Former Illini in College Hoops

#1      

Tacomallini

T
Washington State
Tacomallini
-Well, Podz is in the NBA, and that was about 90% of the traffic for last year's thread.
-If former Illini are dead to you, this probably isn't the thread for you, friend.
-If you're here to cast shade Skyy Clark's way, just remember this is a family forum.
-Fun fact: Omar Payne and BBV are still playing.
To the best of my knowledge, plus a couple MIAs, here's who is suiting up for another team this year:
Andre Curbelo – Southern Miss
Jermaine Hamlin – EIU
RJ Melendez – Georgia
Brandon Lieb – ISU
Adam Miller – Arizona State. Does anyone know if he is eligible this year, or does he have to sit out?
Connor Serven - ??? Thought he transferred. Half-assed Google search wasn’t helpful. YMMV
Jaydon Epps – Georgetown
Paxton Warden – Walk-on recruiting scandal or something? Now practicing elsewhere?
Skyy Clark – Louisville
Omar Payne – UCF
Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk – South Carolina
Did I miss anyone?
 
#2      
aaeismacgychel
Tacomallini said:
-Well, Podz is in the NBA, and that was about 90% of the traffic for last year's thread.
-If former Illini are dead to you, this probably isn't the thread for you, friend.
-If you're here to cast shade Skyy Clark's way, just remember this is a family forum.
-Fun fact: Omar Payne and BBV are still playing.
To the best of my knowledge, plus a couple MIAs, here's who is suiting up for another team this year:
Andre Curbelo – Southern Miss
Jermaine Hamlin – EIU
RJ Melendez – Georgia
Brandon Lieb – ISU
Adam Miller – Arizona State. Does anyone know if he is eligible this year, or does he have to sit out?
Connor Serven - ??? Thought he transferred. Half-assed Google search wasn’t helpful. YMMV
Jaydon Epps – Georgetown
Paxton Warden – Walk-on recruiting scandal or something? Now practicing elsewhere?
Skyy Clark – Louisville
Omar Payne – UCF
Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk – South Carolina
Did I miss anyone?
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Connor Serven appears to be at Eastern Michigan. Paxton Warden looks like he's at Lewis University. Lewis is D2 ball though so not sure you're including that one.
 
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#3      
Guest
I used to keep track of many of the former U of I men's basketball players and I think I even posted something as you did here on this board but it didn't really seem to generate any enthusiasm among members of this board. Although, maybe I just dreamt that I did it. I don't know why I did it except for some reason I was just interested in where people ended up. Anyway, as far as whom to include I would say it depends. Do you (we) want to include the recent players (presumably the ones who played for BU) who went to the pros? I mean, I would kind of like to know where some of them turned up. But personally, I am more interested in their college careers. I think we know where Kofi and Trent Frasier ended up but how about Andreas Feliz or Alphonso Plummer just to mention a couple? And do we want to follow where some of the players ended up after their college careers ended? For example, apparently, Samba Kane wound up at UW Milwaukee and played there 2021-22 (although it looks as if he only played three games. I wonder why?) and I think that was the end of his eligibility. What happened to him after may be difficult to find out. By the way, Kane dyed his hair blonde according to the picture I saw when I did a search. And how far back do we want to go? For example, Matic Vesel, Greg Eboigbodin, Aaron Jordan, Leron Black? Again, personally, I would kind of like to know what happened to Jordan. I think he could have transferred out but suffered through the last few years of the Groce tenure. I always thought he would be a good fit in the Illinois basketball program. He was loyal to the orange and blue. Or should we go even further back? Seems as if that would be a lot of work.
Here are a couple of questions:
Has Jacob Grandison finally run out of eligibility? Was last year at Duke his final year? Did he go pro?
And what happened to Austin Hutcherson?
Anyway, good luck!
 
#4      
Guest
Oops, forgot two things.
Is Jalen Coleman-Lands still playing /s
And when I was looking up former players on the Fighting Illini website I went back all the way to 2015-16 and 2016-17 and there was no listing of Groce as being the head coach, only Jamal Walker as !!!'t Coach was listed. It's as if Groce has been erased from Illinois basketball lore. I wonder why they took his name off?
 
#5      
mysterio2525
Adam Miller transferred again.... Wow. I will be curious about RJ And Jayden mostly. They have lots of potential and could be studs (been said many times for RJ I know)

I am curious about skyy mostly because I believe a lot of his deficiencies (on court) could be solved by regaining speed and athleticism that may have been taken him from due to his injury. But honestly I did not see him play much before the injury.
 
#6      
Calvin
I think there will always be curiosity about the most hyped recruits. I'll probably check on El Magico and It Never Happened at some point this season.
 
#7      
Tacomallini
Guest said:
I used to keep track of many of the former U of I men's basketball players and I think I even posted something as you did here on this board but it didn't really seem to generate any enthusiasm among members of this board. Although, maybe I just dreamt that I did it. I don't know why I did it except for some reason I was just interested in where people ended up. Anyway, as far as whom to include I would say it depends. Do you (we) want to include the recent players (presumably the ones who played for BU) who went to the pros? I mean, I would kind of like to know where some of them turned up. But personally, I am more interested in their college careers. I think we know where Kofi and Trent Frasier ended up but how about Andreas Feliz or Alphonso Plummer just to mention a couple? And do we want to follow where some of the players ended up after their college careers ended? For example, apparently, Samba Kane wound up at UW Milwaukee and played there 2021-22 (although it looks as if he only played three games. I wonder why?) and I think that was the end of his eligibility. What happened to him after may be difficult to find out. By the way, Kane dyed his hair blonde according to the picture I saw when I did a search. And how far back do we want to go? For example, Matic Vesel, Greg Eboigbodin, Aaron Jordan, Leron Black? Again, personally, I would kind of like to know what happened to Jordan. I think he could have transferred out but suffered through the last few years of the Groce tenure. I always thought he would be a good fit in the Illinois basketball program. He was loyal to the orange and blue. Or should we go even further back? Seems as if that would be a lot of work.
Here are a couple of questions:
Has Jacob Grandison finally run out of eligibility? Was last year at Duke his final year? Did he go pro?
And what happened to Austin Hutcherson?
Anyway, good luck!
Click to expand...
I put up a thread last year because someone else (maybe you?) suggested it. I just looked and it made it to 36 pages over the season. Granted, probably 35 of those pages were dedicated to arguing about Podz and Podz fan fiction.
There have been "Illini in the pros" threads, but it can be hard to track down info, especially from lower-tiered foreign leagues. Anyone can post what they want, here or elsewhere but as always subject to Dan. This thread is mainly for ex-players currently on a college basketball team. The sky is the limit for wandering off topic.
Grandison played his last year at Duke. Not sure where he is now.
Last I saw, Hutcherson was picked up by a team in Switzerland but haven't seen anything since. https://basketball.eurobasket.com/S...utcherson-in-his-first-year-in-pro-basketball
 
#14      
RabidDawgClassic
As of last month, both Andre Curbelo and Adam Miller were still waiting to hear if they’ll be granted a waiver to play this year. I see nothing yet where that’s changed.

Andre Curbelo Status

From what (Coach Jay) Ladner said, the NCAA must have this waiver submitted to them from the law firm out of Jackson. They have been back and forth clarifying the information they need with the NCAA, but Ladner noted that it is “very close to being filed.” If filed soon, the NCAA should decide on Curbelo’s eligibility within a couple of weeks.

Ladner said they will prepare “like he is going to play.”

Adam Miller Status

Being a two-time transfer, Miller would have to sit out a year, but he applied for an appeal to be able to play. So far, these appeals have yet to be successful for other athletes. No football player who applied for this appeal was granted it.

However, Coach Bobby Hurley is confident that Miller will be accepted. In a one-on-one interview with CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, Hurley admitted that he thinks they will pass his waiver.

“We feel very confident that Adam Miller will get his waiver.” Hurley said, “We feel he’s very deserving of that, considering all that he’s been through. I’m not going to touch that until it’s finalized.”

Interestingly enough, RaeQuan Battle (West Virginia) and Aziz Bandaogo (Cincinnati) recently had their waivers denied. The NCAA did say it was going to crack down on multi-time transfers this year. Can’t say they weren’t warned.

Note: I haven’t found anything about Omar Payne, now on his fourth school (UCF).
 
#17      
mysterio2525
RabidDawgClassic said:
As of last month, both Andre Curbelo and Adam Miller were still waiting to hear if they’ll be granted a waiver to play this year. I see nothing yet where that’s changed.

Andre Curbelo Status

From what (Coach Jay) Ladner said, the NCAA must have this waiver submitted to them from the law firm out of Jackson. They have been back and forth clarifying the information they need with the NCAA, but Ladner noted that it is “very close to being filed.” If filed soon, the NCAA should decide on Curbelo’s eligibility within a couple of weeks.

Ladner said they will prepare “like he is going to play.”

Adam Miller Status

Being a two-time transfer, Miller would have to sit out a year, but he applied for an appeal to be able to play. So far, these appeals have yet to be successful for other athletes. No football player who applied for this appeal was granted it.

However, Coach Bobby Hurley is confident that Miller will be accepted. In a one-on-one interview with CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, Hurley admitted that he thinks they will pass his waiver.

“We feel very confident that Adam Miller will get his waiver.” Hurley said, “We feel he’s very deserving of that, considering all that he’s been through. I’m not going to touch that until it’s finalized.”

Interestingly enough, RaeQuan Battle (West Virginia) and Aziz Bandaogo (Cincinnati) recently had their waivers denied. The NCAA did say it was going to crack down on multi-time transfers this year. Can’t say they weren’t warned.

Note: I haven’t found anything about Omar Payne, now on his fourth school (UCF).
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Didn't essentially Adam sit out his first year as a transfer because of his ACL tear? Seems like a viable excuse to allow the waiver to me
 
#18      
RabidDawgClassic
mysterio2525 said:
Didn't essentially Adam sit out his first year as a transfer because of his ACL tear? Seems like a viable excuse to allow the waiver to me
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Yeah, but that’s at his second school. This is his third.

I have no idea how the NCAA will rule, but based on all the other cases in both football and basketball, I’d say Miller’s chances aren’t good.
 
#20      
ChiTown
Tacomallini said:
That would be my guess. UCF lists him (and a couple other players) as Fifth Year for their class, rather than Graduate Student. A bit nebulous, but I can't imagine any other scenario where he'd be immediately eligible.

2024-25 Men's Basketball

2024-25 Men's Basketball
ucfknights.com ucfknights.com
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They have a old squad too with 5 super seniors and 2 seniors With couple of juniors.
 
#22      
john1952
Calvin said:
I think there will always be curiosity about the most hyped recruits. I'll probably check on El Magico and It Never Happened at some point this season.
Click to expand...
What about Jeremy. We started hearing about him in eighth grade. :)
 
#23      
DocMorgan
SKane said:
Mark Smith has played in Germany and is now in Spain.

en.wikipedia.org

Mark Smith (basketball) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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