Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (April 2017)

[Trakis]

I love Trent more than most of my family.

 

[illinifan87]

Trent is an all time great already and he hasn't even played a game. Love this kid.

 

[618 Illini]

One of my old basketball coaches is on the Edwardsville staff now and noted all he is hearing is MSU. Apparently Coach Cal came into the Smith home and listed the number of NBA players and aggregate $$ they have achieved in the NBA. Said something along the lines of "my players don't come here with intentions of playing 4 years of college basketball and getting an education, they come to get in the NBA an make millions." Didn't sit extremely well with the family.

Meanwhile Smith's father was in the room wearing a MSU hat the whole time Cal was giving his pitch.

I hope it is Illini and want to be wrong but after knowing the family as a basketball family and seeing how they have been taking the right approach throughout this recruitment, I can't blame them at all to play for one of the better coaches of all time.

 

[Obelix]

Apparently Coach Cal came into the Smith home and listed the number of NBA players and aggregate $$ they have achieved in the NBA. Said something along the lines of "my players don't come here with intentions of playing 4 years of college basketball and getting an education, they come to get in the NBA an make millions." Didn't sit extremely well with the family.

How dumb of Calipari to do that.

 

[Trakis]

One of my old basketball coaches is on the Edwardsville staff now and noted all he is hearing is MSU. Apparently Coach Cal came into the Smith home and listed the number of NBA players and aggregate $$ they have achieved in the NBA. Said something along the lines of "my players don't come here with intentions of playing 4 years of college basketball and getting an education, they come to get in the NBA an make millions." Didn't sit extremely well with the family.

Meanwhile Smith's father was in the room wearing a MSU hat the whole time Cal was giving his pitch.

I hope it is Illini and want to be wrong but after knowing the family as a basketball family and seeing how they have been taking the right approach throughout this recruitment, I can't blame them at all to play for one of the better coaches of all time.

If your friend is only hearing MSU as a result of that story, keep in mind that Cal visited Smith before Underwood met him, and before his UV last week.

But what a bold-!!! move to wear MSU gear during the visit. Savage.

 

[Trakis]

How dumb of Calipari to do that.

Yeah I kinda find it hard to believe Cal does that... he's been doing this successfully long enough. He'd be insane to basically tell his recruits that they'll be failures if they aren't one-and-dones.

 

[illinifan87]

One of my old basketball coaches is on the Edwardsville staff now and noted all he is hearing is MSU. Apparently Coach Cal came into the Smith home and listed the number of NBA players and aggregate $$ they have achieved in the NBA. Said something along the lines of "my players don't come here with intentions of playing 4 years of college basketball and getting an education, they come to get in the NBA an make millions." Didn't sit extremely well with the family.

Meanwhile Smith's father was in the room wearing a MSU hat the whole time Cal was giving his pitch.

I hope it is Illini and want to be wrong but after knowing the family as a basketball family and seeing how they have been taking the right approach throughout this recruitment, I can't blame them at all to play for one of the better coaches of all time.

Believed for a while now that Smith's dad doesn't want Illinois or at least is trying to steer Mark away. Hence the Michigan State, Duke, Kentucky interest late. And I don't think it was a coincidence that his dad didn't go on the visit to Champaign last week.

 

[Obelix]

Yeah I kinda find it hard to believe Cal does that... he's been doing this successfully long enough. He'd be insane to basically tell his recruits that they'll be failures if they aren't one-and-dones.

Kind of if you say banana really slowly...

 

[618 Illini]

Yeah I kinda find it hard to believe Cal does that... he's been doing this successfully long enough. He'd be insane to basically tell his recruits that they'll be failures if they aren't one-and-dones.

I agree it is dumb of him to do that especially if you know the family. I am assuming given the limited amount of time everyone had to recruit Mark, he didn't have a ton of info on Smith and stuck with what has drawn a lot of his current and former players to his teams.

Idk if you watched the 30 for 30 on Calipari (if not it was pretty good) recently but at his hall of fame speech he invited all his former players on stage. I didn't study the film but it looked like 30-50 ish players/coaches and the majority of which had NBA careers.

I don't think he hides from the fact that he sends players to the NBA, so why pitch a kid on 4 years when its not his current strategy.

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

I'm just curious, does anybody know why his father is so anti-Illinois? Is it just he wants his son to be in a program with more recent success, or is there something else going on there?

I don't think he's anti-illinois. He is just a father who wants his son to make sure he knows all of his options before making the biggest decision he has had to make. But i've said it before and i'll say it again.


There's no place like home.

 

[illinitiger]

How dumb of Calipari to do that.

On Cal, after watching ESPN one and done, it's clear that is his pitch and focus...put kids in the NBA. Education and even winning championships is secondary for him. You would think he would do his homework on a specific families'values and tailor/temper his "NBA or bust" pitch a little though.

 

[Ubermensch]

Yeah, John Calipari clearly has no idea what he's doing.

 

[RichardKeenesHair]

One of my old basketball coaches is on the Edwardsville staff now and noted all he is hearing is MSU. Apparently Coach Cal came into the Smith home and listed the number of NBA players and aggregate $$ they have achieved in the NBA. Said something along the lines of "my players don't come here with intentions of playing 4 years of college basketball and getting an education, they come to get in the NBA an make millions." Didn't sit extremely well with the family.

Meanwhile Smith's father was in the room wearing a MSU hat the whole time Cal was giving his pitch.

I hope it is Illini and want to be wrong but after knowing the family as a basketball family and seeing how they have been taking the right approach throughout this recruitment, I can't blame them at all to play for one of the better coaches of all time.

There is not a chance Calipari, or any other college basketball coach, said that within earshot of a recruit's parents. None. Whether it is actually true or not

 

[South Farms]

sorry to be the Debbie Downer, but we should know this by now, we seldom come out on the right side on these things

write him off now, and imagine how awesome you will feel Wed night if it is the Illini.

seriously, its about a 1% chance its us, imo.

 

[skyIdub]

Yeah, John Calipari clearly has no idea what he's doing.

 

[Second and Chalmers]

You would think he would do his homework on a specific families'values and tailor/temper his "NBA or bust" pitch a little though.

Entering a recruitment at the 11th hour has its pitfalls.

 

[618 Illini]

I don't think he's anti-illinois. He is just a father who wants his son to make sure he knows all of his options before making the biggest decision he has had to make. But i've said it before and i'll say it again.


There's no place like home.

I agree that he isn't "against Illinois", however both his parents played for SIUE and Carbondale (dad for 3 years) and are probably enjoying the process having a handful of the biggest names in basketball in their living room. Almost like reliving the dream that they probably had.

 

[FeelYourPaign]

On Cal, after watching ESPN one and done, it's clear that is his pitch and focus...put kids in the NBA. Education and even winning championships is secondary for him. You would think he would do his homework on a specific families'values and tailor/temper his "NBA or bust" pitch a little though.

When your best tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail
http://pages.videotron.com/posts/hammer-head.gif

 

[DB11Headband]

https://twitter.com/_trentfrazier1/status/856638469778673664

Fair comparison IMO. TF and MS, while not being as highly ranked as Dee and Deron coming out of high school, have a chance to be a special duo for us. Hopefully we get to see it come to fruition!

 

[Poe's Law]

Yeah, John Calipari clearly has no idea what he's doing.

This makes a fine submission into the things I learned today on loyalty, if not for the sarcasm.

Maybe that is his pitch. I'm sure that moves the needle for a lot of parents and at the end of the day, he's looking for the kind of players that have helped him succeed. Maybe he misread the family, or maybe he doesn't care because he knows he's going to land HIS guys with that pitch.

 

[dbeaverfg]

This is the last you'll hear of me till after he commits, don't want to make his special day any less exciting for him! It's coming folks, go Illini!

Have a nice wait there in Easton. Played against them in high school, do you remember the Conklin brothers?

 

[FC Illiniman]

I don't think he's anti-illinois. He is just a father who wants his son to make sure he knows all of his options before making the biggest decision he has had to make. But i've said it before and i'll say it again.


There's no place like home.

Agree . I said before this for MS is most important thing he has ever had to do. Not sure how his missory baseball recruitment went, maybe dad is making sure he is positive of his choice. All the other garbage speculation and hearsay we read may just be that. Seems to me the options have been presented​. Hope young Mr Smith becomes a legend in our time soon.

 

[Future Walk-On]

Well after reading the last few pages I have gone from confident to not so confident :/

 

[Deleted member 16340]

I'm stating the wildly obvious, but the trajectory of the program could significantly change on Wednesday.

With the caveat that every recruit is a gamble in terms of what they actually produce on the court, the narrative win - "Brad Underwood stares down Izzo, Calipari and Matta to keep Illinois Mr. Basketball home" - is tough to put a price on, and we'd get it and its benefits immediately.

I would argue that it changed about five weeks ago, regardless of Wednesday's outcome...

 

[DB11Headband]

Well after reading the last few pages I have gone from confident to not so confident :/