sacraig
- The desert
It seems this staff runs a tighter ship than the previous regime.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (July-August 2017)
- Status
It seems this staff runs a tighter ship than the previous regime.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Ubermensch
BOOM! Feed my ego.
Not surprising, but let's just say you're striking down straw men. But enjoy your outrage. I look forward to watching Mark Smith in an Illini basketball uniform, regardless. Kid is the real deal.
Outrage? Hardly. It's called a blunt answer to a question.
Skill wise they aren't comparable.
Publicity wise they aren't comparable.
In terms of being a "program building" recruit they aren't comparable.
If fair criteria to list is somehow a "nuance" to you so be it. I think somebody has spent a little too much time on his high horse. Try getting off of it some time instead of speaking down to people from up there.
Not sure anybody was here. This coming weekend (Labor Day ) is the big one: Nolley, Castleton and Hayes.
IlliniDent
- Chicago, IL
BPJ was here this weekend supposedly
Plus in HS hoops, Nunn will always be known as having 4 IHSA rings and only one of 5 Simeon players to have their jersey retired. Follow that up with making the B1G all freshman team, pretty much sums it up.
He was only here for a few hours on Thursday and then off to DePud on Friday, for which supposedly some say was an UV also.
Underwood beat out the blue bloods for Smith. He won Mr. Basketball in Illinois...and somehow you don't think he is a statement recruit?:noidea::crazy:
1. That statement is a joke frankly. This appears to be a very Chicagocentric argument.
2. Rankings wise Mark Smith has Nunn beat. Offer list wise Mark Smith has Nunn beat. Other big ten teams? Indiana offer. Nebaska offer. Northwestern offer. Michigan State offer. I guess it's not a "big ten" team but let's ignore the Kentucky offer too shall we? And the late push by Duke.
3. I'm glad you can speak for the michigan state fan base here. Guess you visited their board a few times and if they didn't have a meltdown over a player he must have not been a huge loss! They definitely know how bad Tom Izzo did or did not want him.
4. So was DJW. DJW > Mark Smith!?!? This is again turning into a "because he was hyped in Chicago he is the better get". It's a terrible argument. The world does not revolve around Chicago no matter how much you want to believe it does. Nunn was a very average player at Illinois.
5. Lol. If you think Underwood didn't have to "resell" Illinois while Tom Izzo was putting the full court press on him whatever. This is nothing but lazy arguments ignoring facts.
Mark Smith will be the best guard we've had since Deron Williams. He was a Mr. Basketball while Nunn was not. He plays the most important position on the court and he can be "the man" to build a team around to make multiple deep tourney runs. None of that applies to Kendrick Nunn.
But, hey, Kendrick played for Simeon! He wins!
You make some valid points but your point about rankings is inaccurate. Nunn had a composite RSCI ranking of 57 while Mark Smith was 90. Part of this was due to Smith's late rise, but to suggest he was clearly the higher ranked recruit is inaccurate.
It is easy to say that Smith is the better recruit because his potential is still ahead of him, but don't forget that Nunn had quite of bit of expectation when he signed. I believe some of this comparison is due to hindsight regarding Nunn's career not working out as hoped and Smith's potential still being so high.
I believe and hope that Smith's career makes any comparison look silly.
I'd argue Dee was a better college player. Dont @ me
Dee, Deron and Luther all will be a trio we will never forget, along with all 2005 team. Hard to compare Mark Smith to those guys, till he starts his play as an Illini. Like to think maybe we have at a trio coming with this new group , in a couple years. Say, Mark, Ayo, and Trent?
By looking at 2019 offers along with returners, I would almost bank on 2 of the scholarships (3?) going to bigger guys?
2019 bigs are good, but we will have only Matic and EBGB on the roster as of now, how many of those good recruits could contribute right away?
2018 other than Ayo have to be bigger guys right? 2020 is very weak overall for bigs as of now.
One could argue Okoro is a MUST and possibly a one and done?
One could argue the same for Liddell, he is more of a wing though.
Could there be any other "legitimate" gets for the ILLINI?
2018 Best Case for talent right away, realistic chances, and future play ability - Ayo Pearson, Bradzeikas and Conditt?
2019 Best case out of current offers? - Liddell, Okoro, Whitney?
2019 bigs are good, but we will have only Matic and EBGB on the roster as of now, how many of those good recruits could contribute right away?
2018 other than Ayo have to be bigger guys right? 2020 is very weak overall for bigs as of now.
One could argue Okoro is a MUST and possibly a one and done?
One could argue the same for Liddell, he is more of a wing though.
Could there be any other "legitimate" gets for the ILLINI?
2018 Best Case for talent right away, realistic chances, and future play ability - Ayo Pearson, Bradzeikas and Conditt?
2019 Best case out of current offers? - Liddell, Okoro, Whitney?
Mark Smith vs. Kendrick Nunn. What a stupid argument? Both very solid recruits who I am (and was) very happy to be Illini. End of story. Jeez....get over yourselves people. Back to actual recruiting news please!!
I went by rivals although it's closer than I remember... Bossi went and saw him after he blew up and he went from 3* NR to a fringe top 50 kid as a result.
I'm not sure what expectations necessarily mean in this equation or how high Nunn's were. Jabari Parker had the expectations. He was "the man" on his team (more like Mark Smith was on his). Nunn was second fiddle and he came to Illinois expecting to be a very solid SG but not somebody you can build a program around. Mark Smith absolutely is.
Smith is definitely a good player, had he played more basketball than baseball, would have ranked much higher coming out. One thing that he has going for him, that we all should be pleased about, he WANTED to come here, and was given some other choices that had alot of shine. Soon we will be very happy, that he wanted to, as much as we wanted him here.
In honor of paigncake...
I agree, this discusion has been very "paign"ful. I'd really like to get THT and Ayo. Have our "cake" and eat it too.
Sent from my VS500 using Tapatalk
Deleted member 10676
D
Guest
Had Smith played on a hs team with Jabari he would also have been 'second fiddle'. No shame in that if you play with a kid like Jabari Parker.
Can't believe I'm joining in in this argument but this second fiddle comment is just unreal. We should really wait until Smith has played a couple of games before we start saying we can build a program around him. For his sake if nothing else.
So Simeon comes out this once a year for a big Catholic HS tournament. Saw the Nunn/Parker team twice. I actually thought Nunn looked better both times. Obviously he is not Parker but on that team he was the motor that made it go. Even at the time I didn't like Tate's game very much. Tatum is still the best I have ever seen and he play Brunson's Stevenson in one hell of a game one year.
Yea, I am sorry I joined in. In recruiting news, next weekend could be huge in getting things moving with 3 recruits coming in. Hopefully with some actual recruiting news we can leave these debates in the past.
Ubermensch
BOOM! Feed my ego.
Ngumezi is 6'9" 250, so he is not affected by our pursuit of THT. Like I said, I'd be surprised if the staff backed off any of our big-man targets. I'm sure they will continue to recruit each of them until they hear "NO" or get a commitment. But with Sow, Conditt, Hayes, etc, we'll fill the spot with a quality big
Thanks man. Continue to provide no actual insight on this topic but continue to throw jabs at posters. Although I'm starting to lean towards the possibility that's for the best for all parties involved.
- Status