Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (April 2018)

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#703      
Calloo reminds me a little bit of Robey from Nebraska. Not overly impressed at first but he has good size and is agile. For those keeping score on "athletic", scores lower but makes up some with his agility. Like all freshmen, how hard is he willing to work on his game and body. Looks like he could improve on both.


Regarding the banquet(or Survivor), seems very awkward at this point. Hope to see Black and Finke there. It would be fitting to give them both their framed jerseys as seniors since both put in 4 years and earned a degree. I think both TJL and Smith deserve an applause, but doubt they will be there. Hope to see Matic return as well.
 
#705      
I believed DJ and family attended but made cryptic comments about his time at Illinois

DJW and his Mom. She was on her best behavior considering all. It wasn't but a week or so after the banquet that he announced his transfer. I always like DJW, I hope he does well at George Washington U.
 
#706      

foby

Bonnaroo Land
We only have one proven talent, Trent, and one expected talent, Ayo. The rest are frosh or role players.

Kipper has proven he is talented, but as of yet, has not proved he can be consistent.
 
#707      
Give me Feliz and Calloo and call it good. Hinson will be good but I can see Calloo down the line being great and seeing everyone post the classic "why didn't we recruit him?!" "Another guy in the tournament who we should have taken seriously"
 
#708      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Calloo reminds me a little bit of Robey from Nebraska. Not overly impressed at first but he has good size and is agile. For those keeping score on "athletic", scores lower but makes up some with his agility. Like all freshmen, how hard is he willing to work on his game and body. Looks like he could improve on both.

I'm not a big comps guy, but your Robey comp is good. Not so much as they're the same, but they're both fairly unsung, same height, similar builds, agility, athleticism. If Calloo can follow a similar development trajectory...
 
#709      
no way. 8 or 9 at the most. We'll have a lot more talent at the top next year.

Trent, Ayo, AJ, Kipper and Ebo likely starters as we see it today.

First off the bench will be Feliz, Da'Monte and Samba. Both Griffin and Jones will get some time as well. That's 10. That's not including another big who will almost certainly play if that's another freshman or a transfer. That's 11.

Some names could change but that's how it's going to shake out unless some of these guys are unplayable.
 
#710      
I'm not a big comps guy, but your Robey comp is good. Not so much as they're the same, but they're both fairly unsung, same height, similar builds, agility, athleticism. If Calloo can follow a similar development trajectory...

Calloo's HS prospect ranking journey and skillset remind of Mike Shaw. Was much higher rated as a younger player and never blossomed into the star that many thought he would. Hopefully he is a much better player than Shaw if we are giving him a serious look.
 
#711      
Can basketbll get in on #Littyville? Should that stay just football? Drop the wewillwin for everyone rolling with #Littyville?

Absolutely not to be used with Basketball, Baseball, Tennis, Golf.....unless you want it to lose its potentcy IMO.

That's a Football brand and doubt Ward and the crew would want that to creep beyond their sport.
 
#712      
Trent, Ayo, AJ, Kipper and Ebo likely starters as we see it today.

First off the bench will be Feliz, Da'Monte and Samba. Both Griffin and Jones will get some time as well. That's 10. That's not including another big who will almost certainly play if that's another freshman or a transfer. That's 11.

Some names could change but that's how it's going to shake out unless some of these guys are unplayable.

I think a lot of people are selling Da'Monte short. He is extremely talented...just needs a little more experience and to get healthy!! Always easy to elevate the new blood before their time.
 
#713      
At this point Calloo is a project. The question may be is it better to have him developed and ready to contribute more as a soph in 2019 or do you still have holes to fill trying for bigger fish down the road.

Hinson is a four star on rivals whereas Calloo is a three star. Calloo is the 313 ranked prospect on 247. I'm sure the staff would love to get Hinson.

You can see the potential with Calloo but Hinson is more developed. It seems like they have been targeting coaches sons and I believe Hinson is one as well. He had a very developed shot and was outplaying his competition as a freshman in HS. Calloo can put some of the same pressure on defenses with shooting and some physicality. Players just develop at different rates and for a shorter rebuild ideally you would get the players that can contribute right away. Unfortunately we are not Duke.

Not sure what the roster would look like in 2019 or if we would get the big physical center like Okoro that everyone wants, but the staff will be trying hard for Aidan Igiehon. Will be interesting to see how well the team does next season and what pieces can be added for 2019.
 
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#714      
Trent, Ayo, AJ, Kipper and Ebo likely starters as we see it today.

First off the bench will be Feliz, Da'Monte and Samba. Both Griffin and Jones will get some time as well. That's 10. That's not including another big who will almost certainly play if that's another freshman or a transfer. That's 11.

Some names could change but that's how it's going to shake out unless some of these guys are unplayable.

Agree with starters at start of season but believe it could change a lot by the start of conference games:

Trent and Ayo are solid but Jones/Griffin could replace AJ, or Hinson/GBez replace Kipper and/or Kipper move to AJ's spot and SK replace Ebo. Believe this class has a huge upside but next year's results will depend on time to develop. Lots of teams win with frosh, just not a history for us.
 
#717      

sacraig

The desert
Can basketbll get in on #Littyville? Should that stay just football? Drop the wewillwin for everyone rolling with #Littyville?

Two hastags can fit in one tweet, you know. #wewillwin #LittyvILLe
 
#719      

Kramer116

Chicago
At this point Calloo is a project. The question may be is it better to have him developed and ready to contribute more as a soph in 2019 or do you still have holes to fill trying for bigger fish down the road.

Hinson is a four star on rivals whereas Calloo is a three star. Calloo is the 313 ranked prospect on 247. I'm sure the staff would love to get Hinson.

You can see the potential with Calloo but Hinson is more developed. It seems like they have been targeting coaches sons and I believe Hinson is one as well. He had a very developed shot and was outplaying his competition as a freshman in HS. Calloo can put some of the same pressure on defenses with shooting and some physicality. Players just develop at different rates and for a shorter rebuild ideally you would get the players that can contribute right away. Unfortunately we are not Duke.

Not sure what the roster would look like in 2019 or if we would get the big physical center like Okoro that everyone wants, but the staff will be trying hard for Aidan Igiehon. Will be interesting to see how well the team does next season and what pieces can be added for 2019.

I don't know if I agree, Calloo I think would be much more ready to play than Hinson at least next year.

Calloo is obviously older, Hinson just reclassified I just do not think he is an instant impact type but could be really good in a year or two.

I think both are solid options overall.
 
#720      
I think a lot of people are selling Da'Monte short. He is extremely talented...just needs a little more experience and to get healthy!! Always easy to elevate the new blood before their time.

Ayo is the only "new blood" in the starting lineup I proposed. Da'Monte is one of the first guys off the bench. I don't know how that is "selling him short"?

I think he has a place as a defense and energy guy and if he can do more than that this year we should be tickled. He shot so poorly last year it will be a statistical anomaly if he ever becomes proficient from 3 point range. Hopefully his extremely bad late game decision-making is past him too.
 
#721      
Meh... every year during the off-season people rave on deep rotations. As evident from all teams in the final four (they went 7 max), when the going gets tough, rotations shrink.

When we get into the B1G, our main rotation will be 7-8 players max. It is a numbers game, there will be winners and losers and some players will emerge as winners in their positions. The rest will either have to accept their (limited role) or move on. These moves are actually more frequent in teams that have struggled (e.g., Illinois) where turnover is higher with coaching staffs taking more chances with lower ranked players/prospects, hoping a few of them will emerge as contributors. The more chances we take, the better the chances of future turnover. We are far from a steady state right now as a program.

The rotations get cut down in the tightest games but that is not indicative of a season and is a different argument then the one I was stating.

The Final Four teams had this many players averaging 8 or more minutes per game for the year (20% of the game):

Michigan - 10
Villanova - 8
Loyola (CHI) - 10
Kansas - 8

Illini - 10 (with guys we couldn't play on the bench and 2 scholarships not filled)

Huggy Bear & Martin for reference:
West Virginia - 11
South Carolina - 10


Underwood historically:
SFA '14 - 9
SFA '15 - 11
SFA '16 - 10
OkST '17 - 11

I'm still confident we will have a 10-11 person rotation this year unless there are injuries.
 
#722      
Agree with starters at start of season but believe it could change a lot by the start of conference games:

Trent and Ayo are solid but Jones/Griffin could replace AJ, or Hinson/GBez replace Kipper and/or Kipper move to AJ's spot and SK replace Ebo. Believe this class has a huge upside but next year's results will depend on time to develop. Lots of teams win with frosh, just not a history for us.

I like Jones a lot and believe based on talent he can push for a starting position as a freshman. We will see how quickly he figures it out. I find it unlikely that Griffin could supplant either of AJ or Jones in his first year. If he can, we got a major steal.

Kipper scored 31 points in our last game last year. He was inconsistent but showed too much talent on a team lacking it to not be a starter this year. It will be up to him and the staff to find ways to get him on the #everydayguys plan.

I find it unlikely that any freshman bigs would supplant Ebo without injury. A 5th year would likely (hopefully deservedly) step right into the starting lineup, though.
 
#723      

foby

Bonnaroo Land
The rotations get cut down in the tightest games but that is not indicative of a season and is a different argument then the one I was stating.

The Final Four teams had this many players averaging 8 or more minutes per game for the year (20% of the game):

Michigan - 10
Villanova - 8
Loyola (CHI) - 10
Kansas - 8

Illini - 10 (with guys we couldn't play on the bench and 2 scholarships not filled)

Huggy Bear & Martin for reference:
West Virginia - 11
South Carolina - 10


Underwood historically:
SFA '14 - 9
SFA '15 - 11
SFA '16 - 10
OkST '17 - 11

I'm still confident we will have a 10-11 person rotation this year unless there are injuries.

How dare you try to prove your point with facts. Good day, sir.
 
#724      
No matter who plays &’how many are in the rotation. We have to guard WITHOUT fouling every 5 seconds. Also we need rebounding, so hopefully some of these new guys want
to Defend
 
#725      
No matter who plays &’how many are in the rotation. We have to guard WITHOUT fouling every 5 seconds. Also we need rebounding, so hopefully some of these new guys want
to Defend

The fouling was so brutal last year. I think the style of defense draws more fouls in general but it was a big problem for us last year. It definitely is a contributor to the size of the rotation too.
 
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