Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#1,777      
sacraig
Heisenbobble said:
Rumors that some Illinois players have issues with Tyler. Nothing concrete. No examples given. But it's out there.
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He's a recently-graduated former player occupying a position he didn't really earn by virtue of being the coach's son. What's not to like?

Honestly, his offensive scheme has been decent or better most of the time. But the whole situation still stinks.
 
#1,778      
IlliniFan42
Chief84 said:
You don’t think he will try and make the leap to the NBA, with his early 2nd round projection?
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He needs to hear from at least one (but preferably several) teams that they will take him if he's available. Nowadays NIL is high enough that you shouldn't risk leaving without a team's firm commitment if you're a projected second rounder. Even then, it'd be best if he negotiates now that his contract would be guaranteed should he go that route.
 
#1,779      
grue2
nyc_illini said:
Don't hate the player (or the coach in this case), hate the game.

I think it's simple. We need more NILs. More $$$. And I am not being sarcastic. I know insiders have said we have top 10ish NIL in the country. But what's the actual gap between us and the top spenders? Fundamentally, all of our recruiting pains in the portal/NIL era can be attributed to a mismatch between our ambitions and our wallet size. We try so hard to optimize the roster given the constraint of our wallet (limited) and the constraint of our ambition (very high). All the struggling originates from this optimization problem. You can solve it more easily by either increasing our wallet or lowering our ambition. We clearly don't want the latter. So more money it is.
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I'll put forth a radically different view. *Getting into a flame retardant hazmat suit and triple checking all seals.*

I'd like to see us go with the Bo Ryan strategy. Recruit team players. Run a system that doesn't require extreme athletes. Get old and stay old. Execute as a team. Don't make mistakes. Those WI teams finished near the top of the league (top 4?) every year, made the S16 about 50% the time and the E8 25% of the time. I'm more than okay with that. I'd rather watch the UIUC BB team than this years collection of mercenaries. If a player comes up through the ranks and became a star, we can look for some money to try and keep them.

What is the players incentive (including possibly higher ranked players)? We develop players. We spend the money on a solid staff instead of throwing it at NIL.

From the other side, I can't blame the players for taking the bags as the bags pass. Few of them will ever make the current NIL level money as a pro. This is their life altering payout.

Once the NIL playing field stabilizes -- congressional ruling, or NIL rule changes -- I'd take another look.
 
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#1,783      
jumpingjack
zoiks said:
If Morez Johnson can get paid more elsewhere, then he should leave and would be crazy not to do so. The only exception to that rule would be players that are locks to be NBA draft lottery picks. Those players could accept less money to play for a school with a coaching staff that has a history of churning out players that have success in the NBA. Anyone suggesting players shouldn’t try to maximize their pay for the few years they’re able to do so are crazy. All of the talk about loyalty and assistant coaches is nonsense.
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Yeah, we've never lost players to the portal when the guy who recruited them came calling...
Sorry, checking my notes, this will make FOUR highly ranked freshmen in TWO years who've bounced specifically to follow the key recruiter who brought them here.
 
#1,785      
doowink
illinifan1971 said:
You got to admit this is fun. You never know wtf is going to happen from year to year. Free agency at its best! It's all about the money!
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I’m not going to admit that at all…losing one of your best players to the portal…a player that has been committed to this university since his sophomore year in high school…Really don’t see the fun or humor in this…I really really don’t!
 
#1,788      
champaignpak
the people here seem more loyal to Morez?!? than the program and the guy heading it. People do know the offer for will is in the 2 million plus ball park right, why would we offer that to Morez, theyre lightyears apart. The only strategy from now on should be transfers and one and dones. Basically avoid recruiting highschool kids unless they're nba guys
 
#1,791      
illinifan1987
It's almost like you're saying "No offense... LvilleILL1, illini0440, DB11Headband, and others...but you're not Indy" 😲

/s
 
#1,792      
ChiIllini75
sacraig said:
He's a recently-graduated former player occupying a position he didn't really earn by virtue of being the coach's son. What's not to like?

Honestly, his offensive scheme has been decent or better most of the time. But the whole situation still stinks.
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Agree, but it certainly sounds like he alienated a few players who didn't fit cleanly into his approach this year. Seems like that is why Hum got such a long rope, he theoretically made more sense in the offense TU wanted to play.

I think back to watching Fears and Morez play for Team USA in the summer and left pretty bummed that neither was here long enough (or at all) to make a real impact on the program.
 
#1,793      
jumpingjack
champaignpak said:
the people here seem more loyal to Morez?!? than the program and the guy heading it. People do know the offer for will is in the 2 million plus ball park right, why would we offer that to Morez, theyre lightyears apart. The only strategy from now on should be transfers and one and dones. Basically avoid recruiting highschool kids unless they're nba guys
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I'm sure that'll make for fantastic locker room chemistry and not at all diminish the product on the floor.
/s
 
#1,796      
TheodoreRex
Yep, and Underwood did the exact same thing to Ty.. Pretty much guaranteed him a starting job almost all offseason... Then brings in Tre- and has a conversation with Ty about how they don't know exactly what his role will be and they can't guarantee him anything. They completely pulled the rug out from under him.

All so they could run the garbage 5 out with pace and space- even though the guy that took many of those minutes was a dude that was criminally over paid and played.
 
#1,798      
Chief Stooge
DB11Headband said:
If Brad Underwood plays Morez as much as he should have played, none of this happens. Period. That is on the coaching and staff. Anyone else arguing otherwise needs to wake up.

Why should players show loyalty when coaches and programs don't, especially a program who has shown they will never hesitate to replace incumbents if they think they can "upgrade". Future promises be damned-those are just words. What would inhibit Brad from treating Morez's playing time the exact same way in '25/'26 as he did this szn?

Morez was insulted by Ben playing over him. That (plus the bag he is about to get) is ultimately what drove him away. And I don't fault him 0%, as much as it sucks and as awesome as I know he is going to be at his next stop.

Who's got the Tylenol?
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We need something a lot stronger than tylenol, brother
 
#1,799      
CleverHandle1
Schools can not offer two-year NIL deals, can they? And I guess, why would a player take that deal especially if they have a great year. Move on.
 
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