I believe he was doing an MBA at UofI. So if he got into Duke's MBA program he will be doing quite well for himself.
Former Illini in College Hoops
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Captain 14
- The Last Best Place
What's with the shades Belo was wearing today? Weird. Oh wait, future must be that bright!
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
He has light sensitivity issues from his concussion.
Captain 14
- The Last Best Place
My bad
Jake was not in the plans of UI/BU imho. Worked out well for all. BU needed to transition to CoHawk at the 4 and give new players playing time.
I live in Spokane, WA so get a steady diet of Zags games. Watching the game tonight against Santa Clara and see that Podziemski has had a breakout year for the Broncos. Great to see although I have to wonder if he was still an Illini ......
www.spokesman.com
Gonzaga-Santa Clara key matchup: Broncos guard Brandin Podziemski enjoying breakout season
There wasn't much fanfare when Brandin Podziemski transferred to Santa Clara after seeing minimal playing time last year as a freshman at Illinois. Podziemski's anonymity ended in the season opener. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound guard had 30 points, nine rebounds, five steals and two assists in an...
www.spokesman.com
BingoTo be clear, I don't think anyone with inside knowledge claimed that he called players a MFer. In my mind, the "MFer" is more of an exasperated interjection that BU yells after someone messes up in practice.
As Bobby Knight taught us, the Fis one of the most versatile words in the English language. It's not so much the word, it's how you use it.
Not so sure it worked out so great for Jake. He was promised a starting spot at Duke. He’s not playing a lot these days.
Podziemski was not run off. He left to get more minutes. He went to a level where he could average the sixth most shots per game in the country. He’s done well in that setting. Mark Alstork averaged over 20 at that level but barely scored at Illinois. Night in and night out, competition level matters. Doesn’t mean you can’t have good nights against good teams but you don’t have to play them every night.
Curbelo was always quirky but the traumatic brain injury has changed him a lot. Not the same guy he was his freshman year. The concussion was a bad one. I was at the exhibition game and you could clearly hear the crack of his head on the floor. The fact that he still wears shaded glasses to play is telling.
His NIL price was too high.
The concussion situation with Curbelo is really unfortunate. Certainly get Antonio Brown vibes from him and it’s hard not to consider what could have been should it not have happened. 2 years of natural or Ayo like growth on what Curbelo was as a freshman and we have a player of the year candidate in him this year.
Instead…
Letting Podz leave was a mistake love his game. Also is a great kid great family exactly what brad wants whole thing still confuses me honestly.
Re Curbelo: I think I've said it on here before. I was at the exhibition game where he got it. It sounded like a watermelon got dropped from the top of the stadium. I was very surprised when he came back in. Obviously that was not the right decision in hindsight.
His profile on Duke's website says that he's enrolled in Duke's continuing studies program. He got his masters in business management from GIES back in May 2022.
Illinois did not push him out. How can you keep a kid who wants to leave for more time. He takes far more shots than any player on Illinois. 6th most in the country. He wasn’t getting that many shots at Illinois. If he had stayed and been patient, he would have been a help to the current team…on the court at least.
Well, it's chicken and egg. Is "You're not gonna play here" us pushing him out or him deciding to leave to get more PT?
Hindsight for sure. I doubt anyone would have been him in the rotation at the beginning of the year. We have a talented, deep team....now obviously it isn't working out quite like we'd have liked.
We could definitely see him in the rotation and helping now, but probably not before the season....and he probably saw that...and good for him!
Goillinikobd
- Southeastern US
Ok, so we now have one data point on what he can and will do against P5 top 20 competition.
Regrets?
Definitely the profile of a player that people would get excited about if he was mentioned in the portal. Too bad it didn’t work out
And ‘letting him leave’ is not the same as pushing him out. Sounds like I might be a bigger Podz fan than some on here, and that’s fine. But give me a third of his SC production here and he’s getting significant minutes on the Illini this year.
Just really feel this was a huge loss, and I said that here long before any of our troubles this season, and before he went off in SC.
You have a better eye for talent than I do. I thought he had a ways to go before becoming a key rotational piece which is why I don't blame the staff for letting him get away. He really, IMO, didn't even show many flashes of great play last year. But he's sure proving me wrong.
Wish players stuck around a little longer now days. One of the pleasures of college sports is watching players on your team develop over 3-4 years.
I don't think they "let him leave". Players no longer need permission.
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