Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#51      
My guy is absolutely dominating some 5'10" 8th graders. Number 34 hitting the deck as he tries to back-peddle at 2:34 is particularly hilarious. I honestly have no idea how to evaluate him versus a lot of that competition, but Tafara Gapare is incredibly fun to say. For that alone, I'm down to grab him. Thankfully, BU and the staff have higher standards. I'll be interested to see what we end up doing.
I think a lot of schools will want his services simply for his athleticism and above average handling. He can probably defend, which is another plus. Won’t be an easy grab unless you have strong connection.
 
#52      

sacraig

The desert
Pretty wide gap between Mizzou and LSU on the evil spectrum in my book.
I'm about the biggest Mizzou hater out there's but I got my graduate degree at an SEC school, and let me tell you, LSU is almost as bad.

Actually, I'm struggling to think of any school with a tiger mascot that I can actually stand. Princeton, I suppose, in part because they say the same "rah, rah" as each university.
 
#54      
I couldn’t watch more than 2 minutes I have never seen so much matador defense in my life. Looks very athletic from the bit I watched, but couldn’t really tell much more.
I agree with the matador defense comment, but I'm still impressed. Crisp passes, shiftiness with a good first step, and very, very, solid handles and vision for a 6'9" kid. All the usual caveats --don't know if it translates to the next level of competition, highlight videos are no way to judge a player, etc..
 
#56      

Stock Riser​

6-11 C JP Estrella
Class: 2023
Team: Massachusetts based Middlesex Magic
On3 Consensus: NA


Some buzz had started in the Northeast surrounding JP Estrella leading into the April live period. The 6-foot-11 native of Maine was not on any national radar at this time last year. Estrella has excellent length and is explosive with fluid mobility. Still, with upside to go, Estrella is tough around the basket, high-pointing traffic rebounds with two hands and stepping out to knock down catch and shoot threes. There is significant upside here, and look for him to enter On3s 2023 rankings in the next update.

Estrella has blown up since April, more than tripling his offer sheet he entered the month. Watch him during the June and July evaluation periods; more offers could be on the way.
Doesn't estrella mean star in Spanish? Could be very appropriate from the sounds of things.
 
#57      



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I really wish I could like this more than once...... The society we've become doesn't appreciate going "medieval" during a sporting event like we used to.

I want to see the 22-23 team rub some people's noses in it. Especially the Squawks, Coward's, and Bucky's!!
 
#58      

sacraig

The desert
I really wish I could like this more than once...... The society we've become doesn't appreciate going "medieval" during a sporting event like we used to.

I want to see the 22-23 team rub some people's noses in it. Especially the Squawks, Coward's, and Bucky's!!
I might appreciate it more if I knew what this even meant.

Also, if I only had to pick 3 conference teams to grind into dust, it would be Iowa, Michigan, and Purdue (based entirely on them owning us last year) with Indiana and Michigan State as a close 4th and 5th. Wisconsin doesn't even crack the top 5... anymore.
 
#59      
I might appreciate it more if I knew what this even meant.

Also, if I only had to pick 3 conference teams to grind into dust, it would be Iowa, Michigan, and Purdue (based entirely on them owning us last year) with Indiana and Michigan State as a close 4th and 5th. Wisconsin doesn't even crack the top 5... anymore.
Would order them differently but solid top 5!
 
#61      
I'm about the biggest Mizzou hater out there's but I got my graduate degree at an SEC school, and let me tell you, LSU is almost as bad.
OT, but when I lived in Cleveland I watched Tulane "grad" Hot Rod Williams play and the dude literally couldn't read or write. My guess is that LSU is similar despite Tulane not having a tiger mascot (Pelican?)
 
#62      

sacraig

The desert
OT, but when I lived in Cleveland I watched Tulane "grad" Hot Rod Williams play and the dude literally couldn't read or write. My guess is that LSU is similar despite Tulane not having a tiger mascot (Pelican?)
Tulane is the Green Wave. And it's actually a really good school but I guess maybe they bend a lot for athletics?
 
#63      
Tulane is the Green Wave. And it's actually a really good school but I guess maybe they bend a lot for athletics?
I was just referring to the sports part. Riptide the Pelican has been their mascot since 1998 along with the green wave. Maybe something like us having the chief and also being the fighting illini.
 
#64      
For some reason I've always remembered this LSU lyric from a now-probably-banned Randy Newman song:
"College men from LSU
Went in dumb, came out dumb too
Hustling 'round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
getting drunk every weekend at the barbecues"

Don't know if it's still true, but as someone who spent time in Atlanta, it feels pretty accurate from a couple decades ago.
 
#66      
For some reason I've always remembered this LSU lyric from a now-probably-banned Randy Newman song:
"College men from LSU
Went in dumb, came out dumb too
Hustling 'round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
getting drunk every weekend at the barbecues"

Don't know if it's still true, but as someone who spent time in Atlanta, it feels pretty accurate from a couple decades ago.
My only LSU interaction was the 2002 Sugar Bowl, but dumb and drunk are two of my first recollections about them.
 
#68      
For some reason I've always remembered this LSU lyric from a now-probably-banned Randy Newman song:
"College men from LSU
Went in dumb, came out dumb too
Hustling 'round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
getting drunk every weekend at the barbecues"

Don't know if it's still true, but as someone who spent time in Atlanta, it feels pretty accurate from a couple decades ago.
Because those are some barbed and hilarious lyrics. I can visualize the characters he describes.

To bring this back to the topic, can you imagine what the first day of practice is going to look like this fall at LSU? If it were a movie, they would all be meeting for the first time. Wear name tags. Is this really what the NCAA expected to happen? Tear down the roster then rebuild it every season?
 
#69      

derrick6

Illini Dawg
Seattle
I like how they spend half the tape highlighting his weaknesses. Maybe a Kiwi thing.
It’s not a highlight reel but rather a breakdown of his game. I thought reasonably done
 
#71      

the national

the Front Range
I was just referring to the sports part. Riptide the Pelican has been their mascot since 1998 along with the green wave. Maybe something like us having the chief and also being the fighting illini.
Iowa state is this way with being the cyclones and having Cy the red bird mascot.
 
#72      
Tulane is the Green Wave. And it's actually a really good school but I guess maybe they bend a lot for athletics?
Isn't that the case for most universities when it comes to football and basketball? My brother-in-law who was Dean of the Yale Music School for some 10 years told me more than once that Yale does plenty of rule bending when it comes to highly talented players in those two sports. If you want to find schools that hold athletes in "revenue" sports to the same standard of admission as other students, you'd probably have to look at D3, where there are no athletic scholarships.
 
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#73      
For some reason I've always remembered this LSU lyric from a now-probably-banned Randy Newman song:
"College men from LSU
Went in dumb, came out dumb too
Hustling 'round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
getting drunk every weekend at the barbecues"

Don't know if it's still true, but as someone who spent time in Atlanta, it feels pretty accurate from a couple decades ago.
Most people who live in Atlanta now aren't from Atlanta
 
#74      
Isn't that the case for most universities when it comes to football and basketball? My brother-in-law who was Dean of the Yale Music School for some 10 years told me more than once that Yale does plenty of rule bending when it comes to highly talented players in those two sports. If you want to find schools that hold athletes in "revenue" sports to the same standard of admission as other students, you'd probably have to look at D3, where there are no athletic scholarships.
Don’t kid yourself. D3 schools with successful athletic teams are somehow able to find non-athletic scholarships for athletes not generally available to non-athletes. Those recruitments do not suffer the same scrutiny as D1 and D2 recruitments.
 
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