Oh 100 percent. He has 4, maybe 5, years to become the best version of himself. You pointed out what a lot of the frustration was with Ben: expected to to it day 1 (and as we’ve seen with a lot of these transfers, it takes 1/3 of a season or even a full season sometimes for them to get comfortable.
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
Oh 100 percent. He has 4, maybe 5, years to become the best version of himself. You pointed out what a lot of the frustration was with Ben: expected to to it day 1 (and as we’ve seen with a lot of these transfers, it takes 1/3 of a season or even a full season sometimes for them to get comfortable.
He looks like a 6'9" coordinated young man with a sweet shot and ball handling skills, and who can get to the basket. He seems exceptional.
skyIdub
"I can't tell you. Secret."
I mean it's a highlight video.
I hope he does pan out and his jumpshot looks pretty smooth. I think the expectation is that he can be a serviceable backup big that can play stretch 4.
Ballhandling didn't really look like much of anything in that video. Then he needs to spend a lot of time with Fletch before he is going to be capable of holding up on the inside.
Not from you but I've seen a lot of comparisons to Ben and I just don't really see it. Ben played a lot more like a wing(at least offensively) while Davis seems to be more of a traditional stretch 4. The thing he has in common with Ben is that he's a 6'8 white guy.
Its a different offense and he will have far more talent surrounding him. He was also often playing off ball next to Sellers and Edwards too. Also, the big east whistle is very different from the Big10 so I wouldn't be surprised to see more free throw attempts just from how ticky-tack the big10 calls conference games.
Vaaks shot 52% from 2 which was better than Wagler(albeit on 2 less attempts per game). You watch clips of him and he can clearly turn the corner and attack the basket off the pnr. He shot 3.6 free throws per game which is basically the same as Kylan and Stojakovic.
Plus, Jason Edwards missed a 7 game stretch in January/February of last year where Vaaks assumed more of his ball handling duties. Vaaks averaged 20.3 pts and 3.7 assists in that stretch while getting to the line 5.6 times per game and hitting them at a 90% clip. He also shot 58% from 2 in that span(3.6 for 6.1).
Sidenote: he only shot 28% from 3 in that stretch so he was averaging 20 while not even shooting well from 3.
This will probably sound like blasphemy but I genuinely wouldn't be surprised to see him put up Wagler type numbers.
Guys don’t worry, I only played 1 year of D1 ball…if I need to use the rest of my eligibility to play point guard I will carry that responsibility for us
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Landon Davis is a project player. I mean that in the best possible way. Lots of potential, and he plays in a way that the Illinois coaching staff really likes. He didn’t put up big numbers in high school, but he was also playing with another Big 10 recruit and is the type of kid that isn’t going to selfishly just “get his” at all costs.
The current landscape of college basketball really minimizes multi-year projects.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
SMASH CUT TO:
“With the third pick in the 2027 NBA Draft, the Sacrament Kings pick… Landon Davis of Illinois.”
That was my line of thinking as well, but if you think about it: Ben was able to play the 3 because of the way Illinois' offense is designed. No need to be a ballhandler, just cut / move the ball, or get to a corner if there's ISO. Jake played the 2 some but never had to even dribble the ball.
I think that's one of the more overlooked things about Illinois' offense... outside of lead/secondary ballhandlers, guys aren't pigeonholed into positions (and those ballhandlers can be anyone... even the 4). The term position less basketball gets overused these days, but this is a true form of it.
Hereforit
- Littleton, CO
Hard to argue that. Probably that old nostalgia in me that won’t go away easily, the part that still remembers when guys who looked so green initially ended up developing so well in a good system like ours.
Well articulated.
Ayo’s FT rate in 2021 was .333
Career .281
.281 is less than .295
Ayo as a freshman .253
Vaaks as a freshman .295
Here’s a tweet from the 24-25 season, articulating this:
We’ve done a very good job increasing 2pt percentages of our transfers:
Andrej:
47.8% 2pt at CAL | up to 58.3% at IL
Zvonimir:
59.8% 2pt at ARK | up to 83.1% at IL (which led the nation)
Boswell:
41.5% 2pt at AZ | up to 56.7% at IL (2025) | 54.0% at IL (2026)
Tre White:
51.5% 2pt at LVIlle | up to 58.7 at IL | down to 48.4% at Kansas
…..
My theory for this is that at Illinois, we have guys take less mid range shots.
46.7% of Vaaks’s 2pt shots were non-rim twos last season.
For Wagler, it was 37.9%.
For Kasparas, it was 33.1%.
For Andrej at Cal it was 39.4%. At Illinois it was 34.6%. (See above for his increase in 2pt%)
For Zvonimir at Arkansas it was 44.3%. At Illinois it was 14.1%. (See above for his increase in 2pt%)
For Boswell at Arizona it was 57.0%. At Illinois it was 20.9% (2025) and 30.4% (2026). (See above for his increases and decreases in 2pt%)
For Tre White at Louisville it was 56.3%. At Illinois it was 30.3%. At Kansas it was 36.7%. (See above for his increases and decreases in 2pt% — though yes he did shoot a higher percentage at Louisville than at Kansas, so I guess the thought isn’t totally bulletproof)
To tie this back to Vaaks, I definitely think his 2pt% will increase by quite a bit next year, because 47% of his two pointers will not be mid range shots. It just won’t be. We don’t play that way.
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A free throw rate of under 30 is usually not great.
(Doesn’t mean it can’t be improved)
(Doesn’t mean it can’t be improved)
For a guard, its really pretty good (scroll up for Ayo comp)
Free throws per game is useless.
Free throw rate:
Vaaks 29.5
Andrej 38.1
Kylan 41.5
That’s fair.
How I’d describe it is:
30-35 solid
35-40 very good
Anything 40+ is elite
That “elite” tier would include:
Wagler at 47.6
Kasparas at 49.6
Kofi Cockburn 53.3
Terrance Shannon 59.9
Morez Johnson 74.2 (context being he played way less minutes than those other guys; at Michigan he was 49.8)
Vaaks at 29.5 signals room for improvement (but not terrible).
Watched the skinny version of the game against UConn looking for momentum swings. Didn't realize the team only had 3 assists the entire game - that is stunningly low.
It's one thing to say 29.5 isn't bad or that FTR isn't highly correlated to overall value, but it's a stretch to say it's pretty good. Here's Torvik's FT Rate vs PRPG! for scoring guards and combo guards with PRPG! above 3:
We were 240th in assist% last season so it’s not something we heavily prioritized:
….
But regardless, make a few of those WIDE OPEN threes or layups we missed, and we’d have more assists.
You can’t have an assist if the guy you’re passing to can’t make the shot. (No matter how you play)
Ok, well 'isn't bad' and 'pretty good' are close enough to the same exact thing that we didn't really need a chart... but anyway, if Ayo was at .253 as a freshman (.252 as a sophomore for added reference) and Vaaks is at .295 then maybe we shouldn't be so hyper focused on it as this huge downside as it was presented initially?
EDIT: By limiting data to players with PRPG! above 3 you've artificially moved numbers. Having a PRPG! above 3 means you're measuring him against mostly elite players (Elliot Cadeau had a PRPG! of 3 last season) so of course its going to look a lot worse if you present it the way you have here.
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True, although a really good passing game tends to get you some easy ones in the paint. Can't argue with it I guess given the OKP. It always feels like a risk when you over-rely on 3 pointers in the big arenas.
Above 3 in PRPG means starter-level players. He’s just limiting the data pool to starter-level players.
Illinois had six players 3+ PRPG last season, which were essentially the six starters:
(Some games Jake started ahead of Andrej, and vice versa)
Yes, and so did we.
We just missed them like this:
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Jake Tomi Andrej David are not PG/SG/Combo G so that's about as good of a comparison as you using Morez Johnson who played PF/C
Using only Illinois' (which was a F4, mind you) players doesn't convince me he's merely including starter-level players, sorry not close... there was barely 200 players in all of CBB with a PRPG! above 3... these are mostly elite players, as I said (which tracks, given Illinois starters being above 3: again, elite players) and we honestly don't even need to litigate this as his post very clearly and explicitly states that he narrowed the data set to include only guards who had a PRPG! of 3, which moves the numbers a great deal as I had already said.
Maybe this will help everyone more than completely ignoring the fact that his freshman FT rate was higher than both freshman and sophomore Ayo's was:
Vaaks non-rim 2s rate tells me there was a lot of midrange stuff that is going to get cleaned up at Illinois. If he improves shot diet, and we see him go to the basket more and use his body/size... what do we think will happen to his FT rate?
(this discussion has somehow become a contest in pedantics, so I'm good to move on if you guys are)
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