The jury, not the verdict, is still out. But the verdict isn’t in yet.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (March 2018)
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The jury, not the verdict, is still out. But the verdict isn’t in yet.
Could be a kid that's okay with getting an education and trying his best to contribute at some point in 4 years. Despite signing two bigs, playing time is there for the taking. That being said, he'd have to show some decent improvement to not automatically be pegged dead last in the rotation. Hopefully one of these project bigs pay off..
You are wrong about that, they are actually pretty good buddies and have some common influential people and coaches very close to them (I know at least one). It does not mean that Liddell will end up wherever Mark Smith will end up, but Mark Smith leaving was definitely not positive with respect to that recruitment.
Lol. Mark Smith has no bearing on Liddell in any way, shape or form.
Moving to Lithuania?
Just seems like Matic will be last player to leave. If so four spots left. Hopefully we land Jones Hinson and transfer big or Juco PG. Other than Black leaving roster has been upgraded from last year. Looking forward to seeing all new recruits in the fall. In BU we trust Make Illni Great Again.
In fairness one of those Freshman is our highest rated recruit since Dee Brown.
It's not a given, but Finke struggled on D to be sure. Eboigbodin has some promise at defending the 5. It's all a crapshoot at this point and it's putting a lot on the shoulders of Ayo, but he is a special talent.
Mark Smith and Liddell are buddies. It is not that Mark Smith was going to be the main influence on Liddell going to Illinois, or he was is now going to persuade him not to go to Illinois, but seeing one of your buddies not having a positive experience at Illinois and transfer is not a positive development in this recruitment.
Illinois and BU have huge obstacles to overcome in this recruitment, mainly the fact we have been irrelevant in quite a long time and we just finished one of our worst seasons in modern history. As I have said before, the Liddell recruitment will heat up this summer, with some big names likely to enter the picture. Mizzou is also very strong so far in this race.
I am pretty unbiased in my evaluation of players, independent on whether they end up at Illinois or not. In the last 5-6 years there have been only 3 players in the state of Illinois that I raved about from very early on (sophomore or freshman year in HS) and thought they were special and huge difference makers in college : Brunson, EJ Liddell, and Adam Miller. Liddell is that good IMO and so is Miller.
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Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
Well, technically he said "I might not be the most athletic player on the team." That's a long way from "I'm not athletic." But I do think he acknowledges that athleticism is probably not his dominant trait, and that his intelligence and skill set is what will set him apart. Still realistic, and I like it, too.
I always get a little nervous, though, when a 6'10" freshman talks about his opportunities from the 3-point line in his first interview about how he can contribute. Be big, rebound, pass the ball, defend, set screens, rebound, defend, hit the open shot when it presents itself and rebound, in roughly that order.
Being a skilled 3 point shooter is a huge need on this team and 3 of the 4 Final 4 teams crack the top 20 in the nation for 3pt percentage.
Having 3 or 4 guys on the floor at the same time who are proficient at the 3 gives defenses nightmares
I saw a few of their games this year. He has some skills offensively & could potentially improve our D. Some question marks though, he has a temper & received several technical fouls this year.
I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we know what we'd get with Finke, and we'd only get it for 1 more year. Effectively replacing Finke with a freshman big who has 4 years to grow in the system, while probably not an upgrade next season, could be considered an upgrade to the roster in the long-term.
It's kinda similar to asking the question, would we take a 1-year grad transfer with Finke's stats or a freshman?
I personally would love Finke's experience next year, so I do consider his leaving to be a tough loss for the roster.
And if you cannot shoot the three like the Illini the last several years, you die as well. We definitely need players that can shoot the three to open up the rest of the offense.
I hope we show him our trash cans during his visit.
i love reading this forum on my phone where i cant see the user name, but i know everytime i read your posts it is TC
Fair, although that might be a little more of what we need...Black once had the same issues?
After meeting with Hurley, Lukas Kisunas, has decommitted from UConn. Do not be surprised if UI gets involved again (yes I know we just signed 2 bigs)
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
My hope is the positive news that we can stop this charade and turn our attention elsewhere.
TownieMatt
CU Expat
- Chicago
I would be surprised. We've have two HS bigs committed, will pursue a fifth year, and have two very important bigs targeted in '19.
Well he didn't decide to eliminate us right? I guess that is positive.
Right, the 2019 class is signing before another game is played. Makes it a bit of a man-hours crunch when you're grinding to fill a million scholarships in the spring.
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