I don't think he's a one and done type either unless he has a monster freshman year. It's more the sudden talk of about his poor basketball IQ, his lack of motor, saying he wasn't a great fit anyway, his ranking being too high, etc that I was referring too. He would have greatly improved our team next year. There's no escaping that.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (April 2017)
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I don't think he's a one and done type either unless he has a monster freshman year. It's more the sudden talk of about his poor basketball IQ, his lack of motor, saying he wasn't a great fit anyway, his ranking being too high, etc that I was referring too. He would have greatly improved our team next year. There's no escaping that.
Agreed with all points...I wish him well regardless, as I would any 18 yr old with talent to pursue for a living and a paycheck. Just hope he makes the choices that will benefit him, and not hangers on, which happens all too often.
Ubermensch
BOOM! Feed my ego.
I feel confident in saying we should expect to be heard with guys we normally wouldn't expect to be involved with. Maybe we don't get 'em, but we should have some pretty good recruiting battles ahead.
jmwillini
- Tolono, IL
Me tomorrow! Also, if we are thin a the 5, get Finke on that 6,000 calorie diet ASAP!
sacraig
- The desert
I wouldn't even assume that Tilmon is definitely gone at this point. There has to be value in a guy like Antigua sitting down and saying things like "have you heard of guys like Nerlens Noel, Karl-Anthony Towns, DeMarcus Cousins, or Anthony Davis? I coached/developed those guys."
If he is gone, then the Antigua news more than soothes that sting for me.
John Groce got us heard and involved with plenty of highly touted kids. That's not been the problem. Antigua needs to win these battles.
sacraig
- The desert
Not even remotely the same situations, and if he leaves, there's no reason for EG-level animosity... unless it turns out that something shady really is going on.
Deleted member 8632
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Maybe Tilmon will put Cuonzo in position to take down the juggernaut known as the Bakersfield Roadrunners!!!
Losing Tilmon flat out sucks. I'm thinking he's gone, but who knows what's happening behind the scenes. He practically decommitted before signing day when he stalled signing his letter, so I'm not counting out anything.
The question I have is, does Antigua get us in with anyone of the blue chips that still hasn't committed. I saw ESPN's number 5 recruit is a center from Harlem who hasn't committed. Any chance we come in and steal a recruit at the end like we're used to? We have some big time coaches now and I want to recruit throughout the country, not just Illinois.
The question I have is, does Antigua get us in with anyone of the blue chips that still hasn't committed. I saw ESPN's number 5 recruit is a center from Harlem who hasn't committed. Any chance we come in and steal a recruit at the end like we're used to? We have some big time coaches now and I want to recruit throughout the country, not just Illinois.
sacraig
- The desert
I still don't agree. Tilmon has every excuse to decide to leave here. I have no idea what was up with that retweet followed by this, but I do think it is completely reasonable for a 17 year old who commits for one coach who gets fired to then want the opportunity to listen to other coaches again. I am totally okay with that. It sucks as an Illini fan, but the student athlete should have that right. If Groce hadn't been fired and then he did this, I would be a lot more pissed.
Yes would love to land the Mohamed Bamba, more impact and greater NBA prospect than Porter. Tilmon verballed back in July than walked that back. He slow played us on the LOI and made us feel like he could back out the whole time. This is looking very amateurish and silly, still hopes he stays to his commitment. He is quality big man with a great upside. But you don't win with fence sitters. If he wants to be the BMOC he needs to act like it. Might be better served being a follower at another school like he did at Lalu.
Yes, in the Southland conference where quality big men are pretty scarce. And 1 9-9 season in the Big 12.
Not possible.
We won't and shouldn't. This is part of what Whitman signed up for when he canned John Groce.
I'm passing on Bruninga every day of the week. I would welcome Kiir and a 5th year, however.
POTD
Yes it sucks, yes we desperately need a kid of Tillmons talent but would you rather have him and suffer through another year of a coach who had no offensive or defensive gameplay?!?! It's a no brainer to me. We knew there would be transfers and/or attrition after Groce left. Just sucks it's him. But we'll be ok
illynifan34
That's a winner!!
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Is anyone saying we should have kept Groce? I think most anger is frustration over the situation and the retweet then decommit.
Deleted member 10676
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There are 2 McDonald's bigs still on the board. Bomba and Brandon McCoy. McCoy is the rawer of the two but he actually grew up in Chicago and lived there until the start of high school when his mother decided to get him out of Chi and moved to San Diego. His team came in for the Proviso West holiday tournament his sophomore or junior year. Don't know if that would cut us any slack but would certainly be worth checking out. http://www.suntimeshighschoolsports.com/2017/03/28/brandon-mccoy-almost-chicagos-mcdonalds-american/
sacraig
- The desert
I couldn't disagree more. Your John Hancock matters, but in a situation like this, we have a 17-year-old kid who signed up to play for a program and a coach. He signs on the dotted line, then the coach gets canned. It is completely reasonable to explore other options, and I completely understand it even if it makes me sad that he is going to do it.
Expecting these kids to sign up for something, then have the situation completely change and them not have second thoughts is just silly. Shoot, as an adult, I can't even live up to that standard.
Imagine you had a kid who signed up to attend Tulane university in 2005 and study mechanical engineering. Just before classes start, Hurricane Katrina rolls through, levels New Orleans, and the university dramatically scales back their engineering programs as part of the recovery, including no longer offering mechanical engineering (this actually happened, by the way). Is it fair if your kid would not be allowed to consider other options at that point?
Now this is the crazy speculation, shoot-for-the-stars ridiculousness that hiring Antigua affords us. I like it! Any chance we can go back and try to recruit Thon Maker?
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