Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (October 2016)

[Second and Chalmers]

Legend

 

[Adnarel]

[/IMG]

LOOOOOOOOOOL

 

[FatGreg]

Illini down to#7 in the latest team rankings----any word on Nojel Eastern, Mayan Kiir, or Epperson? If they could get another big, that'd be preferred obviously with the guys who won't be back next year. I saw Justin Smith and Victor U decided to go elsewhere and I remember Kigab committed to Oregon, so things not going so well in the attempts to round this class out.

No longer in on Eastern, unfortunately. He has a chance to be a good one. Kiir is still definitely in play, though some have said that VCU leads currently. There's also some noise that he may not qualify. Epperson seems interested for the moment, but he really impressed this summer and is taking it all in right now (just moved from Australia). He won't sign until spring. Since he's a top 50-75 talent, he'll be in demand (if blue bloods miss out on top targets in the early period, they'll likely reach out to guys like Epperson to fill their classes). Wooten looks like a long shot - I'm glad Groce put out the offer, but it seems we got in about three months too late.

There's a decent chance we snag Kiir or Epperson. I think we'll continue evaluating Verge, though I don't think that one's likely. Beyond that, look out for late risers and decommits in the spring. We will be active in the transfer market again. Still an awesome class with Tilmon, Frazier, DMW, and Pickett.

 

[Illini B-Ball Fan]

Any chance Wilkes is pulling an Elijah Thomas and picking one from out of nowhere (which would be us in this case)? I know the overwhelming consensus is UCLA, but...

......He may be joining Snacks in KS then?

 

[bleedsorangenblue]

Yep. They're going to be so good, even Alford will have a hard time messing it up. Final Four talent the next few years.

It sucks that the best high school players want to go to the biggest name schools and team up with other top players to compete for championships and get as much TV time as possible. They're all thinking they can beat out the other guys on the roster and get maximum exposure to improve their draft position and increase their chances of signing big endorsement deals.

The part that sucks the most when you're a fan of one of the have-nots (like Illinois) is that, objectively, these kids are making the best business decision possible. It's hard to fault them. Sure, lots will wash out, transfer, etc., but it makes a lot of sense to go play for a top-10 school with a bunch of 5-star talent. Very few NBA prospects are interested in "being a trailblazer." They're just chasing a paycheck. Understandable. Thanks for being different, Jeremiah Tilmon!

I think it's harder for Illini fans, because the culture of super teams, 21st century around-the-clock advertising, the YouTube generation, social media, and so on, really coalesced right as our program went into a death spiral. The last ten years have been the worst stretch in the program's history, and the nadir coincided with the maturation of social media and broader information technology. We're historically a top-15 program, but we've been left behind by schools that have been able to capitalize on recent success in an unprecedented way through various media platforms. The result of this process has been a consolidation of brand capital among a top tier of "trendy" programs. It feels (to me, anyway) like we were on the cusp of being in the same realm as programs like Wisconsin, Syracuse, Texas, et al. Now it feels like we've got a long way to go to escape our new identity as a B1G also-ran. The information age is a kind of echo chamber where brand identity becomes ossified quickly.

Good perspective and analysis. I think we have a window of opportunity to turn this around in the next couple years with Groce. Should he not be able to capitalize, hard saying when and how the next opportunity will come. I can't imagine there will be top caliber coaches beating down or door for an opportunity. It is tough to catch lightning in a bottle.

 

[7yearillini]

Justin Albers @Justin_Albers My sources close to Kris Wilkes say he loves Tom Crean but will not choose Indiana. Wants to be a one and done, thinks UCLA is best for that

It was never a fair fight since UCLA is the only one of the 3 with a 1 year engineering program.

 

[Connor]

Damonte likes playing the game way more than you guys give him credit for. His senior year will be something else you watch.

 

[CAHALL15]

Illini down to#7 in the latest team rankings----any word on Nojel Eastern, Mayan Kiir, or Epperson? If they could get another big, that'd be preferred obviously with the guys who won't be back next year. I saw Justin Smith and Victor U decided to go elsewhere and I remember Kigab committed to Oregon, so things not going so well in the attempts to round this class out.

We aren't really pursuing Eastern, Epperson won't decide until the spring, and Kiir is still in play, but the consensus is that he will probably head to VCU.