Also every team needs role players. And we aren’t Duke so our role players aren’t going to be 5 stars. I like the strategy of taking these developmental kids. Will likely be some attrition each year but can also find the next Jake Davis, and, if you’re lucky, maybe a Pryce Sanfort. And you should have enough continuity to keep your culture going/have productive practices because not everyone is brand new.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
Yeah I think this was more the point I was making. So long as they first reach our level of quality. Then take them from a rival.
This is ignorant to how IL has built their rosters. You just listed the 3rd, 2nd, 12th, & 48th player. Those are high level players you take if the staff like them for the right $ amount.
But there are no more walk-ons and there are limited resources. We're not getting 15 top 100 players every year.
If you can get a 10th player on our roster that would be 4th on NW you don't let that stop you. By your logic we shouldn't have taken Jake Davis, the 379th ranked transfer who just started down the stretch for a FF team or Keaton F***ing Wagler the 150th ranked prep recruit who was just a top 5 pick.
Smart folks know that it's not about the name on the jersey, it's about the players game and willingness to play hard.
Last edited:
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
that's a bingo!
Agreed.
I recall us beating out Minnesota and Murray State for a kid not so long ago… Long-term project type… Turned out okay. Like, All-American as a true freshman, okay.
No one bats 1.000, but our coaching staff has been right about a lot more guys than they’ve been wrong about.
Jake Davis is also a very important player (recruited from the same contexts the OP is describing).
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
I’d like taking a kid away from Northwestern for sure
it will always be the Loosiers for me (dates me, lol). preferably a native Loosier. nothing better than sticking it to that fanbase
some of those nitwits actually thought they were dunking on us with Goode.
Dropping 30 on them in their house and being the final nail in the coffin on getting Woodson fired was so cathartic after the !!!! talking about Goode
Feel like our developmental players can all start at Northwestern their 2nd year these days.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
I’m no insider (or am I??) but I have to think Fagbemi was recruited specifically to assume the role that a typical walk-on would. This is a kid who had no major offers or even any mid-majors either — the type of guy who will stick around four four years, is thrilled to get a scholarship at the University of Illinois and who can be a valuable resource at practice. He’s the perfect #14thor15thman
None of those guys besides Kamissoko have commited elsewhere.
Wabbington is from Arizona. Arizona has been on him the earliest and the most given the in-state connection. He recently visited and didn't commit. That probably leaves some possibility for the Illini. I think that's an 70 Arizona / 20 Illinois / 10 Indiana probability situation. He very clearly wants to play more in the mould of a Cam Boozer (a playmaking 4) than a traditional 5 center. I'm not sure if Wabbington will wait till Spring 2027 to see how 2027-28 rosters start to take shape.
Betts and Lusakueno are for the time being 2028 recruits. But like Pettigrew, all the visits they're making this year suggests they're like re-classing. I don't think either of these recruits has any early favorite (ala Arizona for Wabbington).
So I think it's early to say we've struck out any besides Kamissoko.
A couple of those guys are 2028 targets. I think the days of a lot of those type guys committing before their senior year are over.
Currently, only about half of the top 50 247 composite recruits for 2027 are committed. (Only 1 of the Top 10)
None of the top 100 for 2028 are, at least that I saw.
Too much guesswork on how rosters will look in 18 months.
Wabbington is the only one to pay attention to right now. It’s a battle. Think we’ve done a good job of closing the gap
Not Pettigrew!?!? Time to panic! /s
I heard someone say that if you flipped when Deon and Kofi were drafted, they both probably would have been NBA stars. One too early for his skills, one too late.