The Sprouting Divot
Invisible and Bulletproof
- Miracle Mile
I don't disagree with anything that has been written about Hurley thus far, but the game of college basketball as a whole is undeniably better off by having him.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
Without Hurley Duke doesn't get beat in the most nut wrenching fashion imaginable.... Almost makes me forget about that 30-0 run he's also responsible for.
I get the sarcasm, but that team didn't quit. A lot of teams would have cashed in their chips and called it a season when things looked as bad as they did. Was there a HUGE amount of luck involved? Abso-fricken-lutely. The end of that games happens 1 in a 100 times. However, the deficit went from 17 to 2. That doesn't happen if your team isn't mentally locked in.
Our team does the same thing with Brad. Our fans call it a "fake comeback" when we're down 15 and cut it to 3. No, it's not. The fact that we don't give up, get back in it and give ourselves a shot is a testament to toughness and a never say die approach. The game is 40 minutes long. Just because we come up short doesn't make the comeback "fake".
Again, I'm not going to sit here and defend his D-Baggary. His constant whining, b*tching and complaining is irritating and as an opposing fan, I want to plant a fist in his teeth. I'm with everyone here on that fact. That attitude and ripping his players a new one for effort is annoying, but if you're a UCONN player, you know what you're signing up for. You know that he's going to get in your face and put you on blast. It doesn't keep 5 stars from going there. They have 300 other choices.
Agreed. We could win a natty or two. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that gut wrenching feeling. We were down 5 going into the half. Hurley gave a cocky halftime interview that they’ll have it figured out in the second half. The game was over in a blink in the second half.
We all knew that it was going to require a miracle. But for a fanbase recovering from 2021 Loyola, it was too much. I’m sure I wasn’t the only fan who turned off the tv towards the end of the 30-0 run.
That 30-0 was an oddly important turning point from the program. We tasted what it means to be momentarily elite but also realized how far the apex remained. We definitely took important steps forward competing against UConn both times we played them in 2025-2026. But were once again reminded by UConn and Michigan 2026 how far the apex still remains.
I feel like time is a flat circle. Y’all might recall North Carolina with its NBA-talent stuffed roster was up 13 or so points at the half in the 2005 title game. Kudos to our team to claw its way back to a 70-70 tie late in the game. But watching UNC cut down the nets that year, and again in 2009, and again in 2017… served as frequent reminder of how difficult it is to be a perennial contender like today’s Duke and UConn.
The Cubs broke through in 2016 to end a century of heartbreaks. And I’m glad they did before the Dodger Deathstar was fully operational. The Illini basketball program is in a very narrow and fortunate window before the inevitable NIL implosion. We presently have a unique combination of financial resources, coaching staff, and rabid fanbase to will us to that elusive championship.
2026-27 might be one of our best chances. Duke doesn’t have a Cooper Flagg or Cameron Boozer to clutch up in crunch time. Florida’s frontline is far less intimidating than Michigan’s 2026 lottery trio. We have the size to bother them with an arguably better backcourt. And UConn is nowhere near their 2024 powers and has lost its winning talisman in Karaban.
I am very grateful that the Ayo 1-seed team, TSJ Elite 8 squad, and last year’s Final Four team paved the way for us to get us to this season. With football experiencing a reversion to program mean, I’ll be counting down this final month to the Cinci exhibition.
With all that said, I will never forget that 30-0. But I am hope it will only make our eventual championship redemption arc that much sweeter.
Need to lockdown Pettigrew with Bowman gone. Hurley didn't let Bowman get off campus, time to do to the same with Pettigrew.
And yeah UConn with 5 titles is definitely ahead there but I have a hard time calling them by far the best program of the century when they were fairly irrelevant there for 6 or 7 years(after the Ollie title until 22 when they got a 5 seed).
I would still probably argue that Kansas has been the gold standard even with only two titles. Made the tournament every year(except COVID cancellation) and only had a seed lower than 4 one time(7 seed in 25). Just an insanely consistent run and I would argue that 14 consecutive conference championships in the Big12(2005-2008) is crazier than 5 titles in 26 years. 19 regular season, 8 conference tourney, and 2 national championships in 26 years.
Then it makes me want to throw up but Duke has a claim to it as well.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Hurley is very similar to Bobby Knight in that unlike many blustering college coaches, it's not a WWF act, he's in fact just as crazy as he looks.
It all ends in some sort of ugly incident I suspect, that's not a guy who is in control of himself.
It all ends in some sort of ugly incident I suspect, that's not a guy who is in control of himself.
Don't they have 6?
I'll take the 6 titles over any amount of B12 conference wins, most pre AZ and Houston joining. You don't hang banners for seeds. 95% of a college basketball season success is determined in the tournament, whether we like it or not. It's where the viewership is, the memories and notoriety are made. I don't even think coaches care that much whether they win or lose their conference tourney TBH. May didn't with the B10 tourney last year, do you think he cares?
They had a dip there with a bad coaching hire, but if you look at the titles across the span and then where they are now, they are the better program than Kansas. Self has flamed out of the tourney the last few years and doesn't seem to know what he's doing in the portal era.
Better season - 2024 and B10 conference tournament and E8 or last year? I'll take last year any day of the week.
If there is anyone else with a claim it is Duke, as they're still humming. Three titles, seamless transition to a young coach, winning and recruiting at a high level.
The Knight comparisons only appropriate relative to era maybe. I don't suspect Hurley is choking out players in practice.
Last edited:
I agree with most of what you’re saying, but this whole “95% of a college basketball season success is determined in the tournament” idea falls pretty flat. I can determine success however I want to, it’s subjective and applying a number like 95% to it is just arbitrary. I can also tell as a baseline opinion it’s not even remotely true to people who matter (athletic directors, for one) either or else you’d have coaches like Painter and Underwood getting fired far before they made it to a F4.
Also I don’t suspect Hurley will choke out a player either, he seems like more the smarmy douchebag type to me. What wouldn’t surprise me is if one of his players ended up choking him out instead.
I'm not talking about your or my perception, I'm talking about the general audience. Can you even remember who won the ACC tournament 7 years ago? General public tunes in for the tournament, they fill their brackets out, they gamble, they go to Vegas to hang with their pals. Viewership goes up by multiples, it's where all the money is made.
Lol on Hurley - that would be hysterical. From what I've read, his kids love him. He's just a pecker on the sideline.
Ah I got ya, yeah I never really equated overall success with whether I can remember who won specific events or not. To be honest I can’t even tell you who won the national championship 7 years ago; would need to go look it up. But I can see your explanation of what it means to casual fans holding true.
They have 6 National titles since 1999.
I like to win our conference, but winning the national title is infinitely more important. Even a Final Four is way more important than a conference title.
Hate Hurley all you want. They are the best program in college basketball.
4 of the 6 NCs via coaches not named Hurley
Even if Hurley didn't exist, they'd still have more than everyone else (Duke & UNC have 3 each, I believe)
They are, and a machine at the moment. Duke is right there with endless quantities of talent.
We are in a position to lobby for a spot in the top 5, Brad needs a couple more years of it to show he can keep replenishing this euro pipeline now that other programs are on that trail.
I count 5. Would be the Okafor/Gordon, Kemba, Napier, then the two Hurley ones.
Its obviously debatable but as a fan I would prefer to be a championship contender basically every year then fluctuate between ups and downs.
Now, Hurley has UConn at the top and shows no sign of slowing down so I expect UConn to be better going forward but Self absolutely dominated the Big12 for like 15 straight years.
With the current state of the programs you obviously take UConn or Duke going forward but if you're looking at just the last 16 years I have a hard time discounting how dominant Kansas was.
My comment was really just disagreeing that UConn was far above anyone else. Duke has 3 titles and more consistent regular season success. If they didn't choke with Flagg they would have 4. Kansas has two titles of their own and a pretty unprecedented run of conference dominance in the modern era.
The way I’d define “best program” is: which program would you take stock in over the next 5x years if you had to choose?
To me that’s Duke. UConn’s talent acquisition is nowhere close.
Yup. Since 2000…
5: UConn (2004, 2011, 2014, 2023, 2025)
3: Duke (2001, 2010, 2015), UNC (2005, 2009, 2017), Florida (2006, 2007, 2025)
2: Kansas (2008, 2022), Nova (2016, 2018)
These programs are multi-natty winners this millennium.
We’re trying to be an MSU (2000), Maryland (2002), Syracuse (2003), Virginia (2019), Baylor (2021), Michigan (2026). And win one!
- - -
Illinois and Purdue are next up. And we’re definitely closer in the NIL escalation era.
Kind of depends on the fan. I would pick going 0 for 140 for 4 straight seasons if it meant a title the 5th vs 5 straight 35-0 seasons where we were knocked out in the first round.
Duke's talent acquisition has been way ahead of everyone else's since the early 90s. The only time anyone matched them was Kentucky with Cal for about a decade.
Talent acquisition is obviously extremely important, but you need more than just getting the most top 10 players every year.
.I would gladly make the tourney as a 15-loss 12-seed team, make a Cinderella 6-0 run to a title then quit watching Illini basketball.
All I’m missing in my Illini fandom is a title.
There is no substitute for a title. The value of title erodes over time. But I’m still happily rewatching Cubs 2016 (and India 2011 Cricket World Cup) highlights. And the first title is always the most important for any franchise/program. See Cleveland 2016.
Thank god May is gone.
I badly want to see Illinois win a championship but living through the post 05 Weber era and groce era, plus being a white Sox and bulls fan(post Jordan).
I would rather see a team be consistently competitive than 1 championship run followed by 4 years of being terrible.
It's just more fun if your team is competitive and you can be invested in the season. It's not fun to be checked out by January.
I know they got over the hump eventually but I always jealous of the 2015-2020 Dodgers and how they basically went to the NLCS or WS every year. Yeah it's frustrating to not finish the job but you would also get 30+ months of fun baseball compared to the White Sox basically being irrelevant the entire time. Also, you have to trust that if your program/team is that competitive then they will eventually get over the hump(unless you're the bills).
Damn credit to Michigan.
Oklahoma game. Clutch win.
Pair Betts with Mara.
Pair Brady with Morez, Chicagoland connection.
Tough fight on our hands.
Winning titles brings so much cache - only program with such recent football (undefeated too 15-0) and basketball titles. The Oracle money from Ellison coming up major trumps.