Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (September 2018)

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#1,151      

Emerson Bigguns

Emerson Bigguns
Emerson Bigguns
I think a LOT of folks are setting themselves up for disappointment with all the talk of TOP 100 big men. They probably aren't coming. They will get offers from schools that have newer facilities, newer banners, recent tournament wins, and also have extremely loyal fans. As much as I hate to admit it, we are a tough sell at this point. Hopefully Whitman can secure the funds needed to upgrade our practice facilities, so we can compete with the OSU's and UK's of the world in that department. If you can't win recruits over by your play on the court, you have to blow them away off the court.

The way things have been going, getting Shannon to commit would be a huge development. Any 6'6"+ B1G caliber athlete we can get is going to help us tremendously. If we are fortunate enough to get him, do yourself a favor, and be excited. Any Top 100 recruit is a big win for this program.
 
#1,152      

Second and Chalmers

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Second and Chalmers
drewillini89 said:
Liddell to OSU, Tshiebwe to UK, and Shannon to ILL. That's what my gut tells me, and also my fear of disappointment and failure.
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I understand the difference in positional needs, but that's not why there's this massive perception gulf between Rivals #43 EJ Liddell and Rivals #45 Terrence Shannon.

It's because you're all insane, that's why.
 
#1,154      

Selfcon4

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Selfcon4
Second and Chalmers said:
that's not why there's this massive perception gulf between Rivals #43 EJ Liddell and Rivals #45 Terrence Shannon.
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Probably becasue most ranking services do not have Shannon in the top 100. A few have him around 75 while many have him outside the top 100. Guessing his RSCI would be something like 85 ish? Big difference if just going by rankings.
 
#1,155      

Second and Chalmers

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Second and Chalmers
Selfcon4 said:
Probably becasue most ranking services do not have Shannon in the top 100. A few have him around 75 while many have him outside the top 100. Guessing his RSCI would be something like 85 ish? Big difference if just going by rankings.
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IIRC Rivals has the most recent update at the moment. We'll see where the others go.
 
#1,156      

ChiefIllini

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ChiefIllini
Vanderbilt, who I don't think anyone would argue a) Is less of a historic power than us and b) has a worse recent record than us (shocking but true), just signed a class with the 11th, 14th, and 64th best prospects. An outlier for sure, and perhaps Drew is really an ace recruiter and blah blah blah, but the facts are that teams worse than us sign top 25 players.

I'm as pessimistic as the next person, but I think it's clear most of the guys that visit here leave under higher impressions of the organization. That's worth something. Eventually, we will get top talent to commit here.
 
#1,157      

Selfcon4

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Selfcon4
What is everyone's thoughts about the Tay & Carp radio show yesterday (93.5 Champaign radio station daily sports show) talking about how Mizery is out and it is down to us and O$U for EJ? I believe they were citing Piper as their source?
 
#1,158      

Hoppy2105

H
Little Rock, Arkansas
Hoppy2105
Selfcon4 said:
What is everyone's thoughts about the Tay & Carp radio show yesterday (93.5 Champaign radio station daily sports show) talking about how Mizery is out and it is down to us and O$U for EJ? I believe they were citing Piper as their source?
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I don’t believe anything I hear about recruiting.

Edit: Unless it’s from Stuemke. He seems to be connected somehow and shares with us regardless of whether it’s good news or not.
 
#1,159      

coachk1979

coachk1979
coachk1979
Selfcon4 said:
What is everyone's thoughts about the Tay & Carp radio show yesterday (93.5 Champaign radio station daily sports show) talking about how Mizery is out and it is down to us and O$U for EJ? I believe they were citing Piper as their source?
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Seems to be a lot of smoke to that thinking. But what does it matter who is second. Still think OSU is team to beat.
 
#1,162      

ChiefIllini

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ChiefIllini
Newman said:
They just made the tournament in 2016-17
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Thats fair enough. And they made it the year prior. No wins either year.

I think if you were being extremely generous to Vandy and extremely pessimistic about Illinois, you'd say there were about even in terms of basketball programs. Either way, was just trying to point to an example of a bad program getting very, very good recruits. It can happen, doesn't often, but just because we aren't a powerhouse anymore doesn't mean we cant swing a big stick in recruiting.
 
#1,164      

NBB1979

NBB1979
UIUCFAN1
Springfield, IL
NBB1979
ChiefIllini said:
Vanderbilt, who I don't think anyone would argue a) Is less of a historic power than us and b) has a worse recent record than us (shocking but true), just signed a class with the 11th, 14th, and 64th best prospects. An outlier for sure, and perhaps Drew is really an ace recruiter and blah blah blah, but the facts are that teams worse than us sign top 25 players.

I'm as pessimistic as the next person, but I think it's clear most of the guys that visit here leave under higher impressions of the organization. That's worth something. Eventually, we will get top talent to commit here.
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Western Kentucky has signed a 5* in back to back classes (aren't they a football school?)
 
#1,166      

ChiefIllini

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ChiefIllini
Newman said:
I just think we put too much emphasis on a school's history of winning. We could be a top 10 program if you include a whole century of records, but that won't have much weight if you haven't won in the past 10 years. Vandy has won more recently so they have the upperhand. These recruits were in elementary school the last time we made the tournament..

Recent winning matters. Facilities and other flashy things matter. You already have a tough time trying to sell Champaign-Urbana since most recruits outside of Illinois assume that we're close to Chicago. Once they realize we're in the middle of a cornfield, they lose some interest. On top of that we haven't won in way too long and we have outdated facilities. Brad Underwood walked into a tough job.
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They went 12-20 last year. Not that we did any better if you consider neither team made the tournament. Yes Vandy has had some more success in making the tournament recently than us, but they haven't won a game since 2012 in the tournament. Last time we won was 2013. There's always gonna be arguments and counterarguments but the fact is I still think theres more clout around our program than Vandy, or at the very least equal.

Another, even better example might be UNLV. When's the last time they made tournament noise? Recently they've pulled a top 15 kid in McCoy/Zimmerman, the best juco in Juiston, and a few other's ranked 50-150. This has happenned within the past 3 years. They've been a good MWC (or WAC can't recall) team, but nationally relevant they are not.
 
#1,168      

NBB1979

NBB1979
UIUCFAN1
Springfield, IL
NBB1979
ChiefIllini said:
Thats fair enough. And they made it the year prior. No wins either year.

I think if you were being extremely generous to Vandy and extremely pessimistic about Illinois, you'd say there were about even in terms of basketball programs. Either way, was just trying to point to an example of a bad program getting very, very good recruits. It can happen, doesn't often, but just because we aren't a powerhouse anymore doesn't mean we cant swing a big stick in recruiting.
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You know one of Vandy's assistant coaches.....one Roger Powell Jr.

I want to point out that Illinois has been down for a LONG time - kids in high school today have not seen Illinois make the tournament. I know that's just recent history - but i'm 39 years old - i have a better understanding of Illinois' history than a 16-18 year old kid would have. Just to put some perspective out there about our recent past.
 
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