Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (October 2017)

[ILHoff]

Liddell and Okoro would solve all of this the following class as both are more than ready for B1G action

I'm pretty confident that Liddell and Okoro would immediately move above any of the bigs we were recruiting this year on the depth chart. That said, it's still a bummer to strike out because those two guys aren't a sure thing either. We'll need some depth up front eventually.

 

[Deleted member 633632]

Yup on Nunez. Around 7:30 pm EST and said to be heavy UM lean.

And Locke just visit4d too and he's announc8ng as well? How many schollies do they have?

 

[robjilla]

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."

Can't really retire it. But at the same time I don't have time to do a case study either. Just how I feel with a lot of the stars going elsewhere over the years, with a few players as exceptions. We have been struggling missing the tournament for the past few years, but this goes back to when we were making the tournament.

 

[ILL in IA]

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.

Like you, I don't have the time or desire to do a full on search for this. But just a quick look back at the 2017 class top 25 talent. 3 stayed in their home state.


https://247sports.com/Season/2017-Basketball/CompositeRecruitRankings

 

[robjilla]

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.

I wish I had the time to research it, but the majority of the guys I see at the Christmas tournament and the CPS Tournament go downstate for a visit and never end up donning Orange and Blue.

 

[jmilt7]

Honestly, my hopes for Illinois basketball lie solely in changing the product, not in landing specific players to save the day. I want to get good recruits, but, as has been said ad nauseam, you have to win first. When we do, I will get my hopes up for recruiting success. Until then, I'm not going to let myself get upset with misses...too much of that with the previous staff, who desperately needed players, because they were not the coach Underwood is.

You have a point and I actually agree for the most part but there do seem to be exceptions. LSU, USC, Wake Forest and Mississippi State all have not been the greatest teams the last few years but have pulled in very respectable recruiting classes so far this year. It has to be more than just success on the floor. USC and Wake Forest did make the tourney last year so that mitigates things somewhat but prior to that both had less than stellar records/seasons back to around 2010. But I suppose recent success will stick out in a recruits mind than past failures. So I guess my main evidence is LSU and Mississippi State. And maybe the others.

 

[Calvin]

We gonna whiff on bigs?

Assuming we go 0-fer on the primary bigs in the fall period, I wonder how the staff will take it. I get that the program will be better off once BU starts winning here. And we definitely didn't need a former assistant at another school getting arrested, but still.

 

[AttentionDeficit]

It's not just Basketball players leaving Illinois for school. Illinois has the second highest number of students leaving the state for college overall.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/26/us/college-student-migration.html?mcubz=3

http://www.sj-r.com/news/20170930/getting-out-many-students-leaving-illinois-to-attend-college

 

[Johnny Lawrence]

Obe who's your "insider" for you to start questioning others?

If the kid tells somebody he's coming to Illinois and then a visit changes his mind who are you to tell them they're making that up?

Do YOU know what this kid told Antigua during his in home before the visit?

Naive? Hardly. But the notion these kids don't tell multiple staffs what they want to hear and kids just simply change their minds is absurd.

Regardless if this kid wanted to go to school with a current bigger name (we've been worthless for a decade thanks to Weber/Groce) you can only hope for the best and prepare for the worst when a kid goes and visits the school.

We do know the staff seemingly widened their net for bigs soon after so there's that.

 

[Obelix]

Assuming we go 0-fer on the primary bigs in the fall period, I wonder how the staff will take it.

IF (and this is still IF) that happens, the staff will continue to recruit bigs for the rest of fall recruiting and into the spring. They will definitely add a big in this class. Not sure what you mean by " how the staff will take it?"

 

[EJ33]

Like you, I don't have the time or desire to do a full on search for this. But just a quick look back at the 2017 class top 25 talent. 3 stayed in their home state.


https://247sports.com/Season/2017-Basketball/CompositeRecruitRankings

Yep, it happens everywhere.

5 star athletes can go to almost any school in the country. Why wouldn't they seek out the best school for them regardless of location (and in many cases because of a *better* location). When the genius high school valedictorian perfect-SAT-getting student leaves the state for Harvard or Stanford or Princeton or any elite institution nobody says "I don't understand why they'd leave their home state."

 

[FC Illiniman]

https://247sports.com/Player/Colin-Castleton-46041639

Wherever this information came from, it indicates someone gave 247 this bit, and they ran with it. CC has been very hot/cold with us from the start, not sure what he wants. Florida was his goal, they said not so much, took a month before he gave up , then we was #1.

UM turned on charm, now they are saying that they are the ones. Staff has gone well above and beyond for CC, we can not be upset if he goes UM. Disappointed, yes, but not sure we ever could make him at home. Let it play out. Don't see why all excited about getting commits now. Whole season of basketball to play, we will look alot different come spring.

 

[Obelix]

... apparently kids never tell a staff what they want to hear.

Start by reading as this is not what my post above says. Again,

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.

 

[Kathy]

WOW, Luke K to Connecticut

 

[Deleted member 631370]

Start by reading as this is not what my post above says. Again,

Last week, there was "insider" chatter on this board that during the in-home with Castleton, we basically closed the deal. Somebody very clearly stated that we did in fact close the deal. Celebration ensued.


But here's the thing. Apparently the staff didn't believe that, because that same week, they worked to get Kisunas on campus and they went to visit Conditt. So if indeed they "locked up" Castleton, why waste their time trying to get Kisunas on campus? Why go visit Conditt?

Here's an idea. While they felt good about CC, they wanted to make other moves to pressure CC to get him to cancel his Michigan visit and commit. Clearly that effort failed. But it shows pretty clearly that the staff didn't assume that CC was in the bag.

Instead, an "insider" described it as such, and fans bought it.

Again, can't blame the staff for putting out naïve optimism. Their actions spoke louder than words.

 

[Obelix]

I don't pretend to know how convinced the staff actually was Castleton was locked up what I pretend to know is what he told certain people prior to his visit to Michigan.

This is exactly what you wrote and responded to in my original post.

Underwood and staff thought they had this locked up because Castleton pretty much told them they did and this visit was just to check out another school.

Again, the point is not to project your own naivete onto the staff. You have no idea what Underwood and staff thought...

 

[FC Illiniman]

WOW, Luke K to Connecticut

This is no surprise, we made a play late for him, if you checked out any information out there, all indications was that we were wanting C C . Sure he decided to commit, not be a pawn in the recruitment process.

 

[TCTORNADO]

Conditt with a Brian Cook jersey on at school today. Just sayin!!

 

[kcib8130]

Conditt with a Brian Cook jersey on at school today. Just sayin!!

LOL Brutal.

 

[EJ33]

Last week, there was "insider" chatter on this board that during the in-home with Castleton, we basically closed the deal. Somebody very clearly stated that we did in fact close the deal. Celebration ensued.


But here's the thing. Apparently the staff didn't believe that, because that same week, they worked to get Kisunas on campus and they went to visit Conditt. So if indeed they "locked up" Castleton, why waste their time trying to get Kisunas on campus? Why go visit Conditt?

Here's an idea. While they felt good about CC, they wanted to make other moves to pressure CC to get him to cancel his Michigan visit and commit. Clearly that effort failed. But it shows pretty clearly that the staff didn't assume that CC was in the bag.

Instead, an "insider" described it as such, and fans bought it.

Again, can't blame the staff for putting out naïve optimism. Their actions spoke louder than words.

If you don't know who the fool is, it's you.

 

[EfremWinters84]

Just speculating, but won't a Conditt commitment later this afternoon likely move us into 14th place in the 2018 Big 10 recruiting rankings?

Better yet, I think that would match our 2018 Big 10 football recruiting ranking. Stellar!

 

[Whitman2020]

Lucky where you at?!

 

[Deleted member 10676]

Nunez is announcing today as well right? Michigan lands both where does that leave them with CC?

Locke visited Florida this weekend and is trending FLA on CBs so don't think Michigan has to worry about room for Castleton.

 

[GortTheRobot]

You have a point and I actually agree for the most part but there do seem to be exceptions. LSU, USC, Wake Forest and Mississippi State all have not been the greatest teams the last few years but have pulled in very respectable recruiting classes so far this year. It has to be more than just success on the floor. USC and Wake Forest did make the tourney last year so that mitigates things somewhat but prior to that both had less than stellar records/seasons back to around 2010. But I suppose recent success will stick out in a recruits mind than past failures. So I guess my main evidence is LSU and Mississippi State. And maybe the others.

You have a good point...but I choose to ignore those examples, because tunnel vision helps me cope.

 

[TCTORNADO]

Sounds interesting, that leads one to have a better feeling. I'm sure the school is a buzz today. Not often one of your guys, makes a decision that puts the school in spotlight for the day.

Corliss HS=375 students.