Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

[WyattEarp]

My only concern about picking up Coward is that Pru might be triggered. It really, really is.

It would seem Coward is not an actual coward; whereas the one we call coward is very much a coward…
I’m wondering though, if we threw in: another 25k, a Samsung, and some Orville Redenbacher…maybe we could get him to change his last name.

He’s gotta be tired of it, right. Think of the
wisecracking he’s had to endure. It’s like a boy named Sue-I would imagine. (Maybe that’s why he’s a badass?)

But you know… We all need a fresh start from time to time. I mean why not?

 

[More3s]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1789065368935268407

Seems a bit odd that dad would be giving any attention at all to this if it was completely off the table. But what do I know. Caught my eye, though.

I don’t really have an opinion on whether I actually think it’d be a good idea.

 

[pruman91]

My only concern about picking up Coward is that Pru might be triggered. It really, really is.

Doubtful , unless he starts slapping our AC's around......

 

[Trueblue777]

Like giving a crystal ball to Illinois for Ray J

 

[ever]

I think last year wasn't as much about who we brought in but who we brought back. Domask ended up being a diamond in the rough, but QG and especially Harmon were hit or miss as transfers.

I'm going to follow close as heck and cheer my arse off of course, but I'm not expecting anything like this past year given all the additions and subtractions.

I agree, except I wouldn't call Domask a diamond in the rough. There was some uncertainty about how his results would translate to competition, but he had fairly high efficiency on high volume at SIU. His shooting percentages were in fact a bit worse with us, but probably close enough to consider it a slight improvement given the competition.

 

[genxrex]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1789065368935268407

Seems a bit odd that dad would be giving any attention at all to this if it was completely off the table. But what do I know. Caught my eye, though.

I don’t really have an opinion on whether I actually think it’d be a good idea.

Right, he was also eyeballing speculation his son could get 20 min this year. Guess he's just supporting the gas for his kid, but it's helping fuel the reclass fire.

 

[BretMyBeachHouse]

This isn't really accurate. Whether guys are coming in from the portal or from your team last year doesn't really change the monetary equation much. You've got to pay your current players market rate or you're going to lose them.

The figure to look at (which literally NO ONE can) is the total NIL payroll for a team. Our insiders claim we were top 10 entering this portal period. I definitely doubt that's the spot we're sitting in now.

 

[therealmiket86]

For those in the know, is there any way possible that Cam Christie, when/if he withdraws from the Draft, would consider transferring to Illinois? I honestly think that he would improve his game a lot as a player in one year at Illinois, while also improving his positioning/ranking for the 2025 Draft. But I wonder if Illinois could win a monetary competition for his services....

Not happening

 

[hoopsfan47]

This is so exaggerated. We zero'd in on a quality PG, C, and PF and got all three (Boswell, Ivisec, and Humichrous). I doubt any of the three were cheap. We also got two forwards with some talent in Booth and White.

Yes we have a huge hole at SG (unless DGL makes a gigantic leap), but we're not done yet.

I do agree that we seem to have over-rated our NIL wealth vis-a-vis other programs. But all in all, this has been a pretty successful portal campaign, and we will likely add at least one more guy.

And no mention of Jake Davis who may be the best shooter on the team? Love guys with quick elevation and quick release. Generally, they can score against anyone...like Plummer. He is also a half foot taller than Plummer and we all liked him when he hit those much needed triples.

 

[strobes77]

The thing about a talent like Fears, is the sooner he gets through college and qualifies for the draft, he gets a year closer to contracts and extensions. That’s a lot of money if you are can’t miss.

 

[Wazababybrucedouglaskid]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1789065368935268407

Seems a bit odd that dad would be giving any attention at all to this if it was completely off the table. But what do I know. Caught my eye, though.

I don’t really have an opinion on whether I actually think it’d be a good idea.

In the pre portal days if you could have that projected squad with that height and skill you would be looking at multiple final 4 runs! Man things have changed!

 

[ChiefGritty]

The thing about a talent like Fears, is the sooner he gets through college and qualifies for the draft, he gets a year closer to contracts and extensions. That’s a lot of money if you are can’t miss.

Unless he's unusually old for his HS class, the NBA age limit will still keep him draft ineligible until 2026.

Jayden Quaintance is an example, he is going to play college basketball this year, but he's too young to be a one-and-done.

 

[phats22]

Putting aside the comparison, why shouldn't we expect to rinse and repeat the same thing that has happened every time Illinois zeroes in on a high-impact player?

1. Signs are positive
2. Signs are positive
3. Signs are positive
4. Other teams might be involved but Illinois is in a good spot
5. Watkins is asking for too much money! We'll get someone else
6. Watkins goes elsewhere
7. Repeat steps 1-6 for someone new

The market is crazy and Illinois does not appear to have the money to measure up, at least as far as elite talent is concerned.

??? our starting center next year literally is already a professional bball player...

 

[I lost Kofi's blue binder]

...our starting center next year literally is already a professional bball player.

Great! So was Aday Mara, and he was terrible last season. Hard to say how Ivisic will translate…hopefully well. Which is something of a theme with this roster full of complementary pieces. Lots of hope, not a ton of concrete success to draw on.

It has been interesting to watch the takes change over time. Tre White—who was fine for a toxic and very bad Louisville team last year—had his Loyalty stock change from “seventh or eighth man” to “excellent starter” in a matter of a few weeks as Storr, Jones, etc. didn’t work out. I respect the inclination to be positive, I just don’t see it myself.

As I’ve said a few times, a roster with nothing but third options has a low ceiling. This looks like a 10-seed unless someone(s) makes a Keegan Murray kind of leap.

 

[IlliniReb]

There's truth in this, but it also seems like we held back from doing what it would take to land Storr because we incorrectly thought the price would wind up seeming unreasonable relative to other players.

We DO have a lot of money. Not as dominant relative to our peers as we hoped, but we're not a minnow in this thing by any means, imagine being Seton Hall or Minnesota.

That perceived market dominance made us a bit overconfident in letting some of our existing structure walk away.

But really, we're one last nice pickup away from looking pretty darned good here, all is far from lost. We just need to really take the lessons of this process to heart going forward.

Who are you and what have you done with Gritty?

 

[phats22]

Great! So was Aday Mara, and he was terrible last season. Hard to say how Ivisic will translate…hopefully well. Which is something of a theme with this roster full of complementary pieces. Lots of hope, not a ton of concrete success to draw on.

It has been interesting to watch the takes change over time. Tre White—who was fine for a toxic and very bad Louisville team last year—had his Loyalty stock change from “seventh or eighth man” to “excellent starter” in a matter of a few weeks as Storr, Jones, etc. didn’t work out. I respect the inclination to be positive, I just don’t see it myself.

As I’ve said a few times, a roster with nothing but third options has a low ceiling. This looks like a 10-seed unless someone(s) makes a Keegan Murray kind of leap.

Great! should i find a different international player that had a great year last season? or what about other highly ranked portal transfers that didn't pan out or vice versa (ie, Domask)?

i agree that takes change over time and tend to prop up our own but its also interesting to watch the takes change over time from pre portal season, mid portal season, after portal season and after the actual season.

the reason to be positive is based on what BU has done here as a whole. he wins, despite staff and roster turnover. he literally took over the program at its worst in terms of conference play (7 consecutive seasons without a winning conference record). last time we've been to the tourney 4 times in a row? Weber was coaching a team that was at a high point after Self was here; not picking up the pieces.

i respect your viewpoint but, in reading your initial post you'd think we were a bottom of the barrel team fighting over leftover scrapple

 

[IlliniNash]

Which player would you rather have? I think player B by a pretty good margin in my mind

Player	MIN	FG	FG%	3PT	3P%	FT	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	BLK	STL	PF	TO	PTS
A	28.8	6.0-13.8	43.4	1.3-4.2	32	3.5-4.3	81.2	1.1	2.8	3.9	0.9	0.1	0.6	1.1	1.6	16.8
B	28.2	4.8-10.5	45.7	1.0-2.9	34.4	4.9-6.2	79.5	1.5	4.5	6	2.8	0.8	1.9	2.8	2.5	15.6

I’d like to see B get his turnovers down and 3 pt. percent up after he gets to Illinois. I’d love to see him in O&B. At 6’7” just adds to the height advantage we are building.

 

[illinoispeak]

Not happening

One thing I've learned this off-season is people who deal in absolutes are frustrating and wrong about as much as they are right.

 

[BalloonsTheElephant]

Who are you and what have you done with Gritty?

This is what the fifth stage of grief looks like, acceptance.

In all seriousness though, Gritty is right. We thought we had a huge bag, but so did everyone else. Another portal misstep from Brad, but I think he has proven that he can and will adapt.

 

[FreshlySqueezed]

This doesn't seem true tbh. It really doesn't. It doesn't really seem like we haven't been able to outbid people because we're being held back by financial limitations. It seems that's the case because we've held back paying absurd totals.

It's your opinion that the totals are absurd.

If that's the going rate, it is, by definition, not absurd. Many teams are ponying up that kind of money.

 

[FreshlySqueezed]

Great! should i find a different international player that had a great year last season? or what about other highly ranked portal transfers that didn't pan out or vice versa (ie, Domask)?

i agree that takes change over time and tend to prop up our own but its also interesting to watch the takes change over time from pre portal season, mid portal season, after portal season and after the actual season.

the reason to be positive is based on what BU has done here as a whole. he wins, despite staff and roster turnover. he literally took over the program at its worst in terms of conference play (7 consecutive seasons without a winning conference record). last time we've been to the tourney 4 times in a row? Weber was coaching a team that was at a high point after Self was here; not picking up the pieces.

i respect your viewpoint but, in reading your initial post you'd think we were a bottom of the barrel team fighting over leftover scrapple

Torvik thinks we're a bottom of the barrel team in the Big Ten right now (14th).

I'm not sure what the last 4 seasons have to do with this one. We have essentially an entirely new roster, one that will need multiple players to make massive jumps in order for us to finish near the top of the conference.

 

[illinifan1987]

Not happening

 

[GatorMcKlusky]

Torvik thinks we're a bottom of the barrel team in the Big Ten right now (14th).

I'm not sure what the last 4 seasons have to do with this one. We have essentially an entirely new roster, one that will need multiple players to make massive jumps in order for us to finish near the top of the conference.

I more worried about controlling the controllables. Is this the best time for Brad to give into hubris, go into beast mode and fall back into the same mistake previous Illini coaches made, that is, the dreaded "to be the best you have to play the best" nonconference schedule? Can't our new players just get acclimated first?

 

[Keisersose]

People need to trust this staff’s player evaluation skills. We’ve signed some very good to great players.

We are going to have plenty of talent.

 

[Brosky]

And no mention of Jake Davis who may be the best shooter on the team? Love guys with quick elevation and quick release. Generally, they can score against anyone...like Plummer. He is also a half foot taller than Plummer and we all liked him when he hit those much needed triples.

I agree. We keep forgetting about Davis as well as Booth. Both of them may pleasantly surprise us. But I still want Coward and REALLY want Egor. There's a lot of smoke out there that has Egor coming to Illinois. I hope there's fire.