Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (July-August 2017)

[Epsilon]

That's a great sign when BU can get the undivided attention of a big potential recruit to cause him to re-evaluate his college basketball direction.

No kidding, that's a new flavor for us (maybe just one we forgot...?). Also looking forward to days of recruits not going out of their way to punk us.

 

[TriCityBurbs]

Very encouraging. I know little about Stewart, but, hot damn, his athleticism is amazing.

4-star on 247, ranked #109 recruit, from Mississippi all the signs were pointing towards a Miss. St. committment for him (100% on crystal ball as well), can absolutely jump out of the gym, nice jumper but is still somewhat raw offensivley. 6"6 SF reminds me of Troy Williams from IU a few years back. Kid has a ton of upside and I think would fit our offense perfectly, even more so than THT..A future lineup of TJL MS Stewart Nichols and Black would be extremely athletic and long.

 

[Combo]

I won't complain about getting Finke instead of THT, but if I had my choice I would go the other way. They are both really good, I just feel like THT has a bit more upside though they are close enough that's not a for sure thing by any means. Especially if Finke could really nail down his shooting.

I've heard good things about Ayo recently, but don't want to get my hopes up too much on that one.

Ayo is going to be a very difficult pull. He will have most of the top 20 pursuing him. Not saying we can't land him, but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[Paigncake]

Ayo is going to be a very difficult pull. He will have most of the top 20 pursuing him. Not saying we can't land him, but I wouldn't bet on it.

I would. He had an eye opening visit.

 

[jmilt7]

Interesting comment THT made somewhere sometime after his visit to Illinois. He said, "Coming from Chicago, there are a lot of people who don't like (the University of) Illinois." I got this from a Loren Tate article:

http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/illini-sports/football/2017-07-09/tate-chicago-recruiting-bear-market.html

I wonder if he is subconsciously telling us something.

 

[IlliniJim20]

yeah I read that as well and it makes you go hmmmm, got to love a staff that will go after who ever, where ever, they think the kind get a young man they really want.

Not to be THAT guy, but Groce and company were never afraid to go after any player. See Alexander, Bragg, Matthews, Snider, all guys who were high level recruits.

Hopefully Underwood and staff can land some of these guys, or at least know when to focus elsewhere if feelings change.

 

[AllGoodInTheUnderwood]

Not to be THAT guy, but Groce and company were never afraid to go after any player. See Alexander, Bragg, Matthews, Snider, all guys who were high level recruits.

Hopefully Underwood and staff can land some of these guys, or at least know when to focus elsewhere if feelings change.

Exactly...love Underwood and think he's gonna do awesome but I think a lot of people have forgotten exactly how much hype there was at the start of the Groce era.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[FeelYourPaign]

Not to be THAT guy, but Groce and company were never afraid to go after any player. See Alexander, Bragg, Matthews, Snider, all guys who were high level recruits.

Hopefully Underwood and staff can land some of these guys, or at least know when to focus elsewhere if feelings change.

Was having the exact same thoughts

 

[Jeffcobrad]

May not be anything but it seems things started changing when THT left the Mac Irvin Fire. Tim Finke visited shortly after then things started taking on a new look.

 

[ivwilsoniv]

We can't take them all. If you're prioritizing Finke over THT and THT goes elsewhere have you really "lost" him? Not if you get Finke and he's your preference.

Remember... Whoever we don't get, we didn't want 'em anyway! :thumb:

 

[Illiniguy13]

Not to be THAT guy, but Groce and company were never afraid to go after any player. See Alexander, Bragg, Matthews, Snider, all guys who were high level recruits.

Hopefully Underwood and staff can land some of these guys, or at least know when to focus elsewhere if feelings change.

While we're on the topic of swagger and "acting like you've been there before", Underwood & Antigua embody that mantra more than Groce ever could.

 

[SescIllini]

Not so worried about BU recruiting for 2 reasons. He and his asst. Coaches are well connected. Second he has a well defined offense that he can recruit to. This hurt Groce who had 3 coaches that proved to be weak recruiters and tacticians. Groce teams also lacked an identity and well defined scheme.

 

[IlliniinIowa]

Exactly...love Underwood and think he's gonna do awesome but I think a lot of people have forgotten exactly how much hype there was at the start of the Groce era.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

This is exactly right.

Groce IMMEDIATELY got us in on 5-star talent. He didn't get a single one to don an Illini jersey, but we were in the final 5, 3 and 2 teams for countless 5-star kids. There was a lot of buzz. Then we found out the hard way he was only good at getting into the friend zone.

Then....crash landing.

 

[AllGoodInTheUnderwood]

This is exactly right.

Groce IMMEDIATELY got us in on 5-star talent. He didn't get a single one to don an Illini jersey, but we were in the final 5, 3 and 2 teams for countless 5-star kids. There was a lot of buzz. Then we found out the hard way he was only good at getting into the friend zone.

Then....crash landing.

I think a lot of the failures of Groce's recruiting that Underwood can avoid is to not put 100% of your chips in for one recruit (i.e. Brunson over Evans) when some resources can be better allocated on "contingency plan" players who might not be as highly rated, but can really fit the scheme if you don't end up getting that 5* (which just by the odds you probably won't land most of the time)

 

[TriCityBurbs]

I think after this season the hype around Illinois basketball is going to be exceedingly high and at a much higher level than it was even after Groce's first year. Antigua and BU are big time coaches, they're respected across the country, they're winners, the offense we will be running has proven to be not just "good if we get a PG" or "pass for the big ten" but ELITE. That 2013 team was 90% Weber guys, this team will be about 60% Groce guys, so the excuse that "Groce's guys not Brads" cannot be used. This is a key year for us, if we can win, the hype around our program is going to reach levels we haven't seen in 10 years

 

[IlliniDent]

Not so worried about BU recruiting for 2 reasons. He and his asst. Coaches are well connected. Second he has a well defined offense that he can recruit to. This hurt Groce who had 3 coaches that proved to be weak recruiters and tacticians. Groce teams also lacked an identity and well defined scheme.

Ummm you do realize that one of those coaches that is a so called weak recruited and tactician is one of our current coaches right?

 

[Mike]

Awesome! I seem to recall that Finke had quite a bit of hype his freshman year; going to Kansas midnight madness and all. Has that hype been tempered a bit or is he still a high 4 star/ 5 star talent (knowing that our current staff is focusing on fit and style more so that routine rankings)

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

FWIW, Finke senior is excited about BU's system and thinks Tim could likely do well here. Think we have a good shot with Tim now bc of BU, and bc Tim's no longer considered a borderline 4/5* with interest from blue bloods.

 

[SescIllini]

Ummm you do realize that one of those coaches that is a so called weak recruited and tactician is one of our current coaches right?

Yes I know that and he wasn't one of the coaches I was referring to. Walker was the best at skill training and recruiting IMHO. The bench coach and the rest were sub par.

 

[IlliniDent]

Yes I know that and he wasn't one of the coaches I was referring to. Walker was the best at skill training and recruiting IMHO. The bench coach and the rest were sub par.

Sorry, wasn't trying to be a jerk but i thought you were mentioning Groce and then 3 coaches which would be the 3 assistants. My apologies

 

[STLIlliniMike]

This is exactly right.

Groce IMMEDIATELY got us in on 5-star talent. He didn't get a single one to don an Illini jersey, but we were in the final 5, 3 and 2 teams for countless 5-star kids. There was a lot of buzz. Then we found out the hard way he was only good at getting into the friend zone.

Then....crash landing.

Agree 100%. It's kind of funny seeing people either forgetting or downplaying the level of fervor and hype Groce was able to build in the beginning of his tenure. The Alexander, Brunson, Bragg, Evans, Snider, etc kids were more highly regarded than the current crop of kids we're after. I'm not worried about whether or not Underwood and company can match the hype of the beginning of the Groce era. If they do what Groce couldn't and win basketball games, then the hype will build itself. Especially if they're playing exciting offense the way Underwood teams traditionally do.

 

[Calvin]

Not so worried about BU recruiting for 2 reasons. He and his asst. Coaches are well connected. Second he has a well defined offense that he can recruit to. This hurt Groce who had 3 coaches that proved to be weak recruiters and tacticians. Groce teams also lacked an identity and well defined scheme.

+1

I have a lot of confidence that Underwood will do well here, and recruiting will only get better. I think he'll show right away that he understands the kind of athlete he needs, and how to make the program a destination for guys who fit. Won't happen overnight, and elite guys are always hard to come by, but I do think we'll have a better pitch and better results.

 

[illinitiger]

Not to be THAT guy, but Groce and company were never afraid to go after any player. See Alexander, Bragg, Matthews, Snider, all guys who were high level recruits.

Hopefully Underwood and staff can land some of these guys, or at least know when to focus elsewhere if feelings change.

I agree in general, but also believe JG spun his wheels with these relatively low probabity gets, while frantically chasing transfers in attempt to fill positions of need until he could hit the recruit homerun. Not a great recruiting strategy for success.

IMO, a 3/4 star who fits a position of need, on the rise and who you can develop, is often better than a 5 star with clouds around them. I don't know what the Cliff warning signs were,...but surely there were some. Same for Jereme Richmond.

 

[Illiniguy13]

Finke has fallen a long way from Burger Boy/First rounder to just inside the top 100. He has not had a good AAU season. 5* hopes are long gone, however with ranking inflation he still holds at 4*.

So with this in mind, what's the knock on little Finke's game right now? Inconsistent outside shooting? Questions about his motor? What makes him a good fit in Underwood's system?

 

[FeelTheLovie]

I do think that Groce is a good fit back at the level he's at now. He's going to get the best talent available to a program like Akron and hopefully he knows now that he needs to tweak his system moving forward.

 

[Mike]

So with this in mind, what's the knock on little Finke's game right now? Inconsistent outside shooting? Questions about his motor? What makes him a good fit in Underwood's system?

Haven't seen him play recently, but apparently he's a 6'7" shooting guard now, somewhat athletic, and a pretty good if streaky shot.