Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (April-June 2016)

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#2,729      
Smacko
Joel Goodson said:
Good news. Would love to land Lewis. Going forward, when you cite a source, please provide a link.
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Getting Lewis would be great. He seems a bit similar to Goodwin in that he is a guy that really gets after it.
 
#2,730      
Deleted member 10676
#2,731      
BringThePaign
Went to the RB shootout today and saw most of the ILL targets. Thoughts (I've seen each of these guys multiple times so there's so pre-determination in here):

Nojel Eastern: I really want him to suit up for us. This was about my fourth/fifth time seeing him, and his game and potential have stood out each time. Imo, he could end up having a better college career than Goodwin (not hating on Goodwin, I really want him in O&B too). As has been noted, his shooting needs to improve, but he's a long, athletic freak. Had some impressive blocks and a really impressive dunk today.

Xavier Castaneda: Reminds me of Te'Jon Lucas a lot. Wired on defense, looks to set up the offense but can get buckets when needed/he wants, and he never plays out of control. I've seen a lot of teams try to pressure him, and he just never seems like the game is too fast for him. He'd be the perfect PG in almost any system.

Ayo Dosunmu: Can absolutely take a game over. I think he'll be a monster in a PnR offense (cough, cough at Illinois). MP played Simeon in the semis and it looked like that was their championship game. Ayo scored at every level and showed good vision. They didn't come to play in the title game against Hillcrest (looked tired), and Dosunmu deferred quite a bit. The team played zone defense, but he got beat in his matchup with Garrett, who looks like a player too. Even though I was disappointed in his performance and them as a team in that game after looking so good against Simeon, he's got the talent to compete to be the best prospect in the state.

I also walked past Christian Negron, who seemed pretty short for a college 4. Didn't get to see him play this time around.

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The area and state are producing a lot of good guards, and at a good mix of 1s and 2s. I really hope we can lock up a good percentage of them. Hope having Dee on staff helps us out there!
 
#2,733      
Deleted member 10676
Interesting that Garrett had such a weekend. I knew he was on the Fire and barely played this spring, but wasn't aware of just how little. Here's Henricksen's write up about Hillcrest and Garrett today and some quotes about Garrett with the Fire.
http://suntimeshighschoolsports.com/2016/06/05/henricksen-marcus-garrett-stars-hillcrest-shines-r-b/
By the time the first half was over, Garrett, a 6-1 combo guard, had 20 points en route to a 31-point performance in the first of three wins for Hillcrest on Saturday.
Those 20 points were nearly as many as he scored in 10 total games of EYBL action while playing with the Mac Irvin Fire this past spring. Garrett never did find his groove on the circuit.
In those 10 games in the highly competitive EYBL, Garrett played sparingly behind the Big Ten backcourt of Peoria Manual’s Da’Monte Williams (Illinois commit) and Milwaukee product Jordan Poole (Michigan commit). He averaged just seven minutes a game and scored a total of 22 points.
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#2,734      
iddy1993
miketherevelator said:
[FONT=&quot]Morning notes from RB. Players we are recruiting and might be. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Mike Reingruber ‏@MikeReingruber 2m2 minutes ago [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]FINAL: Evanston 62 Stevenson 44 -- Willie Herenton (Stevenson) w/ game high 26 points ---Nojel Eastern (Evanston) w/team high 21 points[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Michael O'Brien ‏@michaelsobrien 5m5 minutes ago [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Simeon beats Joliet West 67-46. Evan Gilyard led Simeon with 19, dominated. Messiah Jones had 16.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Michael O'Brien ‏@michaelsobrien 29m29 minutes ago [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Impressive overall first half from Simeon rising soph Kejuan Clements. Blazing fast, really nice handle.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Mike Reingruber ‏@MikeReingruber 37m37 minutes ago [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]FINAL: St. Joe's 55 Downers Grove South 52 -- Denis Alibegovic (DGS) w/game high 31 points --- Marquise Walker (Joe's) w/team high 26 points[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Mike Reingruber ‏@MikeReingruber 43m43 minutes ago [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]FINAL: Larkin 48 Conant 29 -- Jalen Shaw (Larkin) w/ game high 19 points --- Christian Negron (Larkin) w/ 13 points[/FONT]
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Jalen Shaw is a legit 6'8" class of 2018 from Larkin. Very thin at this time but pretty skilled. He might be someone to watch moving forward.
 
#2,738      
Obelix
Joel Goodson said:
Would rather have T. Lewis and a true PF (e.g. Johns, Culver). Plus, it seems that we aren't in Smith's first tier. He's a longshot.
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Derek Culver is a nationally ranked stud PF, but he is not coming here. There is another Culver that Illinois has often been mentioned with, with better chances, that is Jarrett Culver, but he is a NR SG.
 
#2,739      
Joel Goodson
Obelix said:
Derek Culver is a nationally ranked stud PF, but he is not coming here. There is another Culver that Illinois has often been mentioned with, with better chances, that is Jarrett Culver, but he is a NR SG.
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Derek Culver. Probably won't land him, but we are in the hunt. He visited and came away impressed.

Don't appreciate your dismissive tone, nor your ridiculous suggestion that I was referring to an NR SG. Did you think Groce had a chance with JCL?
 
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#2,740      
Newman
Joel Goodson said:
Derek Culver. Probably won't land him, but we are in the hunt. He visited and came away impressed.

Don't appreciate your dismissive tone, nor your ridiculous suggestion that I was referring to an NR SG. Did you think Groce had a chance with JCL?
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Jarrett Culver is actually a pretty good wing. I would rather have Lewis but Culver shot almost 60% from the perimeter on the EYBL circuit so he's no pushover despite currently being an unranked SG.
 
#2,742      
Obelix
Joel Goodson said:
Derek Culver. Probably won't land him, but we are in the hunt. He visited and came away impressed.

Don't appreciate your dismissive tone, nor your ridiculous suggestion that I was referring to an NR SG. Did you think Groce had a chance with JCL?
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My post was not meant to be dismissive, I just made simple statement, not sure why you read it as dismissive. I met one of Derek Culver's coaches recently and the feeling I got from a brief discussion was that he has his eyes set at higher level programs, but this is just my interpretation. I think he is a stud, as big of a recruiting home run IMO as any other big we are after. He is at a different level than Lewis, Smith, John, etc. I hope Groce lands him but I do not think he will end up at Illinois.

Now, there is the other Culver (Jarrett) who has been mentioned multiple times on this board as someone we are recruiting with good chances, some (not you) had confused him with Derek. I have not seen Jarrett play, so he may end up a player. The reason I mentioned his ranking and position is that he is neither very highly ranked nor plays a position of need (SG).

IMO there are two general recruiting groups with respect to Illini recruiting. Group A (Goodwin, Tilmon, Scruggs, Derek Culver, etc.) and Group B (pretty much everyone else --- not that all are the same level players). The differentiation in Group A is a combination of skills and importance/impact to the program. To have a top-10-15 class (as many think important to future of the program) we need a couple from Group A. Without players from Group A, class may be OK but not what Illinois/Groce needs given the current state of our program.
 
#2,743      
Joel Goodson
Obelix said:
My post was not meant to be dismissive, I just made simple statement, not sure why you read it as dismissive. I met one of Derek Culver's coaches recently and the feeling I got from a brief discussion was that he has his eyes set at higher level programs, but this is just my interpretation. I think he is a stud, as big of a recruiting home run IMO as any other big we are after. He is at a different level than Lewis, Smith, John, etc. I hope Groce lands him but I do not think he will end up at Illinois.

Now, there is the other Culver (Jarrett) who has been mentioned multiple times on this board as someone we are recruiting with good chances, some (not you) had confused him with Derek. I have not seen Jarrett play, so he may end up a player. The reason I mentioned his ranking and position is that he is neither very highly ranked nor plays a position of need (SG).

IMO there are two general recruiting groups with respect to Illini recruiting. Group A (Goodwin, Tilmon, Scruggs, Derek Culver, etc.) and Group B (pretty much everyone else --- not that all are the same level players). The differentiation in Group A is a combination of skills and importance/impact to the program. To have a top-10-15 class (as many think important to future of the program) we need a couple from Group A. Without players from Group A, class may be OK but not what Illinois/Groce needs given the current state of our program.
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Fair enough. Maybe commits from Tilmon, Goodwin and Lewis will sway Culver. If not, they will certainly sway one of our top PF targets.
 
#2,744      
PEORIAFLA
FT35 said:
Adam Miller of Peoria Manual (2020) is a kid worth keeping an eye on. Some people I talked to thought he was the best player on Manual this weekend (including Williams).


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PEORIAFLA
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Adam "Ace" Miller...... remember the name Illini nation..... This will be 4 grueling years... JG needs to jump on him ASAP. Now him and the family personally. Wolf is good but not the best on the team yet. He will be 6th man to start the season and then maybe start towards the middle of the season.
PEORIAFLA is online now
http://www.pjstar.com/sports/20160604/reynolds-adam-miller-next-guard-up-at-manual?page=1&_ga=1.77870492.981994409.1464786199

Manual is going to be an interesting team to watch next year with four potential D-1 players on the team.
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#2,746      
Captain Bubbles
I'd like to see Illinois take a look at 6-10 Jack Nunge of Castle, IN. He's still garnering Big Ten interest. According to Pocket City via Twitter, he just went to Vanderbilt for an unofficial visit, so he's garnering SEC interest as well.

Illinois needs bigs for its 2017 class and with Castle not being far away, it wouldn't hurt to check him out. Castle has a great basketball program and is one of the more notable programs in the area.
 
#2,748      
Big Al
Captain Bubbles said:
I'd like to see Illinois take a look at 6-10 Jack Nunge of Castle, IN. He's still garnering Big Ten interest. According to Pocket City via Twitter, he just went to Vanderbilt for an unofficial visit, so he's garnering SEC interest as well.

Illinois needs bigs for its 2017 class and with Castle not being far away, it wouldn't hurt to check him out. Castle has a great basketball program and is one of the more notable programs in the area.
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Illinois needs talent, not just size -- or in his case, height.
 
#2,750      
Deleted member 3875
Landing Lewis would be terrific. Hope the arrows are correct.
 
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