pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
Feels like it’ll be an uphill battle vs. Arizona.
And no sightings of Moussa Kamissoko. Did he make it to campus?
I remember looking up the most 3pt attempts by frontcourt players and Illinois led that stat by a wide margin. If you are a big that wants to play on the perimeter there is no better offense to play in than ours
It’s a comfortable feeling knowing that we can compete with any blue blood these days.
Ultimately, it comes down to how serious is the prospect about development and winning.
Guessing money shouldn’t be an issue…
Ultimately, it comes down to how serious is the prospect about development and winning.
Guessing money shouldn’t be an issue…
Bowman Jr. went to UConn. Mullins was ranked near Top 10 in his class. Moussa Kamissiko is headed for a visit there.
I wouldn’t even consider Arizona a traditional blue blood given they have 1 title from 20 years ago. But they’ve landed Holt, Burries, and Peat in the last 2 recruiting cycles. They also likely lead for Wabbington.
Kansas has had a Dybantsa and Stokes.
I don’t need to even touch on Duke.
Brandon McCoy Jr. was at one point the #1 ranked 2026 prospect.
We recruited Quintin Coleman away from Wake Forest. I don’t recall if we battled a blue blood for Will.
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Two composite five star recruits doesn’t suddenly mean “we can compete with any blue blood.”
The sell to go play at an Arizona, Duke, or UConn is still measurably stronger.
2025 Rankings: https://247sports.com/season/2025-basketball/CompositeRecruitRankings/?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool
2026 Rankings:
2026 Top Basketball Recruits
The 247Sports rankings are determined by our recruiting analysts after countless hours of personal observations, film evaluation and input from our network of scouts.
247sports.com
None of these recruiting cycles saw us competing against and taking away a blue blood’s preferred 5-star or top-10 recruit.
The story has been great with NBA development outcomes with Ayo, TSJ, Will, KJ, and Keaton. But there’s also not been a blue chip frontcourt HS recruit or NBA prospect in these past 5 years since the program has consistently made the tournament.
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I would say we’ve become more competitive with the blue chip recruits. But I don’t think we’re at a stage of pulling away a primary target away from a more currently successful program like Duke, UConn, or Arizona. Even a Michigan who has brought in a McCoy Jr. and beat us out for Costello.
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Positional Size
Shooting Ability
Shooting Ability
Bowman Jr. went to UConn. Mullins was ranked near Top 10 in his class. Moussa Kamissiko is headed for a visit there.
I wouldn’t even consider Arizona a traditional blue blood given they have 1 title from 20 years ago. But they’ve landed Holt, Burries, and Peat in the last 2 recruiting cycles. They also likely lead for Wabbington.
Kansas has had a Dybantsa and Stokes.
I don’t need to even touch on Duke.
Brandon McCoy Jr. was at one point the #1 ranked 2026 prospect.
We recruited Quintin Coleman away from Wake Forest. I don’t recall if we battled a blue blood for Will.
- - -
Two composite five star recruits doesn’t suddenly mean “we can compete with any blue blood.”
The sell to go play at an Arizona, Duke, or UConn is still measurably stronger.
2025 Rankings: https://247sports.com/season/2025-basketball/CompositeRecruitRankings/?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool
2026 Rankings:
2026 Top Basketball Recruits
The 247Sports rankings are determined by our recruiting analysts after countless hours of personal observations, film evaluation and input from our network of scouts.
None of these recruiting cycles saw us competing against and taking away a blue blood’s preferred 5-star or top-10 recruit.
The story has been great with NBA development outcomes with Ayo, TSJ, Will, KJ, and Keaton. But there’s also not been a blue chip frontcourt HS recruit or NBA prospect in these past 5 years since the program has consistently made the tournament.
- - -
I would say we’ve become more competitive with the blue chip recruits. But I don’t think we’re at a stage of pulling away a primary target away from a more currently successful program like Duke, UConn, or Arizona. Even a Michigan who has brought in a McCoy Jr. and beat us out for Costello.
If we narrow the definition of 'blue blood' to basically two schools (Duke, UConn, but Arizona doesn't count due to lack of titles, etcetera) then we're just saying all of this to create a narrative, imo. If the only definition of recruiting success is beating out those two specific teams for a primary target, then 99% of college basketball is failing. There are really quite a few programs right now that are absolutely recruiting heavyweights (BYU, Louisville, etcetera) that honestly don't have blue blood 'status' and I'd probably view beating those schools out as more of a win than I would beating out North Carolina, for example. If we're defining recruiting success as 'beating Duke and UConn for recruits' then what are we really shooting for and does that completely ignore how modern recruiting and NIL actually works?
Mentioning McCoy as an example of us failing to compete with blue bloods is kind of wild because we weren't really involved there to my knowledge, and if we were, his finalists seemed to be Michigan/Arkansas/Miami/Alabama/Duke.
To your question about Riley, I believe the finalists there were Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Illinois.
I just don't think the binary "we are Duke/UConn or nothing" thinking is a healthy or accurate way to look at how we've recruited the past 2-3 seasons. Landing multiple composite five-star recruits proves the program has elevated its baseline to compete at the absolute highest level (and proven with a Final Four appearance). The development and system is a legitimate weapon against any program, whether that be a Duke/UConn or any of the other programs recruiting at an elite level in the NIL era. We are actively landing elite talent, and trying to diminish that because two very specifically chosen programs didn't personally validate the big picture just seems like blanket pessimism to me.
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
So the reason I anchored on those teams is because we’re 0-3 against UConn across 3 seasons including two tourney games. Duke blew us out in 2025. And would have been fairly favored against us in a potential Final Four matchup last year (if not for aforementioned UConn).
So when Duke is fielding two starting 5s and UConn is securing Bowman Jr. with visits from several other big names… there is a certain arms race at hand.
This program has made enough S16s, E8s, and F4s. The goal now as Brad has mentioned is a title.
Did you watch any of the offseason practice footage coming out of Duke and UConn?
Duke has not one but several players with insane pop. JBB would be a top 5 pick potentially in the 2027 if he were eligible. There might be +/- 9 NBA future pros on that team.
UConn is being talked about as the best backcourt in the game this year. No program or scheme has owned us like them. And Mullins may be the best movement 3pt shooter in the country (tailor made for UConn’s system).
To use a sprinter analogy, even if we’ve improved our 100M from 10.3 to 9.9 seconds. You’re seeing the 9.9 second athletes (Duke and UConn) improving to 9.6. Hurley outside the Clingan/Castle years didn’t build his teams with Duke/Kentucky burger boy template. He’s starting to get those guys too now. Imagine if he adds a Henry or Kamissoko to pair with Bowman Jr.
So apologies for my tunnel vision on those programs.
No apology necessary! My response was a bit misguided as I thought the narrative there was we are 0-1 in recruiting battles vs Duke and UConn and that signals concern. Short reaction after your follow up: it wasn’t at all.
I am hoping that our recent success in getting visits from these types of recruits is a positive indicator that we’re turning a corner in a big way as a program.
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
dammit, are we gonna land any of these cats?
and why won't little Willy go home?
and why won't little Willy go home?
Bumping this comment in case anyone’s heard/seen anything?
It's so nice knowing that A) I think we will, B) If we don't, it's because better options came up, and C) I truly believe that and I'm not just trying to make myself feel better.
We've come a long way from hanging on to these recruiting weekends knowing our program hung in balance. The Jawun, Brusnon, Alexander, and Snider days were fun on the board, but in hindsight, a little sad.
I'm trying to think of the last recruit we lost out on where I was concerned about the program moving forward... Maybe RayJ Dennis qualified, but EJ Liddell, I think.
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But I do miss the Sun AM report from Original Pancake House
Castle was really the only top tier recruit that Hurley got on that team. Castle was ranked 9th, Clingan was a middling 4 star.
So basically the the two best teams of recent memory(24 UConn and 26 Michigan) were not built with the Duke Burger boy template.
So why are we worried about this? Get a good freshman or two and pair them with a veteran experienced roster.