Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (April 2017)

[Centennial Illini]

I was in Rupp for that game in 84 and no we wouldn't have won a national title.

The next weekend Patrick Ewing and Georgetown total dismembered Kentucky, had them down by over 20 at half.

But nonetheless we could have beaten KU at Rupp. Traveling was not called late.

 

[Second and Chalmers]

Prediction: Pay sites "hear good things" about Smith to UI, "insiders" here claim it's a done deal, and then he commits elsewhere.

The first two are guarantees no matter what of course.

:wave:

 

[Deleted member 10676]

Been on Loyalty for several years now and this is my first Chubby Phillips remembrance sighting. Love it.

But we need to get this over with. If we get Mark Smith can we refer to him on this board as Smitty please? I love the nickname Smitty. 'Course I'm with the guy who likes Walton and Dakich too. Don't judge me.

I stay up late to watch teams I don't even care about just to listen to Bill Walton. Don't apologize. He's great and the act he and "it's Dave, right?" Pasch have going is like Gallagher and Sheen. They are my favorite play-by-play duo.

 

[Greensboro]

Trying to think back to Livingston and Alexander.

Despite the Brian Cook jersey, how confident were we in landing Livingston? Or was Duke always the heavy favorite?

I remember with Alexander it was neck and neck between us and Kansas. Day of the announcement was insanity. Reports flying everywhere, rumors Groce was told by Alexander he got him, etc. But insiders still believed Kansas had the edge.

Seems like there's a ton of smoke about Smith and Illinois. From all over the place. Maybe that's not accurate or something changes, but this one feels different. Or at least I hope so.


Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

In the end, I would say neitherreally mattered. Livingston never played in college & Cliff was a relatively insignificant 1 & done

 

[Obelix]

There are shades of gray on this stuff, but Tate doesn't even say "according to _____" - he just states Tilmon privately committed to Missouri.

I don't know Matt, if you mean Tate did not preface his statement "according to source"s" sure, although I do not think it makes much difference. If you mean according to a "specific source" (with name and attribution), then he is no more guilty than pretty much all other sports reporters or even news reporters beyond sports. Some of them very credible.

Again, I am not a journalist, but very familiar with attribution rules in publishing papers, and "according to a source or sources" does not count, you need to specifically mention the source(s), whether it is a person, persons, or entity.

 

[JudsonFTS]

That is too awesome. Mark Smith is an all time Illini great and he, EJ and Derrick Holcombe were my introduction to Illini basketball....I fell in love and have bled orange and blue ever since.

RIP Mark Smith.

I had a little Audie and Levi, but those three above is when it really clicked on.

Working at jewel foods as a teenager and listening to the radio feed against Sparty with Magic and Kelser.

 

[Greensboro]

Theory on Moore. That original leak from the Chicago Tribune came a day after Smith's visit to Illinois and the rumor he'd cancelled his OSU visit no? Plus the rumor about Smith giving the staff a silent verbal?

Then Moore backtracks once he sees Smith is going to visit OSU, thinking maybe Illinois isn't out of his recruitment.

Now he officially commits to Kansas a day before Smith's announcement? When Kansas and Illinois were the clear leaders in Moore's recruitment?

Is my timeline accurate? If so, that's interesting. Unless it's pure coincidence.

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

Is the silent verbal really a rumor or just speculation/guesses/a good story based on past rumors? I think the conspiracy theory breaks down there.

 

[HC Illini]

Been on Loyalty for several years now and this is my first Chubby Phillips remembrance sighting. Love it.

But we need to get this over with. If we get Mark Smith can we refer to him on this board as Smitty please? I love the nickname Smitty. 'Course I'm with the guy who likes Walton and Dakich too. Don't judge me.

Coach Jackson? Is that you?!

 

[TheGMan]

I have it on good authority that Mark Smith is going to announce that he has resigned with Mizzou to play baseball.*


*I don't have any authority, I'm just scared of all the optimism on this board. I am too open to disappointment.

 

[Chris Yates]

The crystal balls for Mark Smith continue to flip in favor of the Illini today, setting up the perfect nut-punch scenario.

 

[aluma]

According to what appears to be an "insider" on MSU's board, as of this morning Smith hadn't told the MSU staff anything. Apparently, Smith had mentioned that being a point guard and starting were two very important things for him (thus part of why he will likely choose Illinois).

 

[qcillini13]

Wouldn't we think he would make calls after school and before the news conference? I am not sure how these typically go but that seems logical to me.

Yes, I highly doubt he is sitting in school calling all of the coaches (who I would assume would attempt to make a last ditch effort to sway him). I'm guessing this is why his announcement is at 6. Either that or he is still playing baseball for Edwardsville and has a game or practice.

 

[jmilt7]

Bragg is really 6'10"? If true then I see him as a great fit at the pinch post.

There is an opinion on the Transfer thread that we are not even recruiting Bragg (and attributed to Whitman himself). But you will have to go there to see what it is all about as this is not the Transfer thread.

 

[Illini B-Ball Fan]

In today's PJStar's Remember When...

40 years ago today, Mark Smith (Richwoods) commits to Illinois...

Coincidence?

Wow....

 

[mattcoldagelli]

I don't know Matt, if you mean Tate did not preface his statement "according to source"s" sure, although I do not think it makes much difference.

It indicates that some reporting and sourcing exists, at the very least. I mean, what are we to infer from it as currently stated? That Tilmon told Loren this directly? That it's just commonly known information? Nobody knows, because he's giving zero evidence as to how he came by that information. Change the words "privately committed" to "accepted cash to attend" and see how it reads.

If you mean according to a "specific source" (with name and attribution), then he is no more guilty than pretty much all other sports reporters or even news reporters beyond sports. Some of them very credible.

You're of course correct here, and anonymous sourcing is a vital part of journalism in a way it can't or shouldn't be in other fields (even it has arguably gotten out of hand, which is a discussion for another time).

 

[Johnny Lawrence]

I agree, I find that article by Tate to be weird.

Weird because you're not used to (recruiting) news.

 

[EJ33]

Regarding the Tate column, he talked about this yesterday on Sports Talk on WDWS - just listen to the podcast. It seems pretty clear that his source is on the coaching staff. He thinks the info he has is as good as he's ever had.

He's definitely a polarizing figure, but he's forgotten more about Illinois sports than anybody on this board will ever know. FWIW, I think he's much better on the radio than in his columns. People should hope to be as sharp as he is when they're in their 80s.

 

[Obelix]

Wouldn't we think he would make calls after school and before the news conference? I am not sure how these typically go but that seems logical to me.

It varies by recruitment. In very rare occasions, the recruit does not tell anyone. Most of the times, the recruit gives coaches a courtesy call before announcement indicating his choice. In other cases, the recruit does call the "winning" coach only.

Shaun Livingston was an example that Duke knew ahead of time for a few days. Brian Cook jersey or no Brian Cook jersey, Duke and their insiders (if you knew where to look) knew that Livingston was ending up at Duke, for the simple reason that Shaun had already told them.

In the case of Smith, I have seen some reports that Smith has already told Illini coaches.

 

[oskeewowwowboomtime]

FLYIN' ILLINI

Loved that FLYIN' ILLINI team and I expect that this is the type of game we will see Coach Underwood's teams play: full court pressure on and off with lots of interchangeable athletic mid-size talented individual players constantly in motion going to the hoop and pounding the boards. The 1989 team did not have a starter taller than 6-7 (Lowell Hamilton) but were very athletic just like the ILLINI may be the next couple of years and the idea of using 10 players going full speed on offense and defense in waves is something the Big Ten has not seen in a very long time. Coach Underwood's team will flat out wear out taller but less athletic Big Ten teams with short bench rotations. No more stone age offense for the ILLINI!

 

[illini80]

I understand what you are saying but.....I think the difference is that Tate is known as an Illini Insider who is not known to speculate, so people take statements like this from more seriously than other talking heads. To me the comparison of Tate to 247 is bit apples and oranges in that regard, but I understand what you are saying.

Tate has been very optimistic on Smith, but then again he was quite sure we were getting Goodwin. Just saying he has been wrong too.

 

[troym22]

In today's PJStar's Remember When...

40 years ago today, Mark Smith (Richwoods) commits to Illinois...

Coincidence?

Wish I got the PJStar so I could send this to my brother, he would find that interesting

 

[BLloyd2311]

Regarding the Tate column, he talked about this yesterday on Sports Talk on WDWS - just listen to the podcast. It seems pretty clear that his source is on the coaching staff. He thinks the info he has is as good as he's ever had.

He's definitely a polarizing figure, but he's forgotten more about Illinois sports than anybody on this board will ever know. FWIW, I think he's much better on the radio than in his columns. People should hope to be as sharp as he is when they're in their 80s.

I always like reading his stuff. I think he is still good at what he does. But I'm not counting Smith a lock until I hear it out his mouth lol been let down to many times .

 

[Combo]

Or if Nick Anderson blocks out Sean Higgins for the weak side rebound in 1989 we also still wouldn't be waiting for that first national championship. We absolutely destroyed that Michigan team at Ann Arbor two weeks earlier but it is so hard to beat a top ten team 3 times in one season, especially with several key ILLINI players hurting.

Loved that FLYIN' ILLINI team and I expect that this is the type of game we will see Coach Underwood's teams play: full court pressure on and off with lots of interchangeable athletic mid-size talented individual players constantly in motion going to the hoop and pounding the boards. The 1989 team did not have a starter taller than 6-7 (Lowell Hamilton) but were very athletic just like the ILLINI may be the next couple of years and the idea of using 10 players going full speed on offense and defense in waves is something the Big Ten has not seen in a very long time. Coach Underwood's team will flat out wear out taller but less athletic Big Ten teams with short bench rotations. No more stone age offense for the ILLINI!

That's something people frequently forget. Though it was two players, not several. A healthy Hamilton and Battle and we win that game.

 

[oskeewowwowboomtime]

That's something people frequently forget. Though it was two players, not several. A healthy Hamilton and Battle and we win that game.

Kendall Gill broke his foot that season and was playing hurt once he came back from missing 6 weeks, only returning shortly before the Big Dance so he really wasn't at full speed either.

 

[drwillini]

Wow....

No kidding. Can you imagine if this kid references the original Mark Smith in his commitment speech. To me that '79 team was the start of the Golden Era of Illinois Basketball. I can remember Levi Cobb, but my first specific memory of Illinois basketball was coming home from B-ball practice to watch the MSU game. And then I recall that the score made the morning announcements in our high school, something very unusual for a college score. The new Mark Smith mentions this connection and every 50 and 60 something Illini fan will put him in the Dee Brown category.