Meyer has been a lot more credible than Piper, including recruits that Illinois has been after. His network allows him to cross-validate information from a lot more sources. Piper covers Illinois, depends on the Illini fans and their subscriptions, and also gets his information primarily from the staff. Some of his picks help rally fan support for visits (e.g., Liddell, Oscar T, Shannon) which is something that the staff needs but can't do directly themselves. In exchange, they feed him some information. It is a two way street, understandable given the nature of his job.
there are a lot of falsehoods in that statement.