Disappointing that Chester couldn't flip this one after he left.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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TheFameProtector
- Champaign
He left the board because he was making people too happy?
Guess we have a different recollection of the response to his information.
I'd say we were a blue blood back Lou's days. Tournament every year and a strong seed. Multiple elite 8's, sweet 16's. A fee final 4's. Conference champs. High ranked teams. That all came crashing down post 2005. Though, we are building it back.
IlliniRunIn07
- Tampa, FL
Neck looks a little long. PASS
Up until a couple weeks ago, this staff hadn't landed a 5 star either... Additionally, having to re-build our coaching staff while trying to reel in transfers put us at a pretty big disadvantage relative to other programs. This program's outcomes and expectations have continuously risen during Underwood's tenure. I refuse to judge what I think could happen based solely on what has or hasn't happened to this point. Our trajectory suggests we will be able to attract a player or two who can help us immediately.
Regardless of portal outcomes, the roster we will have this season already has a ton of potential. I would prefer a higher floor, but young teams can be fun too. If we don't land an experienced PG or a B1G ready 5, we have to temper expectations a bit.
The long term outlook for the program hasn't been this good in a loooong time.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
+ we had to keep her studying engineering and in orange!sacraig
- The desert
I'd argue that once you achieve Blue Blood status, it's very difficult to lose it. To me, that is sort of the definition of being a certified Blue Blood™: your basketball brand is so strong that it (and it's ramifications on booster donations and recruiting) can survive bad coaches. UCLA is a good example. They continued to reel in top flight talent through years of mediocrity based on their long-established brand and only recently have become reliably good again. We clearly never achieved that. We had a long, very strong stretch under Henson, Kruger, and Self, but after a strong start, quickly lost all of the advantages of that success under Weber and Groce.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
As a Millennial in the YOUNGER half (30), there is absolutely no doubt you’re correct. The way in which kids are raised changed way more from the 1990s to 2010s than it did from the 1960s to the 1990s. Technology alone makes high school life (mine was 2006-2010) practically unrecognizable. Millennials were a nice punching bag as the first “Internet generation,” but holy moly has everything sped up into light speed since then.
Anyway, back to the topic!
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Not directly responsive to your comment, but to the preceding ones, the only truly poor stretch Michigan basketball has endured in the past 60 years was the Ellerbee-Ammaker dumpster fire of the late '90s/early '00s, akin to our late-Weber/Groce decline and fall. Dave Strack, Johnny Orr and Bill Frieder were top-flight coaches from 1960-89 who had sustained, high-level success with few letdowns. Steve Fisher kept it going for another several years before the program's corruption caught up with it and flew the plane into the mountain.
[EDIT: Frieder's 1984-85 team with Gary Grant, Antoine Joubert, Roy Tarpley, Butch Wade and Richard Rellford was among the best teams of the '80s, probably even better than their '89 team that won it all. They finished 16-2 in conference, four games ahead of the 2nd place Beloved. That team put six players in the League over '86-'88, four alone in 1986. They were beasts.]
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Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
We are absolutely in their “tier” historically, and neither of us are close to Blue Bloods.
I don’t know if it’s related to football trauma, but this fan base has a totally unfounded insecurity when it comes to Michigan Basketball … they’re much, much closer to us than a Blue Blood, both now and historically.
It is going to turn out that the Pg that went to Iowa State was a miss.
SuperMetroid
- Evanston
Indiana fan?
Fan4FourDecades
Scottsdale/Chicago
All good here. For the record, I wasn't triggered by your response. I more so found it interesting how differently we reacted to the same viewpoint (college game changing). When I've donated in the past to something like a facility upgrade, I always just hoped that it would somehow influence a recruit on a visit. Now, I feel like my donations can go directly into a NIL package for a recruit and that seems more direct, potentially impactful and swift. We also agree on one other point....Yes, we are getting old! But, that just means we actually watched seasons like the '84, '89 and '05 ones end in disappointment and that history and perspective will make a national championship even more meaningful. Go Illini!
the national
- the Front Range
No worries on the Shannon thing - I’d like to think we all get it and understand that things can change. I’m excited for the good news
Joel Goodson
- ties will be resolved
Not even close.
PizzaHutParkingLot
- McPherson, KS
95% agree here and with @sacraig above. Only thing I would add is that I cannot call a program without a national championship (last 60 years, or ever, depending on your measure) a blue blood. Even my own. I would even have argued that UCLA did not qualify for a long time post-Wooden, but @sacraig said it better above.
He left after all his predictions turned out wrong and the board turned against him for that reason. The initial response was very very positive, and a lot of people defended him early on from the first crop of skeptics.He left the board because he was making people too happy?
I remember he had posts confidently predicting Hopkins and Nesbitt would come even after the tide had turned on those recruitments that rivaled our insiders with real track records for number of likes.
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Thanks...with all of the standard "you're not being held to this, etc.", and perhaps just to stir the pot on a slow day, does "Good news is coming" connect to anything in particular, or is it more of a "patience, good things come to those who wait"?
Spreading false rumors or “locks” on this forum should result in a 5 year ban from OPH and Portillos. This information needs to be verified at the source and then cross examined before sharing. The poster then must wear the flair of shame under their avatar as voted on by the board.
This misinformation completely disrupts my fantasy lineup projections.
This misinformation completely disrupts my fantasy lineup projections.
His name was dropped to sprinkle the spice.
Exactly. Don’t confuse marketing and popularity with being a Blue Blood.
Michigan has the former (popularity) by positioning their Fab 5 as a direct challenge to Duke’s strategy and ultimate change in strategy.
Riding the coattails of Duke has people thinking they are of the same ilk. Hardly.
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