Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#401      
PepeSilvia
Football is constrained by the end of semester and transfers wanting to swap schools and be enrolled for spring workouts and the like but basketball should absolutely wait until after the tournament.

The tournament is over by early April so it would be incredibly easy to open the portal the day after the championship(or a week). There would plenty of time to get transferred enrolled and moved for summer classes if they needed.
 
#403      
doowink
A question for those in the know....if there have been several players already reach out to Illinois through the portal to see if there's any interest, just how does that process play out??? Is it a negotiating process much like an employer and employee (or Union) where each side pitches a proposal. Does the coaching staff say we'll get back with you (or the players agent) with a proposal (like how we see you fitting into our plans and what we're willing to pay). If so, who has the final say (from the university) in exactly what the agreement will look like???? This has to be a very lengthy and time consuming process....just wondering how the whole process plays out and how coaches balance that process with the season in progress.
 
#404      
BWA
LvilleILL1 said:
Some things the staff will have to think about if some of the rumblings are true. If you have a chance to bring Big Z in, how do you do that and keep Morez happy? Gonna be a really interesting offseason. They will do whatever it takes to retain Morez and Tomi. I think 3ish more guys outside of those two come back but I could not tell you who right now.
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If you promise that the 3 of them get all the minutes at the 4 and 5, it could easily work. Thats 26 minutes a game for each on average. That is assuming big Z can stretch and play the 4 on offense similar to Tomi
 
#405      
Future Insider
LvilleILL1 said:
Some things the staff will have to think about if some of the rumblings are true. If you have a chance to bring Big Z in, how do you do that and keep Morez happy? Gonna be a really interesting offseason. They will do whatever it takes to retain Morez and Tomi. I think 3ish more guys outside of those two come back but I could not tell you who right now.
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Until Rez can get his foul trouble under control I don’t think it’s going to be BU keeping him on the bench. Plenty of minutes for those 3.
 
#406      
PepeSilvia
BWA said:
If you promise that the 3 of them get all the minutes at the 4 and 5, it could easily work. Thats 26 minutes a game for each on average. That is assuming big Z can stretch and play the 4 on offense similar to Tomi
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To answer your question, yes big z can stretch the floor and is honestly a far more fluid and mobile athlete than Tomi.

A twin towers lineup would be really fun but I'd question if Big Z and Tomi would be playable together defensively? Can Z guard out to the perimeter?

But yes 25-26 minutes a night is plenty of playing time for a big(especially 7 footers)and rotating through them could keep them all fresh if there are no egos with someone willing to come off the bench.

It would give you two very good passers as bigs though. If you surrounded them with athleticism and shooting at guard and on the wing it could be very hard for teams to matchup.
 
#409      
Illiniguy13
PepeSilvia said:
To answer your question, yes big z can stretch the floor and is honestly a far more fluid and mobile athlete than Tomi.

A twin towers lineup would be really fun but I'd question if Big Z and Tomi would be playable together defensively? Can Z guard out to the perimeter?

But yes 25-26 minutes a night is plenty of playing time for a big(especially 7 footers)and rotating through them could keep them all fresh if there are no egos with someone willing to come off the bench.

It would give you two very good passers as bigs though. If you surrounded them with athleticism and shooting at guard and on the wing it could be very hard for teams to matchup.
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The twin towers + Morez would certainly be one of the best front courts in the country...it's very intriguing and as you mentioned, we'd be very difficult to match up against. If Morez would buy into that...it'd be fascinating
 
#411      
RimPressure
LvilleILL1 said:
Some things the staff will have to think about if some of the rumblings are true. If you have a chance to bring Big Z in, how do you do that and keep Morez happy? Gonna be a really interesting offseason. They will do whatever it takes to retain Morez and Tomi. I think 3ish more guys outside of those two come back but I could not tell you who right now.
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Wow, that would indeed be interesting. 🍿

How much worse would Big Z and/or Morez compare to guys like Ben and Tre White in terms of perimeter defense? Since those have generally been our starting 3s this year.

Offensively I would think Big Z is somewhat comparable to Ben, so in theory you could play all 3 at once possibly, at least with respect to offense. Would have to figure out a way to make the extreme size advantage you’d have make up for the defensive issues though. That might be a bridge too far. Intriguing though.

Looks like Z is only playing 20 minutes a game this year though so maybe you could convince him to come off the bench and still get 25ish minutes.
 
#414      
Scoregasm
LvilleILL1 said:
Some things the staff will have to think about if some of the rumblings are true. If you have a chance to bring Big Z in, how do you do that and keep Morez happy? Gonna be a really interesting offseason. They will do whatever it takes to retain Morez and Tomi. I think 3ish more guys outside of those two come back but I could not tell you who right now.
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You have to guarantee Morez a starting spot and +30 minutes a game.
 
#415      
OrangeKrush1981
PepeSilvia said:
Would also help to give DGL heavy minutes now imo. Dudes a competitor and the exact you of guy id want to keep.
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I am a DGL fan, and it is frustrating seeing him on the bench when we could use a warrior on the court.

Thing is, it doesn't seem like DGL fits Underwood's vision for the team: good positional size, several good-point shooters on the court, and good decision-making with the ball. DGL is a shooting guard with no PG instincts at all, and lacks the height and strength to fill the SG role that Underwood wants.
 
#416      
RimPressure
OrangeKrush1981 said:
I am a DGL fan, and it is frustrating seeing him on the bench when we could use a warrior on the court.

Thing is, it doesn't seem like DGL fits Underwood's vision for the team: good positional size, several good-point shooters on the court, and good decision-making with the ball. DGL is a shooting guard with no PG instincts at all, and lacks the height and strength to fill the SG role that Underwood wants.
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Yes I think you’re right, however I could see it working if we can land a stud larger point guard. Which I understand is not exactly a gimme, but I do think we would have a decent sell thanks to KJ this year.

You tell the guy, hey, come be an older, less turnover prone version of this and you will play 35 minutes a game, have the ball constantly and we will run pretty much everything through you. Oh and we have pretty good NIL. I would think that would be enticing.
 
#417      
DevILLDawg
LvilleILL1 said:
I mean he was playing a ton for a freshman big especially in the last month
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In this instant gratitude transfer portal...

Will that playing time have came soon enough for him? The pitch if I'm anyone else..

You were averaging 16 and 14 per 40 minutes and they continually started Ben over you when he was virtually unplayable for long stretches.
 
#418      
BalloonsTheElephant
OrangeKrush1981 said:
I am a DGL fan, and it is frustrating seeing him on the bench when we could use a warrior on the court.

Thing is, it doesn't seem like DGL fits Underwood's vision for the team: good positional size, several good-point shooters on the court, and good decision-making with the ball. DGL is a shooting guard with no PG instincts at all, and lacks the height and strength to fill the SG role that Underwood wants.
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What he lacks in size, he makes up for by being a vocal leader, always has high energy, and can score with his athleticism and speed.

We currently have a bunch of positionally tall guys that can't score and don't bring a ton of energy. There is a real need for a couple more DGL/Morez types. DGL has put in the work and it shows on the floor.

You can't have a team full of him, but you need a few.
 
#419      
RimPressure
BalloonsTheElephant said:
What he lacks in size, he makes up for by being a vocal leader, always has high energy, and can score with his athleticism and speed.

We currently have a bunch of positionally tall guys that can't score and don't bring a ton of energy. There is a real need for a couple more DGL/Morez types. DGL has put in the work and it shows on the floor.

You can't have a team full of him, but you need a few.
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Agreed, and that's why I think it's worth really trying to make it work by bringing in a bigger point guard to pair with DGL, if you can convince him to stay.
 
#420      
CoalCity
doowink said:
A question for those in the know....if there have been several players already reach out to Illinois through the portal to see if there's any interest, just how does that process play out??? Is it a negotiating process much like an employer and employee (or Union) where each side pitches a proposal. Does the coaching staff say we'll get back with you (or the players agent) with a proposal (like how we see you fitting into our plans and what we're willing to pay). If so, who has the final say (from the university) in exactly what the agreement will look like???? This has to be a very lengthy and time consuming process....just wondering how the whole process plays out and how coaches balance that process with the season in progress.
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That's why big programs are hiring General Manager types now
 
#422      
the juiceman cometh
PepeSilvia said:
To answer your question, yes big z can stretch the floor and is honestly a far more fluid and mobile athlete than Tomi.

A twin towers lineup would be really fun but I'd question if Big Z and Tomi would be playable together defensively? Can Z guard out to the perimeter?

But yes 25-26 minutes a night is plenty of playing time for a big(especially 7 footers)and rotating through them could keep them all fresh if there are no egos with someone willing to come off the bench.

It would give you two very good passers as bigs though. If you surrounded them with athleticism and shooting at guard and on the wing it could be very hard for teams to matchup.
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I haven't watched a ton of him but my understanding is he is a better defender overall, and particularly a better rim protector, than Tomi, which is why he is almost universally higher on draft boards, but not great defending the perimeter. To be fair though, I don't think Rez is great defending the perimeter either.
 
#424      
OrangeKrush1981
BalloonsTheElephant said:
What he [DGL] lacks in size, he makes up for by being a vocal leader, always has high energy, and can score with his athleticism and speed.

We currently have a bunch of positionally tall guys that can't score and don't bring a ton of energy. There is a real need for a couple more DGL/Morez types. DGL has put in the work and it shows on the floor.

You can't have a team full of him, but you need a few.
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I'm with you on all of your points. But Underwood is the guy that needs to be convinced about them.

My suggestion in the earlier post was that DGL probably does not play as much as many of us here would like because Underwood has a different vision in mind (positional size, good three-point shooting for spacing purposes; which is a fine strategic vision, in fact).

If Underwood continues to pursue this year's vision into next year, which I believe is likely, then DGL might decide this off-season to move to one of the many programs where what he brings to the table is a really good fit. I am not going to be happy about such a move, but I will very much understand it.
 
#425      
RabidDawgClassic
ChiTown said:
Oh that time of the year already…
https://twitter.com/x/status/1891647213798928411
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