Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (March 2021)

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#2,526      

Boomauer

Boomauer
Boomauer
I11ini82 said:
Jerrance doing work.

Pulling a top 100 kid from Durham can't be easy. Looks like he wasn't really recruited by Duke/UNC or even NC State or Wake Forest.
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Kid plays with attitude and swagger....maybe not everyone's cup of tea.
 
#2,527      

dwpittman

D
dwpittman
skyIdub said:
This is really a bad take.

It's really....amazing, if you will.....how some posters can just create their own narrative concerning some players.

Does Giorgi leaving really pass the eye test? Have you been watching the relationship he's created with Kofi? I'm certainly not asserting that he wouldn't leave, but why create some story about him needing a "fresh start" because of the last two years?
Did you not watch any of his interviews this year? He knew when Kofi came last year his role would change, and he embraced it. If he wanted a "fresh start", why wouldn't he leave then?

He's only digressed statistically because of being forced into a new role. His defense has improved, and he got zero respect from refs compared to Kofi. I also guarantee you he has helped Kofi with his footwork around the basket tremendously.

Again, I'm not saying he won't, or wouldn't, leave, but this take is completely backwards. Every single thing I've read or watched about Giorgi over the last year is absolutely smothered in smiles, happiness, and joy. He is a unicorn personality when it comes to dealing with difficulties and troubles, and he brings that into everyone he is around.

I expect him back, and don't be even a little surprised when Kofi comes back and mentions his relationship (roommate) with Giorgi as part of his thought process in the decision.
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I was going to say something to this effect. Very well put. I was thinking Georgie had a very nice year in a smaller role this season. His defense has gotten much better since his freshman year certainly as well.
 
#2,528      

Deleted member 747671

D
Guest
Deleted member 747671
Ress said:
I thought Eric Gordon, Weber and Illini never recovered after the fiasco.
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That whole recruiting class was a mess. I mean it ended up decent, but Weber made so many poor decisions. He didn't pursue Evan Turner until late. Never seriously pursued the guys that Purdue grabbed, namely Hummel and Moore, and basically allowed himself to be hostage to the drama around the Gordon and Rose recruitments. No offense to Tisdale and Cole, but a class of McCamey, Turner, Moore, and Hummel would've more than made up for losing Gordon.
 
#2,532      

JW

JW
Vancouver
JW
SKane said:
www.pr.com

Former ESPN Top 60 Basketball Player Quinton Watkins Signs with Advantage Link Sports Management - PR.com

Advantage Link Sports Management announced today that former ESPN top 60 basketball player has selected Advantage Link - a full service sports agency to...
www.pr.com

I could not find out anything more recent about Quinton Watkins.
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A few more recent articles show he played in Europe.

I was super excited when we recruited him.

He was from a time when everything went wrong for Illinois and Bruce Weber, two years removed from a near perfect season.
 
#2,533      

KnoxIllini2

KnoxIllini2
KnoxIllini2
skyIdub said:
This is really a bad take.

It's really....amazing, if you will.....how some posters can just create their own narrative concerning some players.

Does Giorgi leaving really pass the eye test? Have you been watching the relationship he's created with Kofi? I'm certainly not asserting that he wouldn't leave, but why create some story about him needing a "fresh start" because of the last two years?
Did you not watch any of his interviews this year? He knew when Kofi came last year his role would change, and he embraced it. If he wanted a "fresh start", why wouldn't he leave then?

He's only digressed statistically because of being forced into a new role. His defense has improved, and he got zero respect from refs compared to Kofi. I also guarantee you he has helped Kofi with his footwork around the basket tremendously.

Again, I'm not saying he won't, or wouldn't, leave, but this take is completely backwards. Every single thing I've read or watched about Giorgi over the last year is absolutely smothered in smiles, happiness, and joy. He is a unicorn personality when it comes to dealing with difficulties and troubles, and he brings that into everyone he is around.

I expect him back, and don't be even a little surprised when Kofi comes back and mentions his relationship (roommate) with Giorgi as part of his thought process in the decision.
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Amazing.
- Giorgi Bezhanishvili
 
#2,535      

Navy_illini

N
Navy_illini
We have a lot of mistakes in recruiting players. Here is my short list from the late 90s from Illinois that I wish we would have gotten.
Andre Iguodala instead we got Rich McBride (Lamphier)
Evan Turner instead we got Demetri McCamey (St Joes)
Brian Cardinal (Unity) His dad was our trainer

And Weber’s biggest misses was Shannon Brown who went to MSU and Jon Scheyer (Weber’s brother was his high school coach)

Not on my list Derrick Rose due to his recruiting drama and Livingston since he wasn’t going to college
 
#2,536      

SescIllini

SescIllini
SescIllini
Quick hits
Self enjoyed his time at Illinois IMHO but Kansas was his dream job. He was going to leave for that job.

So glad we have no connection to Cliff Alexander.

Missing out on Ike Diogu (ASU) who was rumoured to be committed at one point and Charlie Velanuva who was committed may have cost us the 2005-6 championship. Both could of guarded May better than Powell.

Groce era was plagued by players stringing him along. Never had a system or identity and failed to recruit key positions like PGs.

Recent biggest misses in BU era are EJ or Timme. Landing either to go along with Ayo and Kofi and we might be cutting nets in a week. Also the Texas Tech wing from the CPL. Of the 3, Timme may have given us the longest look.
 
#2,537      

LIfan

L
LIfan
Has anyone seen Curbelo’s former teammate play? Kasper Klazcek is a muscular 6’8” kid that is super athletic, has handles, can drive and can play in the paint. He played on the Italian National team (even though hes from Poland). He has offers from TCU and others but hasnt commited. His school, LUHI only had a 3 game season.
 
#2,538      

alexander58

A
alexander58
Navy_illini said:
We have a lot of mistakes in recruiting players. Here is my short list from the late 90s from Illinois that I wish we would have gotten.
Andre Iguodala instead we got Rich McBride (Lamphier)
Evan Turner instead we got Demetri McCamey (St Joes)
Brian Cardinal (Unity) His dad was our trainer

And Weber’s biggest misses was Shannon Brown who went to MSU and Jon Scheyer (Weber’s brother was his high school coach)

Not on my list Derrick Rose due to his recruiting drama and Livingston since he wasn’t going to college
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Andre Iguodala- The word at the time was he wanted to leave the state.He never considered Illinois.
Jon Scheyer- Chris Collins was his hero. He was always going to Duke.
Brian Cardinal- The story was Henson and Rod Cardinal thought it was too much pressure with his dad on staff.
Not everyone is going to stay in state.
 
#2,544      

zentrails

Z
zentrails
I11ini82 said:
Totally fair.

Obviously the Cliff thing is mostly hindsight. Landing a top 10 player from Chicago would have been huge, but in the end, he was Jereme Richmond 2.0 so with the benefit of hindsight, the Snider thing was much more significant to me.
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Naw, JR was in his own league, literally
 
#2,545      

zentrails

Z
zentrails
dgcrow said:
That's true. But Self did claim, after a few years at Kansas, that recruiting was easier when he was at Illinois because of its in-state talent.
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Yeah, but he didn't have a straight face when he said that. His recruiting was indeed pretty dang good for us, though.
 
#2,549      

BRucks

BRucks
BRucks
Navy_illini said:
We have a lot of mistakes in recruiting players. Here is my short list from the late 90s from Illinois that I wish we would have gotten.
Andre Iguodala instead we got Rich McBride (Lamphier)
Evan Turner instead we got Demetri McCamey (St Joes)
Brian Cardinal (Unity) His dad was our trainer

And Weber’s biggest misses was Shannon Brown who went to MSU and Jon Scheyer (Weber’s brother was his high school coach)

Not on my list Derrick Rose due to his recruiting drama and Livingston since he wasn’t going to college
Click to expand...
I'll take mistakes like McCamey any time.
 
#2,550      

Boomauer

Boomauer
Boomauer
alexander58 said:
Andre Iguodala- The word at the time was he wanted to leave the state.He never considered Illinois.
Jon Scheyer- Chris Collins was his hero. He was always going to Duke.
Brian Cardinal- The story was Henson and Rod Cardinal thought it was too much pressure with his dad on staff.
Not everyone is going to stay in state.
Click to expand...
Concerning Iguodala, the report at the time was that he played poorly every time Self watched Lanphier play.
 
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