Exactly my point. Its irrelevant if the kid is being recruited by the school. It seems like there is an axe to grind for some reason.
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Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
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Exactly my point. Its irrelevant if the kid is being recruited by the school. It seems like there is an axe to grind for some reason.
I fully agree. It is a bad look to talk about the grades of a high school kid. I know speculation is out there but it does not reflect well on us. These are still kids.
Thank you. That's what I was trying to say as well. Seems some on here just want to continue to rehash and just keep bringing it up. Everyone has heard it so there is no need every other day to say something about it.
FT35
- Naperville
I agree. The focus on the grades of certain kids is off putting for several reasons. If they don't have the grades then they won't end up here and we'll move on. It wouldn't be the first time a kid didn't qualify here or ended up going elsewhere because of it.
Josh Augusta (Peoria High School) wanted to come here but went to Missouri because he would have never qualified here. This is public knowledge and laid out in this article:
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/s...cle_626828f6-df69-5d02-af8a-594db47a5c7a.html
I'm not posting this to put Josh down. He had to work very hard to end up qualifying at Missouri. Title's point is that it is only the ESL kids whose grades are constantly questioned on here and it's really not fair to single these kids out.
Knight seems like a great kid who will excel on and off the field. I'm very happy that he decided to come here.
Deleted member 8405
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Guest
I agree that we shouldn't talk about grades until kids have or have not qualified. I do, however, feel that the discussion of esl kids' grades on here is brought on in large part due to the esl coach's lack of support for the state school. I fully understand that his first job is to look out for his athletes' well being, but you can do that without being disrespectful to the illini.
FT35
- Naperville
If that's the reason people have an axe to grind with ESL then please leave the kids out of it. If they have an issue with Coach Sunkett then just leave it at that. He's an adult and can deal with it. Oldgreg said all that really needs to be said about constantly bringing up the grades of these kids. The kids really haven't done anything wrong here.
If they have issues, academic or otherwise, the staff will move on and pursue other players. If there aren't issues the staff will continue to pursue the recruit. Constantly bringing up grade issues with certain kids on a public forum does not help anyone.
mattcoldagelli
- Script Illinois Enthusiast
I know everyone is all in disarray about the status of our ESL pipeline, but I'm just glad we're getting athletes (regardless of whether they're listed as ATHs or not). We desperately need a more athletic personnel and Lovie and his staff are going out and procuring the pieces to make us more competitive. This is actually year 1.1 of the rebuild considering Lovie came in so late that he couldn't do much to repair the '16 class. If we get any other kid from ESL it will be a huge blessing but if not we've still made huge strides. No need to panic over a major life decision of someone else's kid.
With that being said if Jeff Thomas does decide to commit here, I will pridefully change my user name to SonOfJeffThomas.
With that being said if Jeff Thomas does decide to commit here, I will pridefully change my user name to SonOfJeffThomas.
illinidarrin
- from parts unknown
Louisville commit CB Kaheem Roach is supposed to visit Illinois according to Werner.
Coach Sunkett has sent at this point 5 kids to Illinois two of which were 4 star recruits. He sent Christian when he was at Riverview as well as Kendrick Jones, Terry Hawthorne (Under Armour All American), Stanley Green (started as a true Freshman) and now James Knight. Somehow he hates Illinois because the previous coaches had no interest in ESL kids. Keep in mind he also tried to send Athony Pierson (Kansas), Keante Minor (Arkansas [McGee recruited]), Glen Faulkner (Kentucky), Kyron Watson (Kansas) and two other kids that both attended Jackson State. Illinois refused to offer those kids for whatever reason and the ALL wanted to go to Illinois. They all saw playing time as a true freshman at the schools listed. A couple of them started. Fast forward to now, he is supposed to sing high praises to a school who constantly treat his kids like nothing and co sign sending his top ball players to this school.
Let's talk about the latest ones, Illinois did recruit Terry Beckner and Nate Strong until their senior year despite having offers from Ohio State after the sophomore year. Jeff has been a top 100 since his Freshman year and THIS year is the first that Illinois has shown much interest. Granted Lovie came and started the process over (which is why Jeff is even considering Illinois) and coaches start to mess with James Knight.
Somehow through all this it is Coach Sunk fault and his kids should be punished or looked at negatively because Illinois has screwed up big time in the Metro East. What High School in Illinois has players that start as True Freshman for Illinois. Coach Sunk and ESL has 2 Terry Hawthorne and now Stanley Green. What other school in the state can make this statement? Right I get it, Coach Sunk hate U of I.
does anyone know what Knights 40 time is, I think he would make us a great SS kid loves to hit people and you can never have to many guys who know how to tackle
If I am thinking right Knight puts us at 15, minus the 4 who already are here , we are back to 11, so over signing by 3 still leaves us 17 max we can go after ?
If I am thinking right Knight puts us at 15, minus the 4 who already are here , we are back to 11, so over signing by 3 still leaves us 17 max we can go after ?
BZuppke
- Plainfield
All of this discussion about ESL is petty and stupid. Lovie and company are recruiting football players to play at Illinois. Whether they come from ESL or elsewhere, what their grades are and whether you like the HS coach are irrelevant. I have confidence that Lovie knows how to do his job. I wish the best for all the kids we're recruiting whether they come here or not. That being said, I want Jeff Thomas to come to Illinois and excel under Lovie and McGee's tutelage and make us proud.
brokensaphire
- Arizona
In that video I see....
a big, physical offensive lineman, an athletic MLB who can cover ground, a 3 or 4 year DE with a chance to play on day one and speed to stretch the opposing secondary. The cupboard left to Lovie was pretty bare and over the next two years he will infuse the necessary speed and long athleticism into the roster. Next year will have it's growing pains (four or five wins) but the kinds of kids needed to get this thing turned around are already starting to step foot on campus. Cool!
Love my Illini,
a big, physical offensive lineman, an athletic MLB who can cover ground, a 3 or 4 year DE with a chance to play on day one and speed to stretch the opposing secondary. The cupboard left to Lovie was pretty bare and over the next two years he will infuse the necessary speed and long athleticism into the roster. Next year will have it's growing pains (four or five wins) but the kinds of kids needed to get this thing turned around are already starting to step foot on campus. Cool!
Love my Illini,
Deleted member 8405
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Guest
I understand being upset with the old coaching staff. We all were, but there is no reason to take that out on Lovie and Co and the illini fan base as a whole.
FT35
- Naperville
Scout.com has us at 18 commits while 247 currently has us at 17 as they have not added Knight yet. That means we could take 10 more recruits in this class.
According to Robert at illiniboard.com we have 11 scholarships left to get to the limit of 85.
Something else to consider is that we potentially only have around 10 scholarship Seniors on the roster. This means that the recruiting class for 2018 could be very small. Smith has said he wants a recruiting class of 25 for 2017. We may want to bank some of these scholarships for next year. If we take a class of 25, the remaining four scholarships could go to current walk-ons and/or graduate transfers. Then, without further attrition, we could take a class of 14-17 (depending on the number of early enrollees) next year.
IlliniInOK
- no longer in OK! Centralia, IL
This. Why in the world should he hold a grudge against the school when everyone involved in the apparent issues (minus whichever coach said something stupid re:Knight) is gone? Lovie and his staff have basically recruited Knight and Thomas as much as they have been able to.
In reality there is the above board relationship and the back door stuff. By back door I don't mean anything illegal, just the politics. If I'm a coach from a certain school that produces a lot of talent I want to make sure that those kids will be successful and be given the support to be successful. Those coaches are asked by parents and players to advise them. I also expect the Head Coach to pick up the phone and stop by. What happens if the Head Coach is an abusive jerk and you are sending your players to this program.
Not seeing where a grudge is at. There was some sort of miscommunication or something said out of context or maybe blatantly idk but something went wrong Lovie cleared it up and now Knight is on board. If there was a grudge of some sort not sure how we still get players if that's the case.
Not only that there is a huge Illini supporter on the ESL staff and he shows his love for this university quite a bit.
yeah 10 would be a small class, even more so when they are already after 2 QBs and I am sure would take both if they want to commit, guess its a catch 22 we need talent NOW but also with Lovie and staff being here for a year one would think it has to help with the Best guys in next years class, as well as down the road.
IlliniInOK
- no longer in OK! Centralia, IL
I may have used the wrong word, but as I read this statement: "Fast forward to now, he is supposed to sing high praises to a school who constantly treat his kids like nothing and co sign sending his top ball players to this school. " It certainly seems like things are being held against Illinois that have nothing to do with the current staff, at least by you if not by Coach Sunkett, though my impressions was that you were trying to convey his attitude. Please correct me if I am wrong.
this is a recruiting thread not a who said what about who. The Past is the Past Lovie and His staff might need to mend some bridges that were smoldering in the past, I have faith that they will do the right things the right way. That said I am glad we got knight onboard, he is a strong hard hitting kid something we have had way to few of lately, the next year or 2 we are still going to take some lumps I believe, but things are looking up in a big way, with the young men we already have saying they want to be Illini and here is Hoping we can get a full class of the same kind of young men
CB for Torri Singletary to us
To Title and coach Sunkett, I'd like to apologize for everyone on this board for anything said to this point that was hurtful. We love the fact there is an in state school that produces so much talent, and especially speed. From this point forward, we will refrain from talking about ESL athlete's academics and concentrated on their amazing talents. The Illini and the Flyers can help each other out. Let's be a team, provide some great opportunities for ESL kids and win a bunch of football games!
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