I'm not sure what the point is here. Either the players he settled for were better or he's better at developing at whoever he signs?
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (January-March 2016)
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I'm not sure what the point is here. Either the players he settled for were better or he's better at developing at whoever he signs?
Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
And yet still have enough on the bench to finish in the Top 4 of the conference every year. It's almost like his system or player development was consistently better than ours, or something. Maybe just luck...
Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
They can?! I haven't seen it at Illinois for a few years now...
midastouch11
- New York, New York
I think his magic is in development and getting kids to embrace and excel in their roles.
No point, just an oddity. We beat him a lot in recruiting, not so much on the court. Although Weber did get a few nice wins up at Kohl.
This is huge. I'm a college baseball player and we are halfway through are season and we still don't have guys that embrace their role completely or don't have defined roles for everyone which makes it difficult.
Did your friend have that jump shot though? I take it he didn't. Everybody on here is nuts if they don't see something with the kid. He has the athleticism to windmill and dunk, but even more impressive is he has the jumpshot that he can get off over most guards.
Listen, my twins played 1A, and the point guard was 2nd team AP all state his senior year in 2011 as a 6'3" point guard. I advised both to play baseball. They had 1/5th the athleticism this kid has. Actually, Chastain has just as much athleticism as young Finke, it is just young Finke has been coached and has refined his game. But, that doesn't mean Chastain can't do that. I would take a chance on him and have him redshirt a year.
dsboyce
- Golden, IL
I never said I don't see anything in him. As I previously stated, I believe he could be a solid mid-major player, but he is not Big Ten caliber.
Oh yeah, Finke is 6'10" so that is a poor comparison.
Some of you are forgetting that we are Illinois, not Illinois State. I'd be disappointed if Chastain is even on Groce's radar. We need to be getting players that will help us compete for the Big Ten title, not a project that may or may not pan out after a year of redshirting.
I don't think he meant Michael
Hey Combes, I had to peek for myself.The only 5-star players I could find, according to RSCI, are Joe Krabbenhoft (#28) in 2005 and Brian Butch (#7) in 2003.
I mean, I think Weber may have recruited more Top 100 guys at Illinois than Bo did at Wisky.
- In 2002, which I think was his first class, he landed Maurice Wade (#90). Even if it wasn't, Wisconsin didn't have any Top 100 guys in the 2001 class.
- Butch was his only one in the Top 100 in 2003.
- Greg Stiemsma was a high 4-star in 2004 (#37 RSCI), with DeAaron Williams also checking in at #91.
- Krabbenhoft was his only 2005 Top 100 guy.
- In 2006, he came up empty in the Top 100.
- Then in 2007, Jon Leuer was his only Top 100 (#88)
Butch, Krabbenhoft, and Dekker were 5-stars on a Rivals. We have had one in the same time frame.
No one is arguing that he isn't a great coach. He has had talent to work with, though. His greatest 3-star is last year's center. He has had quite a few three star bigs who did not turn out, too.
Illinois definitely has had more four stars. He has recruited better threes than some of our fours. I wonder if he could have turned Shaw and Crandall Head into players?
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dsboyce
- Golden, IL
Ok, I just re-read and you are probably right. I've never seen Tim Finke play, so I can't pass judgement on him. One thing to keep in mind, though. He's only a sophomore.
and you need to remember we are Illinois, not Duke or Kentucky. You do realize a Illinois State player played in the sweet sixteen with Indiana and we didn't make the CBI.
Tim is a consensus top 35 player, and he is going to be a good one. But, Chastain is just as athletic and can get his shot off easier than Tim. Not nearly as refined though. Yes, one is a soph and one is a sr. but watching them play, it is fun to compare them.
He's 6'6, I hope he can get his shot off on guards. It's the SF/PF he won't be able to. Yes, he'll play SF/some PF at the next level.
He can get the shot off easier against considerably worse competition. That is a fact and the reason why big ten schools haven't offered. It's not just the physical aspect, he hasn't been mentally tested by 3A/4A competition. Going from 1A to high major college basketball would be one hell of a transition. I have doubts that he'll even make a big impact at the mid major level right away. Doesn't mean he won't, the odds are against him though. People with family members that played 1a tend to underestimate the difference between the levels. There's even a big difference between 1a and 2a but people don't usually see it unless they watch summer scrimmages.
I have to chuckle about any reference to "not big 10 caliber" after the middle Tennessee win over MSU.
First time poster,
Not sure if it matters but coming from 1A basketball I have played against Chastain recently. He has a very quick first step and is really explosive to (and above) the rim. However, when my team tried to sag off and play a 2-3 zone he burned us from the outside shooting 3s and hitting at about a 40% clip.
Another topic is the 1A competition level. He was the primary focus of our defense and we often assigned multiple people to him in order to prevent him from scoring as there were few other good players on that team. The best way to describe him is "slippery", lose him for a second and its a dribble, a couple steps, and a dunk (or free throws where he went 15/15 in our game). Granted, I haven't played against "real" D1 players but I think he could potentially be a valuable 6th man to a quality team. I also think he has an underrated outside game with a silky jumper which just looks so natural. He just screams potential.
Not sure if it matters but coming from 1A basketball I have played against Chastain recently. He has a very quick first step and is really explosive to (and above) the rim. However, when my team tried to sag off and play a 2-3 zone he burned us from the outside shooting 3s and hitting at about a 40% clip.
Another topic is the 1A competition level. He was the primary focus of our defense and we often assigned multiple people to him in order to prevent him from scoring as there were few other good players on that team. The best way to describe him is "slippery", lose him for a second and its a dribble, a couple steps, and a dunk (or free throws where he went 15/15 in our game). Granted, I haven't played against "real" D1 players but I think he could potentially be a valuable 6th man to a quality team. I also think he has an underrated outside game with a silky jumper which just looks so natural. He just screams potential.
This is extreme. Put Middle Tennessee State in the Big Ten and I would bet you they aren't competing for a Big Ten Title nor finishing near the top. One game should not be the measuring stick.
Not necessarily true. I would say in general the players 1-2 in 1A and 2A are similar but the biggest drop off is 3-end of bench as many times 1A schools pull underclassmen to fill other roles where 2A schools are primarily Juniors and Seniors.
I think middle tennessee's" non B10 caliber" players could finish in the top half of B10.
I just think when you have the mindset of labeling "b10 caliber" against juniors in HS, you are unnecessarily filtering out alot of good players ...we've watched it multiple times.
Not a chance. Gotta recognize the difference between a fluke and actual parity of talent.
"Not a chance" is strong. Talent difference can be offset by better team play, IMO. In this case, middle tennesse would have had to beat ohio state in B10 rankings this year. Perhaps "not a chance" is appropriate....?
On side note...can someone explain or provide a definition for "B10 caliber player"?
I've seen all types of players with varying quickness, Bb IQ, height, skills and athletic ability play well in B10....I don't know how you definitively gauge most juniors in HS as B10 caliber or not...please help me understand how to gauge a junior in high school as "b10 caliber" or not...
dsboyce
- Golden, IL
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