Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

[SkyysNotFalling]

 

[FloridaMan]

Nah … Brad won’t recover from this one with Josh or the boosters … Just an epic failure … Inexcusable … Could have been avoided …

Reminiscent of Groce's failures in regards to point guards. No, I'm not equating BU's recruiting to Groce, but that position has been a problem lately. Really got concerned when BU tweeted yesterday that 2/3 was the result.

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

On the plus side, this might make it less likely Brad enters his name the portal again next year. Makes it a little harder to ask for Nth extension in (N+2) years.

Lol … Brad is closer to getting fired after this than getting an extension …

Extension ??? An extension ??? You kidding me ???

 

[ChiefGritty]

So who starts at PG? Rodgers? I refuse to believe that we're going to get a grad transfer until I see it.

Someone will take our money.

The roster is non-viable at the moment. Very, very frustrating for that to be the case, still, this late in the game.

 

[One Man Fast Break]

We need a decent PG and we will get one.

yeah, just like Groce was going to get good players every time he finished in 2nd place in a recruiting battle.... the truth is good players don't just pop up like magic, at this point, there aren't real options left and you're left picking up leftovers and hoping a lotto ticket randomly pops (hey, it happens, but you should never count on it).

The mishandling of the Point Guard spot is an epic and unforgivable failure. We have nothing close to anything resembling a true point guard capable of playing at a Big Ten level on the roster and the offense and the talented player on the roster will be extremely limited as a result.

There is no spinning this one. We lost a recruiting battle that we could not afford to lose as a result of other decisions that drove players that were once members of the team away. And now we have no good option heading into next year with a roster that is otherwise filled with Seniors and Super-Seniors.

 

[zentrails]

In the chat last night Piper mentioned Colorado State's Isaiah Stevens as a possibility and his stats look very similar to RayJ's: https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4432117/isaiah-stevens

38-43% from 3 over 4 years, I'd sure take that.

 

[Kent123]

Nah … Brad won’t recover from this one with Josh or the boosters … Just an epic failure … Inexcusable … Could have been avoided …

Is this sarcasm?

 

[Nuffievanhaven]

Wow!!! This one really hurts and this is on Brad! How do we still not have a PG this late into the off season especially after going all of last year without one and needing a PG for almost a year now and PG our bigged need, and now left with picking over left over PGs!??!!? I don't get it?!?!?!

 

[redwingillini11]

Man if Josh is pissed, then I am pissed too. Brad passed up on other guys who wanted to play here for this kid and then whiffed on him? Not cool man.

 

[Cubfanbudman]

I would assume this puts A TON of pressure on Underwood to make the Sweet 16 next year.

1000%. And I'm a Brad fan and hope we can parlay this momentum even further! But he's gotta start winning when it matters most.

 

[bergd91]

Geez. A recruit chose another school that just won a national title.
Lighten up people.

We need a decent PG and we will get one.
The team is going to be better in several aspects next year.

I quite frankly believe RayJ wants to be option 1 and 1a, shooting 15x per game. Ball in hand always. He would not have been that here, Period! He needs to prove it against high level competition. He'll get that opportunity at Baylor. He would have been our 3rd or 4th option behind a 250lb Dainja. We will be fine and with our staff will have a pt. Guard facilitator. IMO

 

[Homecoming 2019]

Not meant as an anti Brad statement but Drew did just win a title. Outside of money that could be a factor I suppose?

Or maybe all the NBA draft picks he coached which means more than any amount amount of NIL$.

 

[KingWolf11]

Brad seems complacent

 

[IllinistuckinGopherland]

So no RayJ and no Collins. We're still constructed like last year's team as of now. We're a better version than last year, but where's our veteran PG? If we don't have anyone who can consistently run the offense competently, we're still an early exit in March.

Are we sure we are better?
Between Quincy, Goode (who essentially didn’t play last year), Domask, you probably have more skills than Mayer, but you only get to play one at a time to replace him.

TSJ, Hawkins, Dainja, Rodgers, Harris - hope for growth - but hard to claim roster improvement.

Clark/Epps for Harmon. Nope.

This is currently last year’s team with more depth but less pieces to make a solid starting five without Epps and Mayer.

A competent point guard changes all of that.

 

[ChiefGritty]

I'd be madder at our insiders if they weren't great posters in the non-insider sense. Keep up the good work Indy.

 

[State of Chicago]

In the chat last night Piper mentioned Colorado State's Isaiah Stevens as a possibility and his stats look very similar to RayJ's: https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4432117/isaiah-stevens

A little small for P5, but I like this as a fall back.

 

[fuddrules]

This Illinois basketball coaching crew do a solid job overall buy my goodness do they sometimes screw the pooch. At what point do they figure it out? I'm not talking hitting home runs, but when you've struggled at PG lately, hit a double and be done with it. Build off of that. Their rep is not helping them on the recruiting trail.

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

Moretti needs to get on his Podz horse and be that PG!!

I’ve seen teenage girls bigger than him … One drive against Edey and that kid would snap in half …

Dude is 6 foot and 150 soaking wet … He’s not Big Ten ready … Or really Big Ten material if you ask me …

 

[eas23]

I'm not a basketball guru, so someone put me in my place ... but if Sincere even had a passable jump shot, no one would be worrying at all!

I'm not sure there's a single aspect of Sencire's offensive game that suggests point guard besides being the height of a typical one.

 

[RabidDawgClassic]

The Denzel “Whoosh.” The opposite of a Denzel “Boom.”

 

[Illiniam1984]

Lol … Brad is closer to getting fired after this than getting an extension …

Extension ??? An extension ??? You kidding me ???

Yeah I agree with this….no excuses….if he can’t get atleast one of the 5 PG’s that wanted to come here…than there is a problem.

 

[NASchamp]

Did actually re-sign with NW? Or just announce he would come back? Maybe some extra talks?

 

[HailtotheChief]

Losing this kid is an epic failure. It was in the bag at one point and lost. With Ray J we’re a top 10 team with elite 8/FF aspirations. As the team stands today were a top 25 team and hope to make the 2nd round. A true PG makes everything run so much smoother and efficient. I expected more from the staff but still optimistic Sincere or Ty or another transfer can come in and over perform in the role of starting PG and lead us to a successful season.

I root for Harris and Ty but no way are we rolling with them at PG. They are not pgs and struggle shooting. No way Hawk and TSJ came back for that to happen. We will get another PG. Harmon would back up at PG more than Ty or Harris imo.

 

[SuperMetroid]

During this “portal season” we had 4-5 guys who wanted to come here and play PG … All of them are at P5 schools and would be better than anyone we’ll get now …

 

[chibar]

I don't doubt that the insiders relay accurate information and really appreciate that. I do, however, wonder what made the staff so confident weeks ago that this was seen as a done deal.