Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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IlliniwekKDR
- Colorado Springs, CO
At that point, we hire Chester Frazier back from whichever blue blood he has chosen to be the head coach.
This new staff is ELITE ... Absolute assassins on the recruiting trail. Chester found gems in Epps and Harris. We all know who TA is going after, the dude is taking care of business. Geoff is focusing more on the younger kids, and there are a couple of pretty good 2023 guards that have been on campus a lot recently and I was told today we are leading for not one, but both, and they are extremely intrigued by playing together...
You are going to be adding to that list of commitments (yes, plural) here very soon...
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Fears and Boswell: for the almighty love of God, please let it happen!
Getting the feeling that winning is just as important, if not more, than individual exploits. Pretty rare trait for 5 star kids.
Needless to say, a backcourt comprised of those two, plus Epps, Harris and Podz, will be straight up clownin'.
Getting the feeling that winning is just as important, if not more, than individual exploits. Pretty rare trait for 5 star kids.
Needless to say, a backcourt comprised of those two, plus Epps, Harris and Podz, will be straight up clownin'.
Don't know the data set, but a superficial glance, this seems it has to favor the Illini!
ATHLETE
Given the raves on Epps, I went and watched some video. Here are my observations:
* He plays way below the rim. On his layups his hand barely reaches the bottom of the net. He goes very high off the glass when he is contested. It looks a lot like Frazier's as a freshman. I expect him to be blocked quite a bit unless Fletch can get him another 12" on the jump. Even when he uses the basket for protection, the ball has to go up quite a ways before it comes down again. There is a lot of time before it hits the top of its arc for the blockers to get a piece of it.
* He takes a lot of mid-range jumpers
* None of the videos showed defense, so I have no idea how well he will defend.
* He plays way below the rim. On his layups his hand barely reaches the bottom of the net. He goes very high off the glass when he is contested. It looks a lot like Frazier's as a freshman. I expect him to be blocked quite a bit unless Fletch can get him another 12" on the jump. Even when he uses the basket for protection, the ball has to go up quite a ways before it comes down again. There is a lot of time before it hits the top of its arc for the blockers to get a piece of it.
* He takes a lot of mid-range jumpers
* None of the videos showed defense, so I have no idea how well he will defend.
This new staff is ELITE ... Absolute assassins on the recruiting trail. Chester found gems in Epps and Harris. We all know who TA is going after, the dude is taking care of business. Geoff is focusing more on the younger kids, and there are a couple of pretty good 2023 guards that have been on campus a lot recently and I was told today we are leading for not one, but both, and they are extremely intrigued by playing together...
You are going to be adding to that list of commitments (yes, plural) here very soon...
That is all well and good but Kofi by himself should be making over 100k.
And this is based on?
National recognition as NPOY candidate and preseason All American, Regional recognition as repeat All American, NPOY candidate and All B1G 1st Team, gregarious personality, non threatening gentle giant off the court, international appeal. Other far less accomplished players getting luxury car deals, cryptocurrency deals, etc.
Other than that nothing comes to mind
The stat sheet said he had six steals in the one game. That's against an elite team.
All good comments on the scouting report otherwise.
I get your point, but that's all speculated value. We have no idea how much monetary value that actually brings. I would speculate the same as you, but without any data to back it, it's meaningless. Also a questions of if schools have figured out how to market it. Lots of question marks
I watched the video and I agree, athleticism was underwhelming.
But the way he is scoring against top-flight competition -- and getting steals -- says he is extremely talented with great court awareness, but perhaps not the athleticism to be a top-20 recruit or one-and-done.
In other words, he is absolutely perfect for a great 3-year career at Illinois.
Agree only negative anytime I watch his videos but those #s dont lie against other top college level prospects. Multiple years of fletch should keep him being able to produce.
I've really only watched a few highlight clips, but sometimes when guys do lack that jumping athleticism, they get really good at getting the ball out of their hand and getting it up so that the defender can't block it as easily. Sometimes they perfect that so that it works to their advantage, as most defenders are ready for the opponent to have it in their hand up until they release it near the rim.
Undersized scoring guards can absolutely light up the college game. Carsen Edwards is a perfect example and comp for him. Look at what some of those type of guys do in March. While it is definitely more challenging to make a long lasting NBA career out of it (though not impossible), these are the type of kids you want on your college team. He is definitely towards the top of the 2022 class when it comes to strictly scoring the ball at all 3 levels. Rankings include pro potential which is likely why he hasn't gotten a ton of love. I'd guess he goes on to have a better college career than 90% of the dudes ranked in front of him. I'm wearing my orange colored glasses though.
I'd like to see these numbers compared only to P5
Anyone know the latest on Ty Rodgers? Signing Wednesday? Us or Sparty?
People are saying the same thing about the FB staff (well maybe not the OC)
When was the last time that happened?
ILLINI
I agree with you 100% on the videos I've watched, on his jump shot he gets off the floor about 2 inches. he's also about 3 steps slower than any of our current guards. in the video and it's not in slow motion. I'm excited about him I think he'll be a great addition to Illini Nation, but let's not go gaslighting Illini Nation over this kid just yet.
He's been described as a "strictly below the rim player" so don't expect him to be dunking over people. From what I've watched, he makes up for lack of run-jump athleticism with his moxie. He scores like crazy at all three levels and he does it against top competition. And he also gets lots of steals.
I doubt very much he'll add 12" to his vertical leap. It would be nice, but he doesn't need to. Plenty of unathletic, but crafty, skilled players have thrived at the college level.
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