Top 40, hyper competitivie players who want exposure and to prove they are the best dont dream of playing in mid major conferences. Goodwin isn't going to slu, everyone needs to calm down. Are they more of a threat than we originally thought? Yes. Is he going to spurn his first offer, the school who's been to every game of his, that plays in one of the premier conferences, and has every game televised where several of his best buds are already committed? No. He can listen to Slu's sell for a couple weeks, but it's all over once that OV starts.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (July-August 2016)
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Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
If Goodwin is not ready to commit and Lewis is, what do you advocate then?
An oldie but goodie around here is take pie while pie is passing.
I would love to have jgood. But if the things available at SLU are more important or better in his mind, there's not much more the staff could have done short of delivering Chevy Blazers
I know I'm not the person you asked but I'm for Lewis or Smith if they want to jump on board before J-Good is ready.
I assume John Groce will have a conversation with Goodwin when OVs start and tell him the staff will accept commitments from guys on visits if they want to hop on board.
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I couldn't agree with you more and the term "criminally underrated" works perfectly here. If you have not watched some video on Kiir, please go do so. I think you will have a different opinion of the pecking order.
I am of the belief we need another big...bigs get tired, bigs foul out, bigs turn pro...go BIG or go home
Seriously, though, after Goodwin and Frazier, I think Kiir would be my preference....even ahead of yikes....Smith, Lewis, Scruggs, and dare i say Wilkes? I feel a lambasting coming on....
I hope there is no lambasting. I come here for honest opinions expressed by good posters.
TownieMatt
CU Expat
- Chicago
Kiir retweeted several Illini fans urging him to commit yesterday, FWIW.
https://twitter.com/kiirmayan
https://twitter.com/kiirmayan
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I couldn't agree with you more and the term "criminally underrated" works perfectly here. If you have not watched some video on Kiir, please go do so. I think you will have a different opinion of the pecking order.
I am of the belief we need another big...bigs get tired, bigs foul out, bigs turn pro...go BIG or go home
Seriously, though, after Goodwin and Frazier, I think Kiir would be my preference....even ahead of yikes....Smith, Lewis, Scruggs, and dare i say Wilkes? I feel a lambasting coming on....
If we were to get Goodwin and Frazier, I'd agree that you need another big, so taking Kiir over Scruggs and probably Lewis and Smith is understandable. I'd have a hard time with Scruggs because I think he'll be very good at the college level and our other lead guard prospects (even with Frazier) are not sure things. However, we'll be loaded at the CG/Wing spots.
The only one that I completely disagree with is Kris Wilkes: he's a legit top-20 player in the country and is definitely big enough at 6'9 to play a little stretch-4. No way do you take a guy rated #191 over Wilkes or Tugs Bowen (even though we're all coming around to the fact that Kiir is likely very underrated).
Deleted member 10676
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Not going to lambast and reasonable people can disagree reasonably on many things. And it's not like we have an equal chance at Kiir and Wilkes, but if we did, Kiir over Wilkes .... no.++++
I couldn't agree with you more and the term "criminally underrated" works perfectly here. If you have not watched some video on Kiir, please go do so. I think you will have a different opinion of the pecking order.
I am of the belief we need another big...bigs get tired, bigs foul out, bigs turn pro...go BIG or go home
Seriously, though, after Goodwin and Frazier, I think Kiir would be my preference....even ahead of yikes....Smith, Lewis, Scruggs, and dare i say Wilkes? I feel a lambasting coming on....
[YOUTUBE]Iv9RIw2qZWs[/YOUTUBE]
Iowa State is feeling confident that Lewis will commit this weekend while he is on campus.
So if Lewis commits to Iowa State, Goodwin to SLU, and Eastern to MSU, where does that leave us with wing options? Justin Smith? PTBNL?
Deleted member 10676
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Hate to say it, but I think we're kind of far down on Smith's list too.
I thought I had read something about that but didn't remember for sure. So maybe someone we don't even know about yet. Man it would really suck to lose out on Goodwin.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
We'll see shortly if that confidence is borne out. Still, my original question holds.
Illinifanatic4ever
- Orange & Blue Blood in my Veins
Would love Goodwin to commit soon but Kir and Frazier are more important as to roster positions at this time.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Should that happen (and, FWIW, I think Smith's headed elsewhere), worst case is bank the scholly for '18 or a transfer. Wing is the least position of need. Don't want to reach.
89illinigrad
- Chicago
We're in the top 6 for 2017 wing Abu Kigab.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Yes, it would be less than ideal to miss out on all of the quality wings we are currently tied to, but you are right. Wing is the one position we can afford to stay where we are at.
There's a reasonable possibility that it goes something like: Lewis to Iowa St, Goodwin to SLU, Eastern to MSU, Justin Smith to Villanova, Kigab to Oregon, Bowen to MSU, Wilkes to UNC, Victor Bailey to Texas A&M, Jarrett Culver to Texas, Scruggs to XU.
If that happens and we still get Frazier, we'll just have to be satisfied with two top 100-ish combo guards in him and DMW to go with a promising 3-star wing in Pickett. Then we might consider adding a third big to the class or rolling the scholarship over to 2018, where we're in on Garland, Dosunmu, Ramey, Kezo Brown, Tim Finke, and Carte'Are Gordon. Either way, we'll be just fine.
TownieMatt
CU Expat
- Chicago
All of that seems pretty plausible to me, except Goodwin to SLU.
I agree with you. I mean, it's not like we've had a ton of recruiting success outside of JCL, Leron...so if you land a class of Tilmon, Pickett, DW, and Frazier, I think you celebrate a very solid class - even better with another big (Kiir? 5th year?) and roll 1 or 2 over for '18. I think we celebrate - even if we don't get Goodwin.
This may not be a popular opinion, but we need to look long term - which means stacking good classes and talent. I think we need to look realistically at just how 'down' this program has been (and I don't need to point fingers - I just want to build back up to a consistent winner). Looking toward the future, we need to stack classes and build consistency. A 4 or 5 man class on top of Leron, JCL and other talent on our current roster would begin to set that long-term foundation.
Deleted member 10676
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So we are stuck with Wilkes and Kiir.
oh, the agony! -- Bugs Bunny
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Agreed on all points.
Besides Goodwin, the key wing is Lewis. If he takes his OV (i.e., doesn't commit to ISU this weekend), we have a very legit shot.
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