Former Illini in College Hoops

#601      

Illinigirl

I
Illinigirl
I decided to check in on how the former Illini finished their seasons.

Season Complete:
Clark - Louisville: Record 8-24; 13.2 points; 3.1 rebounds; 3.0 assists; 29 games
Epps - Georgetown: Record 9-23; 18.5 points; 2.6 rebounds; 4.2 assists; 29 games
Payne - UCF: Record 17-15; 4.3 points; 3.7 rebounds; 0.5 assists; 31 games
Miller - Arizona State: Record 14-18; 12.0 points; 3.2 rebounds; 1.6 assists; 23 games
Curbelo - Southern Miss: Record 16-16; 13.6 points; 4.3 rebounds; 3.8 assists; 12 games
Hamlin - EIU: Record 14-18; 4.7 points; 4.1 rebounds; 0.5 assists; 23 games
Lieb - ISU: Record 15-17; 3.2 points; 3.8 rebounds; 0.5 assists; 17 games

Still in Conference Tournaments:
Melendez - Georgia: Record 17-15; 9.7 points; 4.3 rebounds; 0.9 assists; 31 games
Bosmans-Verdonk - South Carolina: Record 25-6; 2.6 points; 3.1 rebounds; 0.5 assists; 16 games (hasn't played since 2/14)

South Carolina is the only projected tournament team at a 5 seed
 
#602      

Calvin

C
Calvin
Mobi said:
Given his stat line, I probably wouldn't want him to be my starting PG. Low assist/to ratio and not an efficient scorer. However, between him and Ty, there is a good chance he beats out Ty at PG in the BEGINING of the season. Nobody can answer the what ifs (except Marvel MCU) but I still don't think it would have worked out in the end if he stayed as a sophomore (i.e., I think he would have either benched or being unhappy or both.)
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I feel like folks are judging him harshly here. He was playing on an Illinois team that had culture issues, and between his dad's serious health issues and his injury, I can't fault him for his choices. Sucks that he left part way through the season, but have to admire how he stepped up for his family.
 
#603      

NarrowJ

NarrowJ
NarrowJ
Calvin said:
I feel like folks are judging him harshly here. He was playing on an Illinois team that had culture issues, and between his dad's serious health issues and his injury, I can't fault him for his choices. Sucks that he left part way through the season, but have to admire how he stepped up for his family.
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I think this is misinformed (or else the info the rest of us got was incorrect). He quit the team mid-season after a skirmish with another player caused tension/turmoil and then effectively stole money from our NIL by not officially leaving until after all payments were rec'd. It was reported by many inside the program that he had a lot to do with the culture issues (and him being involved in a fight between players kind of cements that).
 
#604      

Mobi

M
Mobi
NarrowJ said:
I think this is misinformed (or else the info the rest of us got was incorrect). He quit the team mid-season after a skirmish with another player caused tension/turmoil and then effectively stole money from our NIL by not officially leaving until after all payments were rec'd. It was reported by many inside the program that he had a lot to do with the culture issues (and him being involved in a fight between players kind of cements that).
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This. To clarify, I do believe Skyy has a chance to develop into a really nice upperclassman player. However, I also believe his issues at UI, probably due to immaturity, were real; albeit his father’s health issue was an important factor. These days, unless you are as good as Ayo/Kofi (or better) as freshmen, I rather find prep players willing to accept bench roles. A player like Skyy was like stuck in the middle. He thought he was good enough to start but he wasn’t good enough to make his team competitive as a starter.
 
#605      

the national

the national
the Front Range
the national
Calvin said:
I feel like folks are judging him harshly here. He was playing on an Illinois team that had culture issues, and between his dad's serious health issues and his injury, I can't fault him for his choices. Sucks that he left part way through the season, but have to admire how he stepped up for his family.
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This is /s, right? ..right?!

Sarcastic Oc GIF
 
#606      

Calvin

C
Calvin
NarrowJ said:
I think this is misinformed (or else the info the rest of us got was incorrect). He quit the team mid-season after a skirmish with another player caused tension/turmoil and then effectively stole money from our NIL by not officially leaving until after all payments were rec'd. It was reported by many inside the program that he had a lot to do with the culture issues (and him being involved in a fight between players kind of cements that).
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Thanks for posting.
 
#607      

One Man Fast Break

O
One Man Fast Break
NarrowJ said:
I think this is misinformed (or else the info the rest of us got was incorrect). He quit the team mid-season after a skirmish with another player caused tension/turmoil and then effectively stole money from our NIL by not officially leaving until after all payments were rec'd. It was reported by many inside the program that he had a lot to do with the culture issues (and him being involved in a fight between players kind of cements that).
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Didn't Coleman make some comment after the season about little freshmen getting promised playing time? That felt very Skyy Clark directed.
 
#608      

ptgrd23

ptgrd23
ptgrd23
Calvin said:
I feel like folks are judging him harshly here. He was playing on an Illinois team that had culture issues, and between his dad's serious health issues and his injury, I can't fault him for his choices. Sucks that he left part way through the season, but have to admire how he stepped up for his family.
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Skyy was an entitled me first player. That is problem with using NIL to recruit. You get players who are making program choice based on $$$ as opposed to whether they can be successful at that program and make the program a success.

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#609      

sacraig

sacraig
The desert
sacraig
ptgrd23 said:
Skyy was an entitled me first player. That is problem with using NIL to recruit. You get players who are making program choice based on $$$ as opposed to whether they can be successful at that program and make the program a success.

View attachment 32099
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Disagree. Some players are me first and others are great players and teammates who just want to be fairly compensated. NIL doesn't make that distinction; that's the coaches' task.
 
#610      

Mobi

M
Mobi
One Man Fast Break said:
Didn't Coleman make some comment after the season about little freshmen getting promised playing time? That felt very Skyy Clark directed.
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That’s the problem of recruiting high 4 star or 5 star players. You basically have to promise them play time and starter role. If they don’t perform in the 1st year, they probably transfer. And the worst thing is they become a team distraction. If you have multiple guys like that, it’s a serious issue.
 
#611      

ptgrd23

ptgrd23
ptgrd23
I feel bad for RJ. He never got his 3 point shot back and had a similar year at GA to last year at ILL. Not integral part of GA offense. Just stood in the corner waiting for a pass. He has good quickness and great hops. Should do more than just shoot 3's. Maybe drive to hoop 90% of time to create offense?
RJ might have been better going to mid major where he could have higher usage rate and more playing time like Pods at Santa Clara. Maybe shoot his way out the funk over a season while playing 40 minutes per game.

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#613      

Chad Fleck

Chad Fleck
Eureka, IL
Chad Fleck
One Man Fast Break said:
John Groce (Akron) beat his former team (Ohio) 65-62 in the MAC Semis. They'll play Kent State tomorrow for the MAC Championship. Looking to avenge last year's semifinal loss in the MAC tournament against Kent State. Groce and Akron made the tournament last in 2022.
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I turned that game on towards the end of it and legitimately couldn't remember which team Groce was the coach of. The fact that he coached both makes more sense to me now.
 
#616      

GrayGhost77

GrayGhost77
Centennial, CO
GrayGhost77
MustangWally said:
www.rooseveltlakers.com

Historic Season Ends In Heartbreak For Lakers

Roosevelt’s historic season ended in heartbreak Friday night as 13th-seeded Shawnee State upset the fourth-seeded Lakers 92-77 in the first round of the 2024 NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championships in Livonia, Mich.
www.rooseveltlakers.com www.rooseveltlakers.com
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Sad it ended that way but kudos to Dee on leading Roosevelt to an overall great season.
 
#621      

Illini_1105

I
Illini_1105
Yep. What I heard is the following, for those curious:

Skyy from day one wouldn’t listen to coaches about running sets and plays in practice, and would always mouth off. Mayer, a natty winner and a transfer being brought in for the culture guy, was the opposite and was a do your job or get out guy. One day in practice skyy was being a whiny baby and Mayer said if you don’t start doing your job here today I’m going to clock you. Skyy continued to go off script in practice and !!!!! and Mayer went over and socked him. After practice, skyy went to coach and said you either kick him off the team or I’m leaving, and coach said “you better toughen up” and Skyy quit later that week.

After hearing the story, it made sense to me why coach stuck it out with Mayer despite him falling off a cliff. He was rewarding the tiny piece of culture he thought remained, and it was more important to protect that in a lost season than it was to try to mix up a line up with a team that wasn’t going to go anywhere
 
#622      

Tacomallini

T
Washington State
Tacomallini
Illini_1105 said:
Yep. What I heard is the following, for those curious:

Skyy from day one wouldn’t listen to coaches about running sets and plays in practice, and would always mouth off. Mayer, a natty winner and a transfer being brought in for the culture guy, was the opposite and was a do your job or get out guy. One day in practice skyy was being a whiny baby and Mayer said if you don’t start doing your job here today I’m going to clock you. Skyy continued to go off script in practice and !!!!! and Mayer went over and socked him. After practice, skyy went to coach and said you either kick him off the team or I’m leaving, and coach said “you better toughen up” and Skyy quit later that week.

After hearing the story, it made sense to me why coach stuck it out with Mayer despite him falling off a cliff. He was rewarding the tiny piece of culture he thought remained, and it was more important to protect that in a lost season than it was to try to mix up a line up with a team that wasn’t going to go anywhere
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Did Mayer later sock himself in the face for not listening to coaches about running sets and plays?