Chris Yates
Recruiting Correspondent
- Michigan
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (January-March 2016)
- Status
What Kramer said 
Posters sharing info they hear is the whole point of a message board. I know a lot of people are butthurt over "we have our PG" andand barber shop talk and what not, but it is how you decide to take that information and make your own decisions based on that. I have learned not too get super giddy over a potential good news nugget of information, but I have also learned to do the same over negative information.
I agree that one shouldn't get too up or too down about recruiting or anything sports related for that matter. What is going to happen will happen. Whether it was their intent or not some posters seems to relish the Insider status and the pseudo board celebrity it brought with it. It was only natural that some vitriol would follow when their predictions or information did not pan out. Nature of the beast I guess.
When you have seen Benji Wilson, Bruce Pearl, Deon, LaPhonso, Gordon, Snider and Alexander you tend to become numb to anything
Govoner Vaugn Fan
- New Orleans
Having been on this board for now 6+ years and having lurked on other boards before that, there is no point to get too high or too low when following recruiting. At least that is how I follow it.
I used to get super excited about every bit of news and spend a lot of time networking etc. Luckily, I have a really busy job that takes up a lot of my time, a team to manage, and a wedding to plan for (or at least give off the impression I am extremely interested).
I could go on and on and on about all of the silent verbals we had that never came to fruition. I could go on and on about that next "can't miss" prospect who flamed out and did nothing yet everyone on this board said we needed him no matter what. I could go on and on the kids I actually liked that many felt were not good enough for Illinois because they only have x amount of stars next to their name and they became great college players. I could go on and on about the kids I tried to convince myself would be the next big thing because they had an offer from this team or were 4 stars etc only to be average players.
Posters sharing info they hear is the whole point of a message board. I know a lot of people are butthurt over "we have our PG" and
One poster can claim to have inside information from one person that can be entirely 100% accurate, while another person can information from another person that contradicts it completely that was true based on what they were told. A lot of recruiting information is open for interpretation and I feel part of the problem is that anything good people take as gospel, anything bad that comes along people take as gospel.
When you have been following recruiting for this long, you learn to trust those who you trust and take everything with a grain of salt no matter what. Hell, nothing is final until a recruit faxes in that LOI. I never thought I would see something like the Snider signing day flip but it happened. I never thought I would see something like the hat trick, but it happened. That has led me to believe that nothing is impossible with recruiting and there is no point to worry about details until it is final.
A lot of people I highly respect were saying Williams was a matter of time, he had already verballed but was waiting to come public until after his HS season. As we all saw, that time table completely went up in smoke as he committed publicly way earlier than expected.
A lot of people I highly respect are saying very good things about both Tilmon and Goodwin. There are wide variances between that info, but nearly all of it is positive. I am not going to give up on the potential of good news because I am trained to expect a big ol' nutpunch to come, but I am also taking that all with a grain of salt until something happens.
Long story short, I feel too many people either are too new to following recruiting or just want to believe every rumor out there and to that I recommend enjoying it but not to let it consume your life (i.e. checking the board every 5 minutes asking for new info until Wednesday for example).
Either it is going to happen or it won't. If it does that poster does not become the newest "insider", but they are someone you should look twice when they post for good reason. If nothing happens, they are not a fraud (because if you actually look back at their posting history they have been spot on a lot of things).
As someone who was on campus for the highest of the highs when we made the Nation Title game run, this has been just the absolute worst 10+ year stretch of following a team I can remember. My expectations are as low as they have ever been, so we shall see as well.
Excellent post, but you left out the most pressing issue!
Whats your take on that Chastain kid??????
How many of our recruits "stand out" when playing with a "bunch of high major D1 players"?
Did DJW stand out? Did Mike Finke stand out? Did AJ stand out? How about Kipper? Tate?
None of them did. Heck, MH had a good high school career but as a recruit did even he "stand out" on a court with High major D1 players? Probably not.
Nunn stood out pretty frequently both with Simeon and Meanstreets against HM players. Both times I same Simeon at CRC in WV Nunn actually outplayed Parker.
This is the depressing part....
Stay thirsty, my friends, recruiting is fluid.
ILL in IA
- Iowa City
So is everything going down on Wednesday still?Having been on this board for now 6+ years and having lurked on other boards before that, there is no point to get too high or too low when following recruiting. At least that is how I follow it.
I used to get super excited about every bit of news and spend a lot of time networking etc. Luckily, I have a really busy job that takes up a lot of my time, a team to manage, and a wedding to plan for (or at least give off the impression I am extremely interested).
I could go on and on and on about all of the silent verbals we had that never came to fruition. I could go on and on about that next "can't miss" prospect who flamed out and did nothing yet everyone on this board said we needed him no matter what. I could go on and on the kids I actually liked that many felt were not good enough for Illinois because they only have x amount of stars next to their name and they became great college players. I could go on and on about the kids I tried to convince myself would be the next big thing because they had an offer from this team or were 4 stars etc only to be average players.
Posters sharing info they hear is the whole point of a message board. I know a lot of people are butthurt over "we have our PG" and
One poster can claim to have inside information from one person that can be entirely 100% accurate, while another person can information from another person that contradicts it completely that was true based on what they were told. A lot of recruiting information is open for interpretation and I feel part of the problem is that anything good people take as gospel, anything bad that comes along people take as gospel.
When you have been following recruiting for this long, you learn to trust those who you trust and take everything with a grain of salt no matter what. Hell, nothing is final until a recruit faxes in that LOI. I never thought I would see something like the Snider signing day flip but it happened. I never thought I would see something like the hat trick, but it happened. That has led me to believe that nothing is impossible with recruiting and there is no point to worry about details until it is final.
A lot of people I highly respect were saying Williams was a matter of time, he had already verballed but was waiting to come public until after his HS season. As we all saw, that time table completely went up in smoke as he committed publicly way earlier than expected.
A lot of people I highly respect are saying very good things about both Tilmon and Goodwin. There are wide variances between that info, but nearly all of it is positive. I am not going to give up on the potential of good news because I am trained to expect a big ol' nutpunch to come, but I am also taking that all with a grain of salt until something happens.
Long story short, I feel too many people either are too new to following recruiting or just want to believe every rumor out there and to that I recommend enjoying it but not to let it consume your life (i.e. checking the board every 5 minutes asking for new info until Wednesday for example).
Either it is going to happen or it won't. If it does that poster does not become the newest "insider", but they are someone you should look twice when they post for good reason. If nothing happens, they are not a fraud (because if you actually look back at their posting history they have been spot on a lot of things).
As someone who was on campus for the highest of the highs when we made the Nation Title game run, this has been just the absolute worst 10+ year stretch of following a team I can remember. My expectations are as low as they have ever been, so we shall see as well.
dsboyce
- Golden, IL
I dont agree with this because I think hes more athletic than some of you want to admit .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUxaB0SsQAo
Im not a "ooh look he can dunk so hes great" type of person but the athleticism he has coupled with the actual size and skills he is displaying I think he would stand out pretty well against high major players . It wouldnt be because hes going to be a pro but because he has the serious looks and feel of a potentially good college player.
He very well could be a potentially good college player. The problem is the class of 2016 is a small class, and the class of 2015 and current commits in 2017 are loaded at wings. If Illinois adds to the class of 16, it really has to be a big, or an elite talent capable of changing a team day one.
If Chastain was class of 2017, and we didn't have our current commitments I'd take a different look at offering him.
Do the Chastain-lovers like Charles Payton in the 2017 class? He's another athletic WF, even more athletic than Chastain, also from Central Illinois, and has actually played against guys bigger than him. He's visited Illinois before. I don't see us offering him either unless we lose a couple of wings though.
This "Chastain lovers" or "relatives or family friends" thing is pretty funny. Not really. Just because a lot of people have thoughts and opinions of their own and not just what they read or follow isn't a reason to make "fun" of them.
I agree with your train of thought and the circumstances. However, those circumstances would change if 2 or 3 of the current team were no longer a member of the current team. All scenario's need to be considered. I hope the staff is keeping their eyes open and have several backup plans.
Unless there is an unexpected transfer, no one in threat of being removed from the team would have more than one year of direct impact, as you'd still have Jordan, DJW, JCL, Williams, Picket and *maybe* Goodwin for most of his career.
This "Chastain lovers" or "relatives or family friends" thing is pretty funny. Not really. Just because a lot of people have thoughts and opinions of their own and not just what they read or follow isn't a reason to make "fun" of them.
It's fair criticism IMO when most of the thoughts and opinions are based on highlight videos. For real though, why is there much more love on here for Chastain than Charles Payton?
All I want to be understood here is that whether or not Chastain is good enough to be a major conference contributor, the stereotype of the late-blooming tiny rural school shaggy-haired white kid without major offers is completely false in this case. That kid is a freakazoid athlete.
But you're right, based on highlight videos we have no idea how good of a real basketball player he is, and 1A competition can only tell us so much about a 6'6" pogo stick who can just physically dominate everybody he's currently playing.
If in a few years Chastain wants to play a 5th year here after developing at ISU.... i'd be very open to it.
I don't get all the Chastain talk on here... Its obvious right now Illinois isn't interested. By talking about it on the message board it's not like it's going to persuade coach Groce to recruit the kid. I'm just hoping for some news on either Tilmon or Goodwin today!!!
Received some email notifications for private messages so wanted to send a message out to all...please understand that I am only sharing what I have heard out of the Michigan camp and I myself have no "connections" beyond that....
I also have not heard anything about tomorrow or whatever....I did chat with my guy who said that he hasn't heard anything change as far as the Tilmon recruitment goes...he did mention that the timing of the Cal visit may leave one to believe that it was a hail mary before a big decision....take that fwiw...
Any insiders on here know where Spike is going...? LOL
I also have not heard anything about tomorrow or whatever....I did chat with my guy who said that he hasn't heard anything change as far as the Tilmon recruitment goes...he did mention that the timing of the Cal visit may leave one to believe that it was a hail mary before a big decision....take that fwiw...
Any insiders on here know where Spike is going...? LOL
BananaShampoo
Captain 'Paign
- Phoenix, AZ
I watched the supersectional game that Chastain's Leroy team played versus Newark that someone had posted the link to on here. I came away really impressed. Chastain alone outscored Newark for the first almost three quarters of the game, a team that was 28-2 going into it. He made something like 10 or his first 11 shots, many of them three pointers or jump shots. He displayed a variety of moves. He basically single-handedly won the state championship for Leroy (they only had one other remotely decent looking player, #24?). They slowed him down a bit in the second half only by double and triple teaming him and keeping the ball away from him. He did show a little shakiness a couple times with his ballhandling, which is where he appears to need the most work. I think he's going to be a really good player at the next level, though, wherever that may be.
My sources are telling me it's going to be a straight up trade for LaTulip.
Thanks Lefty, always appreciate your info.
- Status