Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (January-February 2018)
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...Tate...
He’s averaging 12 and 7 for a pro team in Canada. Kids progress, and regress, all the time.
He’s averaging 12 and 7 for a pro team in Canada. Kids progress, and regress, all the time.
illini80
- Forgottonia
I think desperation is the wrong word, but there certainly is some urgency in the recruiting approach of the staff. I doubt BU thought it would be this difficult to recruit at Illinois. Someone will correct me with the right number, but 10 months ago we had something like 30 offers out.
ChazzReinhold
Mom! The Meatloaf!
27-79 (34.2%) from 3
Maybe my response was a little too harsh, but he rattled off names like Okafor, the produced to say bigger names and listed Tate as one of them. Tate was a godsend for the illini considering our PG woes. Sadly, he was probably better suited to play in a reserve role, but got thrown into the deep end. Always appreciated what he brought to the table. But listing Tate as a bigger name is wrong. He also wasn't a standout in high school.
Also I doubt that competition is very steep.
We've often discussed how Groce couldn't land a difference making point guard until Lucas (which arguably isn't a true difference making guard). And now it seems Underwood is plagued with the same problem but with bigs. The more I think about it, Groce really didn't get any great post players either. Arguably Tilmon was the only legit post player that Groce got to sign with Illinois. So we were without a legit point guard or post his entire tenure. No wonder we are struggling so much this year.
Brad Underwood has had three players with an original commitment to him, two of them being big men. Whether they play major roles is yet to be seen, but Greg has shown tons of potential and Matic is 'a build from the bottom' prospect with a lot of potential.
Agree on all points Chief. No worries.
Correct, but they were last ditch desperation efforts. Matic is so raw that I'm not sure he will be around past this season. I agree with you on Ebo and also believe that by his junior year he will be a difference maker. However, our current staff is really struggling trying to get a post player that can come in right away and contribute.
I also didn't intend to make it sound like Underwood should be faulted for this problem. I also don't think our lack of bigs is currently near as bad of a problem as Groce's ineptness at getting a point guard. However, it is definitely a huge challenge moving forward because instant impact post players are incredibly rare and typically posts need a few years of development to become contributors. My fear is we don't currently have a difference maker on our roster or one for next year in the 2018 recruiting class. Even if we land Okoro in 2019, he will still only be a freshman and are only other post player that could help that year is Ebo (which depends greatly on his improvement).
Peoria Illini
- Peoria, IL
If Matic stays, I think you'll see a big jump from him. I think he's still in the adjustment period to the US and college. Give him an offseason with Fletch. He passes well and sees the floor pretty well.
It's interesting that the current powerhouses are Simeon, WY, MPHS and Curie, however Crane and Marshall lead the all time CPL championships with 11 each.
I think most people, when arguing against Groce's recruitment of PG's, were talking about him shooting for all those top 30 PG's and not even attempting to get anyone else. We would ride almost all of them to apparent 2nd place finishes and have nobody to fall back on. I think people expected more recruitment of guys in the 100-200 range as backups.
Underwood has been recruiting 50-150 type bigs and seems to be falling pretty short. Ebo was ranked 510. Matic wasn't even a college prospect (AFIAK). Those are not the type of players people wanted Groce going after. Not saying BU is wrong for signing them, cause really he had no other options, but it is concerning when cant get guys in the 150-250 range. Especially when, one of the first things BU said we needed were guys taller than him, yet the 2018 class features none of that. It's obviously been a focus of the staff.
He seems to understand the offense better than most of the rest of the team. He's made a couple of first cutter passes where the recipients seemed surprised there was a basketball hitting them in the hands.
Peoria Illini
- Peoria, IL
Most of the first cutters jog through their cuts and barely make it out all the way to the corner to clear for the second cutter. They just play for the pass to the pinch post and the wrap around handoff.
Yup. And thats a big problem.
Agree. I like him. He's aggressive and he's not afraid of contact. I'd like to see him play more. I think he needs more experience. What are we going to do if he plays? Lose?
I assume he can also shoot well, but I could be wrong. Haven't seen an attempt. Also, he's a lot quicker on his feet than Finke.
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
I would not expect to see him as an ILLINI, I know we need guys, but Peyton seems like a late bloomer, limited other than inside and even though a good passer, we need guys that are athletic with immediate upside. I would put peyton in latter category.
Late bloomer? Yes. Limited other than inside? I don't think so. He plays center for him team, but he can shoot the 3, is pretty athletic, runs the floor really well, and his work ethic is off the charts. We may not have room for him but, he will continue to improve and likely will find a higher landing spot than IL State. If not, he'll be a star in the MVC.
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