I’m so over this whole brand new team every year thing. Obviously elite eight is great but they are gonna need teams every year to keep my interest in this environment. Four new transfers every year is just boring.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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Watched ND's loss to Wake Forest in the ACC tournament tonight and took a few notes on Booth, plus looked at some stats, figured I'd share
Pros:
• Generally a good defender in PnRs who shuffles his feet very well. Makes mistakes here and there that you'd expect for a freshman, but overall seems engaged, head on a swivel, paying attention. He has good tools defensively and plays with energy on that end. Body type reminds me of a Jaden McDaniels kind of guy. He can switch onto guards effectively and hold his own fairly well. ND traps the post a lot so he’s accustomed to paying attention to when he needs to trap and rotate. He's effective at using his long legs to cover a lot of ground defensively, which helps him with stunting and recovering and covering perimeter players.
• Shot 18-47 (38.3%) on unguarded catch-and-shoot 3s, so there's some evidence to suggest he could knock down shots better with better ball movement and guards getting him in position. Noticed some examples on film of him being open and teammates not finding him.
• He seems to be a pretty confident shooter. Doesn't usually hesitate, has good range. Ideal scenario is he keeps that confidence and improves accuracy.
Cons:
• Doesn’t seem to have much of a handle. Certainly not confident dribbling in half court settings unless it’s a straightforward straight-line drive. Very reluctant to catch and go off dRebs. Of course, it can be tough to say how much of this is him not having a handle vs. that just not being his role and Shrews not wanting him to dribble it. But by the same token, if he was a great ballhandler, Shrews would encourage him to dribble.
• Seeming lack of a handle and passing vision make him a pretty one-dimensional offensive player, at the moment. He hangs out around the arc, catches and shoots or attacks closeouts with a straight line drive, doesn't seem to have a ton of creativity when he drives. Think the game needs to slow down for him a little bit. He'll obviously need to shoot a hell of a lot better than 29.7% from 3 to be effective as a stretch 4.
• He shot 6-26 in transition last season. Yuck. 3-17 of them were 3s at least, so not like he's missing layups. You'd think a guy with his tools would get out and run more, but that's not ND's style, so can't pin that on him.
• He only took 20 shots as a roll man all year but went 4-16 on those shots.
Notes are pretty much only based on that one game; hoping to watch more film to get a more well-rounded understanding of him as a player
Pros:
• Generally a good defender in PnRs who shuffles his feet very well. Makes mistakes here and there that you'd expect for a freshman, but overall seems engaged, head on a swivel, paying attention. He has good tools defensively and plays with energy on that end. Body type reminds me of a Jaden McDaniels kind of guy. He can switch onto guards effectively and hold his own fairly well. ND traps the post a lot so he’s accustomed to paying attention to when he needs to trap and rotate. He's effective at using his long legs to cover a lot of ground defensively, which helps him with stunting and recovering and covering perimeter players.
• Shot 18-47 (38.3%) on unguarded catch-and-shoot 3s, so there's some evidence to suggest he could knock down shots better with better ball movement and guards getting him in position. Noticed some examples on film of him being open and teammates not finding him.
• He seems to be a pretty confident shooter. Doesn't usually hesitate, has good range. Ideal scenario is he keeps that confidence and improves accuracy.
Cons:
• Doesn’t seem to have much of a handle. Certainly not confident dribbling in half court settings unless it’s a straightforward straight-line drive. Very reluctant to catch and go off dRebs. Of course, it can be tough to say how much of this is him not having a handle vs. that just not being his role and Shrews not wanting him to dribble it. But by the same token, if he was a great ballhandler, Shrews would encourage him to dribble.
• Seeming lack of a handle and passing vision make him a pretty one-dimensional offensive player, at the moment. He hangs out around the arc, catches and shoots or attacks closeouts with a straight line drive, doesn't seem to have a ton of creativity when he drives. Think the game needs to slow down for him a little bit. He'll obviously need to shoot a hell of a lot better than 29.7% from 3 to be effective as a stretch 4.
• He shot 6-26 in transition last season. Yuck. 3-17 of them were 3s at least, so not like he's missing layups. You'd think a guy with his tools would get out and run more, but that's not ND's style, so can't pin that on him.
• He only took 20 shots as a roll man all year but went 4-16 on those shots.
Notes are pretty much only based on that one game; hoping to watch more film to get a more well-rounded understanding of him as a player
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That would be awfully hard to say since we've never seen Morez (He was voted Mr. Basketball for Illinois) play. Don't know what his strength and weaknesses are. Booth obviously needs a good deal of time with Fletch, as does incoming frosh Jakstys. Fletch will be a busy boy this summer and fall. But I'm sure glad to know Booth is headed our way, and we've got him 3 years.
Could be the norm rather than the exception
All it takes is few graduating seniors, a few transfers exhausting their eligibility, a player leaving early to try pro ball, and two or three players entering the portal seeking $$$$ pastures or more playing time.
DewLou said:
Maybe it's just me but these young men are really overreaching. Asking $1M - $1.2M, getting crazy.
"Drop in bucket"
More Contracts
According to a ESPN’s Darren Rovell, the top six largest college shoe and apparel deals are:UCLA & Under Armour: 15 years, $280 million
Ohio State & Nike: 15 years, $252 million
Texas & Nike: 15 years, $250 million
Kansas & Adidas: 14 years, $191 million
Michigan & Nike: 15 years, $173.8 million
Louisville & Adidas: 10 years, $160 million
English is harderer!
| RANK | HEAD COACH | SCHOOL | TOTAL PAY (2023-24) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bill Self | Kansas | $9.6 million |
| 2 | John Calipari | Kentucky | $8.5 million |
| 3 | Tom Izzo | Michigan St. | $6.2 million |
| 4 | Bruce Peal | Auburn | $5.7 million |
| 5 | Rick Barnes | Tennessee | $5.7 million |
| 6 | Scott Drew | Baylor | $5.1 million |
| 7 | Dan Hurley | UConn | $5 million |
| 8 | Brad Underwood | Illinois | $4.7 million |
| 9 | Kelvin Sampson | Houston | $4.6 million |
| 10 | Nate Oats | Alabama | $4.5 million |
More than just IQ, Amani was a dawg. Add in Harris and that is a lot of tenacity that I think we will miss over the next 3 years.
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