Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#351      
I see just fine. I don't see guys rell a group of freshman and sophomores ready to start and be a top 5 B10 team. Dont let orange glasses effect yours. Why do you feel any starters much less possess star power to be a top team for anyone in just one year outside of Belo? It would be different if we had seen some consistent play. Guys like some of our opponents will have returning like Edey, Ivey, the Iowa twins, all Michigan's freshman, and one and ilin. We have good players that can develop but they aren't going to just step in and play like Trent, Plummer, Jacob, and Kofi. They just aren't. At least not all of them. We need to have reasonable expectations. Hopefully some stay and we add some transfers for more leadership and experience. If we do add a top transfer and a freshman explodes then we have a chance.
2002 we were Co-B10 champs 26-9 and lost Frank Williams and Robert Archibald to NBA and Srs Lucas Johnson and Damir Krupilija to graduation.

2003 Dee and Deron were freshman but Brian Cook stepped up to All American then to NBA. We were 25-7 2nd place B10. Unfortunately Bill Self left for Kansas at season end.

2004 sophomores Dee, Deron, James combined with juniors Luther and Roger to win B10 26-7.

2005 31-2 NCAA finalist

The Frank Williams, Marcus Griffin, Sergio McClain, Robert Archibald , Lucas Johnson core transitioned to teh Dee Deron James core with continued success. The problem was recruiting dropped off under Weber then Groce.

Groce at Akron
Avg 16-11 past 5 years

Weber at K-State
Avg 18-14 over past 10 years

If Brad has built a solid program which appears he has we should be able to replace Ayo and Kofi and continue to be top 5 B10 team.

Our recruiting has been strong

2021- 2 top 100 recruits (Luke, RJ, Pods) in 2021 plus transfers Alfonso and Omar

2022 3 top 100 recruits (Sencire, Ty, Jayden) plus top 100 transfer Dainja.

Brad is recruiting at much higher level than Weber or Groce. I feel very good about future.
 

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#352      
2002 we were Co-B10 champs 26-9 and lost Frank Williams and Robert Archibald to NBA and Srs Lucas Johnson and Damir Krupilija to graduation.

2003 Dee and Deron were freshman but Brian Cook stepped up to All American then to NBA. We were 25-7 2nd place B10. Unfortunately Bill Self left for Kansas at season end.

2004 sophomores Dee, Deron, James combined with juniors Luther and Roger to win B10 26-7.

2005 31-2 NCAA finalist

The Frank Williams, Marcus Griffin, Sergio McClain, Robert Archibald , Lucas Johnson core transitioned to teh Dee Deron James core with continued success. The problem was recruiting dropped off under Weber then Groce. The proof is mediocre performace of Weber at K-State and Groce at Akron

Groce
Avg 16-11 past 5 years

Weber
Avg 18-14 over past 10 years

If Brad has built a solid program which appears he has we should be able to replace Ayo and Kofi and continue to be top 5 B10 team.

Our recruiting has been strong

2021- 2 top 100 recruits (Luke, RJ, Pods) in 2021 plus transfers Alfonso and Omar

2022 3 top 100 recruits (Sencire, Ty, Jayden) plus top 100 transfer Dainja.

Brad is recruiting at much higher level than Weber or Groce. I feel very good about future.
I lived in CU and was there long prior to those days. There were players that had experience that you omitted. Those returning players had experience on those teams and key sophomores you listed were playing a ton in big games as freshmen. So as sophomores they were more prepared. . Some them started most if not every game as freshman. You omitted some key players that were leaders too Corey Bradford was in the 2002 team. 03 Sean Harrington, J Howard, Nick Smith, plus several of those young players were MCDAA. We currently have none. While I want these guys here and to develop they are not those elite young players. They are not like Harper, Bruce Douglas, E Winters, Nick Anderson , Deon, Dee, Frankie, Cook, or other top McDAA, Illinois Mr Basketball winner caliber players .They can be but your drinking Kool aid if you think that have that same type potential next year without addition talent and experience to add to them developing as players. When a freshman starts more games than they don't then when they are sophomores it's different than if that didn't have that experience imo.
 
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#353      
Uh what? Are we forgetting that Patrick Baldwin Jr., a top 10 recruit and almost surely a top pick in next year's draft is from Wisconsin? Podz won Wisconsin Mr. Basketball but ended up #3 out of Wisconsin per 247, both in composite and 247's internal rankingsm
I'm friends with Evanston's Head hoops coach and he literally cried real tears when PBJ's dad was hired at UW-Milwaukee. PBJ was in 8th grade and was SET to play at Evanston, having played in their Feeder program for 3 years (dad was assistant to Collins at NU). Mike Ellis really thought PBJ was his ticket to a college HC job, which is the dream of a lot of these HS coaches.
 
#354      
I'm friends with Evanston's Head hoops coach and he literally cried real tears when PBJ's dad was hired at UW-Milwaukee. PBJ was in 8th grade and was SET to play at Evanston, having played in their Feeder program for 3 years (dad was assistant to Collins at NU). Mike Ellis really thought PBJ was his ticket to a college HC job, which is the dream of a lot of these HS coaches.
He's definitely the kind of prospect you'd want to hitch your star to, that's for sure.
 
#355      
Fascinating read in The Athletic ($) about the transfer portal and its impact on college basketball and the recruiting landscape.


Some choice nuggets:

- “It blows my mind that guys that are in good programs now that are already thinking about leaving. I don’t want to say (names), but there’s been some big-name guys. I’m like, are you crazy? I’m trying to tell them that they should stay and see how it works. (These are) dudes that are having success or five-star guys that probably aren’t playing like they thought they’re going to play, because they all want to get to the league as quick as possible. I think they think the quicker I can get to a Power 5 and get seen is the quicker I can get to the league, and if I’m not playing in the Power 5, I’m going to leave and go somewhere and play where I’m playing, so I can get to the league. It’s a !!!!ed-up cycle.”

- “If you’re a local high school kid and you get a D1 offer, you better take it. If you’re not a top 50 kid and you have an offer, take it. You wait until March and it’s not going to be there.”

- “We joke that right now, you’re better off coming in second. Let a kid go somewhere and then you’re the second choice, waiting for him to transfer.”

- “No one is going to sign 13. None. Why would you sign 13 when you can’t keep 11 happy? They’re just gonna transfer on you anyway. I had (another coach) point out to me, can you imagine 350 schools sign 11 instead of 13? That’s 700 scholarships that won’t go to high school kids.”

- “There aren’t that many real NIL opportunities in college basketball, but you’ve still got third parties telling these kids, ‘Hey come here, and I can swing a deal for you.’ Kids don’t know the difference.”

- “It’s not going to stop. I don’t see it calming down at all. Everyone wants to play right away...."

- “The days of building your roster with guys who stay four or five years? Those days are over.”
The Transfer Portal ladies and gentlemen....
 
#356      
Not too far off............
Over the years, a lot of basketball talent has come out of Saginaw, Michigan — high school sophomore Ty Rodgers has ties to more than one of the most recent NBA success stories. Rodgers, a wing in the high school class of 2022, is a cousin of current Indiana Pacer, Brian “Tugs” Bowen II. His uncle, Jason Richardson, starred at Michigan State and went on to become one of the NBA’s most consistent scorers between 2000 to 2010. The athletic genes don’t end there — his brother, Will, is an NFL prospect playing defensive lineman for Washington State. Claiming that this family has incredible athletic pedigree would be an understatement.

Now pushing six-foot-seven, Rodgers has grown over the past year and is probably still not done.
That is the highest number I've seen on his height. Thornton lists him there also.
Wow. Didn't know about his family! That's crazy...
 
#357      
Morez Johnson will be a heck of a player for us. That is the part this team is missing now. Tall shooter who can pass. Defense will come along as he gets stronger. What a pick up we got. Let's hope he brings a couple friends with him to Champaign.
And let's hope he's got a very good agent. I just hope I live long enough to see him in orange and blue. Morez is a long way off.
 
#361      
2002 we were Co-B10 champs 26-9 and lost Frank Williams and Robert Archibald to NBA and Srs Lucas Johnson and Damir Krupilija to graduation.

2003 Dee and Deron were freshman but Brian Cook stepped up to All American then to NBA. We were 25-7 2nd place B10. Unfortunately Bill Self left for Kansas at season end.

2004 sophomores Dee, Deron, James combined with juniors Luther and Roger to win B10 26-7.

2005 31-2 NCAA finalist

The Frank Williams, Marcus Griffin, Sergio McClain, Robert Archibald , Lucas Johnson core transitioned to teh Dee Deron James core with continued success. The problem was recruiting dropped off under Weber then Groce.

Groce at Akron
Avg 16-11 past 5 years

Weber at K-State
Avg 18-14 over past 10 years

If Brad has built a solid program which appears he has we should be able to replace Ayo and Kofi and continue to be top 5 B10 team.

Our recruiting has been strong

2021- 2 top 100 recruits (Luke, RJ, Pods) in 2021 plus transfers Alfonso and Omar

2022 3 top 100 recruits (Sencire, Ty, Jayden) plus top 100 transfer Dainja.

Brad is recruiting at much higher level than Weber or Groce. I feel very good about future.
Well said and nice post. The thing that has me even more encouraged is that Brad seems to be very in tune with roster building. Groce and Weber, not necessarily by their own wishes and efforts, mostly just threw a bunch of 4 star wings out on the court together. Brad & co have been very very impressive at building full rosters and then playing to the teams strength as the season goes on. Combine that with the successful recruiting we have had at all three areas of the court (lead guards, wings, big men) and I agree our future is still very bright. Go Illini
 
#365      
So, with the numbers all the new commits are putting up and with their expectations for next year, I hope this will not have a negative effect on RJ still wanting to stay with the team next year. He has a lot of potential and would like to see him stay.
Every D1 recruit puts up great numbers in high school, otherwise they wouldn't be a D1 recruit. RJ also put up great numbers as a high school player.

He was a fringe top 100 recruit, stepping into a team that just got a 1 seed and only lost 2 players. If he expected to walk right into major minutes, then he is not very bright. That said, Frazier, Plummer, and Damonte are gone for sure next year. That's 95 minutes of pt right there for the taking. If Grandison leaves, which not sure why he would, that's another 26 minutes available.

We are going to be a very different looking team next year. Completely different if Kofi leaves, which is probable. I think Goode becomes a starter, and we'll give him 30 mpg. That still leaves 65 minutes available. We of course don't know of any transfers in. That could cause issues. But there are going to be minutes available. If Kofi leaves, we will want 6'7" wings that know the system.

I think if RJ leaves it is more I'm a long way from family related than, I don't see any path to PT.
 
#366      

sacraig

The desert
McD AA roster announced and there's not a single Big Ten recruit on it
I literally don't care. Give us players who start reasonably high and want to relentlessly get better and compete. McDAA doesn't matter at that point (though the PR you can generate from it would sure be nice).
 
#367      
McD AA roster announced and there's not a single Big Ten recruit on it
There are not enough F***S in the world for me to give about the Burger Boy AA game anymore. Unless you are a Top 10 ranked player, the game has become completely political and kind of irrelevant. Too bad because I used to love checking out all the players nominated and then the game itself. Back in the late 80s, all of the 90s and early 2000s I was all about the McD AA game. It was so much fun to watch, even if there was no one going to IL on either of the squads. But I haven't probably watched a game since Jereme Richmond was on the squad. The game has become a recruiting tool for the Blue Bloods and that's about it.

We may not have gotten any nominees this year, but we got 3 stud freshman coming in next year that will ultimately be program changing players.

Could not be more excited about our future with who we got coming in.
 
#368      

sacraig

The desert
We may not have gotten any nominees this year, but we got 3 stud freshman coming in next year that will ultimately be program changing players.

Could not be more excited about our future with who we got coming in.
I am not sure we can go that far. Trent, Ayo, and Kofi were program changing players. They helped lift our program out of the burning dumpster left behind by the Thomas/Groce regime and brought us back to the level we all expect. A stack of top 100 recruits are going to keep us there, not change the program.
 
#369      

Illiniblueorange

Pontoon Beach IL
I am not sure we can go that far. Trent, Ayo, and Kofi were program changing players. They helped lift our program out of the burning dumpster left behind by the Thomas/Groce regime and brought us back to the level we all expect. A stack of top 100 recruits are going to keep us there, not change the program.
I totally agree. These three not only provided us with wins but helped to build a culture that will keep this program back in the spotlight for years to come.
 
#370      
I'd really like to see Podz get more PT, the way Goode is now. As good as our guards may be, we're starting 3 short ones. Podz and Goode are bigger and all reports tell us they're lights out long range shooters. I watched Goode on defense last night and couldn't find much to complain about. Leib, meanwhile, is just not a D1 player. I'd love to see him in a good D3 conference where he might have some success. Maybe.
 
#371      
I am not sure we can go that far. Trent, Ayo, and Kofi were program changing players. They helped lift our program out of the burning dumpster left behind by the Thomas/Groce regime and brought us back to the level we all expect. A stack of top 100 recruits are going to keep us there, not change the program.
Right? We are the top team in the conference, and have enough talent (when healthy) to win the whole thing. We don't want "program changing" players. We want guys who can maintain this standard.
 
#372      
I totally agree. These three not only provided us with wins but helped to build a culture that will keep this program back in the spotlight for years to come.

While I can understand an argument that he wasn't part of the "lift" of the program, Da'Monte deserves to be mentioned just as much as Ayo, Trent, and Kofi for the culture shift and mentality of the team.
 
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