Of the 5 you listed, 3 of them shouldn't be anywhere near this list. One is the poster boy and one I honestly don't recall enough about him to comment.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (January-March 2016)
- Status
Of the 5 you listed, 3 of them shouldn't be anywhere near this list. One is the poster boy and one I honestly don't recall enough about him to comment.
Theres an argument to made for the others but DJW?? Youre losing all credibility now.
I don't think Williams belongs on this list. He definitely has BT talent.
I think you are wrong on Williams. He will contribute right away. Watch. Hope you aren't going by the state tourney where he was noticeably under the weather.
BananaShampoo
Captain 'Paign
- Phoenix, AZ
As others have mentioned, Groce has been very good at identifying talent early before players blew up. Jawun is an easy example of a kid who was borderline Top 100 in the rankings when Groce was in on him and then shot up to around Top 25. That has not been the problem at all. A big problem has been not losing on those kids, and the other is putting so much energy into those kids that he missed opportunities with others who might have come if he'd put forth the same effort on them. I'm thinking of guys like Ulis, Watson, Lavert and others...
Also, DJW is most certainly B1G caliber and there was a reason he was ranked where he was. He has skills, he was a just a freshman adjusting to the B1G and definitely showed flashes of what he could be later in the season.
Also, DJW is most certainly B1G caliber and there was a reason he was ranked where he was. He has skills, he was a just a freshman adjusting to the B1G and definitely showed flashes of what he could be later in the season.
DJ williams
DJ definitely showed progression as the year went along. The increased playing time was definitely owed to defensive improvements and just overall pace adjustment. If I had to gamble any of my money on a player on the 2015-2016 making it to the NBA, it'd be DJ for sure.
DJ definitely showed progression as the year went along. The increased playing time was definitely owed to defensive improvements and just overall pace adjustment. If I had to gamble any of my money on a player on the 2015-2016 making it to the NBA, it'd be DJ for sure.
Definitely agree with this about DJ Williams, I think he has a high basketball IQ just needs to learn how to keep the motor running for 48 minutes. He's probably the player other than JCL that I am most excited about, and he's unbelievably athletic. He gave the Illini a spark in a lot of games where they showed no effort, especially on the glass.
Last edited:
The problem this year was no PG and he missed out on so many PGs. Look at Groce's teams at Illinois with a serviceable pg...Abrams(2013), Abrams(2014), Tate/Rice(part-time) in 2015 and this year it was Lewis/Tate. The key is you had someone who could score if left alone from 2013-2015 and this year didn't have that. He needs to recruit a scoring PG and TJL is just that, but is it too late.
I actually wondered what game you were watching when you said he wasn't a BT player.
DJW has a NBA body and athleticism. If he ever puts it all together, he is NBA bound; but that is if he puts it all together
Malcolm is an extremely average athlete. That's not a knock on him. If anything it shows how savvy he is to be able to score the way he does without an athletic advantage. But that won't get it done in the NBA. DJW definitely has more pro POTENTIAL. Whether he'll reach his potential is a different story.
I also think Colbert could have been an exciting player by his senior year. I'll be interested to see what he does next year. (Although if he is successful next year, that would kind of speak against JG's talent evaluation skills, no?)
I also think Colbert could have been an exciting player by his senior year. I'll be interested to see what he does next year. (Although if he is successful next year, that would kind of speak against JG's talent evaluation skills, no?)
No one is denying he has a long ways to go.
The shooting %s may be similar, but DJW's form looks solid. Crandall's never did.
25% is the same as 40%?
Crandall head was undersized for his position and that kills your draft stock as a shooting guard, DJW is the right size for a 3. I think everyone agrees he has a long ways to go though, but it's not as much as you're making it seem.
BananaShampoo
Captain 'Paign
- Phoenix, AZ
Also, DJW held his home in summer USA Basketball and AAU camps against some elite competition. That says a lot about his potential.
Head only had 21 FGA and some of those makes were probably dunks. Pretty small sample size. And his numbers got worse the following seasons, that's not the norm. Head's efficiency was 77. DJW was a respectable 92.
DJ had 60 FGA, still not much to go off of. My eye says he's got a much better skill set.
Definitely. I think most people eye says that. His might be the only one that doesnt. The potential is there.
Did you see Luther Head shoot the ball as a freshman? That alone is enough to tell you it can be done
obviously not everyone is going to see an increase like this, but look at the increase in 3pt% for Buddy Hield from his Freshman year to his Senior year: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/61663/buddy-hield
DJW is 3 inches taller right? Also, Crandall Head had terrible shooting mechanics while DJW has a pretty nice looking shot.
NBA teams never draft players based on potential, it's all about production.
OK, sure. And I agree he has a ways to go to show he's a B1G level guy. But comparing him to Crandall is an odd way to go about that. We may still not know too much about DJW next season because he's still going to be behind Malcolm at the 3 and Finke/Black at the 4. Maybe Nicholls, too, though I don't think anyone knows a whole lot about him yet.
I disagree his shooting needs "dramatic" improvement. Just the normal improvement that you typically see from the frosh-soph transition. I'm more interested in seeing how he improves in his consistency and defense.
Illinicpa14
- Chicago
It's a catch 22 always to some degree...
You either recruit a basketball player without above average athleticism and the fans gripe that he's not athletic enough for the Big Ten (all the comments that a guy may be more of a Mid-Major guy; too short, not big enough, etc.), or you recruit an athlete without fantastic basketball skills at his age and wonder why the lightbulb hasn't fully clicked in his head to be a monster.
If a guy is both super athletic and has top basketball skills, he's a top 10 player. Almost every other guy is a project in some way, shape, or form.
The key is that our coach is either able to regularly develop either basketball skills (VCU under Shaka) from athletes or teach basketball players a great system/improving their athleticism (I think of Wisconsin on this end picking top basketball players for the swing offense)
You either recruit a basketball player without above average athleticism and the fans gripe that he's not athletic enough for the Big Ten (all the comments that a guy may be more of a Mid-Major guy; too short, not big enough, etc.), or you recruit an athlete without fantastic basketball skills at his age and wonder why the lightbulb hasn't fully clicked in his head to be a monster.
If a guy is both super athletic and has top basketball skills, he's a top 10 player. Almost every other guy is a project in some way, shape, or form.
The key is that our coach is either able to regularly develop either basketball skills (VCU under Shaka) from athletes or teach basketball players a great system/improving their athleticism (I think of Wisconsin on this end picking top basketball players for the swing offense)
Their shots look nothing alike. Crandall's shot was broken. Williams has good form. His looked solid at times, especially from midrange. His shooting problems appeared more like freshman lack of confidence. Crandall's shooting woes were related to form.
- Status