This is one area where I think BU has shown his coaching chops. He has seemed to be willing and able to adjust to the talents of his recruits. This is something that I do not recall seeing from Weber or Groce.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (December 2020)
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Him and Beilein were top notch. I think Izzo is pretty good too, although he had some uncharacteristically soft guys a long ways back.
Painter is another one who has had success (though he hasn’t reached the levels of Bo, Beilein or Izzo) getting guys we probably wouldn’t have recruited to be contributors. All these coaches are/were good at finding a role for players that are ok overall but excel in one or two areas, and putting the pieces together to form a good and complete team.
Colleges really spoil these types of recruits.
Bo always seemed to have a plethora of guards that were dependable perimeter shooters without having to do volume...just good mechanics, confident, good shot recognition, and effective when needed. Illini shooters, especially recently, have always seemed streaky and we only seem to have 2 and sometimes 3 but no consistency. This season, we have a plethora of shooters and so far have not had a game where none could throw it in the ocean...someone always able to find the range. Sadly, move them in 8 ft. closer, set them 15 ft from the hoop unguarded, and the hoop seems to shrink. Hack an Illini may work all season.
Not until March
Isn't it generally easier to catch Bass in March rather than December?
Podziemski seems like the typical guy Underwood likes. He is good at everything. Hes not an elite athlete would be the only knock on him. The exact kind of player you want to put around Curbelo.
AirNeezy
Orange Krush '13 -'14
Not just BU but his assistants as well. I feel like we underrate Antigua's big men coaching chops because of his rep as an ace recruiter but the work he did with Leron Black, Giorgi, and Kofi speaks for itself. Giorgi and Kofi were two of the best freshman bigs I've seen here and its not only because of their innate talent.
All true but would like to see a 2nd year of development. Giorgi didn’t have it and Kofi has had 1 game in a row. Giorgi seems to be back but like to see more.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
I really like the 6' 5" '21 Wisconsin kid, whose name I dare not try. Think he's very much a viable alternative to Schutt. Not saying he's better, but I think he's more versatile. Pretty similar players, I think we'd be very happy with either one.
The '21 St. Joe's center, Thomas, is finally advancing his game. Not sure if we're interested, but his play of late warrants attention.
Also, I love the '23 Hinsdale kid, Buzelis, who's now at Brewster Academy. He's got a chance to be a D1 star.
The '21 St. Joe's center, Thomas, is finally advancing his game. Not sure if we're interested, but his play of late warrants attention.
Also, I love the '23 Hinsdale kid, Buzelis, who's now at Brewster Academy. He's got a chance to be a D1 star.
I don't disagree that we have had some under achievers. However I have constantly questioned how we have played some of these players. There is no way we shouldn't have gotten more out of Jeremy Richmond. You cannot sit him behind Bill Cole and expect to win in the big ten. Also, Michael Henry really developed his game after he transferred to DePaul. When did he ever get a real chance at Illinois. I would remind you that if he could have gotten more time with Richardson and Paul he could have made a real difference. All he ever got was a few minutes here or there. Alan Griffin is going to haunt us this year. Look at the numbers he is putting up on a pretty good team (Syracuse) because he is getting playing time. I know Adam Miller is supposed to be a future NBA player, but this year there is no comparison between him and Griffin. So some of our fans can say what they want, but we have had some players that were never put in the position to get the most out of them. Also, in today's game I saw where one of our fans complained about Hawkins having trouble guarding Harper Jr. They said he couldn't stay in front of him. (1) Hawkins is just a freshman and Harper is one of the best offensive players in the Big Ten if not the country,. (2) Harper had 6 points in the first half and not all of them were against Hawkins. He scored over 20 the second half while Hawkins never got off the bench. We need to get more playing time for players that have the potential to make a real difference. I do feel that Underwood is doing a better job this year in getting Curbelo minutes. A lot of fans had him way down the chart for playing time, but this kid is a real gamer. I have yet to see anyone prevent him from getting into the lane.
Richmond played significant minutes on a senior-heavy team. With all of his other issues, I have a hard time blaming Weber for him not playing more. Griffin played a lot of minutes as a sophomore. I don’t know why he transferred, but I don’t think lack of playing time was the issue. And if it was, I don’t fault Underwood for not playing him more.
Henry is more of an example that proves my point about fit. We had players like him that for whatever reason did not pan out here. Maybe it was a bad fit with Weber’s and Groce’s personalities and/or systems. But in two years, I never saw him do anything in a game that made me think he needed more playing time. Perhaps he needed a longer leash and found one at DePaul.
But our bigger issue was all the 4 stars that didn’t contribute as much as we would have hoped given their rankings. Crandall Head, Mike Shaw, DJ Williams and Austin Colbert come to mind. We had so many 4 star busts that we were never able to surround Ray Rice, Malcolm Hill, Kendrick Numn and Leron Black with the talent to form a complete team.
Bad luck with injuries and discipline issues also played a huge role. Jamar Smith, Jereme Richmond, Leron Black, Darius Paul, Kendrick Nunn, Tracy Abrams, Mike Thorne, Brian Carlwell and probably others that I’m forgetting. None of those teams were going to be competing for Big Ten championships, but a few more may have made the NCAA Tourney if not for those various issues.
Not sure why anyone listened to him in the first place. I got told off for not believing his word was gospel.
Griffin probably took the Syracuse route so he could play in that zone defense instead of getting lost and beat up playing Underwood's man defense. Leaves more energy to do what he wants on the offensive end....shoot 3's.
We need another point, or combo that is more point than wing. Miller is not going to be the back up pg, neither is Padilla. Need to land one in the transfer market imho.
I disagree on the three mentioned before, but I do agree with you on Crandall Head, Mike Shaw, D.J. Williams and Austin Colbert. They were all tremendous disappointments. I also agree with the bad luck with Smith, Black, D Paul, Nunn, Abrams, Thorne and Carwell. On the first three I mentioned earlier, I still say there is no way Bill Cole plays ahead of Jeremy Richmond. Alan Griffin is going to do more for Syracuse than we get out of Adam Miller and Coleman Hawkins this year. I do feel Curbelo was an unexpected steal. When Michael Henry did get into the games Paul and Richardson played a two man game and didn't ever look to get him involved in the offense. These three could have helped us a lot
I don't know about this part. We've been saying since he signed that Curbelo was a steal. Heck, national media even said it. He was a top 50 kid. Playing as advertised.
I wouldn't be so sure about this. Have watched Syracuse a couple of times. Think there may be some chemistry issues on that team right now.
This makes perfect sense though. He is enrolling and joining the team now, but not playing this season. So he gets the majority of this season to be on the team and practice and do strength and conditioning, and will begin playing at the same time he would if he stayed in high school this spring.
Totally agree. With all the COVID considerations, who knows how many games he would play this season in HS? Who knows what facilities would even be open in which to work out? At least by joining the Bruins' squad he knows where & with whom he will be practicing. (Southern California, World class facilities) He will get high level coaching and training. He will get to practice against guys who are high level D1 players rather than dominating HS kids. He won't lose any eligibility in the process, and can start down the road of earning a degree. Additionally, if you put yourself in the very large shoes of an 18 year old UCLA Basketball player, the (*Ahem*) "social aspects" of playing at UCLA are second to none.
Honestly, I'm surprised we aren't seeing more of this.
But isn't this year a free season -- in essence -- everyone is redshirting?
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