Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (April 2018)

[rockillini]

Okoro would be big because of how badly we need a big...but I wouldn't expect him to be a difference maker next year. When is the last freshman big that came in and was that significant his freshman year. Not Egwu, Not Leonard, probably have to go back to Augie, then maybe Cook and Efrem.

Problem 2 is we were very bad underneath last year and we lost are 2 best bigs in Black & Finke. Even if Okoro comes in and produces at the level of Augustine as a freshman we are still 2 bigs in the rotation short of being good, so we need Ebo and Kane or Georgi to soldify a rotation.

I think he could has a season similar to what Tilmon had for Mizzou, with hopefully a few less fouls.

 

[rockillini]

Mr. Golden's visit to Butler will be a short visit. He's scheduled to play in an All Star game tomorrow evening, and I'm sure he has to arrive at a reasonable time tomorrow for practice, etc.

https://twitter.com/mylesd12_/status/989519203706253312

 

[swampyd]

Okoro would be big because of how badly we need a big...but I wouldn't expect him to be a difference maker next year. When is the last freshman big that came in and was that significant his freshman year. Not Egwu, Not Leonard, probably have to go back to Augie, then maybe Cook and Efrem.

Problem 2 is we were very bad underneath last year and we lost are 2 best bigs in Black & Finke. Even if Okoro comes in and produces at the level of Augustine as a freshman we are still 2 bigs in the rotation short of being good, so we need Ebo and Kane or Georgi to soldify a rotation.

I have an issue with our two best bigs being Finke and Black. Ebo was better than MF in the post by the end of the year. As a soph he should be better than he was as a Freshman.

 

[Greensboro]

I get your point, but it's still a stretch to compare the two. Morgan was behind Egwu in the depth chart and had to practice for two years against him. Matic couldn't get meaningful minutes even with a huge hole in the frontcourt. He was a bad frontcourt player that thought he could become a small forward. I wish him well but he wasn't going to contribute until senior year at best, IMO.

This is sort of depressing thinking how long the hole at center has been around, maybe Mav had a better path, but even after 2 years it would have been hard to find anyone thinking Mav had a chance and in reality if we didn't have a total vacuum at 5 after Egwu left he might never have seen the light of day. But my point was more along the lines if you are going to bring in Matic or Morgan for a freshman season or even through sophomore season, then recycle them for the next Mav or Matic it becomes a repeating cycle and you never get anywhere. I'm not saying it is a huge loss, or that Matic would have contributed next year, just that before I jump up and down about how much we needed a 8th scholarship to open up this year, I'm more than ok letting Matic have one more year to see how he develops rather than jumping on another project big that looks a lot like Matic but is a year behind in development.

 

[Deleted member 649710]

Whatever one's thoughts on Matic are, I don't think it is a good look to have two students transfer after just one year in the program. I hope that doesn't happen with the 2018 class.

 

[illinipioneer]

Whatever one's thoughts on Matic are, I don't think it is a good look to have two students transfer after just one year in the program. I hope that doesn't happen with the 2018 class.

First year staff came in and were forced to take a big chance on some of these fellas. My only personal hope is that most of the guys understand that this is basically the status quo in college hoops today....not saying its a good thing.

Would find it highly unlikely the guys we are bringing in now transfer, maybe one here or there as per usual, but It seems BU is getting more of the guys he looks for/fit the system.

 

[SescIllini]

The NBA drafts almost entirely on potential. Thats something Liddell has in spades over guys like Grayson Allen.

Trust me I'm not a fan of Duke and Grayson Allen has had his moments as Duke's most punchable face. But Allen was a tremendous player in high school, very athletic. That is why he was recruited at Duke and he contributed greatly in the championship game as a freshmen.


At 6-5, PG skills, solid shooter, athletic. Not sure he is the best example as not having potential. I do think that if Allen went to a non-blue blood he would of been the "man" and maximized his potential. He got a lot of limelight at Duke (good and bad) but played second fiddle to the next wave of blue chip recruits.

 

[Newman]

This is sort of depressing thinking how long the hole at center has been around, maybe Mav had a better path, but even after 2 years it would have been hard to find anyone thinking Mav had a chance and in reality if we didn't have a total vacuum at 5 after Egwu left he might never have seen the light of day. But my point was more along the lines if you are going to bring in Matic or Morgan for a freshman season or even through sophomore season, then recycle them for the next Mav or Matic it becomes a repeating cycle and you never get anywhere. I'm not saying it is a huge loss, or that Matic would have contributed next year, just that before I jump up and down about how much we needed a 8th scholarship to open up this year, I'm more than ok letting Matic have one more year to see how he develops rather than jumping on another project big that looks a lot like Matic but is a year behind in development.

I agree that it would be a concern but I don't think that'll be the case that we'll need to keep recycling projects. Every player that we have recruited in the frontcourt has a strength that they bring to the table so even if they don't improve quite a bit and become more well-rounded, they can at least be useful in certain situations. Ebo and Kane are excellent athletes and could be really good defensively. Bez has great vision and could be pretty decent offensively and has a chance to have a Morgan like impact. Matic didn't really do anything well and although they're all projects at this point, everyone had clear areas for improvement. I couldn't begin to tell you what Matic would need to do to contribute at this level. I wish him the best though.

 

[EyeoftheIllini]

Whatever one's thoughts on Matic are, I don't think it is a good look to have two students transfer after just one year in the program. I hope that doesn't happen with the 2018 class.

I don't really like it either, but I really don't think it matters much in the "good look" category. Unless a player leaving has strong connections with other recruits that could impact their recruiting, I don't think it really matters much to potential new recruits. I doubt very seriously that a recruit would look at the Illini and be worried about two transfers who he doesn't even know.

 

[Calvin]

Whatever one's thoughts on Matic are, I don't think it is a good look to have two students transfer after just one year in the program. I hope that doesn't happen with the 2018 class.

Have to agree with this, but don't think we have a choice. And as someone else posted, Underwood had to take chances I'm sure he'd rather not have had to.

Everyone's recruiting against you, so the more ammunition you give them, the harder it is. This year's turnover is ridiculous, but we know why it played out like this, and why the rebuilding is still going on. I'm less concerned with the optics than I am with our need to get back to the dance.

 

[skyIdub]

Whatever one's thoughts on Matic are, I don't think it is a good look to have two students transfer after just one year in the program. I hope that doesn't happen with the 2018 class.

It's also not a good look to be almost irrelevant for most of a decade. Absolutely nothing against Matic, but you can't rebuild a program with projects. You have to make room for the future, and Matic is not the future. If he doesn't have room to grow here, it's better for him to seek another route. He will be just fine.

You can't have it both ways.

 

[FC Illiniman]

Whatever one's thoughts on Matic are, I don't think it is a good look to have two students transfer after just one year in the program. I hope that doesn't happen with the 2018 class.

Doesn't sound like to me either that transfered were asked to transfer, they chose it. People have options in life and they are free to chose. Both individuals in this situation, might have seen what would soon happen, and decided it would be best if they got out of Dodge.
It is to bad in either case they left as the way I saw it both could have been experienced and better equipped to work in a system they knew. Both cases might had outsiders in there ear saying leave, which happens more times than not.
That being said, the staff has taken that opportunity to replace both with in my opinion, better options to succeed. Only time will tell. Glad we have new players in with the option to stay around, grow with system, and be part of a group that could change our basketball culture, into winners, not whiners. Only time will tell , whatever does happen, BU has picked this group, so it is his to sink or swim with. Hopefully we get 2more quality players to finish this class up.

 

[IlliniNation1010]

Was reading an interview somewhere in the previous few days that Calloo's dream school is MI. Hope Beilein takes a fast interest in the kid or Ole Miss closes him. Obviously does not matter what I think. But feel it is a a waste of OV & think IL would be better off leaving the spot open for next year.

+1 The staff can evaluate talent much better than me, but this spot should be filled with a grad transfer. We have much better options in '19 plus as you mentioned we're running low on OV's

 

[Peoria Pipeline]

Trust me I'm not a fan of Duke and Grayson Allen has had his moments as Duke's most punchable face. But Allen was a tremendous player in high school, very athletic. That is why he was recruited at Duke and he contributed greatly in the championship game as a freshmen.


At 6-5, PG skills, solid shooter, athletic. Not sure he is the best example as not having potential. I do think that if Allen went to a non-blue blood he would of been the "man" and maximized his potential. He got a lot of limelight at Duke (good and bad) but played second fiddle to the next wave of blue chip recruits.

I agree, and 7 foot wingspan. I think he has potential to be a really good role player in the NBA. Comparing him and Liddell at this point is a little much.

 

[Deleted member 29907]

I agree, and 7 foot wingspan. I think he has potential to be a really good role player in the NBA. Comparing him and Liddell at this point is a little much.

Where does this 7 ft wingspan come from? All measurements i see are more like 6 6 . Is this an urban myth?

 

[3 point girl]

I agree, and 7 foot wingspan. I think he has potential to be a really good role player in the NBA. Comparing him and Liddell at this point is a little much.

agreed

 

[skibdaddy]

Can someone put up a gif of Matic whiffing on all those screens. That's why he was never going to play here.

Lol, just thinking about that makes me laugh.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.th...ois-basketball-brad-underwood-fighting-illini

 

[Govoner Vaugn Fan]

So is it fair to judge BU after his 2018-2019 campaign?

You really can't judge this class until they are sophomores, or really juniors. I look for some exciting play this year, and some good wins next year, but it will be 20/21 before we can judge how well BU is doing with this major rebuild. Part of that judgement will depend on recruiting classes over the next two years, as well.

 

[kuhl84]

Was reading an interview somewhere in the previous few days that Calloo's dream school is MI. Hope Beilein takes a fast interest in the kid or Ole Miss closes him. Obviously does not matter what I think. But feel it is a a waste of OV & think IL would be better off leaving the spot open for next year.

Been reported multiple times that Callo visit is unofficial.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BananaShampoo]

Where does this 7 ft wingspan come from? All measurements i see are more like 6 6 . Is this an urban myth?

We're rounding up to the nearest foot now. Didn't you hear?

 

[drewillini89]

We're in a full rebuild.

Judging Underwood after next season wouldn't be that dissimilar to judging Lovie for football after this past season. Give him a couple years to get his players. This is literally his first full go at recruiting. If we suck in the 2019-2020 campaign, I'd be concerned.

Football has more scholarships, takes longer to stop the bleeding than with basketball but you still need a year establish yourself and then a year to get your players.

 

[GortTheRobot]

We're rounding up to the nearest foot now. Didn't you hear?

My wife is only 5' tall...now that I'm 7' tall, things are going to be awkward.

 

[Joel Goodson]

We're in a full rebuild.

Judging Underwood after next season wouldn't be that dissimilar to judging Lovie for football after this past season. Give him a couple years to get his players. This is literally his first full go at recruiting. If we suck in the 2019-2020 campaign, I'd be concerned.

Football has more scholarships, takes longer to stop the bleeding than with basketball but you still need a year establish yourself and then a year to get your players.

Additionally, football players take longer to compete (18-19 yos v 20-22 yos) than hoops players. Judging a wholesale rebuild prematurely is sheer folly.

 

[SescIllini]

Comparing Callo to Shaw is not accurate, Shaw was much more impressive in high school. IMHO I think you need to accept that college in going to require more work and intensity to get to the next level. Shaw faced more PF/C his size or bigger and couldn't adjust. But once again, just with MSmith I believe with experience and training would of been an effective player. But review some youtube video on Shaw and he was competitive with some of the best big men in the country.

 

[sully]

Agree, this is in full rebuild. Okoro situation is huge. if we land him, this thing changes immediately.

Yep. Getting Okoro would be HUGE! Definitely don't him going to Purdue thats for sure