Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

[wc_illini]

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).

That's all I could think of while reading your entire post. I'm not a Bills fan, but I've suffered through plenty of heartbreak from many teams across different sports/levels falling just short. I've been envious of the Marlins in that regard, though I know the grass is not greener over there.

It's obviously better to be relevant that terrible, but once you reach a certain point, a lack of a championship is a hard thing to get past.

 

[March2TheArch]

That's all I could think of while reading your entire post. I'm not a Bills fan, but I've suffered through plenty of heartbreak from many teams across different sports/levels falling just short. I've been envious of the Marlins in that regard, though I know the grass is not greener over there.

It's obviously better to be relevant that terrible, but once you reach a certain point, a lack of a championship is a hard thing to get past.

Illini in 2005. The Bears in 2007. The Illini again 2026. At some point the pain/trauma with recurring booster shots every 5-10 years gets to be too much.

Being checked out of the Bulls post-Jordan has almost been a reprieve to enjoy watching Kobe, LeBron and the Dubz plus all the recent parity in the NBA.

But having to endure the smugness of Duke/UNC in the 00s-10s to the more recent flavors of Hurley and May… it gnaws away. The disassociation starts to rise because you wonder what is it all for.

Michigan, UConn (pre-2023), and the Red Sox especially infuriate me. They’re largely irrelevant for large stretches of time then come out of nowhere for a periodic (sometimes hyper-dominant) title run.

At least with Duke, UNC, and KU (and the Dodgers in baseball) it’s comprehensible. They stack talent year-over-year like no other. But UConn 2023 wasn’t even a top 4 seed. Michigan 2026 came out of nowhere picking up previously unheralded players like Morez, Mara, and Cadeau.

When do we capture lighting in a bottle? I’m sure Purdue 2024 hurts that much more for them. Any other year they waltz to a title behind Edey and Braden.

The 2016 Cubs title is having to do some major lifting to endure the never-ending heartbreak and futility in other areas of State of Illinois fandom.

 

[ChiTown]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2099162661745238201

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.

Wondering what negative Illini “insider story “ was told by Rez.

 

[EmeraldCityIllini]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2099162661745238201

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.

Meh. It’s Mike Boynton.

If Pettigrew wants to go there because Morez Johnson was in a photo shoot, we’ll just turn some other guard into a lotto pick.

 

[PepeSilvia]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2099167774635376896

Thank god May is gone.

I want Betts.

Pettigrew, Betts, Kitt incoming class would be awesome.

Pair Betts with Mirk inside and then let the chips fall with any other potential returners.

 

[HoopsterMan]

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.

Quite the gap for Duke - will be 12 years, biggest since K started.

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.

Theory is that they attract talent, but young & soft that get squishy when it matters. Look at what they couldn't win with: Zion, Flagg, Tatum, Banchero. Superstuds.

UConn on the other hand, builds soldiers.

It is a good question in terms of next 5 years. On one hand, you have a proven coach who is humming right now, would have had his third title in 3 years if not for a crazy talented Michigan team. On the other, you have a young coach in Scheyer who has busted the last 3 tournaments, with super talented teams and NPOY's, number one picks.

Right now those two are neck and neck. Scheyer seems to be making some adjustments in roster this year with a more senior team, lot of depth. Hurley is going after a ton of 5 stars this year, which hasn't been his bag. Maybe he's hedging in that direction.

It's still hard for me to ignore Hurley has gone 18-2 in his last 20 tourney games and covered in 19 of them. It's a coaches sport. Scheyer lost to them last year and Duke had much more talent.

 

[HoopsterMan]

Illini in 2005. The Bears in 2007. The Illini again 2026. At some point the pain/trauma with recurring booster shots every 5-10 years gets to be too much.

Being checked out of the Bulls post-Jordan has almost been a reprieve to enjoy watching Kobe, LeBron and the Dubz plus all the recent parity in the NBA.

But having to endure the smugness of Duke/UNC in the 00s-10s to the more recent flavors of Hurley and May… it gnaws away. The disassociation starts to rise because you wonder what is it all for.

Michigan, UConn (pre-2023), and the Red Sox especially infuriate me. They’re largely irrelevant for large stretches of time then come out of nowhere for a periodic (sometimes hyper-dominant) title run.

At least with Duke, UNC, and KU (and the Dodgers in baseball) it’s comprehensible. They stack talent year-over-year like no other. But UConn 2023 wasn’t even a top 4 seed. Michigan 2026 came out of nowhere picking up previously unheralded players like Morez, Mara, and Cadeau.

When do we capture lighting in a bottle? I’m sure Purdue 2024 hurts that much more for them. Any other year they waltz to a title behind Edey and Braden.

The 2016 Cubs title is having to do some major lifting to endure the never-ending heartbreak and futility in other areas of State of Illinois fandom.

Morez, Mara and Cadeau weren't exactly unheralded - Mara and Cadeau were ranked in the teens coming out of HS, Morez was around 30. They simply weren't being coached to their strengths and May did. That was a masterful job by him. May would have been right there with Duke & UConn if he stuck.

UConn was a 4 seed in 2023. Weird team. Never lost OOC.

You forget the SF Giants with Boche.

I feel pretty good about this years team. I really like Coleman and I'm grown warm on Vaaks. This team could be special. I think there are a handful of teams that could obviously stand in their way, but they have as good a chance as anyone. Duke, Florida, UConn, Texas.

 

[skyIdub]

He's the best the sport has. He's quirky, fiery and he rubs opponent's team's fans the right way, but he gets results and that's all that really matters. I, personally, think having a villain is good for any sport. It adds to what makes the game great in a time where many are trying to kill it.

He coaches hard, but his peers(including Brad) respect the heck out of him and vice versa. As always, fans aren't privy to these people's lives outside of sports. By all accounts, he's a good dude. We, as fans, don't like that he keeps beating the piss out of us, but that's not his problem to deal with.

He has my eyes rolling consistently, but I'd take the nattys and the annual visits to the Final Four in a heartbeat.

This is a lot of words to define douchecopter.

 

[Second place is 1st loser]

This is a lot of words to define a multiple natty winning douchecopter.

FIFY

He is D-Baggary at its finest, but his peers respect him and vice versa. He and Brad have a great relationship.

 

[Kendall Gill’s Uncle]

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.

I see this differently. He can definitely be crazy and cocky, but I think he can control himself when he wants/needs to.

 

[Det_Illini_fan]

Illini in 2005. The Bears in 2007. The Illini again 2026. At some point the pain/trauma with recurring booster shots every 5-10 years gets to be too much.

Being checked out of the Bulls post-Jordan has almost been a reprieve to enjoy watching Kobe, LeBron and the Dubz plus all the recent parity in the NBA.

But having to endure the smugness of Duke/UNC in the 00s-10s to the more recent flavors of Hurley and May… it gnaws away. The disassociation starts to rise because you wonder what is it all for.

Michigan, UConn (pre-2023), and the Red Sox especially infuriate me. They’re largely irrelevant for large stretches of time then come out of nowhere for a periodic (sometimes hyper-dominant) title run.

At least with Duke, UNC, and KU (and the Dodgers in baseball) it’s comprehensible. They stack talent year-over-year like no other. But UConn 2023 wasn’t even a top 4 seed. Michigan 2026 came out of nowhere picking up previously unheralded players like Morez, Mara, and Cadeau.

When do we capture lighting in a bottle? I’m sure Purdue 2024 hurts that much more for them. Any other year they waltz to a title behind Edey and Braden.

The 2016 Cubs title is having to do some major lifting to endure the never-ending heartbreak and futility in other areas of State of Illinois fandom.

I should point out though that State of Illinois fandoms include the Cardinals, and they’ve experienced a lot of success in the timeframe we’re discussing. Just saying.

 

[Grandpa]

I should point out though that State of Illinois fandoms include the Cardinals, and they’ve experienced a lot of success in the timeframe we’re discussing. Just saying.

They aren't an Illinois team. Rooting for them would be like rooting for a different country in the Olympics.

 

[PepeSilvia]

Quite the gap for Duke - will be 12 years, biggest since K started.


Theory is that they attract talent, but young & soft that get squishy when it matters. Look at what they couldn't win with: Zion, Flagg, Tatum, Banchero. Superstuds.

UConn on the other hand, builds soldiers.

It is a good question in terms of next 5 years. On one hand, you have a proven coach who is humming right now, would have had his third title in 3 years if not for a crazy talented Michigan team. On the other, you have a young coach in Scheyer who has busted the last 3 tournaments, with super talented teams and NPOY's, number one picks.

Right now those two are neck and neck. Scheyer seems to be making some adjustments in roster this year with a more senior team, lot of depth. Hurley is going after a ton of 5 stars this year, which hasn't been his bag. Maybe he's hedging in that direction.

It's still hard for me to ignore Hurley has gone 18-2 in his last 20 tourney games and covered in 19 of them. It's a coaches sport. Scheyer lost to them last year and Duke had much more talent.

Will be curious to see how Hurley manages without Murray.

Murray supposedly designed the offense. Now, Hurley is a good coach, can recruit, and has resources but other teams will catch up.

Hes obviously coached the offense for years and worked with Murray but it will be interesting to see if he can continue to innovate or if they end up taking a step back.

I agree that Duke is often times to young but sometimes that simply won't matter with the amount of talent they have. The Flagg team losing basically took everything possible going wrong in the final 5 minutes.