Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (July-August 2016)

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#4,376      

combes

C
combes
rrmarte said:
So....to be clear, if we are able to get a commitment from either Epperson or Kiir, we will be getting either Hakim Warrick or Larry Bird??

But NOT Colbert, or any other collegiate bust that these two gentleman's games may remind us of! EXCELLENT!

Then we are clearly in a no lose situation! as long as we sign them. No risk recruits are the BEST!
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I once had a dad tell me that he couldn't understand why his kid wasn't getting much playing time for me because at basketball camp, the counselors had compared him to Magic Johnson.
 
#4,377      

Bomb Squad 217

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Bomb Squad 217
TCTORNADO said:
Just last month, NCAA ruled Garjok Gak, a fellow South Sudanese friend of Kiir's and Victory Rock "GRAD" ineligible at Florida. The NCAA cited Gak as having academic issues and also visa issues. Might explain Kiir only having 5 offers and no OV's scheduled. I'll pass in favor of Epperson.
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That may be why indeed. Interesting info.
 
#4,378      

Deleted member 10676

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Joel Goodson said:
Excellent spade work. Obviously, staff has to do due diligence squared here. That said, you keep your irons in the fire. WRT Epperson, that he's attending LaLu has to help. But distance isn't going to matter.
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Just to be clear, I wasn't ruling Minnesota out due to distance. But on 2nd thought I probably shouldn't rule them out at all. They're going to be pretty bad and I don't think Pitino is a B1G coach, but they do offer a ton of playing time and other school's fans were saying that about Groce last year (heck, some of our own fans were saying that about Groce last year) and he's recruiting at a high level this year. But Epperson just looks like an Iowa kid with that buzz cut.
 
#4,379      

Illwinsagain

Illwinsagain
Cary, IL
Illwinsagain
rrmarte said:
So....to be clear, if we are able to get a commitment from either Epperson or Kiir, we will be getting either Hakim Warrick or Larry Bird??

But NOT Colbert, or any other collegiate bust that these two gentleman's games may remind us of! EXCELLENT!

Then we are clearly in a no lose situation! as long as we sign them. No risk recruits are the BEST!
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:D
 
#4,380      

Deleted member 10676

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Deleted member 10676
TCTORNADO said:
Just last month, NCAA ruled Garjok Gak, a fellow South Sudanese friend of Kiir's and Victory Rock "GRAD" ineligible at Florida. The NCAA cited Gak as having academic issues and also visa issues. Might explain Kiir only having 5 offers and no OV's scheduled. I'll pass in favor of Epperson.
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Interesting side note on Gak. He originally committed to OK ST but asked for and got a release after they fired Travis Ford, and then committed to Florida.
http://jacksonville.com/sports/coll...ules-floridas-gorjok-gak-ineligible-play-2016
 
#4,381      

UCantHideYer

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UCantHideYer
He sure does have that Iowa look. As my memory gets hazier I'll be thinking each year, "no way...Iowa still has that Epperson kid?"
 
#4,382      

SescIllini

SescIllini
SescIllini
Concerned about Kiir's school as well, many of these Charter schools are popping up in Florida and other states. Many are not very good and "for profit" institutions that focus on the "profit" part and forget about their responsibility to educate. Like Epperson, good size and good soft skills (shooting, passing).
 
#4,383      

Illwinsagain

Illwinsagain
Cary, IL
Illwinsagain
SescIllini said:
Concerned about Kiir's school as well, many of these Charter schools are popping up in Florida and other states. Many are not very good and "for profit" institutions that focus on the "profit" part and forget about their responsibility to educate. Like Epperson, good size and good soft skills (shooting, passing).
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Not specifically regarding Kiir, as none of us have any idea about his potential eligibility.

But, with any kid that has trouble qualifying out of high school, what is the procedure now? It used to be a year of prep school, or juco. Of even further back, come to campus, but sit out a year (prop 48). Anyone have a clue what the process is now?
 
#4,384      

Deleted member 10676

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[FONT=&quot]Evan Daniels ‏@EvanDaniels 17m17 minutes ago Kentucky, USA [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Troy Baxter is an elite level athlete at 6-8. Played for Team Breakdown. I imagine his phone is going to be buzzing.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Evan Daniels ‏@EvanDaniels 23m23 minutes ago Kentucky, USA [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2016 South Florida signee Troy Baxter was released from his Letter of Intent today, per a source. Eligible for this coming season.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]We still have an opening for this year, yes? Doesn't look like we were in on him at any time and I imagine there will be feeding frenzy for the kid, but a 4 star top 100 might be at least worth a tire kick.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]http://www.espn.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/186442/troy-baxter
[/FONT]
 
#4,387      

illini8507

illini8507
illini8507
miketherevelator said:
[FONT=&quot]Evan Daniels ‏@EvanDaniels 17m17 minutes ago Kentucky, USA [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Troy Baxter is an elite level athlete at 6-8. Played for Team Breakdown. I imagine his phone is going to be buzzing.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Evan Daniels ‏@EvanDaniels 23m23 minutes ago Kentucky, USA [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2016 South Florida signee Troy Baxter was released from his Letter of Intent today, per a source. Eligible for this coming season.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]We still have an opening for this year, yes? Doesn't look like we were in on him at any time and I imagine there will be feeding frenzy for the kid, but a 4 star top 100 might be at least worth a tire kick.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]http://www.espn.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/186442/troy-baxter
[/FONT]
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Looks like quite the athlete. I'm sure there will be plenty of competition. Not sure what kind of interest he'd have in us. As a PF/SF tweener there might not be a clear enough path to early minutes here with Malcolm, Black, Finke, DJW, AJ and Kipper on the roster this year already. Would definitely be a nice addition to the 2016 class, and worth a look I imagine. Wonder what the circumstances are that he was let out of his LOI?
 
#4,388      

Deleted member 10676

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Deleted member 10676
illini8507 said:
Looks like quite the athlete. I'm sure there will be plenty of competition. Not sure what kind of interest he'd have in us. As a PF/SF tweener there might not be a clear enough path to early minutes here with Malcolm, Black, Finke, DJW, AJ and Kipper on the roster this year already. Would definitely be a nice addition to the 2016 class, and worth a look I imagine. Wonder what the circumstances are that he was let out of his LOI?
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Interesting that this just came up as part of Gary Parish's weekly Inside College Basketball that just went online a while ago. And right before the bit about Baxter a bit about Groce and our class. What a coinkidink. But it appears SF is under investigation.
http://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...aches-think-highly-of-virginias-tony-bennett/

4. Keep an eye on the recruiting class Illinois' John Groce is assembling. He just added a fourth prospect from the Class of 2017 -- namely Trent Frazier, a four-star guard from Florida. The Illini's class is now ranked third nationally, according to 247Sports. Auburn, Washington, UCLA and Washington are also in the top five.
5. South Florida, which is being investigated by the NCAA, will not have the highest-rated member of its incoming recruiting class this season. Troy Baxter was reportedly granted a release from USF on Friday and will now explore other options. The 6-foot-8 forward is a consensus top-100 recruit who is eligible to play college basketball this season. So he'll have plenty of suitors, I'm certain.
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#4,389      

Cubby Blue

C
Cubby Blue
illini8507 said:
Looks like quite the athlete. I'm sure there will be plenty of competition. Not sure what kind of interest he'd have in us. As a PF/SF tweener there might not be a clear enough path to early minutes here with Malcolm, Black, Finke, DJW, AJ and Kipper on the roster this year already. Would definitely be a nice addition to the 2016 class, and worth a look I imagine. Wonder what the circumstances are that he was let out of his LOI?
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Surely he has been on campus already this fall, and if so wouldn't that be comparable to Kipper's time at Tulane? :confused:
 
#4,390      

sdfidaho

sdfidaho
Boise, Idaho
sdfidaho
#4,393      

Chris Yates

Chris Yates
Recruiting Correspondent
Michigan
Chris Yates
miketherevelator said:
Just to be clear, I wasn't ruling Minnesota out due to distance. But on 2nd thought I probably shouldn't rule them out at all. They're going to be pretty bad and I don't think Pitino is a B1G coach, but they do offer a ton of playing time and other school's fans were saying that about Groce last year (heck, some of our own fans were saying that about Groce last year) and he's recruiting at a high level this year. But Epperson just looks like an Iowa kid with that buzz cut.
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Every additional year that Minnesota sticks with Junior Pitino is a good year for the rest of the Big Ten. I honestly can't believe Minnesota fired Tubby to hire L'il Ricky. Their fanbase should sue their AD for malpractice.
 
#4,394      

Epsilon

Epsilon
M tipping over
Pdx
Epsilon
Chris Yates said:
Every additional year that Minnesota sticks with Junior Pitino is a good year for the rest of the Big Ten. I honestly can't believe Minnesota fired Tubby to hire L'il Ricky. Their fanbase should sue their AD for malpractice.
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I never understood that. You hire a coach that finally wins games and all of the sudden you feel like you deserve better? Smh
 
#4,395      

hodgesonfire

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hodgesonfire
Bailey said:
Haven't seen much of Kris Wilkes, eh?
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Just watched Kris Wilkes highlights for the first time. He's amazing, would be really hard to defend at the college level as a 6'7" player who can handle, pass, and score. He seems to like playing defense too. Would love to see him in Orange and Blue. Another of the kinds of players who create mismatches on offense and who can't be abused with the pick and pop/roll game.
 
#4,396      

Adnarel

A
Adnarel
Makes me feel bad for Tubby, actually.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he's a decent guy.
 
#4,397      

Smacko

S
Lexington, KY
Smacko
Adnarel said:
Makes me feel bad for Tubby, actually.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he's a decent guy.
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He is still very well liked in Kentucky. People here really liked the guy, they just have no patience for any results that aren't Final Fours or Titles. He even still has some charitable stuff in town here that he still supports. Definitely a decent guy, which is part of why he didn't work out longterm at UK.
 
#4,398      

TCTORNADO

TCTORNADO
TCTORNADO
Adnarel said:
Makes me feel bad for Tubby, actually.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he's a decent guy.
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46-62 and never higher than 6th in the B!G after 6 years will do it to you. Sound familiar?
 
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