Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#677      

chiefini

Rockford, Illinois
Because I'm sure you were gushing over Fred Van Vleet coming out of high school, of course. Let's not act like he was a sure thing that we passed over. Plus our roster was already loaded full of top 100 talent.
I, too, had read that Snacks overslept on the day he was supposed to go meet Fred. Being a high school teacher and sports fan in Rockford, I knew about how good Fred was when he was a sophomore at Auburn. I also had heard that his parents and he were hoping he’d go to Illinois. We were at an event in Rockford at that time where Bruce spoke, and he was very well aware of Fred. Not naming names, Bruce said he had just come from an open gym at Auburn where he was looking at a recruit, but he left way more impressed with the sophomore player on that team. From that day on, I sent every Rockford Register Star article (almost weekly) on Fred down to the Illinois Basketball office. It was obvious to everyone in Rockford that Fred was going to be very, very good. I firmly believe Bruce just blew it.
 
#678      

derrick6

Illini Dawg
Seattle
I, too, had read that Snacks overslept on the day he was supposed to go meet Fred. Being a high school teacher and sports fan in Rockford, I knew about how good Fred was when he was a sophomore at Auburn. I also had heard that his parents and he were hoping he’d go to Illinois. We were at an event in Rockford at that time where Bruce spoke, and he was very well aware of Fred. Not naming names, Bruce said he had just come from an open gym at Auburn where he was looking at a recruit, but he left way more impressed with the sophomore player on that team. From that day on, I sent every Rockford Register Star article (almost weekly) on Fred down to the Illinois Basketball office. It was obvious to everyone in Rockford that Fred was going to be very, very good. I firmly believe Bruce just blew it.
I don’t recall the backstory with Fred, but suspect Weber’s staff was a big letdown for him, not doing their jobs in the trenches like we have now.
 
#683      
Of course, I actually was gushing over Fred Van Vleet coming out of Rockford Auburn, as were many of us locals who had observed his stellar career. He was the best player in the conference by far and was curiously ignored by major programs.

I'll leave you to figure out what a sure thing is, but finding, recruiting and landing a player with his talent is sort of exactly why Weber was paid his millions as has been stated. Weber failed because of his poor recruiting and he and his coaches whiffed big time on this one, an in-state talent as well.
Henson and Yates, Henson and Collins, overlooked a few too. I mentioned one. Didn't Self slow play Iggy?

That said, a lot of people were gushing over Van Vleet.

Weber consistently passed on or slow played prospects that planned out elsewhere, while chasing big name kids that weren't coming.

Things improved considerably with Snacks, we got some ranked in state talent, but evaluations and roster construction still weren't very good.
 
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#686      
These were all fine players for our program but I'm still wishing we had landed the NBA champion and league all star.
Again, hindsight is 20/20. He was barely top 100 and we had a full roster. I'm not a Weber fan, but to use that as an example of why he was a bad recruiter is nonsense. No major programs were after him. Weber's issue was landing the big fish.
 
#687      
I, too, had read that Snacks overslept on the day he was supposed to go meet Fred. Being a high school teacher and sports fan in Rockford, I knew about how good Fred was when he was a sophomore at Auburn. I also had heard that his parents and he were hoping he’d go to Illinois. We were at an event in Rockford at that time where Bruce spoke, and he was very well aware of Fred. Not naming names, Bruce said he had just come from an open gym at Auburn where he was looking at a recruit, but he left way more impressed with the sophomore player on that team. From that day on, I sent every Rockford Register Star article (almost weekly) on Fred down to the Illinois Basketball office. It was obvious to everyone in Rockford that Fred was going to be very, very good. I firmly believe Bruce just blew it.
Brad Underwood says all the time that scholarships are gold and not to just be handed out. He'd rather hold on to one than give it to the wrong person. At that time in Illini basketball, our roster was loaded and in Illinois it was a rich time for top tier players. Can't get mad at Weber for holding onto a scholarship to go after a Cliff Alexander type player. Not many 6'0 guards end up as good as Vanvleet. Hard to predict.
 
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#688      
HA. Yep…I have zero idea why I typed CG, but I’m old and technology challenged and I was unsure how to edit after the post.
Point remains the same….. JG was great for Illinois Basketball and was committed to our program and culture for the three years he was here. Why some haters feel the need to spew such negativity I simply do not understand.
To the haters….try to change the narrative and celebrate the positives. The world is a heck of a lot more beautiful that way.
Yeah, perhaps a bit strong there. And btw, I've called him Curtis a lot too. :LOL: I really doubt there are any demonic "haters" of Curtis or Jacob in Loyalty. If they express such sentiments to a tweet, it's a matter of being uninformed and reacting with adolescent immaturity.

JG made a decision, the coaches made portal moves, and there was just no place for him to return. He ended up doing very well in the end.
 
#690      
Again, hindsight is 20/20. He was barely top 100 and we had a full roster. I'm not a Weber fan, but to use that as an example of why he was a bad recruiter is nonsense. No major programs were after him. Weber's issue was landing the big fish.
Underwood would have evaluated, identified, offered and signed the lower ranked prospects that can play, instead of getting played by the big fish.
 
#691      
Henson and Yates, Henson and Collins, overlooked a few too. I mentioned one. Didn't Self slow play Iggy?

That said, a lot of people were gushing over Van Vleet.

Weber consistently passed on or slow played prospects that planned out elsewhere, while chasing big name kids that weren't coming.

Things improved considerably with Snacks, we got some ranked in state talent, but evaluations and roster construction still weren't very good.

Yes on Iggy. He really wanted Togo to IL. Self saw him play twice, and he was awful both times. It was reported that one of the times, he shot multiple air balls.
 
#692      
Underwood would have evaluated, identified, offered and signed the lower ranked prospects that can play, instead of getting played by the big fish.
He got played by them all the time. That was his biggest knock.
 
#693      
George Mikan

(We’re just throwing out names of old basketball players from our hometowns, right?)
I don't see a /s. So, no. We were mentioning prospects that our coaches overlooked / did not recruit, that would have / wanted to come, and did well elsewhere.
 
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