I followed Kate Upton on twitter but still no date...joking aside I think this is a positive development.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (April 2017)
- Status
I followed Kate Upton on twitter but still no date...joking aside I think this is a positive development.
I have, and this is very true. However, the big difference is that those fanbases all act like they are God's gift to those sports, that they are going to win every game from now until eternity, and only poor coaching and program management could possibly screw it up. They don't need anybody, certainly not one recruit. Elite status is theirs by right.
It's an obnoxious attitude for fans of other programs. But it's a mystique for 16 year old kids.
To that end, you know what is a profound difference between Illinois fans and the other fanbases I've spent time reading the internet musings of? We NEVER believe players we've seen are going to get better. Our recruits come in wildly overhyped, and the moment they hit any sort of speedbump on the floor, we completely and totally give up on them, no matter how far of prospect hype height they are falling from.
You say we ought to be confident and believe the best is yet to come. That is true of many people on this board. But for every. single. one. the reason the best is yet to come is because we're about to have our sugarplum pure-hearted hopes validated by elite recruits, finally, at long last. Absolutely every last one.
There is not a single post on this board, NOT ONE, which proclaims an optimistic immediate future based on growth of guys like JCL and Black as upperclassmen in the new system. Posts about our immediate future are nothing but hypothetical lineups with recruits we don't have starting as freshman and declarations that we don't have the talent to be anything other than a bottom five B1G team.
That is extraordinarily different from other fan boards. Totally, totally unique to Illinois fans.
My opinion is that we should completely reverse that. We should be a player growth-focused fanbase. And I don't say that as some naggy, unrealistic, eat-your-vegetables pedant. I think most other Big Ten fanbases already act that way, and I think that is a much, much more accurate reflection of how basketball programs actually win in the real world.
You have a few years on me (not as many as I would like), but when a Chicago recruit rises like Ayo then the small schools clear off the dance floor. I'm sure he loves Chris Mack, who wouldn't, but these recruitments feature the really big boys with Illinois hanging around the periphery. We actually have a better shot at him than most, but the final four is likely to be us and the 4 blue bloods. He may name a Top 6 with Xavier as courtesy, but kids like him don't play there
Ayo Dosumnu, Point Guard, 247 composite #27
Paul Scruggs, Point Guard, 247 composite #30
I'm not sure if you're trying to insinuate another one, since this is the second time you posted that.
Ayo Dosumnu, Point Guard, 247 composite #27
Paul Scruggs, Point Guard, 247 composite #30
Give it through the summer
Xavier's chances, or Ayo's status as a four-star?
If he's not Top 10, or on the edges of it, and the new hottest thing going by August I'll award you 1000 internet points. The kid has got it and is likely a 1 and done
Sorry but I have to laugh at this statement. We as a fan base have no impact on the program winning or losing. Some of us who are now old guys have high expectations because we know what this program was and will be again. Give Coach Underwood a chance. He has brought in a strong recruiting staff and he can coach. I think we are in great shape and winning is always the best deodorant.
Ayo Dosumnu, Point Guard, 247 composite #27
Paul Scruggs, Point Guard, 247 composite #30
He'll be Top 10 by August. Likely a 1 and Done
IllFanInMi
I
Guest
Well to sum up my reasoning for being pissed. I recall a wonderful March day back in 2005, when the Illini (Arizona maybe?) came back from a massive deficit to move on towards the big game loss to UNC. I might actually believe I was more engaged in that season long run then the Cubs last year, which is hard to believe. My friends and family asked me why I was so intense over Illinois, and I said because Illinois fans get to enjoy runs like this every 15 - 20 years (in my life), unlike the Duke's and other blue bloods who just reload and do it again next year. And, it was 16 years prior when I had to sit and watch U of M upset us in 89' at a college party surrounded by all those maze and blue pains in my !!!, after we Flyin Illini'd them twice in the regular season. So, final fours just don't happen, and when they do I am going to root like hell!
Getting top 10-20 classes, NCAA bids/Sweet 16's, competing for the Big, these things we expected and usually received. But, we have not enjoyed them for far too many years, and to top it off have had hat fakes, prize recruits not picking us, disciplinary losses, etc.. So, I think it is justified to be pissed when we get excited about a recruit, believe he can start the plane off the runway for years of great Illini basketball, only to see that recruit take his talents elsewhere.
This is not to say I am pissed at the recruit, it is his life and his choice, but I can just be pissed in general!
Zip. Nada. Nothing.
Great post and kind of sums up how I feel, especially being an alum. In 89 I am not sure how I didn't die that night because I was so pissed after we lost and then went out to bars in Orlando and was mouthy as hell. I knew when I saw we might have to play Michigan it was going to be tough to beat a team that good 3 times in a row even though we throttled them twice during regular season. They were freaking loaded with NBA talent. That game was the NC game. Win that won and I have no doubt we have a banner hanging.
05, well that still hurts. Bruce did an incredible job with that team but we had to play 5 on 8 all that night (always say you have to beat UNC and Duke by 11 because refs will give them 10 points) and we still had a chance to win.
We are ready to get back to expecting sweet 16's at least every year (sure we will get knocked off on occasion but that should be expectation), and elite 8 every few, final four every 5-7 years on average and finally get a damn NC within 10 years. That is what I want and expect.
I agree. We are no different than any other fan base. We are large and vocal, but no different.
I'm telling you man, go seek out the fans of our competitors and be ready to be regailed with how great guys like D'Mitrik Trice, Dakota Mathias and Cassius Winston are going to be.
There is not a post on this board calling Leron Black a future all-Big Ten player, and he was better than any of those guys last year, playing garbageball in a system that didn't suit him.
Our fanbase's contours of smart to dumb, optimistic to pessimistic, nice to mean, it's all the same as you'll find anywhere else. But our subject matter is just different. It just is.
I 100% agree with this. The key is to get good players in and development them. I am not talking about diamonds in the rough but highly ranked players that get better every year. We consistently over value freshmen and undervalue the development of players on the roster. Next years success, for example, may be helped by freshmen but will probably be defined by the growth of guys we already have. If our current freshmen and sophomores don't improve, the new freshmen class won't save the season.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal
Eh, I dunno, we all remember asked to "look at Chester, now look back at Dee, now look back at Chester" while simultaneously pondering Jamar Smith's NBA future.
I don't think this is unique to our fanbase. It's unique to this era of historically bad Illinois basketball.
Yeah, that's because Wisconsin, Purdue and Michigan State have had good teams recently, so they expect more of the same.
We haven't, so we don't.
This is not that complicated. People are people, we are not unique snowflakes.
Also I had linked an MSU board thread on Mark Smith and many chuckled at it, with comments like, "that could be us!" MSU fans are down on Tum Tum (Jaylon Tate) because Izzo (Groce) plays his seniors too much and Nairn isn't a threat to score (sound familiar?).
You've obviously never watched Tomi Lahren. I'd recommend keeping it that way.
Deleted member 8213
D
Guest
Well, a rabid internet fanbase for a team that has genuinely sucked for forever is unique in and of itself, especially in basketball.
There aren't many Penn State basketball keyboard jockeys, but there are a high percentage of Shep Garner truthers among that group, guaranteed.
We're about to find out, but I'm guessing it will. I wouldn't be surprised if some forgotten bench player is suddenly our next message board meme come December.
Not too many of us on here are old enough to remember Cnut the Great.
Illini_1979
- Oregon
1989...2005...our next FF in 2021?
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
- Status