Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
How tall is Underwood? What did he play at K-State?
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (July-August 2017)
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How tall is Underwood? What did he play at K-State?
Finke would fit what you just said he can shoot from outside, but he also goes to the basket very well. When he wants to any how. THT might not be 6-6 but he can get to the basket as well. I think to many people on here are still stuck in believing we are not going to play 2 bigs at the same time, They will for sure take THT and Finke both if they want to come here. I believe if Finke commits THT still would, but if THT does I do not think Finke would
Don't think you are right about taking both Finke and THT. We only have 3 open schollies for next years class at the moment. One would be for Ayo (or potentially another lead guard), One for wing (THT,Finke) and One for a big (Conditt or any of the other options). If there is some roster movement and we end up with 4 slots for '18 then it might be possible we take both.
IlliniDent
- Chicago, IL
I agree about Finke but the reason I want THT is that he has the size and motor to be a beast in this team. Between him, Smith, and Damonte we would have 3 guys that could physically wear defenders down. Combine that with the style that we play and it would be difficult for other teams to keep up with us. Plus, we would finally have some serious height and length at the guard positions which would be key for the way we play defense.
Ayo is absolutely our #1 target because you can never have enough lead guards in an offense like this. After that we need to get at least 1 of THT or Finke and then we can see what else we need. Obviously a player like De Sousa would be incredible. Conditt would be solid but again would be the type of big who will need a year before he can really get up to speed with the college game due to his size.
Landing a player like Ayo would be critical to not only the team going forward, but also to get some significant recruiting momentum. Players want to play with top players (particularly top PGs) and getting Ayo along with our current players like Mark Smith and I think we could be attractive to just about any player in the country. Doesn't mean we land them, but it no longer becomes a leap of faith to join our team.
Assuming Ayo, a big, and one of THT/Finke (huge assumption, getting way ahead of reality), I think the staff would only over sign for a perfect fit to the roster. IMO, that would be a highly skilled player who has the skills of a 3, but could defend the 4. I guy like Bazely would be perfect except he signed with Syracuse. One of the SF with length or PF with mobility from the scholarship grid.
If they think Finke is going to grow to 6'9", then you can disregard my ramblings.
Kipper and possibly Vesel are the only guys like that on the roster. Kipper is a bit small for the role and I don't know enough about Vesel to know if he is skilled enough.
TJL, TF, DW, MS, AJ, Ayo, & THT/Finke are all 1-3 from a defense perspective, with Kipper a 3/4. That is probably already one more than ideal roster construction (no inside info, just logic). If you are going to push someone out, it wouldn't be to add another in this group.
IlliniDent
- Chicago, IL
Agreed however 6'7" is probably adequate height to guard a lot of team's 4s unless we are talking about Purdue or MSU. Agree that we need someone who can fit that defensive 4 spot, its just those players are hard to come by for a reason.
The "needs" is talent. They fit.
I agree! Both are very good players and playmakers, we need all of them we can get.
IlliniDent
- Chicago, IL
Exactly- in an overall positionless offensive scheme, talent and player fit are more important than having a traditional set of 5 different types of players
sacraig
- The desert
It's all well and good to have a positionless offensive scheme, but you still need a certain array of bodies to match up against other teams on defense, at least to some degree.
IlliniDent
- Chicago, IL
Of course, but we have most of those players. We all agree we need a guy in the 6'7-6'9 range who can defend down low but fit into our offense. If you look at the current rosters of most teams they only have about 3 players 6"9' or taller. We added 2 players this season who fit into the 6'9" or taller category but it's not as if most teams have twin towers anymore. Most teams play with a 6'7-6'9" guy at the 4. We really aren't that severely lacking in height. It doesn't mean we couldn't use a 6'8 guy with perimeter skills, but so could just about any team.
I say we go hard at Ayo, THT/Finke in 2018 and that's it. Get those 3 guys, let Smith, Lucas, Frazier, Ayo, Damonte and 1 of THT/Finke get minutes in 2018-19, same guys play bigs with Finke, Kip, Black, Ebo/Vessel. Then in 2019 go HARD for Okoro, Liddell, Whitney,Hall,Cockburn and Timme. Hopefully land 3 of them and we have class balance, and a great collection of lead guards/wings/bigs.... This would be a great 3 year transition for Underwood and I think we'd be winning during this stretch as well.
http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/illini-sports/mens-basketball/2017-07-03/groces-recruiting-impact-still-being-felt-illinois.h
Nothing real newsworthy, just summing up what happened to some of Groce's recruits. One thing that was interesting is that Austin Colbert seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. Okay, not exactly. But he is no longer on Hampton's roster where he went after Old Dominion.
Nothing real newsworthy, just summing up what happened to some of Groce's recruits. One thing that was interesting is that Austin Colbert seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. Okay, not exactly. But he is no longer on Hampton's roster where he went after Old Dominion.
RichBradIllini
- Peoria
Thanks. Nice summary!
BananaShampoo
Captain 'Paign
- Phoenix, AZ
Seriously. I was still growing till 20. Didn't even have a growth spurt till after soph year of high school.
Oldtoysrock
- Sarasota, Florida
I have a question that's been nagging me; Underwood and staff have an abundance of offers out for next year, with the preference being 3 or possibly 4 players whose names are well known. What happens if the middle of this week, they get phone calls from 3 Players Way down on the list that say "OK we're ready to commit". They can't say "well could you hold off a little bit until we get an answer from Ayo, THT, Finke, and Conditt". How do they handle this? I've often wondered how this is handled when there's an obvious preference for the highest rated player we can get that fit the system or a specific need.
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This is exactly what they say. I've heard this first hand from friends in high school when they were being recruited. It's not always easy to juggle the balance of courtship and intention but it's absolutely part of the process. You just don't hear about it as much because coaches can't talk about recruits and recruits aren't going to say publicly they aren't a school's first choice.
Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
They can also use tactics like "Before you commit we want to get you on campus for a visit (or official visit)" or "we just need to see your Junior year transcripts" or a test score, etc.
There was an article several years ago by a bb player, I'm not sure he gave his name. But he was a 75-100 type ranked player. Said fans get upset when players don't commit to their school, but from this player perspective the coaches held the cards. Talked about trying to get offered at certain school and knowing that he was not their first choice. Also talked about the expense and work he and family put in to get to the level where he could get a scholarship.
I believe Coach Huggins put out a statement about two years ago about offering players and which offers were committable. Basically said all offers were not committable. Like others have mentioned, get the players on campus and push for a commitment in person.
I believe Coach Huggins put out a statement about two years ago about offering players and which offers were committable. Basically said all offers were not committable. Like others have mentioned, get the players on campus and push for a commitment in person.
ivwilsoniv
- Aurora, IL
I grew about 3-4" during freshman year and the summer before sophomore year, then another inch before high school was over and an additional inch in college. Unfortunately, I only ended up at 6' 2.5" and not 6'11" like Anthony Davis. Or maybe that was a good thing since my basketball skills are very limited.
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