Not a starter, but averaged 18 minutes a game at Dayton.I believe Meacham was a starter at Dayton before transferring here.
Not a starter, but averaged 18 minutes a game at Dayton.I believe Meacham was a starter at Dayton before transferring here.
Took me a second, thinking of Demonte....DWILL was regarded high enough but was in no way regarded for who he became he ended way stronger than his projection Bracey Wright was dwarfing him in high school
I was a freshman when that freshman class came in. I remember going to a kickoff meeting at the beginning of the semester for Illini Pride and Mike Davis being introduced and thinking "who tf is this guy?"Great call. The boards were fun the day he committed. No player in our history has been more off the radar.
My recollection was that he was on the way to prep school and Weber saw him and was convinced he was ready for college and offered and Davis changed his mind. Essentially reclassed about a week prior to the start of the semester.I was a freshman when that freshman class came in. I remember going to a kickoff meeting at the beginning of the semester for Illini Pride and Mike Davis being introduced and thinking "who tf is this guy?"
There's a wide gulf between having interest (an offer) and having a committable offer. Exhibit #1: Jeremy Fears.
I’ve been trying to get the concept of non-committable offer to make sense to me for at least 10 years.There's a wide gulf between having interest (an offer) and having a committable offer. Exhibit #1: Jeremy Fears.
I’ve been trying to get the concept of non-committable offer to make sense to me for at least 10 years.
All the names that people have brought up, I am surprised that no one has mentioned Andres Feliz! Don't remember too many people excited about him when he committed.Even most recently, I don’t think we expected the kind of person and player Trent Frazier became.
For me, in recent history, the pleasant surprises and who exceeded my expectations were guys like Kevin Turner, Mike Tisdale, Mike Davis, Giorgi, Chet Frazier, Jamar Smith (before Carlwell incident), Robert Bennett, Matt Heldman, TJ Wheeler, Chris Gandy, the Johnson brothers, the late Robert Archibald, Damir, Jack Ingram, Rayvonte, Kipper. Just to name a few.
Which makes this new recruitment all the more salacious.
salacious?
You probably need to qualify this a bit more - if you are talking outside top 100 recruit who ended up being very solid/big contributor - then James Augustine comes to mind, he was a 3 star guy who obviously ended up being a huge piece to our best team ever.Which recruit for the Illini history was the biggest surprise in their success at Illinois?
Looking for players that were not highly regarded coming in but turn into a key player
It's both dumb and functional. Coaches want a middle ground between "we're not interested" and "we absolutely need to have you in our program". Players have strengths and weaknesses that are tough to project into the future. Recruiting also wades into the game theory of balancing the interest of a sure-fire star recruit with other excellent but not the best recruits without offending anyone. It's an effective tool for the best programs but slowly loses its utility as you move further down the college basketball food chain.
Henson didn't get Tony Yates. He was a holdover from the Clean Gene Bartow staff.Wow.
Just how did Henson get Tony Yates who I figure was part of landing guys like this.
Augie was ranked in the 70s or 80s iirc.You probably need to qualify this a bit more - if you are talking outside top 100 recruit who ended up being very solid/big contributor - then James Augustine comes to mind, he was a 3 star guy who obviously ended up being a huge piece to our best team ever.
If you are talking about the biggest "surprise" as in who outperformed expectations, then Deron has to be at the top of that list, from a 50ish ranked guy (who I think ESPN had at #100 to end the year) to being a top 5 draft pick and one of the all time great Illini players, then it would be him. Kofi is on that list too given he far exceeded what anyone thought to be an all time great here
Well I heard Jeff Finke say that Kendall Gill was the least regarded of the guys in his class when they joined the Illini. Jeff Finke then switched to football. Gill evolved into a lottery pick.Which recruit for the Illini history was the biggest surprise in their success at Illinois?
Looking for players that were not highly regarded coming in but turn into a key player
paging all fellow nerds
334 Keegan MurrayWas looking at the last few RSCI rankings. Was curious what the lowest ranked recruit to get drafted in the last couple years was.
109 Ben Mathurin
113 Tari Eason
129 Christian Braun
145 Johnny Davis
156 Jeremy Sochan
160 Bones Hyland
183 Kenyon Martin Jr
187 Miles McBride
246 David Roddy
324 Ryan Rollins
332 Jabari Walker
383 Jalen Williams
Didn't realize Nick was that highly ranked coming out of HS...but can remember him as being a really good playerNick was highly regarded. 3rd team Parade All-America, which puts him in the 11-15 range for the 1969 HS class. Maintained that ranking as the 13th overall pick in the NBA draft (late lottery pick in today's NBA).