Illini Coaching Staff

#501      

Combo

C
Combo
combes said:
And Larry Johnson was number one by some gurus.
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Yup.

And the L. Hamilton stuff continues to be misreported here. Lowell was ranked number one after his JR year by Street & Smith's. However, after his SR year of H.S., he had fallen to the 15-20 level by everyone (including Street & Smith's).

Fans tend to cherry pick info that supports a certain viewpoint, but is often misleading. Sometimes things are repeated so much, they become accepted as fact by many.
 
#503      

Second and Chalmers

S
Second and Chalmers
PNWIllini said:
Both have decommitted from UW now. The UW program is in free-fall following Romar's dismissal.
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They went 9-22 with the #1 player in the best draft in a generation this year. They haven't made the tournament since 2011, despite like 5 first rounders since then.

They aren't in free-fall, they hit the ground years ago. Now Mike Hopkins will try to build an actual program there, not an AAU way station.
 
#504      

BananaShampoo

B
Captain 'Paign
Phoenix, AZ
BananaShampoo
Mike said:
Pretty sure some of the "kinetics majors" are still the assistants.
My kid used to work with out with the head assistant like 5 years ago.
Hehe. At a powerlifting meet in Chicago with my boy right now. ;)
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Illini Powerlifting 4 life! 👍
 
#506      

MadSeason

MadSeason
MadSeason
Combo said:
Yup.

And the L. Hamilton stuff continues to be misreported here. Lowell was ranked number one after his JR year by Street & Smith's. However, after his SR year of H.S., he had fallen to the 15-20 level by everyone (including Street & Smith's).

Fans tend to cherry pick info that supports a certain viewpoint, but is often misleading. Sometimes things are repeated so much, they become accepted as fact by many.
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http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/illini-sports/mens-basketball/1998-11-11/credit-collins-assist.html


Collins is the one who landed Anderson, a McDonald's All-American, from Simeon. And Lowell Hamilton, Street & Smith's No. 1 player in the nation, from Providence-St. Mel. And Marcus Liberty, USA Today's High School Player of the Year, from Chicago King. And Gill, a News-Gazette All-Stater, from Rich Central.
 
#507      

combes

C
combes
MadSeason said:
http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/illini-sports/mens-basketball/1998-11-11/credit-collins-assist.html


Collins is the one who landed Anderson, a McDonald's All-American, from Simeon. And Lowell Hamilton, Street & Smith's No. 1 player in the nation, from Providence-St. Mel. And Marcus Liberty, USA Today's High School Player of the Year, from Chicago King. And Gill, a News-Gazette All-Stater, from Rich Central.
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Your post matches up with combo's post. Street and Smith's was a preseason magazine. Hamilton was ranked #1 by them before his senior year based on his junior season. By the end of his senior year, Lowell was no where near number one in any recruiting services. The News Gazette correctly said that Lowell was #1 in Street and Smith's. Combo is correct when he says Lowell subsequently dropped in the rankings.
 
#509      

TownieMatt

T
CU Expat
Chicago
TownieMatt
gbfn4life said:
Mike Boynton to become OK St head coach. Safe to say he won't be an assistant here
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Mentioned this in the other thread, but to me Boynton's hiring suggests Lamont Evans is indeed joining the staff here. Evans was BWood's no 2 at OkSt so I can't imagine he would have been leapfrogged.

Also listened to Joe Henrickson on No Shot Clock mentioned that BWood's staff included "his OkSt guy". Not sure if he has that info or if he's just assuming.
 
#510      

ChiefIllini

C
ChiefIllini
gbfn4life said:
Mike Boynton to become OK St head coach. Safe to say he won't be an assistant here
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hey, never say never. Winthop's HC took the UMass job like two days ago and he reneged and is back at Winthrop. I think the narrative of stealing back to back OSU HC's would be pretty amazing.
 
#511      

Combo

C
Combo
combes said:
Your post matches up with combo's post. Street and Smith's was a preseason magazine. Hamilton was ranked #1 by them before his senior year based on his junior season. By the end of his senior year, Lowell was no where near number one in any recruiting services. The News Gazette correctly said that Lowell was #1 in Street and Smith's. Combo is correct when he says Lowell subsequently dropped in the rankings.
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Yup. And the relevant ranking is where a kid is when he leaves HS and/or starts college. We all know how irrelevant M. Shaw's top 10 rating as a HS Fr was.

Lowell's was not as extreme a case as Shaw's. But he was nowhere near a "#1 player" when he left H.S. In fact, he was not even considered the best recruit in the state of IL (Ed Horton had passed him).
 
#512      

MadSeason

MadSeason
MadSeason
combes said:
Your post matches up with combo's post. Street and Smith's was a preseason magazine. Hamilton was ranked #1 by them before his senior year based on his junior season. By the end of his senior year, Lowell was no where near number one in any recruiting services. The News Gazette correctly said that Lowell was #1 in Street and Smith's. Combo is correct when he says Lowell subsequently dropped in the rankings.
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His post indicates a Street and Smiths postseason ranking which I haven't seen. Regardless it seems odd to quibble over the eliteness of a recruit who was a McDonalds All American, Parade First Team All American and at some point Street and Smiths #1 Recruit overall. But to each their own
 
#513      

MadSeason

MadSeason
MadSeason
Combo said:
Yup. And the relevant ranking is where a kid is when he leaves HS and/or starts college. We all know how irrelevant M. Shaw's top 10 rating as a HS Fr was.

Lowell's was not as extreme a case as Shaw's. But he was nowhere near a "#1 player" when he left H.S. In fact, he was not even considered the best recruit in the state of IL (Ed Horton had passed him).
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Huge difference between Shaw and Hamilton to the point where it isn't in same ballpark. Freshman year top 10 vs a guy who even if he did drop still was McDonalds and Parade All American
 
#514      

combes

C
combes
MadSeason said:
His post indicates a Street and Smiths postseason ranking which I haven't seen. Regardless it seems odd to quibble over the eliteness of a recruit who was a McDonalds All American, Parade First Team All American and at some point Street and Smiths #1 Recruit overall. But to each their own
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I'm not quibbling. All I said is that you were both right.

I lived and died with those recruitments. Lol. Information was hard to come by. Hamilton was an early disappointment at Illinois, but he came on strong his last two years.
 
#515      

MadSeason

MadSeason
MadSeason
combes said:
I'm not quibbling. All I said is that you were both right.

I lived and died with those recruitments. Lol. Information was hard to come by. Hamilton was an early disappointment at Illinois, but he came on strong his last two years.
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No I know you weren't. Anyway yeah Hamilton never quite hit those lofty expectations but was out of position for most of his career too.
 
#516      

IlliniRunIn07

IlliniRunIn07
Tampa, FL
IlliniRunIn07
ChiefIllini said:
hey, never say never. Winthop's HC took the UMass job like two days ago and he reneged and is back at Winthrop. I think the narrative of stealing back to back OSU HC's would be pretty amazing.
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I get your point, but Boynton is going to make, what, about a million? We could probably offer him $300,000 at most in the assistant role. I really wouldn't hold my breath on this one.
 
#517      

CAHALL15

C
Central Illinois
CAHALL15
IlliniRunIn07 said:
I get your point, but Boynton is going to make, what, about a million? We could probably offer him $300,000 at most in the assistant role. I really wouldn't hold my breath on this one.
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Yeah, it's like a ton of money versus a lot of money.
 
#518      

FatGreg

F
FatGreg
So, Mike Boynton is out of the running for a position on Underwood's staff. We have the largest salary pool for assistants in the B1G and one of the largest total staff budgets in the country. Here are some names that have come up in the rumor mill:

Lamont Evans
Orlando Antigua
Shane Heirman
Dennis Gates
Geoff Alexander (Evansville assistant - played for WIU when Underwood was there and has apparently remained close with him)

Other names that could theoretically make sense on some level:

Deon Thomas
Roger Powell
Robert Smith
Sean Harrington?

Lamont Evans seems like a sure bet, but there's a rumor he's staying on at Oklahoma State (which would seem weird, since they hired Mike Boynton even though Evans was the lead assistant under BU and is several years older/more experienced).

Gates and Antigua would both be big-time hires that would send ripples through the college basketball world. Neither seems likely to me, but with our budget you never know.

Heirman could make a lot of sense from a recruiting perspective. Tilmon left La Lumiere - does anyone know how his relationship with Heirman is? I know that Heirman is close personal friends with Groce...wonder how that factors into the equation. Would Brian Bowen give us a look if we hired his coach? How about Tyger Campbell?

I don't think that any of the names on the second list are likely. I don't think Deon would take the assistant job if offered (and I don't think he'd be offered); I think Powell is sticking with Bryce Drew for a few more years at least; Robert Smith probably wouldn't be considered. Harrington is interesting, but he'd have to leave a sweet gig with ESPN and I think he has business interests in the recruiting industry that would have to be purged.

Honestly, I think the most likely staff may be Lamont Evans and either Heirman or Geoff Alexander. Not bad. Thoughts?
 
#520      

Illwinsagain

Illwinsagain
Cary, IL
Illwinsagain
GortTheRobot said:
A man can dream! I just remember the Yates/Collins years and hope we get back to that kind of high-level recruiting.
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It will be much more difficult, these are all national recruits now. Does anyoneknow someone with good Chicago ties to add to the staff? I don't know much about assistant coaches.
 
#522      

gibb52

G
gibb52
MrOizo said:
What are the non-assistant positions that are available? I love the idea of us stacking a BU tactician (a la Nottingham from Weber's staff) and at least one former player (Jerrance, Dee type) to build our future Illini family tree.

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk
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I have zero interest in building a family tree and all interest in getting the best staff.

I get the love for all former Illini but they only get to be on the staff if they are better at what they do than the next guy.
 
#524      

FatGreg

F
FatGreg
Pastrana would make sense in a Special Assistant to the Head Coach role. Not sure if he'd go for it, though, since he's been a full assistant for a few years now at smaller schools and is a Miami, FL native. He could be in the mix for the third assistant spot if Gates, Antigua, and Heirman aren't hired.

Someone mentioned potentially retaining Darren Hertz - I wonder if that's being considered.