Yup. Never really understood the astonishment that these top programs can just "swoop in at the last minute" after we have recruited them for months/years. Players want to play for consistent winners and they want to go pro. Elite schools do this, we do not. Does not really matter how solid our relationship with an athlete is or how "early we were in on him." All that goes away when they see a better opportunity. That's why we are a consistent victims to the "last minute swoop in."
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (October 2017)
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Yup. Never really understood the astonishment that these top programs can just "swoop in at the last minute" after we have recruited them for months/years. Players want to play for consistent winners and they want to go pro. Elite schools do this, we do not. Does not really matter how solid our relationship with an athlete is or how "early we were in on him." All that goes away when they see a better opportunity. That's why we are a consistent victims to the "last minute swoop in."
Do we know where he named them the leader? Twitter?
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
He named a "leader" during the same week he is announcing his commitment? Great. :doh:
Yeah, I'm basically taking this as confirmation that he is going to Michigan.
Deleted member 631370
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Uhh yeah, that's a safe bet.
I'd like to know where he stated that UM was his favorite, but whatever......the twists and turns this weekend made it pretty clear that he was going to Michigan. Those who remained confident were doing so because they were only listening to "insiders" who were saying what they wanted to hear.
Captain Bubbles
- Fairfield, IL
Unlike some of the posters on this board, I actually feel pretty good about Conditt. Don't really see Iowa State as being the leader in his recruitment. New Mexico put in a good effort, yet that's too far away for him. I see him in the O&B. Time is ticking.
Had a feeling Castleton would go to Michigan, so no surprise there.
Had a feeling Castleton would go to Michigan, so no surprise there.
Don't be too hard on the insiders for statements made a week or more ago. Things have changed in the basketball world in the last week, especially for Underwood. As they say, recruiting is fluid. Things could continue to change before signing day as well.
We not hurting, wait for it to play out. A good season and NCAA tournament bids will get a quality big. All cry
too fast.Deleted member 631370
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Agree with this. At the end of the day, if your source isn't with the family itself, it's naturally on shaky ground. Kids are going to tell coaches what they want to hear, and staff members often translate that as belief that the kid is coming. Groce's assistants were some of the most gullible people in that sense -- we had everybody locked up, according to them. And why? Because the kid really loved them.
If people want to throw their lot in with the insiders, that's perfectly fine. Just don't get upset when people offer up conflicting information. Ultimately, a lot of people want to hear good news and only good news, so they'll latch onto whatever insider is providing it -- all other sources be damned. Just be aware, though, that the old wishful thinking model has never proven very accurate.
LOL... people are trying to project their own naivete onto the coaching staff. Before posters start portraying BU, Antigua and the rest of the coaching staff as gullible, they better start questioning their own gullibility of believing what they want to hear from "insiders."
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
Yep. I don't know what it's going to take for people to understand this.
Word is he followed UCONN and Coach Kevin Ollie while on his Illinois visit. Didn't have a twitter till this weekend and those were two of his first acts. Plus he is from the northeast. It seems like a large number of stud recruits stay home for college. We wouldn't know much about this as Illini fans. Hopefully Mark Smith was a new beginning. Maybe Conditt will add to it. I wouldn't bet on it yet.
ILL in IA
- Iowa City
Can we retire this? I question the fact that stud recruits stay home to play ball at a higher % in other areas vs the kids in Illinois.
And growing up in the burbs, Champaign didn't feel like "staying home."
Get two of the current targets. Also the plan should be #1 Ensure that Finke and Black both return next year while developing this years freshmen bigs (that would give you four big bodies for next year #2 Get all over BPJ #3 Look at potential bigs that might sign in the Spring(breakouts and decommits) #4 Visit 2019 recruits Okoro and Liddell every week!
Don't know the actual numbers (not going to try and look it up), but I would bet $$$ that the sheer # of Chicago studs leaving the state are far more than any other large area of recruiting base anywhere else. Illinois would be considered staying home for the state college, yet most if not nearly all STUD Chicagoan ball players leave annually.
DB11Headband
- Chicago Burbs
College basketball is, and always will be, guard-driven. If we are to miss on our targets, I would much rather miss on bigs than on guards (generally speaking). Give me a class of Ayo, Nolley, and a bag of basketballs, and I would be thrilled.
Deleted member 631370
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Again.....we only have ourselves to blame if we buy this stuff. Don't blame the staff. Don't blame the kids. Don't blame the crystal ball system.
Do I think the staff probably puts out positive vibes, which then make their way to message boards as "inside information"? Yes. Does that mean the staff truly believes they have these kids in the bag? Not necessarily, though I suspect that in some cases that's true. I really do think the Groce staff assumed that kids were in the bag based on positive vibes, but I've seen nothing to suggest that's also the case with the Underwood staff. If anything, the fact that they brought Kisunas to campus and went to visit Conditt tells me that they weren't sold on Castleton being a lock to Illinois. They continued to work.
It's ultimately our own fault for believing any "insider" who isn't intimately connected to the recruit himself. But at the end of the day, way too many people only listen to the good news and seek reassurance from an emoji. They're not analyzing this objectively and exploring the many reasons why a recruit may not end up at Illinois.
Zero bigs in 18 does not equal the end of the world. We have Finke and Black 2 more years, and EBGB will have a couple years under his belt when they are done. Getting EJ for 2019 would be crucial. Not to mention there is still a possibilty of getting a big in the spring. Plus Conditt might be ours come 4 p.m. anyways and it will be a moot point.
Isn't this fun!!
Liddell and Okoro would solve all of this the following class as both are more than ready for B1G action
Deleted member 633632
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Nunez is announcing today as well right? Michigan lands both where does that leave them with CC?
LOL... Wow, I did not know that I need an insider to engage in the "my insider is better than your insider" game. Start by questioning your definition and the presence of "insiders" in your world.
First, start by questioning the fact that some "insider" told you exactly what a kid told the BU and the staff.
Second, begin questioning your first belief above, given that many people who have been in the business for a long time do not share the virtual reality that a kid is coming to Illinois (applies to multiple recruitments).
Third, stop coming to the conclusion that BU and staff (very experienced in recruiting from multiple previous engagements) are as convinced as you are that they have a kid locked up. No matter what the kid says (positive or negative). If you think BU, Antigua and staff are that naive, I can't help you.
Exactly!
Regardless of what happens this week, we will have 4 bigs on the roster this year and next year as long as no one leaves. There could always be a Mark Smith type of player to come available, Okoro and Liddell in 2019, other targets this year still on the board, and transfers. No bigs this week won't doom us.
Yup on Nunez. Around 7:30 pm EST and said to be heavy UM lean.
The more things change...
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