Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (April 2018)
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Please.....no signs incorporating both showering and Golden. Keep it classy.
Yeah, he's a unique player. It will be exciting to see him suit up for us for sure.
sooooo... he's a slightly shorter dirk nowitzki?
I think he has a similar build and length of our own Derek Harper. He was a beast and often over looked despite having such a long career and his number retired.
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[CODE]TownieMatt
CU Expat
- Chicago
I see. Did not remember seeing his name on the list.
Thanks for the info. Maybe Ayo can give Ramey the pitch over the weekend?
Yeah, he's a mysteriously underrated figure in Illini history IMO. Before my time, at least as a collegian. Maybe there's more to the story.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Harper had 1 great year and then bolted (not that I blame him). He was a lock down defender and excellent ball handler and distributor from day one, but his J was pretty mediocre. To his credit, it improved a lot.
I have a sneaking suspicion that if you swapped Derek Harper and Ron Harper in the 90's Bulls/Knicks rivalry, there might be a slightly different narrative.
The Sprouting Divot
Invisible and Bulletproof
- Miracle Mile
Sorry - hope I didn't piss you off.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
RedRocksIllini
- Morrison, CO
I recall his jumper having a weird sideways spin his first two years. That got fixed prior to his junior year and he was off to the show.
I wonder how many will get that reference?
However, I hope he doesn't heed "nothing gold can stay
Anyway, back to recruiting, finish with Golden and Okoro? Anything left for next year!
Stay golden, Illini fans.
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Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
He is one of my all time favorite players, and a really good guy. Similar strengths and weaknesses as players. Harper had a funky shooting motion as well (shot the ball with side spin) but it didn’t stop him from being a pretty good shooter.
He hit 18 straight shots in a two game streak which included 2 end of half/game half court heaves. It was one of the most amazing things I have seen.
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He is one of my all time favorite players, and a really good guy. Similar strengths and weaknesses as players. Harper had a funky shooting motion as well (shot the ball with side spin) but it didn’t stop him from being a pretty good shooter.
He hit 18 straight shots in a two game streak which included 2 end of half/game half court heaves. It was one of the most amazing things I have seen.
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BananaShampoo
Captain 'Paign
- Phoenix, AZ
We need to focus on being the first Fighting Illini, not the next Penn St.
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Illiniwek06
- N of I-80
Best comp in this thread
Harp was a beast. Likely my favorite guard. I would hold his own vs any of our former players and tell them about it. He was a talker for sure.
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Scary thing about these posts on Ayo is that they remind me of the love MS was getting last year. He and Alstork were going to be the high scorers, DaW would probably red shirt and Ebo would be rarely used. Of course those statements were probably not made by the current posters, who are much smarter.
TheFameProtector
- Champaign
I find it crazy that kids like Nojel Eastern are declaring for the NBA draft (albeit without hiring an NBA agent). Maybe it will be a good wake up call for him and others - there are too many players thinking they're NBA material when they're a ways off.
Bottom line everything in recruiting is speculation. Kids who were never ranked become all americans. Baker mayfield was a 3 star turned Heisman. Insert any of the numerous top 25 kids who never pan out, even on a college level.
In fact, i think a better rating system would be a percentage of potential success. Ayo has been consistently ranked in the top 25ish. MS had less than 1 year of good basketball. Alstork was playing in a low major conference and wasnt never a lights out shooter (though he did drop off significantly.)
I wont say Ayo will be who we thought MS or MA would be, but the chances hes a better player than either of them is much higher than the converse.
Also, I still believe the jury is out on MS. Ayo has a higher probability than either to succeed at the collegiate level.
This is actually a good move on his part. Rule change last year allows an NCAA prospect to declare for the draft as many times as they want without hiring an agent. If you recall, Calipari had that stupid ceremony where every single player on his team (including the walkons) declared for the draft
Great way to get feedback from scouts and know what part of their game they need to work on in order to get drafted or play professionally. Most players that do this know that they probably won't get selected in the first round, but that there is always the chance that one team falls in love with their skill set and makes that promise.
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