I actually do not think this fan had any malicious intent but actually believed that the idea of following in Rice's footsteps would be appealing to Goodwin.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (April-June 2016)
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I actually do not think this fan had any malicious intent but actually believed that the idea of following in Rice's footsteps would be appealing to Goodwin.
Was looking for some validation for my life but apparently came up SHORT!
Illinithad
- Northeast Missouri
Although I do follow some recruits, that is probably a good rule of thumb.
TownieMatt
CU Expat
- Chicago
I admit, I follow recruits. But I have never, and would never, send them a message or tweet at them, etc. Dumbest thing in the world. What? You think some kid is going to commit because you sent him a poorly photoshoped picture of him in an Illini jersey with the Chief logo behind it? No. Stop it.
Unfortunately, the counterargument is that that can often be the most significant gauge of the level of fan support and passion that exists from certain programs, which is undoubtedly one of the strengths of Illinois from a recruiting perspective.
I find it weird, but so long as it isn't abusive I don't see what the big deal is. These kids are a lot more comfortable interacting with randoms on the internet than we are, both due to their age and their "celebrity"
89illinigrad
- Chicago
See "Cliffmas" for an example of when things got abusive. I'm sure Cliff got many a nasty tweet from his Illini followers on that day.
I believe the Cliff hat fiasco was the reason why I stopped following kids that aren't committed to Illinois. I was too emotionally involved in where they were going that it wasn't healthy for me when they picked someone else.
Not a bad thing for us, but best of luck to him in his recovery.
Poor kid. Any word on if that injury has affected his timeline for a decision?
There's also a lesson to be learned there about not burning bridges and going out of your way to dump on people - in this case, the Illini fanbase - on your way out the door. Cliff got whatever he deserved.
Not burning bridges and going out of your way to dump on people? That is exactly what many fans did to Cliff on twitter. Other recruits see that stuff and it hurts Illinois in a negative way.
But social media, good or bad, is extremely low on the list of most recruits reasons for committing or not committing to a school.
Meyers Leonard had shoulder surgery and his timeline is 6-8 months.
What's worse, an 18 year old having some poor taste fun with his announcement, or college to middle age men ragging on a kid on social media? It's funny, as a fan base we're more than willing to give a player a 2nd chance after committing a crime (whether it's assault, robbery, underage drinking), but some people will never forgive a kid for picking up the wrong hat.
For all of those who have been patiently waiting ...
Today's events:
* 15' 780lb gator caught in Florida sets a new state record.
* Smithers came out as gay on the Simpsons.
* Reddit enables users to block trolls.
Thats a big lizard
@KedPrince4
#illini Bball fans don't sleep on 6'10" PF Theo John from MN: I have a good relationship with Illinois, I have nine offers at this point.
#illini Bball fans don't sleep on 6'10" PF Theo John from MN: I have a good relationship with Illinois, I have nine offers at this point.
Listen people need to stop acting like this was a UofI fanbase thing. Can you imagine the firestorm he would have faced if you replace Illinois with Kentucky in that situation. BBN would have burnt twitter to the ground in that situation.
I am not saying any of it is right or an acceptable thing to do but it really has nothing to do with UofI or future recruitments.
A lot of media guys have said that Illinois has one of the most active fanbases on Twitter. I've heard some say that we're the craziest. Illinois has won a ton of meaningless fanbase competitions via retweets and favorites. You're right though, other fanbases would do the same. Don't underestimate the thirst from Illini fans.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Creepy and thirsty you say?
:clappy::whoo::rock:
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