Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

[Chuck Nuggets]

Yes, there had been, and there are.

Looks like someone's been calling, texting, eating with, drinking beers with, sharing a cab with, playing 2K with, playing golf with, and doing laundry with RayJ's father, step-father, brother, mother, cousin, best friend, and pastor on a nightly basis. I am impressed.

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

I'll stack our crazies up against any other school's:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1661105582466629632

I’ll just say this … Missing on RayJ and not landing a Yuri type player as a plan B … The seat would be quite warm …

We’re investing a crap ton of money and have had ZERO post season success … There’s no way around that …

If you’re a top 10 paid coach … You better find the 2nd weekend more often than 0/6 …

Sean Miller took a group of guys that Travis Steele couldn’t make the tournament with in 4 years … Added a kid from UTEP and went to the 2nd weekend …

Brad has had plenty of time … He’s got a ton of money to recruit with … It’s time to see post season results in many boosters eyes and Josh’s eyes …

 

[Thompson]

Don’t know anything about the RayJ debacle but I feel like Michigan is the biggest threat. Especially after losing CLove.. Juwan prolly tryin to slither his way into guaranteeing him being a draft pick to the Orlando Magic. Lots of mouths in Illinois if Shannon and Hawkins come back, 20 shots per game open in Ann Arbor

 

[FrankNitty30]

In the words of the great Philosopher Kenny Chesney:

Everything's gonna be alright
Everything's gonna be alright
And nobody's gotta worry 'bout nothing
Don't go hittin' that panic button
It ain't worth spilling your drink
Everything's gonna be alright
Alright, alright

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

Don’t know anything about the RayJ debacle but I feel like Michigan is the biggest threat. Especially after losing CLove.. Juwan prolly tryin to slither his way into guaranteeing him being a draft pick to the Orlando Magic. Lots of mouths in Illinois if Shannon and Hawkins come back, 20 shots per game open in Ann Arbor

Howard is more focused on where his kid ends up in the NBA than his own roster … That program has fallen off a cliff since John left …

 

[Thompson]

I agree and I love seeing it.. just a big brand with door wide open to opportunity to prove himself a draft pick

 

[redwingillini11]

I’ll just say this … Missing on RayJ and not landing a Yuri type player as a plan B … The seat would be quite warm …

We’re investing a crap ton of money and have had ZERO post season success … There’s no way around that …

If you’re a top 10 paid coach … You better find the 2nd weekend more often than 0/6 …

Sean Miller took a group of guys that Travis Steele couldn’t make the tournament with in 4 years … Added a kid from UTEP and went to the 2nd weekend …

Brad has had plenty of time … He’s got a ton of money to recruit with … It’s time to see post season results in many boosters eyes and Josh’s eyes …

 

[Illinifan74]

I'm still not panicked. I trust we will end up with a point guard who will do just fine. It's the getting stringed along by players that gets me. I mean if you want playing time - it's available here, and the money is good as well. Another week and we should know what our team will look like next year.

Not an insider, but I did stay at a holiday inn express over the weekend. Very close to Pru and his NL's - lol (Metropolis)

 

[goNOGSgo]

I’ve never been a great athlete. I was never that skilled or frankly that driven. But the things I’m good at…I wanna succeed at the top level.

What does it say about RayJ if we offered more money & a better opportunity and he still goes to Utah? Clearly Illinois is on a different level. If he has a close relationship with someone on the staff there, I get that. But don’t we want someone who wants to play against and succeed against the best, all other things being equal?

(For the record, I refuse to freak out with rumors he’s going elsewhere, or even if he signs elsewhere I trust we have a plan.)

 

[WeWillWhen]

I’ll just say this … Missing on RayJ and not landing a Yuri type player as a plan B … The seat would be quite warm …

We’re investing a crap ton of money and have had ZERO post season success … There’s no way around that …

If you’re a top 10 paid coach … You better find the 2nd weekend more often than 0/6 …

Sean Miller took a group of guys that Travis Steele couldn’t make the tournament with in 4 years … Added a kid from UTEP and went to the 2nd weekend …

Brad has had plenty of time … He’s got a ton of money to recruit with … It’s time to see post season results in many boosters eyes and Josh’s eyes …

 

[Second place is 1st loser]

I’ll just say this … Missing on RayJ and not landing a Yuri type player as a plan B … The seat would be quite warm …

We’re investing a crap ton of money and have had ZERO post season success … There’s no way around that …

If you’re a top 10 paid coach … You better find the 2nd weekend more often than 0/6 …

Sean Miller took a group of guys that Travis Steele couldn’t make the tournament with in 4 years … Added a kid from UTEP and went to the 2nd weekend …

Brad has had plenty of time … He’s got a ton of money to recruit with … It’s time to see post season results in many boosters eyes and Josh’s eyes …

One could argue that without BU, there's been no postseason to have had success with. The fact that the floor of has been raised to a 4 seed or better and a 2nd weekend or else scenario....it says quite a bit about what he's done for the program. We haven't been to the second weekend since, what, 2005 and we're going to pick his seat to be warm now? Given where we came from?

This seems like a 180 from where we were less than 12 hours ago. These visits to other schools was about $$$$, per some here, and it was just a matter of time before he commits. I can't imagine that our lock turned because of BU's abilities this late this game.

 

[blife]

For all those that doubt our insiders...Brad Sturdy on "I on the Illini Podcast" (Free) about timeframe on Ray J, "I expect something quickly with him ...hopefully, that was actually a text I got from one of the Illinois coaches today was "Soon Hopefully!""

https://illiniguys.com/i-on-the-ill...t-x-movie-reviews-transfer-portal-update-242/

Is Tipton doing RayJ's announcement? /s

 

[ChiefGritty]

 

[Flight33]

I'll stack our crazies up against any other school's:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1661105582466629632

Yeah , "fire Underwood", is the last thing we should be thinking now.

 

[Mojoman]

Maybe Dennis is promised to be the man at Utah and will not get the stuffing beat out of him like the refs allow in the BT every night. Who knows.

 

[Second place is 1st loser]

If I had to guess(I have absolutely no inside knowledge or clue how these inside the office deals work)....I'd say that there's some kind of smoke about neither TJ nor CH coming back. If that's the case, we're an extremely borderline tournament team. We're a bubble team, at best, and a lot of freshmen are going to(have to)be getting PT. If you're a star, that doesn't sound great. The TS projection of good things to come(and not coming) may be driving a lot of this?

 

[Kinkyfish]

Yeah , "fire Underwood", is the last thing we should be thinking now.

Light a fire u der his butt…maybe.

 

[CoachHooleyHoo]

I want to say that I am super thankful for the insders and them passing along the info they have available at that moment in time. I believe the info they pass along is accurate at the time, but we all know recruiting is just wild these days.

The only issue I have is that from the beginning there was an overselling of how amazing this roster is guaranteed to be by the time everything shakes out. Yuri is a massive downgrade to RayJ & if TSJ or CH stays in the draft, this roster would be very meh, in my opinion. Guess it's possible to fill in some of those gaps, but there's no way that was the intention with saying that we'd all be elated at the end of this crazy period of recruiting.

 

[Illynois]

I’ll just say this … Missing on RayJ and not landing a Yuri type player as a plan B … The seat would be quite warm …

We’re investing a crap ton of money and have had ZERO post season success … There’s no way around that …

If you’re a top 10 paid coach … You better find the 2nd weekend more often than 0/6 …

Sean Miller took a group of guys that Travis Steele couldn’t make the tournament with in 4 years … Added a kid from UTEP and went to the 2nd weekend …

Brad has had plenty of time … He’s got a ton of money to recruit with … It’s time to see post season results in many boosters eyes and Josh’s eyes …

Can we blame them for this sentiment? It's time to get to the S16 and this PG recruitment looms large for this program in achieving that. Feel the backlash here is a result of knowing this team can be deep, talented, and experienced next year to finally find some tourny success if we had a guy like Rayj in addition to TSJ coming back. Not having a veteran pg, whoever it is, is an easy way to have a quick exit in the tourny(s) as we found out first hand last year.

 

[ChiefGritty]

The only issue I have is that from the beginning there was an overselling of how amazing this roster is guaranteed to be by the time everything shakes out.

Careful observers will note that there were some initial comments dismissing RayJ as someone not as good as the "real" players we were after.

And lets be real, if it were claimed that we backed off RayJ for some fake reasons, it would be accepted as gospel.

It's gotten kinda weird around here, is what I'm saying.

 

[john1952]

So when will a decision come? According to Davis Moseley of The Michigan Insider, it should come soon, maybe as soon as this weekend, although he also reported that a decision could be tied to Terrance Shannon.Shannon is deciding to stay in the NBA draft or return to Illinois. It’s hard to know if his going back would be a positive for Illinois or a negative. Either way, Dennis would have a big role at Michigan and a chance to be the lead guy.
Dennis has been crystal balled to Illinois but that was weeks ago now and a commitment still hasn’t followed. Illinois would probably be my bet, but there are a few reasons to think Michigan basketball could win out. FanSided 5/21

“I just had to stick to my list of things I was looking for and what were really important to me,” Dennis said. “I’m excited to see and experience what’s next for me. I’ve been blessed, and I don’t take it for granted, but it’s another step in the journey.” A decision from Dennis is expected very soon. “Any day now,” Dennis
said late Monday night of a decision. RayJ 5/23 Chicato Sun Time


s

 

[skyIdub]

Careful observers will note that there were some initial comments dismissing RayJ as someone not as good as the "real" players we were after.

And lets be real, if it were claimed that we backed off RayJ for some fake reasons, it would be accepted as gospel.

It's gotten kinda weird around here, is what I'm saying.

"Gotten kinda weird.."?

 

[nichi]

So are we all just supposed to ignore that you guys have said nothing but RayJ for 2 months & be happy that we lost out on a lock. Like hey let’s post some pictures of Yuri Collins like nothing happened lol…. would love to have Yuri FWIW but way too soon for this….

Yeah. We're entitled to accurate information.

 

[Mojoman]

I want to say that I am super thankful for the insders and them passing along the info they have available at that moment in time. I believe the info they pass along is accurate at the time, but we all know recruiting is just wild these days.

The only issue I have is that from the beginning there was an overselling of how amazing this roster is guaranteed to be by the time everything shakes out. Yuri is a massive downgrade to RayJ & if TSJ or CH stays in the draft, this roster would be very meh, in my opinion. Guess it's possible to fill in some of those gaps, but there's no way that was the intention with saying that we'd all be elated at the end of this crazy period of recruiting.

I don't think it is valid to say that Yuri is a massive downgrade from Dennis. Different players. Both would be huge upgrade from not having anybody this past year who could run a team or basic PnR set.


And if TSJ and CH stay in draft we will get more players to fill their spots.

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

If I had to guess(I have absolutely no inside knowledge or clue how these inside the office deals work)....I'd say that there's some kind of smoke about neither TJ nor CH coming back. If that's the case, we're an extremely borderline tournament team. We're a bubble team, at best, and a lot of freshmen are going to(have to)be getting PT. If you're a star, that doesn't sound great. The TS projection of good things to come(and not coming) may be driving a lot of this?

You don’t go 2/3 with TJ, Coleman, and RayJ/Yuri then this team won’t sniff the tourney …