Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (September 2018)
- Status
Not even close by any measure including just numbered influenced metrics like class rankings. We've had many better classes including 2010, 2011, 2013... despite not doing well in recruiting.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
As if he has only one sock, lol.
Go Illini! Excitement is near!
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
OK, now I need to keep checking back over and over again.....
The ward kiss of death?
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
What a tease. Sincerely hope you're right. We need some good news.
the national
- the Front Range
Awesome! Thanks for the Message Ward.
Walker would seem like a Miami get with the way the rosters seem to be with us or Kansas coming in 2nd? Maryland could be a possibility as well, as he seems like that kind of player they would normally get. Not holding out to much hope here...Miami last visit...Maryland gets him?
Last edited:
Where have I heard this before?
Have a great visit Mr. Walker!
This idea that you have to win to attract recruits keeps being brought up every once in a while and my rebuttal has been, not necessarily. There are exceptions. I keep pointing out Will Wade's LSU recruiting. LSU has been pretty much, in general, a school with a basketball record much like ours for the last 10 years or so. And yet he pulled in the number 4 (according to 247Sports) 2018 recruiting class. Granted, this is probably more the exception to the rule but still it apparently can be done. I looked at some of the other schools on the list. Arizona State is ranked 11th and looking at their record the last 10 years or so, they have not exactly been outstanding. Not bad, but not great either. Same with Mississippi State at 16. So there has to be more to it. But what, I have no idea. Someone please enlighten me as to why some schools that are not much better than Illinois can pull in better recruits. But at the very least it isn't always just winning.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Walker doesn't have a Maryland offer.
Unfortunately, I doubt he makes it past Mizzou. Not saying I necessarily think he goes to Mizzou, but based on the two week gap between the OSU and Mizzou visits and the rest of the schools, I feel like OSU and Mizzou are his "top 2," and he is planning on going on both OVs no matter what, then taking those two weeks to decide on if he wants to go to either and/or which one. If by some chance after those two weeks, he has decided neither is right for him, only then will he go on the remaining OVs.
This is all based on my pessimistic gut feeling, by the way.
What's the best video available on Walker?
This designation is at least three years too early. I'm assuming you think this is the best class in over 10 years because of either a) overall rank or b) ayo being the best recruit we've gotten in a while. We haven't seen any of these guys play in a single game yet, so your claim can't be based off actual production (as it will be in a few years).
If it's because of a), then you're plainly wrong. We have one RSCI top 100 player. 247 has us as the 25th ranked class. Good stuff, but not the best. 2010 was #13, 2013 was #13, and 2015 was #15. Now, of course none of those classes panned out as we had hoped (especially 2010, with both Leonard and Richmond being ranked higher than Ayo, along with Head, that means 3 top 100 players). So rankings based this is not the best class we've even had in the past four years.
If it's because of b), well like I said their were at least two other guys with higher rankings than Ayo. JCL was around his rank. Of course, you can argue Ayo seems like a better prospect than any of those guys, and you may be right, but again, until he plays games in our uniform, this will still go undetermined.
The Griffey, DJ, Paul, et. al. class is probably the most accomplished class of the past decade in terms of skill. If this class produces three guys who contribute to the team as much or more than those three did, I'll be very surprised.
The 2018 class is good, especially given the circumstances, but it's too early to say they are our best recruiting class in the past decade, by literally any measure I can think of (except perhaps sheer volume).
I agree. I am not sure what they are hearing or doing at Mizzou but it seems like guys that get there for an official seems to be suddenly swayed into a commitment while there. Sometimes even without a scholarship...
He may not have one now, you are correct, but I would bet there might be an underlying suggestion of one? If not then, I would say we are in pretty good shape with him coming with Higgs.
You really can't grade a class until you see what they do on the court. Prior to that, people are going to grade all over the place, mostly on filling gaps and overall ratings. Personally, I thought it was a good class.
But if you talk about recruiting, you have to also look back on what you know about that first class of Mark Smith, Trent Frazier, DaMonte Williams, Greg Eboigbodin, and Matic Vessel. We struck out on 3 of 5. Trent's been a total stud. DMW is still an unknown. Also, there's a big concern about what I'll call 'leading indicators', such as turnover, early signings, and closing on targets. I don't think anyone anticipated what we've seen.
Fan bases are rarely satisfied, and always impatient. I'm not looking forward to waiting another year for being relevant, but I just don't see it with so many freshman being called upon, and the overall quality of the conference.
Fortunately, I can come here for plenty of optimism and orange kool aid. And, I think some of these guys will be fun to watch in any case.
Yup, if you don't get your hopes up, how can you be disappointed?!
One thing about recruiting, and I often bold it, is consistency. It is not that coaches like Weber, Groce, and now BU never got a good recruit. They all had. But we need consistency and not leaving out gaps. I am extremely optimistic about our backcourt. I think Frazier has had arguably one of the best freshman seasons since Kiwane Garris and I think the addition of Ayo will have an immediate impact. I have also heard from people I trust excellent things about Feliz, I think Feliz will surprise. So I think the backcourt will be very solid and MUCH improved.
The big concern is frontcourt, an area where we had been weak, yet we lost Black, Finke, and Ebo on top of that. That is where consistency in recruiting comes into play. We need a strong Fall with some major additions in the frontcourt. Last year, most talked about Okoro, Liddell, and Whitney. Now that it will not happen, BU and staff need to find some talent in that area. If we do, people can start looking at next year (2019-20) optimistically. If not, recruiting may get even tougher moving forward in future years.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Ditto (sadly).
If he makes it into the second round of OVs, we have more than a puncher's chance.
- Status