Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (March 2017)

[Deleted member 10676]

Dane Fife screwed us with Cory Magette back in 1998. Duke wanted Fife over Magette and when Fife apparently changed his mind from Duke to Indiana very late in the game it set off a domino effect. Magette who all the experts had as an Illini surprised everybody with Duke. Krueger landed a very good lands with F Williams, Krupalija, Archibald, and Lucas. But he narrowly missed out on Magette and Bobby Simmons. Simmons was the bigger lost because he would of been a starter at the SF for 3 years especially during our on time as a top 5-10 team.

You see a photo of Izzo and staff eating chicken and drinking blizzards at a local Edwardsville Dairy Queen and immediately go into a tirade against what Dana Fife did in 1998?
This board has absolutely no sense of the absurd. I love that photo. The glamour of big time college recruiting in all its glory.

 

[nwebb1]

You see a photo of Izzo and staff eating chicken and drinking blizzards at a local Edwardsville Dairy Queen and immediately go into a tirade against what Dana Fife did in 1998?
This board has absolutely no sense of the absurd. I love that photo. The glamour of big time college recruiting in all its glory.

I work 3 minutes from that DQ. I wish i would've hopped on over and ran into Izzo.

 

[618 Illini]

We need somebody to edit the image of Frazier, JT, D Williams and Pickett and add Mark Smith with the quote "The Champ is Here"

No inside knowledge, but think it would be cool to circulate and see how many of the guys tweet/retweet

 

[Deleted member 10676]

:huh:

Kind of my reaction. I'm shocked, shocked to find that recruiting is going on around here.

 

[Jack Ingram Ball Screen]

You see a photo of Izzo and staff eating chicken and drinking blizzards at a local Edwardsville Dairy Queen and immediately go into a tirade against what Dana Fife did in 1998?
This board has absolutely no sense of the absurd. I love that photo. The glamour of big time college recruiting in all its glory.

Who drinks a blizzard? That would be a big red flag when looking at a coach/school to play for.

 

[Title]

Not to demean ANY student athlete, but this is kind of ridiculous what's going on with him. In one four months, he's gone from a baseball recruit at Missouri and a basketball recruit that was getting some regional interest......To this high profile guard that Kentucky, MSU and other high DI programs are putting full court press on to get a commitment from?

I think that sometimes these meteoric rises are overblown. I'm not a college scout by any means, but this smells of coaches searching high and low to find a diamond in the rough(especially Kentucky and MSU) late in the recruiting cycle for 2017. Call me a homer, but I really hope this kid stays true to himself, true to what he knows and doesn't have his judgement clouded by the Izzo's and Cal's of the world. It's a good way to end up buried on somebody's bench for two years, when he could have been getting early minutes at the schools he was initially looking at. Very common mistake to get lured by the big names....The Bluebloods. Then, you're stuck.

Hopefully Underwood isn't use this pitch against the big schools. Kentucky just sent a 5'8 guard form South Chicago to the league "Tyler Ulis". There is nothing negative you can say about those schools. Just hope being home is important to him and focus on that part of it.

 

[PlayAZ]

Hopefully Underwood isn't use this pitch against the big schools. Kentucky just sent a 5'8 guard form South Chicago to the league "Tyler Ulis". There is nothing negative you can say about those schools. Just hope being home is important to him and focus on that part of it.

Disagree with this, there is something to say NEGATIVE against Blue Bloods in general especially Kentucky....

Coach: We really would like you to play for us.
Recruit: Yea, but you know Kentucky has offered and other blue bloods also..
Coach: Well sure we can see how appealing that might be, playing with other highly touted recruits and all.
Recruit: Yes, I think I am going there...
Coach: If you don't turn PRO within 1-2 years....who will be there playing with you? Who will they recruit when others turn PRO...will you have to compete against other highly touted players EVERY year for your PT?
Recuit: I am confident in my abilities.
Coach: We are too, that is why you are our #1 at that position!!!

 

[tuffy7]

In the entire history of coaches visiting players and players visiting schools I'm pretty sure Josh Brent's trip to Iowa was the only one that didn't get reported as going well.

Martez Wilson's visit to ND most definitely did not go well.

 

[IlliniCaboose]

Martez Wilson's visit to ND most definitely did not go well.

Come to think of it, neither did Dick Butkus'

 

[CoalCity]

Will be the first test of the Underwood era.....beating out Izzo and Martin for Smith. Got a feeling it won't end well at this point...

 

[Obelix]

My point was, as a counterpoint to yours, he wouldn't be playing.

People said the same thing about Ulis, and he had a lot more physical (i.e., height) limitations. Smith deserves much credit. He did earn Mr. Basketball with his play, he did indeed beat everyone for the award proving himself on the court and he was very consistent as well.

 

[aluma]

Obviously Smith is from downstate, but this recruitment will end up being a very good litmus test for what we're getting recruiting wise out of Underwood. All things considered, Underwood represents the home state school, with a kid that really l likes Illinois and Walker, and even though Underwood is late to the game, so are a lot of the other schools. I really hope we get Smith for a few reasons; one he is a stud, two because it will show us that Underwood can recruit with the big dogs.

 

[skyIdub]

Is Izzo mad cause his buddy Groce got fired?

I'm glad somebody else picked up on the "drinking" the Blizzard. If you are drinking it, it has become a shake?

 

[Paigncake]

Livingston.

That's incorrect. I'm not positive it was Derrick Jasper but I know it wasn't SL.

I remember the story going something along the lines that Deron was scrimmaging with him physically and he kept crying about fouls.

 

[skyIdub]

Does anyone recall a recruiting scenario similar to Smiths where with two weeks to go a program swoops in and scores a commitment? I'm sure it's happened, but wondering if there's any we would recognize?

 

[BananaShampoo]

Smith is a bigger, stronger, version of DMac who plays better defense. He is quite possibly a future NBA player. Why WOULDN'T these other programs come sniffing around? As I recall UK also got in on Ulis pretty late in the game. They are one of the few schools that can do that.

There are a lot of reasons for him to choose Illinois, though, so let's recap:

1) sentimental attachment to Illinois
2) desire to be in the perfect fit for him that would be Underwood's offense
3) relationship with Coach Walker
4) proximity
5) relationship with incoming players (many of whom are from near where he is from and he has played with/against)

Combined, those are pretty compelling reasons to choose us. Let's hope he does.

 

[EJ33]

Robert Smith (HC @ Simeon) was on the Tay & Jay show yesterday. Listen to the interview here.

What do kids want?

#1 Winning program
#2 A coach who has a proven track record getting kids to the NBA.

Another factor is that "some kids just want to get away."

He does expect the HC @ Illinois to have a presence and build a relationship. He didn't see Groce much.

My own take on his expectations regarding the relationship is simple: The HC can't just show up when there's a 4 or 5 star player. The HC needs to visit regularly. Illinois, in particular, needs this relationship because the blue-bloods are ahead of us on #1 and #2.

 

[Calvin]

Obviously Smith is from downstate, but this recruitment will end up being a very good litmus test for what we're getting recruiting wise out of Underwood.

Couldn't disagree more. A sample size of 1 in recruiting is not something I'd draw conclusions on, even moreso when you consider that BU is literally just days on the job here.

We're fortunate to have a legitimate shot at this given the coaching change, and honestly, I think BU has much more to offer than Groce would. But I'm not going to label his recruiting based on this one.

 

[foby]

Does anyone recall a recruiting scenario similar to Smiths where with two weeks to go a program swoops in and scores a commitment? I'm sure it's happened, but wondering if there's any we would recognize?

It has become Kentucky's MO. They know or guess who will go pro. and need to replace them. It seems a number of the burger boys wait to sign until the spring probably with the hopes of going to Kentucky.

 

[Konnie]

Couldn't disagree more. A sample size of 1 in recruiting is not something I'd draw conclusions on, even moreso when you consider that BU is literally just days on the job here.

We're fortunate to have a legitimate shot at this given the coaching change, and honestly, I think BU has much more to offer than Groce would. But I'm not going to label his recruiting based on this one.

+1 Hopefully, Walker has a good relationship with Smith that will help successfully recruit him.

 

[greger]

Haha! Sure hope you know something we all don't!

 

[STLIlliniMike]

I know it said on this thread a lot that Mark Smith would be a great fit, and it's almost used as a reasoning of why he would/should come here but can we be real for a second? Mark Smith is a big athletic guard who can get to the rim, shoot, and play defense. If he's the talent everyone is projecting him to be, then he'll be fine wherever he winds up. We don't have the monopoly on being a a good fit. This is especially true in the case of MSU. I'm not trying to be a Debby downer but when you put down the orange koolaid it's a little crazy to keep peddling this notion that he will come here because of BU's "system" when Izzo is in his living room offering himself and a clear path to PT as a freshman. Whichever way this plays out, I highly doubt Underwood's system will be the determining factor.

 

[IlliniBrave75]

What will it take for Illinois to land the big Chicago recruits?

We've heard from Irvin and Smith...now ex-Meanstreets Coach TerrenceWilburn.


http://www.wandtv.com/story/35019719/what-will-it-take-for-illinois-to-land-the-big-chicago-recruit

 

[IlliniBrave75]

Not sure where the DJ Doctor got the Martin quote!


Dariush Takhtehchian‏ @takhtehchianmd 54m54 minutes ago
Man... Cuonzo Martin is testing NCAA violation waters. Poaching NLI kids... bad look.pic.twitter.com/3RyGb5okp0

 

[FeelYourPaign]

What will it take for Illinois to land the big Chicago recruits?

We've heard from Irvin and Smith...now ex-Meanstreets Coach TerrenceWilburn.


http://www.wandtv.com/story/35019719/what-will-it-take-for-illinois-to-land-the-big-chicago-recruit

I don't disagree with anything he says (get in early, build relationships and trust . . . ), but it does beg the question that others have asked here, which is "why can Coach X, brand new to the area, with no relationships get 5 star players and we cannot?"

It does seem that in addition to the very logical requirements mentioned above, there is an extra expectation of Illinois in the recruiting of Chicago that others do not labor under.

That said, we'll just have to do it the more complete and harder way.
Go Illini