Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

[TheodoreRex]

My only comment about current situation. I know at least 3-4 big donors that say they are done if Hamer and Tyler are not gone or have GREATLY diminished roles.

I was told some time ago that Brad was open to that happening. Now comes the crap or get off the toilet time for Brad.

Seems like his slowness is costing us- see Tre...

 

[Mr. Roberts]

Does his dad want him to shoot 3s?

He shot one three in his high school career. He missed. So I'd say no.

He shot 80% for his high school career. All dunks against 6' 4" opponents in rural Indiana.

 

[BBIQ]

Tre wanted to stay … Tre would’ve stayed if certain things were done (NOT $$$ related) …

Brad unwilling to make changes … Here we are …

In terms of the ridiculous comment … I agree … See my note below …

What kind of changes?

 

[illini011]

My only comment about current situation. I know at least 3-4 big donors that say they are done if Hamer and Tyler are not gone or have GREATLY diminished roles.

I was told some time ago that Brad was open to that happening. Now comes the crap or get off the toilet time for Brad.

Good. As it should be. They need to try to force him to make it happen.

 

[One Man Fast Break]

This is a powder keg about to explode. One bad season because of misses and busts and the quality transfer train stops immediately. Then with lack of retention and development, it’s all over.

 

[ChiefGritty]

Again, what talent has been driven away that has had more success elsewhere? Dain and Podz are the only two, and both took steps down in class to do so.

Jalen Coleman-Lands, Mark Smith, Alan Griffin, Adam Miller, Jayden Epps, Skyy Clark, Sencire Harris, Amani Hansberry, Coleman Hawkins and Luke Goode were all productive high-major players after leaving Illinois under BU. And there were a few that flashed at lower levels too, Te'Jon Lucas, Tevian Jones, etc.

Of the army platoon of outgoing transfers under BU, the only one where you say "we cut bait in the nick of time" was sadly Andre Curbelo.

Underwood has always rebounded and added more great players over and over and over again, the inflow of talent has never stopped and I don't expect it to. But he has also created a program with an "easy come, easy go" culture, and once that's baked into the cake, you can't turn it off on a case-by-case basis, that is what we're seeing.

 

[illinifan1971]

Stupid and needs to be deleted

 

[RabidDawgClassic]

You're moving the goal posts. I don't think being more successful is relevant to my statement. Talent = we wanted them and had a role for them. If they're opting to move on because they have an issue with a junior staff member that no amount of money can resolve, that's an issue the head coach and AD need to untangle, starting by straightening out the staff.

An assistant coach is not a junior staff member. And if players have issues with the coaches and either want changes or they’ll leave, they had better make sure their actual talent lines up with what they perceive it to be. So far, the list is littered with talent that thought they could perform better elsewhere. Only Podz has far exceeded his Illini performance. Dain performed roughly the same, but with more playing time against lesser opponents. I’ll even grant that Goode grew in leadership and free throw shooting. But he played on a losing team.

So far, Brad and his staff have put these players in winning position — as a team. We haven’t lost many players who have proven they’re better off performance wise in other systems.

 

[ChiTownIllini23]

They went to those teams because the good teams didnt want them foe the role they wanted. Some have publicly said they regret leaving. They have to want to stay in order to be kept and developed.

What went wrong in the process though? Sure players are moving constantly the last few years, but doesn’t change the fact that Illinois is near the top in the number of transfers.

Did we fail to develop incoming recruits where 3rd or 4th year transfers are being sought after? Did we recruit bad players that good team didn’t want? Or did we underutilized/miscast players and other teams are willing to “throw bags” at them and think they can do more with them. Did we not build enough culture and rapport with players where it became an easy decision to jump for greener grass?

In any of those cases it’s doesn’t look well for this coaching staff.

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

My only comment about current situation. I know at least 3-4 big donors that say they are done if Hamer and Tyler are not gone or have GREATLY diminished roles.

I was told some time ago that Brad was open to that happening. Now comes the crap or get off the toilet time for Brad.

Can confirm …

 

[RabidDawgClassic]

Jalen Coleman-Lands, Mark Smith, Alan Griffin, Adam Miller, Jayden Epps, Skyy Clark, Sencire Harris, Amani Hansberry, Coleman Hawkins and Luke Goode were all productive high-major players after leaving Illinois under BU. And there were a few that flashed at lower levels too, Te'Jon Lucas, Tevian Jones, etc.

Of the army platoon of outgoing transfers under BU, the only one where you say "we cut bait in the nick of time" was sadly Andre Curbelo.

Underwood has always rebounded and added more great players over and over and over again, the inflow of talent has never stopped and I don't expect it to. But he has also created a program with an "easy come, easy go" culture, and once that's baked into the cake, you can't turn it off on a case-by-case basis, that is what we're seeing.

Oh dear god… how many of those actually improved their performance to a level they perceived themselves to be at? How many have been part of winning programs? Only JCL had tournament success and it took him 6 years and four transfers to get there while riding the bench.

 

[Tacomallini]

I'm going to make this comment, then I'm going to keep it at basketball.

Anyone getting upset with BU or these players are short-sighted, lack the ability to put themselves in someone other's shoes, have no financial skills management and put their own need to be entertained up against life's reality.

There are VERY few of these guys that will play in the NBA and make millions. When you take ALL of the transfers into consideration, we're talking about less than 1%.

Now, let's just be honest. Our players didn't come here for an engineering or finance degree. Players aren't going to Michigan for a law degree. The value of the scholarship being the driver of a great education and job placement for life after basketball is really more of a focal at the mid major level and obviously some at the high major level, who don't play. Those guys aren't getting a bunch of money thrown at them and they are fully aware that the value of the degree matters.

A LOT of these guys have a four year earning period, which sets them up and gets them off to a good life start. There is not ONE parent here that if school X offered $750,000, but school Y offered $2,000,000 wouldn't be sending their kid to school Y. Not one, so quit the hypocritical BS. If Morez can put $6,000,000 in the bank over the next three years versus $2,250,000.....he would be an idiot not to do it.

People want to bury Brad, bury the player's loyalty and come up with the offensive game plan being THE driving force. Is it a consideration because they feel that a different offense enhances their chances at getting to the NBA? Absolutely, but that's all things(money) being equal.

How many people actually believe that guys like KJ, TI, Riley, etc. had dreams of leaving beautiful areas of the world to live in central Illinois for 2 years? That's ridiculous and obviously not the case. It's money and it's the promise to be the focus to get to the NBA in one year. You don't think our offense, which gave everyone the green light to shoot the ball(NBA offense), was a huge recruiting tool? Of course it was.

Does anyone really believe that Sarr wouldn't want to come here to enjoy the scent of the south farms? No, he'd come here for a major payday and a green light to launch.

Morez, is making a ton of money and will be given the chance to square up and let it fly. That's his one and only shot to ever be sniffed by a pro team. That said, does everything remember how we had no depth on the paint? We had Ben as a big coming off the bench. That wasn't good for anybody. Knowing that and getting information that our only physical big wants to play outside of the paint.....nobody sees that as a problem? Morez's biggest value to our roster was staying in the lane, getting offensive rebounds, keeping plays alive and finishing with putbacks. He doesn't want to do that anymore. Well, that does us NO good and weakens what we had. At that point, why not just bring Ty back at half the price?

Some(not close to all) of the people here need to grow up and think things through before saying ridiculous things. The portal rules and NIL is what it is. It's driven by money and guys who have a four year window to max out on profits.....unless they have some family wealth, they'd be absolutely stupid to not start a bidding war. These coaches know this and have to cover their butts.

Brad is going to put a good team together by ripping off another team's players, that fix gaps and are comfortable in roles. That's why bringing Ben back makes sense. If he's cool being 3rd off the bench, that's a perfect fit. If we're at a point where he's starting, it's a failure.

It's easy to be fans and play with someone else's money and their dreams. It's also easy to sit back and criticize the coach for not agreeing to everything every player wants.

Step off the ledge, take the fan hat off and quit acting like ANYONE here can put themselves in the players and coaches positions. It's easy to sit in the cheap seats and criticize when the millions aren't underneath your noses.

 

[LasVegasIllini]

Rumors are that Tyler Underwood is calling the shots on who stays and who goes. Tyler needs shooters at all 5 positions for his offense to work. If this is true things are worse than I thought they were. Tyler Underwood has to go. Brad Underwood has given up and his just collecting a check. Josh Whitman needs to step in. We the fanbase and donors need to encourage Josh to step in. Josh Whitman is Brad’s Boss .

 

[JKR]

JW should make a policy against this moving forward

Well, the university already has a nepotism policy which, I assume, was followed here:

Employment of Relatives – Campus Administrative Manual

cam.illinois.edu

Hiring an immediate family member within the same unit through a non-competitive or conflicted search process is strongly discouraged, and the hire might not be approved by the appropriate HR office.

 

[phats22]

 

[IlliniFan42]

Jalen Coleman-Lands, Mark Smith, Alan Griffin, Adam Miller, Jayden Epps, Skyy Clark, Sencire Harris, Amani Hansberry, Coleman Hawkins and Luke Goode were all productive high-major players after leaving Illinois under BU. And there were a few that flashed at lower levels too, Te'Jon Lucas, Tevian Jones, etc.

Of the army platoon of outgoing transfers under BU, the only one where you say "we cut bait in the nick of time" was sadly Andre Curbelo.

Underwood has always rebounded and added more great players over and over and over again, the inflow of talent has never stopped and I don't expect it to. But he has also created a program with an "easy come, easy go" culture, and once that's baked into the cake, you can't turn it off on a case-by-case basis, that is what we're seeing.

This is why I include transferring to a successful program in my criteria. There's a common phenomenon in sports where guys produce when there's no pressure. Even if they don't outright intend to join losing teams, they somehow almost all find a way.

 

[RabidDawgClassic]

And here’s where Brad earns his money… navigating narcissistic donors who feel their money grants them more than just routine access to the program. It’s as if they get their feelings hurt if Brad doesn’t take orders from them.

 

[foby]

One word. Agents. That's the post.

You forget about them until you turn the lights on. Oh wait, that's cockroaches.......my bad.

 

[80'sIllini]

He had a whole summer and fall prior to the start of the season with Fletch yet it looked like he's never seen a weight room.

That is a possibility. Give him a year with Fletch and a role coming off the bench and I’m ok with thHe

 

[Illiniindian]

This is how fans feel about our women's team. We watched the core grow and succeed over the past years. Some of those graduating this year were given opportunities to transfer but they remained loyal. KB, Adalia, Mikira, Genesis and Brynn. I think we will remember them. I also think Berry, Jasmine, Gretchen and Cori understand that they need to carry on the identity established these past three years. We may well have a transfer or two and I know the staff is looking to fill certain positions through the portal. You may say players remain loyal because they are not being tempted to transfer by large offers. On the other hand I feel Coach Green and her staff earn the loyalty and support of their players. They want to stay. I pray we can maintain this in the women's program so I have one basketball team that will continue to have my loyalty.

I am buying season tickets next year. The women were every bit as enjoyable as watching the men and much more fun to root for..

 

[ChiefGritty]

This is why I include transferring to a successful program in my criteria. There's a common phenomenon in sports where guys produce when there's no pressure. Even if they don't outright intend to join losing teams, they somehow almost all find a way.

Oh dear god… how many of those actually improved their performance to a level they perceived themselves to be at? How many have been part of winning programs? Only JCL had tournament success and it took him 6 years and four transfers to get there while riding the bench.

Perfectly fair points, but why then does the same logic not apply to Morez and Tre White?

 

[thefalcon5]

Closing in on two bigs, should be getting a commitment from one somewhat soon.

I’m sorry, I’m only here for bad news and doom and gloom.

 

[WyattEarp]

You forget about them until you turn the lights on. Oh wait, that's cockroaches.......my bad.

One in the same.

 

[cookie86]

Why does everyone want Tyler gone? He runs the offense- they’ve had a top offense in the country the last two years.

 

[ILL21]

I have been an Illini fan for 20+ years and I am an alum but this off season drama every year is starting to really wear me out. I’m starting to be convinced, the university of Illinois basketball program is just not destined to have nice things. Henson brings us to national powerhouse status and the Deon Thomas situation occurs, then Lon Kruger comes and rights the ship only to leave for a terrible NBA job, then Bill Self elevates the program but UNCs dumpster fire dominos to affect our program for the next 15+ years then we get underwood who takes us to an elite 8 but hires his son, pisses off one of the most plugged in assistants in. Chicago and now can’t keep a roster for longer than 1 season. Did I miss anything? Exhausting.