Illini Basketball 2024-2025
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Joel Goodson
- how was I to know, she was with the Russians too?
Ty is without a doubt one of the leaders hence his trip to media days with Brad and Kylan. But this team is filled with winners….take Will Riley’s comments in his last interview….guys our highest ranked recruit ever and he starts it by saying he just wants to do whatever coach asks of him to help the team win.
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
Ok, I have tried to watch what I can to understand why the national media and others are saying that Purdont deserves a top 10 ranking. Yes, Smith VG PG. Loyer is a flopper that can hit 3s but a defensive liability. Kaufman Renn a good athlete and rebounder. But beyond that we’re gonna crown Heidi as the next great bucket getter??? Who else is anything beyond a solid BIG player? Another tall freshman? What else is new? Please tell me what I am missing! Indy? 0440? Anyone? Painter is a good coach, not Coach Wooden.
This article says after week 6 the AP poll has some predictive value with respect to who might win the tournament. https://johngasaway.com/2019/12/10/...f-these-12-teams-will-win-the-national-title/.
ESPN+ put out a similar article last year in Dec., but I'm too lazy to find it again and prefer not to drive traffic to them.
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This is probably a better indicator of how the season will go than any secret scrimmage box score. That being said, can’t wait for the Ole Miss game.
Highest ranked recruit since Dee Brown in 2002. Highest ever? Nah
Great to have him, though
I agree.
Last year when Edey was off, the rest of the team seldom had answers, in the few games I watched.
PU built their team and system around Edey.
Same thing we did with Kofi.
Our adjusting when Kofi left was a bit rough, and iirc, our I think our horses then were better than PU's now.
But I could be mis-remembering...
I'm not a gambling man, but I think PU is going to struggle, at least at the start, possibly the whole season.
Not highest ever, but he is higher ranked than Dee. Rivals had Dee at 19, Riley's at 12 (after reclass)...
How embarrassing! Butler scored 45 points and we didn't score a single bucket. But,
the good news is they aren't a Seventh Grade team and they didn't drop a hundred on us.
Would think frosh would see more playing time much as early season cupcakes. Time for testing, role experiments, etc. Indicates good frosh but not predictor of season averages.
I believe he is the highest in the RSCI era (1998 to now). Any rankings before then would've just been out of a magazine or some such?
Regardless, it doesn't detract from OP's point.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Obvi that BU commissioned Butler to produce that video reinforcing his claim that the Illini can’t play defense to stop a bunch of 12 yr olds.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Yeah there were various sources. Hoop Scoop, Parade, USA Today, etc.
Marcus Liberty was the #1 recruit in the country in 1987 by all sources.
The thing Riley certainly is is our first bona-fide consensus no-doubt 5-star since Dee. Frustratingly the reclass means he's not a McDonald's All-American, but alas.
We've had a bunch of guys that were top 25 here or there, got invited to this or that HS all star game, but Riley is the first since Dee that's firmly in that 5-star echelon, and 247 (which only goes back to the 2003 class) accordingly lists him as our top recruit ever.
(KJ is still better, lol)
Not that it really matters, but I'm convinced we are blacklisted from that damn McDonald's All-American game
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Jereme Richmond made it!
It's no surprise in Riley's case, he wasn't a member of the 2024 class when the teams were selected.
Joel Goodson
- how was I to know, she was with the Russians too?
ugh, just a repost of old material. sorry
I think the Ben Humrichous takeaway is a fair one based on the clips. He was projected to be a minus defender based on advanced stats out of the transfer window, and it does appear Butler was getting after him. He seems to be a hell of a shooter, but he will likely be a weak link defensively for us this season so I am interested to see his progression and Brad's utilization of him. Obviously they are much much much different players but I wonder if Brad will treat Ben somewhat similarly to Alfonso Plummer in getting a 30mpg share or if he'll have time reduced accordingly
I’m expecting more 90-87 games this season as a whole
sacraig
- The desert
If BH's defensive deficiency is noticed by this board, you can bet it is by opposing coaches, especially B1G coaches. Unfortunately, it will be a factor in his playing time....if there is a good option of which we currently have little knowledge. Booth would seem to be, but lockdown defense against B1G frontcourt stars is not something that you can buy at the convenience store down the street. MJ is also an option, but who knows how he will fit in the offense? Much depends on Tomi's being able to play and his desire, ability, and skills to defend. Just part of the intrigue of how this team will grow and problems to be solved along the way.
Sleepers also posted another video about the recent scrimmage recently but it isn’t so much about the scrimmage as their admiration for Illinois social media and video team. The guys say that Illinois's social media and video team is the best in the country. And that the media dept. is going to drop a weekly behind-the-scenes show about Illinois basketball. Presumably on YouTube. I am just going to include the URL link since it is probably not that compelling for many but may appeal to some. I thought it was good but I am easily entertained.
Illinois drops a defensive highlight tape
The title may be a little misleading, although the Sleepers guys have seen the defensive highlight tape, but they didn’t show it, and I am wondering why it hasn’t been posted here. They also mention a Will Riley tape they received, but again, they didn’t show it in this video.
Illinois drops a defensive highlight tape
The title may be a little misleading, although the Sleepers guys have seen the defensive highlight tape, but they didn’t show it, and I am wondering why it hasn’t been posted here. They also mention a Will Riley tape they received, but again, they didn’t show it in this video.
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
BillyBob1
- Champaign
We beat them something to 45!
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