Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (April 2017)
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Did anyone notice Malcom, Dee, Deon, Gill, and Battle have all welcomed Mark Smith to the family?
Kendall GillVerified account @KendallG13 6m6 minutes ago
Welcome to the Family Mark Smith! You have my blessing to wear #13. Play in it with pride!!!! Illini Til I Die!!! @IlliniAthletics
Welcome to the Family Mark Smith! You have my blessing to wear #13. Play in it with pride!!!! Illini Til I Die!!! @IlliniAthletics
Was looking at the scholly list...with 3 slots to fill...and offers outstanding....makes you wonder. Wouldn`t be surprised to see a few transfers b4 this all said and done. Still we have to be pleased that we got the big dog to bring attention to program. A few bigs would really round this out nicely.
Well Mark has given Tilmon something to think about. Would be nice to get him to re-sign and hopefully another graduate transfer PF. Looking forward to see who the staff can get fill the front court now.
Went from Frazier/Williams/Pickett/Tilmon @ what #11 nationally?
To Frazier/Williams/SMITH/Potentially Tilmon/Badocchi? @ what 5-7 nationally?
I would say that is a pretty good trade off...cant see Pickett getting any better options than what he had, cant imagine that door is still open, Tilmon's is another case all together though.
Now that is Awesome!!!!
Find Mark Smith's twitter response and you will like him more. (Feel free to edit) Technologically inept.
MARK SMITH @Mark_Smith_13 35m35 minutes ago Replying to @KendallG13 @IlliniAthletics
I appreciate it I'm wear #13 with pride
Ready for some S&C positivity gang?
So, I stand by what I said about Smith earlier. He's obviously a terrific player, but expecting him to be much better than where he's rated is bad and unfair to him. It's a low-percentage proposition.
HOWEVER, we don't just have Smith, we also have Frazier and Da'Monte, two other guys with similar attributes, all of whom with a lot of athleticism and upside, who are good fits for a system that will hopefully be very well coached.
Each is below 50/50 odds of blowing up over way their rankings, because that's how it works. But those odds compound when you stack recruits of that quality. So the chances that ONE of them is a four-year all-conference type stud is probably well better than a coin-flip.
Honestly, I feel like we're getting a second chance at that DJ, BP3 and JoeBert class. Those kids were great players and didn't get the help or the coaching they deserved. That should have been a memorable era of Illini Basketball.
We've got the right people in place now. Let's go get 'em!
I was about to post the same thing.
I felt similarly when Groce got AJ, DJW, and JCL. Many of us were thinking at least 1 of those guys was going to be a stud and everyone had a different opinion on who would step up. Well as we all know only 1 of those guys has contributed and he is really only above average in 1 area (3-pt shooting).
I think we all agree that Groce's biggest problem was not getting his guys at PG and C. But another big failure was not developing that guard group (or simply mis-evaluating).
whitesxfan2012
Orange & Blue tweety bird
- Louisville, KY
The Matrix wins!! BIG things are still to come Fighting Illini friends.
:shakehands:
:shakehands:
Also adding Mark Smith means, at minimum, we have a good excuse for missing on Ayo. He was scared of competing against all the good guards here!
O/U on how many times this is mentioned or asked between now and when Ayo decides (probably next fall). Is 300 to high?
O/U on how many times this is mentioned or asked between now and when Ayo decides (probably next fall). Is 300 to high?
THIS is what I wanted to hear!
Side note, it must show my young age that when I saw he was wearing #13 I originally thought of Cory Bradford
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whitesxfan2012
Orange & Blue tweety bird
- Louisville, KY
hahaha....I wonder if Gill gave Bradford his blessing :noidea:
Ubermensch
BOOM! Feed my ego.
Get Tilmon back on board. Who cares if he opted out. Maybe he could have handled it differently, but he's a kid. He can help and there's plenty of playing time available to the young man. Add him to the current roster, and this new staff has a lot to work with. This is an exciting time to be an Illini basketball fan.
Went from Frazier/Williams/Pickett/Tilmon @ what #11 nationally?
To Frazier/Williams/SMITH/Potentially Tilmon/Badocchi? @ what 5-7 nationally?
I would say that is a pretty good trade off...cant see Pickett getting any better options than what he had, cant imagine that door is still open, Tilmon's is another case all together though.
That scenario is what I am hoping for plus a 5th year big.
Deleted member 10676
D
Guest
It's no secret I really want THT but I think as the summer goes on, more people are going to want him. (Unfortunately that will mean more schools too.)
Garrett Tucker @GTuckerHoops 9
Five breakout players from Nike EYBL Hampton: http://www.hoopseen.com/news/event/201704/five-breakout-players-nike-eybl-hampton …
Now we have 3 great ambassadors to help sell this great vision. Trent Frazier obviously loves the Illini about as much as possible. Smith grew up an Illini fan and knows how special this can be. And of course Damonte's dad played in the golden era so I think he knows a thing or two as well. I don't think you could pick 3 better guys that could help sell the University of Illinois to other recruits/transfers.
Your posts don't get enough props. Keep em coming
I think Groce's biggest failure was coaching. He was simply a horrible game coach and had no offense. Nor did anyone really develop under him other than Maverick Morgan.
More important than all this recruiting crap, how was the cake?? Was it good??
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