Krombopulos_Michael
- Aurora, Illinois (that’s a suburb of Chicago)
The lesson here is that there’s no place for that nonsense.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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Also not exactly sure we're Harper was ranked but he n Doc Rivers were considered the top two guards. Lowell was very highly ranked too and I think top 5. Plus he never said but it was highly likely that the late Ben Wilson wouldve joined Nick to be an Illini. Efrem n Bruce were top guys too not exactly what number but Efrem was the MVP of the burger boy game and very highly ranked. Lou n his staff were very successful getting truly elite guys.
Cause the talents don’t outweigh the headaches. Also Manny isn’t getting into Illinois or he would be here IMO.
It boggles my mind how someone can be that bad of a shooter now a days. Especially if you’re a guard. You just simply don’t work on it enough is the only reason18% from 3 and 54% FT
So I'm clear, every good potential transfer currently in the portal is either a headcase, is related to a headcase, or has an overly involved former AAU coach who is, you guessed it, a headcase?
Yup exactly.
The majority of kids transferring from high majors are doing so for a reason. Can’t hack it, crazy people in their ear, entitled demeanor, inflated sense of their own talents… usually the bad is a creation of their own doing or people around them. If everything was sunshine and rainbows, nonody’d be transferring.
This couldn’t be further from the truth. Kids leave because the coach did (LSU or Mizzou). Mizzou creaned most of their roster. Some kids want to push themselves to a higher level in order to get drafted. Others want to play in a better conference. Was Plummer a head case? Or grandinson? Maybe a decade ago you were right that a lot of transfers had to do with drama. But it is now about opportunity.
I mean one could reasonably assume that most of the top ranked kids have some head case or overly involved "mentor" in their camp. The unfortunate reality of today is that plenty of people don't see these players as kids, they see them as dollar signs.
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hooraybeer
- Pittsburgh, PA
or can’t get into Illinois
You bring up a good point, however with more than 1,400 players in the portal (and counting), my completely uneducated guess is that the vast majority are not entering the portal because of a coaching change. According to CBS Sports, there have been 58 coaching changes this, it may get to 60 - I’ll use 60 to make my math easier for me. Let’s assume 100% of the players transfer out when the coach leaves, so if there are 13 scholarship players, that’s 780 transfers of the more than 1,400, or 55.7%. We know 100% didn’t enter the portal, it’s probably closer to 30-40% (WAG). It’s still a good chunk, but not the primary driver IMHO.
While Plummer did come to us from Utah, he was a JUCO transfer, and Grandison came to us from Holy Cross, not a high major.
and I agree with you that opportunity is the main reason for the majority of transfers, whether real or perceived.
Epsilon
M tipping over
- Pdx
It’s not just top ranked kids. Just take a stroll through your local neighborhood / town / school / city and think “how many of these ppl could I stand to see every single day for the next few years?”
MDchicago
- Lake Norman NC
Derek and Doc were both 1st team Parade All-Americans (i.e., top 10) in 1980. Link Lou and Jimmy really had it going in the 80's.
Illini who were in the top 10 based on Parade All-American status (first or second team Parade AA prior to 1971; first team from 1972, when they expanded to a 10 person first team, until discontinued) include:
1958: Doug Mills
1964: Rich Jones (ruled permanently ineligible by B10 in midst of junior year for accepting $35/month allowance from the "slush fund")
1974: Audie Matthews
1980: Derek Harper
1982: Efrem Winters
1985: Lowell Hamilton
1987: Marcus Liberty
1989: Deon Thomas
1994: Bryant Notree (transferred to UIC after junior year to play for Jimmy Collins)
1995: Ryan Blackwell (transferred to Syracuse after freshman year)
Illini who were in the 11-20 grouping based on Parade All-American status (3rd and 4th team prior to 1971; second team from 1972 until discontinued) include:
1961: Skip Thoren
1969: Nick Weatherspoon
1970: Bill Morris
1976: Derek Holcomb (transferred from Indiana after freshman year)
1977: Eddie Johnson
1982: Bruce Douglas
1986: Nick Anderson
1990: Jamie Brandon (committed and attended summer bridge program at Illinois, but never played there; LSU)
1992: Richard Keene
1997: Marcus Griffin
1998: Frank Williams
1999: Brian Cook
There may be others, but those were names that I recognized as Illini.
Parade became increasingly less relevant as more/better services came to be, but still give a rough sense of ranking.
Jesus Murphy... Assumptions around here are worth the toilet paper they're scribbled on. Some folks need to put their brown crayons away.
No, not every kid in the portal is a headcase or tangentially related to one. For better or worse, this is the new normal and I for one don't mind the fact that players are allowed more freedom and financial opportunities.
This offseason started out hot and heavy. Like a newly single person rejoining the dating pool and using a dating app. Lots of attractive options, some realistic and some not. Some appear ideal at first blush, and then the warts are revealed.
Horrible analogy, but we are in the friend-zone with our "matches" in the initial wave and awaiting the next round of available/viable options (draft withdrawal portal candidates) that promise to be even sexier than the first wave.
Me thinks many on here will be spinning their wheels and cranking out hot takes until they can start swiping left or right again.
No, not every kid in the portal is a headcase or tangentially related to one. For better or worse, this is the new normal and I for one don't mind the fact that players are allowed more freedom and financial opportunities.
This offseason started out hot and heavy. Like a newly single person rejoining the dating pool and using a dating app. Lots of attractive options, some realistic and some not. Some appear ideal at first blush, and then the warts are revealed.
Horrible analogy, but we are in the friend-zone with our "matches" in the initial wave and awaiting the next round of available/viable options (draft withdrawal portal candidates) that promise to be even sexier than the first wave.
Me thinks many on here will be spinning their wheels and cranking out hot takes until they can start swiping left or right again.
Had a rough year, playing for a team that was ineligible for post-season play. He was very good the year before when playing with Cunningham. (shot 44% from 3) He is known more for leadership and defense. Guard is a bit of a misnomer in his case because he was often facilitating out of the post. He rebounds like a big.
Good player in a role, obviously struggled when he was the first option on offense.
If this were true it would be pretty foolish of the staff to look to the transfer portal to improve the team. Luckily this is an over-generalization and people (both athletes and non-athlete students) transfer schools for an infinite range of reasons, which in the vast majority of cases are not indicative of negative character. I mean honestly, these guys commit to a school when they're 17 and 18, for any range of reasons, and sometimes it doesn't work out how they'd hoped, or their priorities change, or any number of other factors cause them to re-evaluate their decision. That's not necessarily a bad thing.
Imagine how many people would leave their job if they had the opportunity to put in their two weeks notice and have a dozen or so employers immediately reach out to them, offer them a raise, promise better work conditions, and help them move.
The world was around before the year 2000. We had some very high-ranked players during the Henson/Collins recruiting days.
Yeah but the talent evaluators/ranking services back then were terrible. I hear they didn't even account for neck length.
Deon Thomas and Jamie Brandon (never actually played here) were also highly rated.
Podz seems like a great guy. My guess is that the vast majority of the guys in the portal are good and just looking for a better fit.
Now the number that have the talent to contribute here won't be the vast majority. But still a good number if I was guessing.
Now the number that have the talent to contribute here won't be the vast majority. But still a good number if I was guessing.
I gotchu
If memory serves me correct, I believe Efrem Winters was a top 5, going neck-and-neck with Wayman Tisdale for the No. 1 spot.
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