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Illinois Adds Williams - University of Illinois Athletics
Illinois head coach Brad Underwood announced Monday the signing of Lincoln Williams to a Big Ten Athletics Aid Agreement.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
PizzaHutParkingLot
- Vodice, Croatia
Illinois Adds Williams - University of Illinois Athletics
Illinois head coach Brad Underwood announced Monday the signing of Lincoln Williams to a Big Ten Athletics Aid Agreement.fightingillini.com
Can't be mad at more Illinois kids on the roster
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
Illinois Adds Williams - University of Illinois Athletics
Illinois head coach Brad Underwood announced Monday the signing of Lincoln Williams to a Big Ten Athletics Aid Agreement.
not on my bingo card, but all for it
kid has some VG attributes. good for him to accept the challenge (cause a lot of kids wouldn't)
You beat me to it. Wisconsin is the same way.
Wasn't it Eddie Johnson, during the Final Four, who made a point that we need to transfer our success into keeping the top kids(especially the CPL kids) home?
I get his sentiment, but the top player in 2026 looks like he'd be locked in the highly touted battle for the coveted 9th man position. Plenty of competition there.
Love this kid, he has some serious dawg in him, energetic. Type of kid that would dominate us at another big ten school. Love this pickup.
Illinicpa14
- Chicago
I think how the NIL works right now it makes sense.
You fill out your roster with development pieces who don’t cost money and see if of the 3-4 of them 1-2 become helpful. If not, they leave after a year and go down a level.
Think it’s also helpful to finish the roster with guys who can make practice bigger/efficient vs 3-4 walk ons.
Does one simply "pull up" to catch a basketball game on another continent?
illiniswish09
- Northwest Suburbs
Would love to hear the scoop on this one if any of our lovely insiders are willing to provide… Seems like an interesting process
pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
Yes, it looks like a 3-man race between Zens / Brown / Williams.
And maybe Jakstys can work himself into that.
Practices are going to be a dog fight this year. Not only to try to get into the top 9 for this year's rotation -- realistically barring injury only one of the frosh other than Coleman/Morillo will have a chance for such minutes -- but also for the younger guys to jockey for position for 2027-28 team minutes.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Never a bad day to add a top in-state prep!
Illinois Adds Williams - University of Illinois Athletics
Illinois head coach Brad Underwood announced Monday the signing of Lincoln Williams to a Big Ten Athletics Aid Agreement.
NIL World has been very, very good to Illinois Basketball, but a part of me still yearns to build through local kids over the longer term.
Watched a few minutes of the Kankakee - East Peoria playoff game. EJ Hazelett from Kankakee kinda stood out. Kid should be Valley all-freshman next season.
Put me down for guys like Lincoln Williams. All-State as a soph tells me he is not afraid to work hard and has a high motor...not to mention some really valuable skills with a big desire to win.
It would appear that not too much effort needs to go into backcourt recruiting next year...but retention sure will require some effort BU can scour the earth for quick, athletic, skilled bigs now as the Illini will likely lose them all other than JJ. But with QC, Brown, Vaaks, Morillo, and Williams returning (if all goes well) and adding Kitt, that will be a solid group of guards upon which to build. The blessing is that the EDG culture carries on.
It would appear that not too much effort needs to go into backcourt recruiting next year...but retention sure will require some effort BU can scour the earth for quick, athletic, skilled bigs now as the Illini will likely lose them all other than JJ. But with QC, Brown, Vaaks, Morillo, and Williams returning (if all goes well) and adding Kitt, that will be a solid group of guards upon which to build. The blessing is that the EDG culture carries on.
madillini4
Ozamataz Buckshank
- Millywaukee
I like the upside of zens and brown, but Williams is tailor made for limited minutes on next years squad. Still has to earn it and be willing to accept that role.
It's weird that we have the #1 recruit from the state of Wisconsin, the #1 recruit from the state of Illinois and the #1 recruit from the state of Missouri for 2026 and only one has really garnered any national attention.
The good news is that our brand has blown WAY past relying on our state to keep the train on the tracks.
This bumps the script's estimated probabilities for our freshman class to:I had Claude write a script that takes past incoming Illini composite ratings and their freshman year Torvik ratings (avg of PRPG! and D-PRPG) to take a stab at some probabilities based on this year's incoming freshman class. Here's what our past recruits with Brad looked like (for reference, on a great team, starters are typically 3+ and reserves are 2-3):
I had the script estimate the probability that our entire freshman class will yield at least:
- one good starter and one solid reserve: 57%
- one borderline starter and one solid reserve: 66%
- one borderline starter and one borderline reserve: 78%
- one solid reserve and one borderline reserve: 86%
And if you're dying to know what it says about a 9th man:
- one solid reserve and two borderline reserves: 59%
This is based on a small sample size (35 recruits), so I'm just throwing it out there for fun. I think we all want better than a 66% chance of getting at least a borderline starter and solid reserve, and the coaches know these guys better than any of us, so hopefully enough of the guys coming in end up on the higher side of these predictions.
- one good starter and one solid reserve: 65%
- one borderline starter and one solid reserve: 73%
- one borderline starter and one borderline reserve: 83%
- one solid reserve and one borderline reserve: 91%
And some 9th man scenarios:
- one solid reserve and two borderline reserves: 71%
- one borderline starter, one solid reserve, and one borderline reserve: 62%
Between Zens, Brown, and Williams, it's going to be a war to try to even earn 5 mpg in that 9th spot.
Champagne problems though.
Champagne problems though.
They love the player, but he had some stuff to clean up. He did.
Heck of a deep dive man!
Oh....and I forgot to add another very good guard coming in next year with Kitt...Mason Martin. I love shooters with positional size.
Battle of the #9thMan.