Illini Basketball

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#126      
Losing Epps is a MAJOR MAJOR blow. Huge indictment on the Underwood regime. No two ways about it. That's a guy in three years that you an easily see as being one of those "Senior Guards you win with in March", making plays and knocking off some team with a great 7 footer.

Happy portal hunting, Brad.
I am pretty certain we will be brining in an upgrade over Epps (And I really like Jayden's game). Writing was on the wall at the end of the year. He was pouting on the bench and not cheering for his teammates. Great player but may be good for both sides to move on. Our team next year will be better than this year by the end of April
 
#129      
Having guys on the team that want to be here and buy in to the culture and the type of basketball the team strives to play is better than a disgruntled but more talented guy on paper. Each team left playing is less talented on paper by recruiting ranks than this past year’s Illini team. Onto the next, and hopefully the replacements for the guys leaving this year are happy to be an Illini rather than motivated by NIL.
 
#130      
2 talented guards in 2020 recruiting class, 2 guards that didn't end up with Illinois

2 talented guards in 2022, 2 guards that didn't end up with Illinois

At some point, there's a trend here.
If you say it enough it must be true. What tournament team would Epps have started on besides Illinois? I understand that Underwood gives tough love but has anyone ever heard him badmouth a player publicly?
 
#131      

JJE

Bethalto, IL
Not sure how the ins and outs of how NIL works, but seems like some of these guys this year got paid then went into cruise control. Hopefully Underwood weeds that out on the current roster and potential transfers.
 
#133      
I think eventually teams will make NIL deals multi year agreements and/or back loaded to avoid a skyy situation, or to a lesser extent, guys getting paid then mailing it in or transferring anyway the next year.
Not sure how the ins and outs of how NIL works, but seems like some of these guys this year got paid then went into cruise control. Hopefully Underwood weeds that out on the current roster and potential transfers.
 
#136      

ChiefGritty

Chicago, IL
I am pretty certain we will be brining in an upgrade over Epps (And I really like Jayden's game). Writing was on the wall at the end of the year. He was pouting on the bench and not cheering for his teammates. Great player but may be good for both sides to move on. Our team next year will be better than this year by the end of April
The issue is that the resources dedicated to HS recruiting (thinking specifically about the makeup of the staff) start to become difficult to justify if you keep losing very talented first year players who project as core contributors going forward.

If this is going to by nature be a portal reshuffling job every year, I think you need to build with that in mind. And if you don't intend to build that way but it keeps happening organically, that's time for some introspection.

Like, we're going to be having this conversation about one of Hansberry and DGL next year. Not a question mark at the end of that sentence, a period.
 
#137      
I think Epps could be an instant offense type player but he couldn’t play defense against bigger guards. If he doesn’t want to be here, next….

The bigger question with NIL, as it applies more to a Skye type player, do you get paid all up front, half up front half at seasons end, or monthly? Seems like a legit discussion we should have moving forward.
 
#138      

ChiefGritty

Chicago, IL
The issue is that the resources dedicated to HS recruiting (thinking specifically about the makeup of the staff) start to become difficult to justify if you keep losing very talented first year players who project as core contributors going forward.

If this is going to by nature be a portal reshuffling job every year, I think you need to build with that in mind. And if you don't intend to build that way but it keeps happening organically, that's time for some introspection.

Like, we're going to be having this conversation about one of Hansberry and DGL next year. Not a question mark at the end of that sentence, a period.
By the way, the future of "cheating in recruiting" is not paying HS players, it's going over the line in recruiting players on other college teams who are not in the portal. "Tampering" as they say in the NBA. That's the direction all of the incentives point.
 
#139      
I think Epps could be an instant offense type player but he couldn’t play defense against bigger guards. If he doesn’t want to be here, next….

The bigger question with NIL, as it applies more to a Skye type player, do you get paid all up front, half up front half at seasons end, or monthly? Seems like a legit discussion we should have moving forward.
Ohio state paid Quinn Ewers over $1M and he had no intention of ever playing a snap for them.
 
#140      
Look, I get you're pretty sour on Underwood. I also get Epps is a talent, and I really wish I would have stayed. With that said, Brad gave Epps the keys and Epps did well and still wanted to move on, allegedly because Brad yells too much? Ayo, Trent, Kofi and countless other players who Epps should be looking up to could deal with it no problem ... even Dain, who it was rumored didn't like Big Brad's yelling, is coming back!

I wish Epps had stayed, but he doesn't want to be here. This year pretty clearly showed us that when talent exists without chemistry, we are worse off than slightly less talent and more chemistry. Do I wish Epps would have stayed in theory? Yes. Do I wish he would have stayed even if unhappy? NO. It unfortunately wasn't a fit, I guess, and I'm ready to move on and trust Brad in the portal.
Are players who commit to BU (or even an assistant coach) aware of BU's style?

Maybe asking too much of them with their busy lives, I wonder if Ayo and Trent could reach out to these commits and give them the rundown.
 
#142      
According to 247, Indiana and Minnesota are the only schools to have more transfers out over the last two years.

I'll let everyone else argue over what that means exactly. I just looked the numbers up because I was curious.
 
#143      
According to 247, Indiana and Minnesota are the only schools to have more transfers out over the last two years.

I'll let everyone else argue over what that means exactly. I just looked the numbers up because I was curious.
in the big ten or total?
 
#145      
According to 247, Indiana and Minnesota are the only schools to have more transfers out over the last two years.

I'll let everyone else argue over what that means exactly. I just looked the numbers up because I was curious.
Indiana had a coaching change where they purged out Archie's guys and got a lot better as a program. The 2022-23 Hoosiers had very little turnover (77.2 % of minutes and 83.6 % of scoring returned from the prior season) firmly in the "portal era" and while being slightly disappointing, did get a 4 seed.

Minnesota... well, nobody wants to be Minnesota.

I think this shows that it firmly is a problem, even in the "current era".
 
#148      
You mean the trend where 1600 players from 360 schools are gonna enter the transfer portal?
Bill Murray Reaction GIF
 
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