It would appear BU hired one coach for the guards and one for the bigs. Don't know Pinkins, but the Chester Frazier hire is a home run. I can already see the videos of Chet demonstrating the proper way to take a charge. And play in your face defense. Definitely a bleeds Orange and Blue guy.
Coaching Carousel
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chiefini
- Rockford, Illinois
You forgot: And greet your “favorite” competitor in the introductions with a chest bump...
Yeah development has been a huge things for us the last couple seasons. Needed to add another coach of bigs. Can’t all be about recruiting.
this is why I prefer Pinkins to Young. Now if there’s a 3rd opening, we have a lot of flexibility having an experienced coach of both guards and bigs on the way.
Geoff Alexander is experienced with both actually.
I’m stoked y’all.
Definitely not as important as it once was. Chicago is only bringing in 1-2 top 100 kids per year. Compare that to CA and FL that are churning out 10+ because of their prep schools. Hiring an assistant with ties to Florida seems like a good idea.
ILLINIShox24
Orange Krush '04 & '05
Now that a former player is on staff, the Chicago connection is the only thing for folks to linger on anymore.
TheFameProtector
- Champaign
With 2023 -- so far -- being the big exception. Not sure how much of a chance we have with the Kenwood guys with these recent AC changes though.
Seems the rise of prep schools has diminished the value of targeting a specific geographic area/region to some degree.
Pardon my ignorance but I'm gonna assume this is for HC right?
100%....that’s why it’s so insulting to the coaching staff
skyIdub
"I can't tell you. Secret."
Frazier is walking into a golden opportunity to show his recruiting ability. Lot's of excitement coming off our best season in years. Electric backcourt with ELITE defenders. The potential to have an ELITE frontcourt if Kofi returns. Incoming freshman with ELITE shooting. An ELITE new Ubben facility. Fans back in the AssemblyHallSFC.
And now he's selling his Illini. If I was any kind of a ELITE salesman, I'd be chomping at the bit to get out on that trail!
And now he's selling his Illini. If I was any kind of a ELITE salesman, I'd be chomping at the bit to get out on that trail!
Ubermensch
BOOM! Feed my ego.
Fun fact: that's the job, and a whole lot of legitimate programs have hired the guy. I'm not sure why people want to make this a thing. It's not a thing. A key part of the job description is "move to a new part of the country every few years."
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
Agree. Heck, we were lucky to have Orlando and Chin for a full 4 years.
Frazier is walking into a golden opportunity to show his recruiting ability. Lot's of excitement coming off our best season in years. Electric backcourt with ELITE defenders. The potential to have an ELITE frontcourt if Kofi returns. Incoming freshman with ELITE shooting. An ELITE new Ubben facility. Fans back in the AssemblyHallSFC.
And now he's selling his Illini. If I was any kind of a ELITE salesman, I'd be chomping at the bit to get out on that trail!
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Nice fluff piece. To be honest, I had never heard of him prior to the last page of this thread. In BU and JW I trust.
The formula to recruit top Chicago talent is pretty simple. You win with guys not from Chicago and the Chicago guys want to come. There might be a couple of exceptions (Thanks AYO!) but overall that's the path.
Thanks, this info makes me feel much better honestly. If he didn't get the HC jobs, maybe he thought the Illinois springboard wasn't springy enough. UK is low hanging fruit, takes gross incompetence or a pandemic to fail there. Just need a slight push on the right direction and they will do well. After their joke of a season, he jumps on board and they do well, throw that on the resume and HC soon to follow. Add another damn good recruit on OA's record.
...Yes, there is. Nothing done, but it's not for a recruiting role.
Opposite.
Wooo boy. Drama don't stop huh.
So let me get this straight, Payne doesn't like his position coach at Florida, leaves to come to Illinois, and now his position coach is coming to Illinois?
That's not unusual with assistant coaches. How many Kentucky fans do you think had heard of Chin Coleman before two weeks ago?
One thing Illinois should NOT do is hire another AC that has ties to one specific AAU program. Hire a coach that has ties to Chicago (attended high school there or recruited the city for another college team), but no more AAU coaches. I liked the Coleman hire, but it didn't help us with Meanstreets or Mullins.
That would be incorrect
If the Pinkins smoke is true (we'll have our big man coach), then we should go all out for Mennenga. But as I've said, if Oregon wants to keep him, it won't be easy to get him as Phil Knight has unlimited resources. Does anyone know what if any relationship the school has with Larry Ellison? I know he didn't graduate (he figured out what he wanted to do and went and did it, like Bill Gates, Michael Dell, and Steve Jobs). Would be nice to have a relationship with a person and quasi-alum who's worth over 100 billions dollars. Larry Ellison Stadium? Larry Ellison Arena when the deal with State Farm ends? We have a lot of ultra-wealthy alums, especially those who passed through our STEM disciplines.
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
This is true of a lot of jobs, honestly. If you work for a large company, you may need to relocate to a different office to move up the chain.
People very rarely stay in the same spot/job for more than a few years, so why do we hold coaches to that?
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