Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#276      

BashCtIllini

BashCtIllini
BashCtIllini
LvilleILL said:
look at the RJ comment under David Jones post..
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seinfeld kramer GIF by simongibson2000
 
#277      

nichi

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nichi
HailtotheChief said:
Players still may leave the program or transfer. Do you know if Jake, Hutch, or even someone else may leave if we bring in a stud in the portal. It's happening everywhere and it could here too.
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I would guess Slim Jake and Hutcherson are presumed gone unless there is an announcement to the contrary.

Both have possible Covid years. Hutch has a possible medical red shirt. The staff is no under obligation to invite them back. They might not even want to return. Also, they could apparently transfer and be eligible immediately.

Last year the speculation was Trent and DaMonte would want to move on even if they were invited back. It was also different, because they did not count. Next year, Covid super seniors will count.

Maybe our resident insiders have some idea what the thinking is?
 
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#280      

Bucktown

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Bucktown
goillini30 said:
That '03 team was going to be my comp for next year if Kofi had stayed. Young guards getting experience with a SR 20 ppg big man to make life easier. Alas...
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This seems more like the 2004 team; though with less experience.
 
#286      

HensonHall71

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HensonHall71
Fighter of the Nightman said:
We obviously want Kofi - he’s possibly been the best big man in America for what would have been three straight seasons - BUT … I’ll play devil’s advocate for him.

In both 2021 and 2022, there was a clear best player mixed with a lot of good players who did “glue guy” stuff like defend and rebound. This made us look elite when Ayo/Kofi were hot and practically unstoppable when a third guy joined them (e.g., Trent taking over or Grandison getting hot from 3) … but it also led to spurts where - to a mere casual fan like me - it looked like we forgot how to play or at the very least were totally out of our groove.

Absolutely no disrespect to guys like Trent (in my top three favorite Illini ever), ‘Monte, Grandison, etc., but I think we are now entering the final phase of Underwood and Co. bringing us “back,” and that’s stacking the roster with top 100 talent and better. This team is filled with so much talent, and even if we have a rebuilding year and some hiccups, it’s going to be so fun to watch! I at least kind of get what this poster is saying about being “ready” for the new era to begin.

Let’s say we get the DePaul transfer, for example. Does anyone think he’s as good as Kofi?? No! However, who’s to say the sum of our parts come the Second Round of next year isn’t more effective? That doesn’t really have anything to do with Kofi, specifically (again, any team should want him in a heartbeat!), it’s more about how differently our other guys might play without the King to rely on … there’s at least a chance we see Melendez, Hawkins, etc. have even better years without Kofi in the middle, and even if that means more losses and not repeating as Big Ten champs, it might also mean a hotter team built for a better run in March!

Either way, nothing to do now but thank Kofi for some irreplaceable memories and move on to being optimistic about the future!
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I don't disagree with you - that we have a lot of young talent and the future is bright and we could be good next year - the point I was arguing was that Kofi was somehow the reason we have haven't gotten past the 2nd round the last two years - that having a different makeup of the team will make us advance further in the tourny

That's what I said was ridiculous - we are a far better team next year with Kofi vs. without Kofi and our likelihood to advance in the tournament would be far greater with Kofi - he's not the reason we haven't advanced, other deficiencies exposed themselves and frankly some guys just didn't play well.
 
#297      

HensonHall71

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HensonHall71
JFGsCoffeeMug said:
I agreed with the rest of your post, but I would recommend adopting a wait-and-see approach with this bit above.
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FrankNitty30 said:
It is dumb to say we will be better losing Kofi. A close second is saying we will be a “much worse” team. Top teams reload ALL THE TIME. We will need to do the same thing. We will be different. Not better or not worse on 4/20/22. Different.

The season will play out and give us our verdict on how we adjusted.
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To be clear, my point was we will be a much worse team without Kofi next year than if we had Kofi next year - we can still be a better team next year than last year

My point is - this is not "addition by subtraction" which is what the original poster suggested - ala a Jens Kujawa situation
 
#299      

WhiteHorseWings

WhiteHorseWings
WhiteHorseWings
#300      

ILLFAN67

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ILLFAN67
Will be interesting to see how we play without Kofi. May be a lot easier to recruit bigs now that he is gone. Omar may have left a little early?
 
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