I want the Illini to become nationally relevant again but not in this way.
If some shady move won us a single additional ballgame, I would be all for it, because I am a bad person.
The problem is not that it's morally wrong, it's that it will be counterproductive.
For one, there will be national media outcry and we will cave and let him go anyway. Even if we don't, he might well transfer anyway and sit the year. Even if he doesn't, we'll be entrapping against his will a player who, lets be honest, seems super flaky to begin with. The idea that that is a cornerstone of the future seems specious at best. And even if Tilmon turns out to be a success on the floor, the whole imbroglio will damage our standing in St. Louis and among high school coaches in the state at the absolute worst possible time, when they're making their first impressions of Underwood.
And just as an aside, athletes in the St. Louis metro area all know each other. And not just the basketball players. Lovie Smith's next two recruiting classes will rise and fall to a great extent based on the work we're able to do in the St. Louis area. Having the DIA screw a kid they're all friends with is pretty much the worst possible idea.