Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (October 2017)

[bert1991]

Every recruit is different. The more boxes you check off, though, the better your chances. If the results so far are an indicative, I'd still put us in the sleeping giant category. Underwood said it himself, that recruiting is all about relationships. We tend to look at it through a more rational lens, but it's anything but.

Imagine for a moment you're an 18 year old consensus top-100 recruit. You're going to get offers from at least a dozen schools, and interest from many more. You've got a lot of well-meaning "experts" in your ear, as well as family with their own concerns. What makes you excited about a school? Could be anything. The coaching staff has to have what you want, and it has to build trust. It's more of a craps shoot than people realize.

Winning will help. Every big win we get shows we're on the uptick. Guys going to the league are a big deal, especially guys you can point to that came from further down the rankings, where you can take more credit for their development. Returning to the tournament is desperately needed. And relationships will always trump all that. Some of this stuff will take time. When we show more, though, I believe we'll come out on top far more often.

I guess what I'm saying is this staff is all over it, and it's great that they're looking far and wide, but we need to give them credit for the process right now as much as the results. They know better than anyone that the only thing that counts is the results. We won't really care where they pull talent from, as long as they can win with it.

My 2 cents....

Great post.Great perspective. Really great. God help me, I'm sounding like Trump. Although, i don't think he knows what perspective means

 

[ceverettsdinosaurs]

Every recruit is different. The more boxes you check off, though, the better your chances. If the results so far are an indicative, I'd still put us in the sleeping giant category. Underwood said it himself, that recruiting is all about relationships. We tend to look at it through a more rational lens, but it's anything but.

Imagine for a moment you're an 18 year old consensus top-100 recruit. You're going to get offers from at least a dozen schools, and interest from many more. You've got a lot of well-meaning "experts" in your ear, as well as family with their own concerns. What makes you excited about a school? Could be anything. The coaching staff has to have what you want, and it has to build trust. It's more of a craps shoot than people realize.

Winning will help. Every big win we get shows we're on the uptick. Guys going to the league are a big deal, especially guys you can point to that came from further down the rankings, where you can take more credit for their development. Returning to the tournament is desperately needed. And relationships will always trump all that. Some of this stuff will take time. When we show more, though, I believe we'll come out on top far more often.

I guess what I'm saying is this staff is all over it, and it's great that they're looking far and wide, but we need to give them credit for the process right now as much as the results. They know better than anyone that the only thing that counts is the results. We won't really care where they pull talent from, as long as they can win with it.

My 2 cents....

This is one thing that can help us with Mark Smith. Obviously many of us think that he should have been rated higher by the recruiting services, but his late arrival on the scene kept his ranking depressed. This could have a benefit for us down the road if he does succeed at Illinois and makes it to the next level. He'll be considered a testament to Underwood's player development program, someone that the staff can point to on visits with players ranked in the top 50-100 players as evidence of Illinois' ability to turn underrated or underappreciated players into NBA players.

 

[Deleted member 10676]

THT5 Retweeted
Brian Snow‏ @BSnowScout 48m48 minutes ago

Four-star forward Talen Horton-Tucker talks his visit process https://scout.com/college/basketbal...ng-Talen-Horton-Tucker-talks-visits-108751462 …

 

[Deleted member 10676]

Talk about being an also-ran. Pretty safe to assume has no real shot at THT.

yeah, don't think he ever makes a visit here.

 

[Deleted member 10676]

But according to this, Simeon going to be tough this year from the perimeter and that's without Kezo. And Tim really falling -- brutal July/August.
https://twitter.com/okonscoutnews/status/917949218253361153

 

[Illiniwek06]

Talk about being an also-ran. Pretty safe to assume has no real shot at THT.

No kidding. Not looking good when the only mention of Illinois is in reference to his fit with Illinois guys at Iowa St.

 

[DB11Headband]

Talk about being an also-ran. Pretty safe to assume has no real shot at THT.

Hopefully THT's lack of interest in the O&B can be taken as a positive in regards to the recruitment of Ayo, and that the alleged rift between THT and Ayo/the Irvins has some credence behind it. Maybe he knows Ayo is going to be an Illini.

Or maybe we're all just reading way too much into an article...that could be true too :thumb:

 

[sacraig]

I see Iowa State being the forerunner here; we should have devoted more resources to his recruitment. Although Conditt is the only recruit into whom we put a lot of effort and understand there was the family connection, it is a shame that Prohm is coming into Chicago and snagging kids.

Let us hope that we get Ayo / Fin (or even Nolley) and that THT decides to use an OV to Illinois on the 20th.

Should we have? We don't know all the facts here. If there really is a rift between Ayo and THT, then we probably basically had to pick one to prioritize, and we clearly chose Ayo. If that rift exists, I am fine with the strategy of going all in on the one we prioritize while slow-playing the other essentially to keep an eye on him just in case the rift heals and we can jump back in there.

 

[IlliniinIowa]

Tim F on the Bill Cole trajectory? Peaking as a high school sophomore?

Cole wound up being a nice player for Illinois. Star? No. But solid role player who I remember hit some big shots. If Tim Finke could be a Cole, I'd take him.

 

[rtbritt]

Cole wound up being a nice player for Illinois. Star? No. But solid role player who I remember hit some big shots. If Tim Finke could be a Cole, I'd take him.

First reaction to this: Scoff at him being a nice player.

Second reaction: Maybe he was a decent role player, but he was a starter and did not have the talent to be a starter on a good B1G team.

 

[BananaShampoo]

Cole wound up being a nice player for Illinois. Star? No. But solid role player who I remember hit some big shots. If Tim Finke could be a Cole, I'd take him.

If we are going to take an SF/wing player then Tim is clearly a lower priority than some of the other guys we are looking at (Valtonen, THT, Nolley). It's a shame because he is a local kid and obviously has the family connections but he essentially played his way out of consideration this past summer. Who knows, though? Maybe he'll fix his issues somehow and will have a great HS season and can get back on the radar again.

 

[TCTORNADO]

28 days until signing day. Just crazy!!

 

[TCTORNADO]

Corey Evans has tweeted that BPJ is taking an OV to DePaul this weekend.

 

[Illini Beer 4 All]

You make a valid point. Personally, I am more apt to believe the drama that is centered on the coaches when he was with Mac Irvin. With the talk of of Chin trying to bring THT in for an OV, I do feel that this is the case. If so, then this should have been on the books by now.

It is obvious that Ayo has been the prize from day one, which may have hurt the broader recruitment of THT. However, I just see that we could have positioned ourselves better with THT. It is nice to make his final seven, but it would pain me to lose a very good recruit, one with great versatility, when we could have done more. And yes, I do understand that we are working with finite resources, but it is not as if Chicago is Florida or Georgia.

We have spent a ton of time on Horton-Tucker. If you remember when Zion Griffin was blowing up most of our staff was at another event watching THT.

I firmly believe Ayo and THT will not be in the same team. I also firmly believe one will be an Illini. Ayo is clearly the priority, but we've also recruited THT as a priority at his position. My guess is the reason THT has played his recruitment so slow is because he wants to see where Ayo goes.

I think Ayo is Illini bound. They just need to close the deal this weekend. If that happens, I'm guessing THT to Georgia Tech. If Ayo goes to wake. I see THT confirming that official to Champaign and we have a very strong chance.

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[kcib8130]

You make a valid point. Personally, I am more apt to believe the drama that is centered on the coaches when he was with Mac Irvin. With the talk of of Chin trying to bring THT in for an OV, I do feel that this is the case. If so, then this should have been on the books by now.

It is obvious that Ayo has been the prize from day one, which may have hurt the broader recruitment of THT. However, I just see that we could have positioned ourselves better with THT. It is nice to make his final seven, but it would pain me to lose a very good recruit, one with great versatility, when we could have done more. And yes, I do understand that we are working with finite resources, but it is not as if Chicago is Florida or Georgia.

The two paragraphs are contradictory. If there was no heat between the two, then what is holding back THT from coming here if AYO does? They don'y play the same position.

 

[BirdDog9048]

I know huh? I pulled up a map right away and it sure looks to me like Finland is part of that peninsula, and Denmark is not....

Although, Denmark is a peninsula in, and of, themselves.

Actually, roughly half of Denmark's population (and the capital, Copenhagen) is on the islands that lie between Jutland (mainland Denmark) and Sweden.

Anyways, a choice between Ayo and THT isn't even a real choice in my opinion. You take Ayo 7 days a week, and twice on Sundays.

 

[Joel Goodson]

I see Iowa State being the forerunner here; we should have devoted more resources to his recruitment. Although Conditt is the only recruit into whom we put a lot of effort and understand there was the family connection, it is a shame that Prohm is coming into Chicago and snagging kids.

Oh, really? Sounds like you're privy to the inner workings of our recruiting efforts. So, please, do tell.

 

[robjilla]

Corey Evans has tweeted that BPJ is taking an OV to DePaul this weekend.

I saw that & thought it was a joke. DePaul? Really? An official? I know the new area is pretty close to being finished. It looks nice. They have a concert at the end of the month to open it. Illinois needs to get him on campus.

 

[foby]

I saw that & thought it was a joke. DePaul? Really? An official? I know the new area is pretty close to being finished. It looks nice. They have a concert at the end of the month to open it. Illinois needs to get him on campus.

I'm pretty sure they already did.......or maybe I am just dreaming.

 

[robjilla]

I'm pretty sure they already did.......or maybe I am just dreaming.

I mean on campus officially... get him to use one of those official visits to fill a position of need. DePaul needs everything!

 

[drewillini89]

Why does everyone assume Ayo and THT don't want to play together in college? Is there actually a statement from one of them saying that he won't play with the other at the collegiate level?

 

[sacraig]

Why does everyone assume Ayo and THT don't want to play together in college? Is there actually a statement from one of them saying that he won't play with the other at the collegiate level?

THT left the Fire because of some kind of falling out with the Irvins, and there was some speculation (in the media, too, not just on here) about whether or not the situation had led to some bad blood between THT and Ayo as well. I don't know if it was ever substantiated or not.

 

[TheGMan]

Why does everyone assume Ayo and THT don't want to play together in college? Is there actually a statement from one of them saying that he won't play with the other at the collegiate level?

From what I know (which is essentially nothing), that just comes from rumors.

 

[Smacko]

The FBI investigation is going to hamper DePaul and specifically Heirman. There is a reason that they were one of the final schools in the mix for Brian Bowen, and it wasn't just Heirman's time at LaLu. So if Depaul is the type of competition we have for BPJ that is a good thing.

 

[illiniguy24]

The FBI investigation is going to hamper DePaul and specifically Heirman. There is a reason that they were one of the final schools in the mix for Brian Bowen, and it wasn't just Heirman's time at LaLu. So if Depaul is the type of competition we have for BPJ that is a good thing.

BPJ and THT are not coming here, imo.


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