Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (September 2018)
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Snider's Law
I actually saw EJ join Mario McKinney on Instagram live for about 5 minutes last night and he mentioned 10/1 announcement.
Deleted member 643761
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Yes, on some being very good recruiters outside of those other factors. nevertheless, I feel like plenty of mediocre recruiters have had great success in recruiting by putting together these other elements.
And you're "you are or you're not" dichotomy is wrong. As in most things, there's a continuum. We'll have a better idea where BU fits in that continuum in November.
NBB1979
UIUCFAN1
- Springfield, IL
Did you graduate from HS or Illinois in 2013? If you graduated from college, and was a fan, i'm not sure how you didn't watch the NC game - you should have been in 8th/9th grade. However, I get your overall point - and that's what I was trying to get at. The history of Illinois basketball has been great - but since 2007 (a kid entering his Sr year in HS would have been 10 years old or so) Illinois has been mediocre at best. People "my age" or older aren't deciding to go to UI based on its rich history. They haven't seen any of that - that's what BU needs to recreate
Make Illinois Basketball Great Again!
It is not about judging reputation, it is about getting results. BU may not have the reputation, but if he gets the recruiting results he will be a very good recruiter. Bryce Drew gets results so far.
We are also not talking a continuum of "recruiting." On that dimension, there is a continuum indeed. But being a "very good recruiter" means that you are either at the high end of that continuum or not.
I have been positing this for over a year but my examples have been LSU with Will Wade and Mississippi State. And it seems another team that I forget now. So you can add another two to your example.
Remembered the other one, Arizona State
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Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
Hey, how did you get me in that video?!
Sue him for royalties!
It seems to me that Oscar knows a couple things: 1) He'll start immediately, which can't be said at a lot of other places; 2) Illinois has some very good and young PG & wing talent; 3) Illinois fans are crazy about hoops and will come out in droves if you're even reasonably good; 4) He'll get an education from a university that is know through the world as one of the great public institutions. Is that enough, time will tell.
Deleted member 643761
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Well, I think there are some naturally good recruiters who succeed almost immediately and seem to continue to succeed in recruiting even when their on court results don't look great. Romar and Martin are a couple of good examples.
Then there are guys who seem to slowly build to a place where they're a "very good recruiter" in your words, but which I take to be more of a natural progression that happens when your program is well run.
So I think it's definitely possible for a guy to start out in the middle of the spectrum and end up at the high end.
Deleted member 643761
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"a lot of places"?
How about a few places, like Kentucky. Don't know how things stack up for WV, but are you really saying that he won't be able to start for them?
Yeah, I found that curious as well. That's quite the journey from not even watching the title game as a general fan in your early teens to posting on message boards in your 20's. Especially considering the lean years while in attendance of UIUC.
It is certainly possible, but we can only judge results, and so far, Bryce Drew is a very good recruiter.
Vandy has been to the tournament proper once since 2012-13, same as us, and has won just one tournament game since 2006-07, which is one fewer than us.
Assuming he doesn't turn pro, Konate will be a senior next year. Derek Culver is a promising frosh, though he might be more of a PF. Derek Culver is a juco transfer who plays C.
They have better options than us, but I think Konate goes pro, so the door would be there to win the starting spot right away.
Oscar T will start at most places indeed and get significant playing time. But one of my personal pet peeves was the original statement of "one of the great public institutions" which I have seen quite a few times in the past from posters. For the general public, it matters because tuition and cost can be different. But for a highly ranked recruit, public and private make little difference as they will be on scholarship/stipend independent of original cost of tuition (that often varies greatly between some public and private institutions).
ILL in IA
- Iowa City
Of the things listed, are any of 1-3 unique to Illinois or we are clearly ahead of the other teams listed in his final 4 schools? And let's be real, #4 does not matter. We should stop acting like it does.
KrushCow31
Former Krush Cow
- Chicago, IL
Vandy last 5:
2010: Round of 64 (4 seed)
2011: Round of 64 (5 seed)
2012: Round of 32 (5 seed)
2016: First 4 (11 seed)
2017: Round of 64 (9 seed)
Illinois last 5
2006: Round of 32 (4 seed)
2007: Round of 64 (12 seed)
2009: Round of 64 (5 seed)
2011: Sweet 32 (9 seed)
2013: Round of 32 (7 seed)
Decide for yourself I guess.
KrushCow31
Former Krush Cow
- Chicago, IL
From college. I was in 8th(?) grade when Illinois went to the championship. I didn't like Illinois basketball and rooted against them when I was 14 because of the bandwagoning. If I watched the championship game, I don't remember any of it. I became a Illinois fan once I went to Illinois. I didn't go to Illinois because I was a fan. My point is that my entire mental history of Illinois basketball is as a pretty mediocre to bad team. And I graduated Illinois 5 years ago. Don't get me wrong, I obviously love Illinois basketball, but that's my perception. Didn't stop me from getting in like hours early to sit front row for Krush. However if they are a mediocre to had team in my eyes, I can't imagine someone in HS now. They are like 8 or 9 years younger than me and were in like Kindergarten or 1st grade when we were in the championship.
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Personally, I do not view it as a big differentiator in making a college choice. Especially for highly ranked recruits who would have ended up somewhere else anyway if indeed was a differentiator. IMO the results talk more about the recruiting acumen of Bryce Drew who was able to convince them and sell his vision of Vandy.
And more importantly NCAA athletics inherently denies most revenue sport athletes from any meaningful access to the benefits of an elite education, to the extent those players would even be in a position to gain anything from such access, which is vanishingly rare.
However, that does NOT mean that we shouldn't be telling OT that Illinois is a better school than UK and WVU, if that's a message he or his parents are receptive to. You play the hand you've got.
What, you don't think $tan$burry is on the up and up?
I agree, definitely the message in comparison. Just that the differentiation between public and private that is often posted is not meaningful with respect to highly ranked recruits.
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