Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (November-December 2016)

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#2,477      

IllGuardU

I
IllGuardU
Combo said:
Out of the 9 guys you mention, it's highly likely all won't be here next season. I'd love to see them all stay, but in today's college ball, attrition happens regularly.

Also, DJW and Nichols can both play the 4 (although their ideal position is the 3).

I agree that we certainly need to add another C/PF type. However, I don't think that should stop us from recruiting Smith. I think that kid is a difference-maker.
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Exactly what I was going to say! We can't afford to pass on Smith.
 
#2,478      

ILHoff

I
ILHoff
Combo said:
Those stories weren't apocryphal (unfortunately).
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I was at one of the games Self watched Iggy. He didn't score a lot, but he's the kind of player you can watch play for 5 minutes and know how good he is. Self missed on that one. That story is blown out of proportion.
 
#2,479      

JudsonFTS

J
JudsonFTS
FatGreg said:
Luwane Pipkins is averaging 11.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and is second in the NCAA in steals at an insane 3.4 per game. He is shooting poorly, but I'd say he's having quite a RS freshman year at UMASS.

Just for fun, other past "it recruits" - some summer, some HS season; this list is just for polarizing recruits that started under the radar and then gained a vocal bandwagon, only to sign with other schools when it felt like Illinois may have been able to lock them up if they'd put on the full court press.

Charlie Moore - Cal: 17.6 ppg, 1.9 reb, 3.0 ast, 1.6 stl, 44.7% 3pt

Marcus Lovett - SJU: 18.8 ppg, 4.1 reb, 3.9 ast, 0.8 stl, 44.4% 3pt

Glynn Watson - NEB: 12.4 ppg, 3.4 ast, 2.8 ast, 2.1 stl, 33.3% 3pt

Maurice Watson - Creighton (Boston U transfer): 13.1 ppg, 2.3 reb, 9.1 ast (1st in NCAA), 1.6 stl, 56.3% 3pt

Steve Taylor - Toledo (via Marquette): 16.8 ppg, 11.8 reb (4th in NCAA), 3.9 ast, 0.6 blk

Ben Moore - SMU: 11.8 ppg, 7.6 reb, 1.9 ast, 0.9 blk, 52.2% fg

Obviously, Tyler Ulis was a guy lots of people were banging the drum for, but since he's in the NBA now it doesn't make sense to include him. Likewise, people were talking about VanVleet his senior year (and his freshman year - he looked promising and then fell off the map for awhile), but since he's in the League I left him off. Lots of the kids on this list had red flags or there were mitigating factors, so I don't really blame the staff. However, if we had any of them on this year's team it would make a world of difference.
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What really makes this list annoying are the number of PG's that are on it considering all the dominant ones we have had the last few years......sarcasm...off.
 
#2,480      

Ga65

G
Ga65
Combo said:
Out of the 9 guys you mention, it's highly likely all won't be here next season. I'd love to see them all stay, but in today's college ball, attrition happens regularly.

Also, DJW and Nichols can both play the 4 (although their ideal position is the 3).

I agree that we certainly need to add another C/PF type. However, I don't think that should stop us from recruiting Smith. I think that kid is a difference-maker.
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Would risk sharing Tilmon, Finke, and Black at c,of with DJ and Kipper as back-ups if we have the a chance at the right guy. Don't believe Epperson would be of much value in 2017 but would be valuable later. Not likely to have the depth next year that we have now. We have 2 four star guys not getting any time.
 
#2,481      

TownieMatt

T
CU Expat
Chicago
TownieMatt
FatGreg said:
Charlie Moore - Cal: 17.6 ppg, 1.9 reb, 3.0 ast, 1.6 stl, 44.7% 3pt

Marcus Lovett - SJU: 18.8 ppg, 4.1 reb, 3.9 ast, 0.8 stl, 44.4% 3pt

Glynn Watson - NEB: 12.4 ppg, 3.4 ast, 2.8 ast, 2.1 stl, 33.3% 3pt
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Each of these was a unique situation.

- We recruited Charlie Moore heavily before TJL committed, then backed off and CM committed to Memphis. Then when he opened it back up, we got involved late. By most accounts Charlie was never that interested in Illinois. I suspect our involvement at the end was more Chicago recruiting politics than anything else.

- LoVett was never getting through our admissions. Great player, but that recruitment was a mess.

- Watson is really the one here that you could label as a miss, especially given the family ties. Pretty clear that the staff didn't think he was good enough. To be fair, Watson was a late raiser when St Joe's made that run to a state title.
 
#2,482      

WesterveltVictoryCigar

WesterveltVictoryCigar
WesterveltVictoryCigar
TownieMatt said:
- Watson is really the one here that you could label as a miss, especially given the family ties. Pretty clear that the staff didn't think he was good enough. To be fair, Watson was a late raiser when St Joe's made that run to a state title.
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Watson was a 4 star and top 100 recruit heading into his senior season. And yes, the staff decided to chase bigger fish instead.
 
#2,483      

The Worm

The Worm
CHICAGO, IL
The Worm
WesterveltVictoryCigar said:
Watson was a 4 star and top 100 recruit heading into his senior season. And yes, the staff decided to chase bigger fish instead.
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Glynn Watson committed on Sep. 1 whereas Jawun Evans waited until Oct. 1, so it was difficult to string along plan B's (Shamet, Watson) that late, given where they felt they stood with their top targets.

With the differences in impact/talent between the two, including the odds of winning the recruitment, I totally understand why they didn't settle for plan B's.

Using hindsight it's really easy to criticize, but the timing of the way the recruitment's played out really worked against us.

In the '15 cycle, our Plan A's (Alterique Gilbert) committed much earlier in the process, which is why we were able to successfully move-on and land TJL.
 
#2,484      

Smacko

S
Lexington, KY
Smacko
WesterveltVictoryCigar said:
Watson was a 4 star and top 100 recruit heading into his senior season. And yes, the staff decided to chase bigger fish instead.
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This is always the story that the staff had no interest, isn't it also possible that Watson might have had no interest in us and wanted to do something besides go to a school where he would be constantly compared to his older brother?
 
#2,485      

WiscIllini

W
Madison, WI
WiscIllini
Smacko said:
This is always the story that the staff had no interest, isn't it also possible that Watson might have had no interest in us and wanted to do something besides go to a school where he would be constantly compared to his older brother?
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He was definitely interested in Illinois.
 
#2,486      

sdillini

S
sdillini
While this is true, I think it's a bit disingenuous because I don't believe we really recruited Watson much at all. Don't remember being in his final 5 or anything like that. You can't start recruiting a guy like that hard after your plan A's have committed elsewhere. He had legitimate other Big 5 offers. So you weren't getting him regardless of timing because because you didn't really try. Also, when planning this type of thing you've got to look at downside risk as well as upside potential. He was clearly a step down from who we were recruiting. But could we really have gotten them? And was Watson a big step up regardless from who we already had? I would say big-time yes. Complicated process, maybe not easy decisions - but if you roll dice like they did you live with the consequences. And they have - The way he managed this could have and may still ultimately cost Groce his job.

The Worm said:
Glynn Watson committed on Sep. 1 whereas Jawun Evans waited until Oct. 1, so it was difficult to string along plan B's (Shamet, Watson) that late, given where they felt they stood with their top targets.

With the differences in impact/talent between the two, including the odds of winning the recruitment, I totally understand why they didn't settle for plan B's.

Using hindsight it's really easy to criticize, but the timing of the way the recruitment's played out really worked against us.

In the '15 cycle, our Plan A's (Alterique Gilbert) committed much earlier in the process, which is why we were able to successfully move-on and land TJL.
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#2,487      

Higher Ground

H
Higher Ground
Newbie

Long time lurker first time poster.

I hope we pursue Smith heavily. He's a physical specimen. He has a nose for scoring and is a bullish power guard that has the skills to play multiple positions. When watching him play I cant help but compare him to Ray Rice.

Go Illini!
 
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#2,489      

Combo

C
Combo
Higher Ground said:
Long time lurker first time poster.

I hope we pursue Smith heavily. He's a physical specimen. He has a nose for scoring and is a bullish power guard that has the skills to play multiple positions. When watching him play I cant help but compare him to Ray Rice.

Go Illini!
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Ray Rice with legitimate ability to play PG.

I'm with you. I really hope we get Smith.
 
#2,490      

nwebb1

N
nwebb1
Not sure who is all in the Metro East area, but Edwardsville plays East St. Louis January 3rd at Edwardsville. it would be a good chance to kill two birds with one stone and checkout both Smith and JT
 
#2,491      

IlliniCards24

I
IlliniCards24
nwebb1 said:
Not sure who is all in the Metro East area, but Edwardsville plays East St. Louis January 3rd at Edwardsville. it would be a good chance to kill two birds with one stone and checkout both Smith and JT
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The entire Southwest conference this year is phenomenal. You have

Pickett- Belleville East
Liddell- Belleville West
Smith- Edwardsville
Tillmon and Hargrove (Someone Illini should get on quick)- East St. Louis

Every week these guys are going at it. There is also a ton of talent coming up.
 
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#2,492      

Joel Goodson

Joel Goodson
respect my decision™
Joel Goodson
IlliniCards24 said:
The entire Southwest conference this year is phenomenal. You have

Pickett- Belleville East
Liddell- Belleville West
Smith- Edwardsville
Tillmon and Hargrove (Someone Illini should get on quick)- East St. Louis

Every week these guys are going at it. There is also a ton of talent coming up.
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Info on Hargrove, please? Also, insight on the top underclassmen (besides Liddell).
 
#2,493      

WiscIllini

W
Madison, WI
WiscIllini
IlliniCards24 said:
The entire Southwest conference this year is phenomenal. You have

Pickett- Belleville East
Liddell- Belleville West
Smith- Edwardsville
Tillmon and Hargrove (Someone Illini should get on quick)- East St. Louis

Every week these guys are going at it. There is also a ton of talent coming up.
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It's Tilmon, for the love of God. :tsk:
 
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