this thought that USC has it's roster figured out while Illinois is flailing away because we only have top 100 freshmen + a potential Euro add to fight for inconsequential garbage time minutes)
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USC has a better roster than Illinois and likely the best roster in the big ten. Doesn’t mean they’ll finish ahead of us, but fair to point it out.
 
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