Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#301      
Swapping out Morez/Tre/DGL for Ty/Z/Mirk is a downgrade in athleticism. It’s not even comparable really.

Nothing you can do about Riley/KJ leaving. Fine. Which is why the last 3 guys need to be home runs.

Our team wasn’t athletic this past season. So to even get less athletic….if Ben is one of the last 3 guys we add…sorry I don’t see this team being good at all. 2 centers that want to shoot 3s and play 20 feet from the basket, 2 guards that play like power forwards, and low ranked freshmen/role players. I hope Mirk is the next Cam Krautwig, but honestly we look like a typical Northwestern/Iowa level team athletically
 
#302      
I think Malik Moore is a good offensive player but his defensive rating of 114.3 is a bit concerning, especially considering the Big Sky isn't that great. There aren't too many 2's that can shoot efficiently and play around average defense in the portal currently. Just a bit worried about our defense besides Boswell and Ty who are great athletes.

Malik Thomas of San Fran - high defense rating 97.4, shoots lower % on high volume, high FT rate, not great assist/TO, but almost 40% from 3. - Higher competition in West Coast Conf
Malik Moore - low defense rating, good shooting 45.6/40.9/82.2, better assist/TO ratio - Lower competition in Big Sky Conf

I also like Wesley Yates if he had more than 1 year of experience, his numbers are great. Rodney Rice looks good too if he wasn't being recruited to Tenn with Gillespie. Melvin Council plays great defense, great assist/TO ratio but has poor shooting % besides FT.

Hopefully some bigger fish 2's enter the portal like the insiders said. Thanks for all the info and discussion, have a great day everyone!
To be clear Dix has a Defensive rating of 115 and we were excited about getting him. Moore isn’t perfect but he’s exactly the type of third guard we need - it’s hard to find portal guys who are willing to play that role, he’s about as perfect of a fit for that than we can find

Wesley Yates was a highly ranked recruit and is going to get paid somewhere - like you said, Rice isn’t coming here

Malik Thomas would be great - but I’m not sure he has an eligibility left - I think some guys entered just “hoping”- but he’s played four years and didn’t get a medical redshirt or anything, so I think he’s done. You noticed he hasn’t been ranked by 247 yet
 
#303      
Wait a second….. you don’t think Ty is athletic?

He’s definitely not super athletic. Last we saw of him he had trouble keeping up with guards when he played 2 years ago. I think Boswell is our only real plus athlete in that he knows how to use his physicality on the perimeter to his advantage.

If we were willing to play zone or even a pack line defense I’d be more optimistic about the roster
 
#304      
No Efrem or Meyers on your list? One reason Meyers was a lottery pick. Few jumped higher or were stronger than those two at the 5. Often not mentioned coordination is of massive importance when playing any sport that involves a ball. The lack of good hand eye coordination is why some struggle at some skills in basketball. I looked this up and agree.

"To measure athleticism, assess physical traits like strength, speed, agility, endurance, so id locoordination, and flexibility, along with mental attributes like mental fortitude and motor skills."

You certainly list a few but there are others that great athletes that may not be high fliers. Frank Wiiliams had insane hand eye coordination, reflexes that helped him dribble like few could. My all time favorite is Harper and he wasn't a leader but man he could do everything else well.
Nailed it. First thing that came to mind was hand/eye.
 
#305      
He’s definitely not super athletic. Last we saw of him he had trouble keeping up with guards when he played 2 years ago. I think Boswell is our only real plus athlete in that he knows how to use his physicality on the perimeter to his advantage.

If we were willing to play zone or even a pack line defense I’d be more optimistic about the roster
Athleticism requires al least 9 centibirds. Superathleticism requires 15 centibirds.
 
#306      
He’s definitely not super athletic. Last we saw of him he had trouble keeping up with guards when he played 2 years ago. I think Boswell is our only real plus athlete in that he knows how to use his physicality on the perimeter to his advantage.

If we were willing to play zone or even a pack line defense I’d be more optimistic about the roster
I think there's just a simple difference on what everyone considers "athletic". An issue that's plagued message boards for decades.
 
#310      
Houston had a lot of athletes. The last 2 minutes of that game their 5 super athletes looked like 5 chickens with their heads cut off and they didn’t even come close to a competent offensive possession. You need both.
I believe a less athletic, but highly skilled and experienced team will beat Houston nine times out of ten.
 
#311      
1. I feel bad for DGL. Had to make a public comment in response to his mom's crazy comments about his girlfriend.
2. Awkward for Carey Booth committing to CSU to be near dad and dad gets fired today.
 
#314      
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#315      
At this point the only way to salvage this offseason would be for Will to come back.
Underwhelming roster construction to say the least.
They are about to land 2 of the 4 best euro prospects in the class and will likely add a big ticket transfer along with some nice rotation pieces. Oh, and 2 of their 3 best players the second half of the season are back along with some depth.
 
#318      
Not 100% recruiting related, but diehard chatroom-commenting fans tend to have a somewhat acute perspective on their team's performance as a comparison to years past. As a performance barometer, I wanted to look at last year's performance compared to the past 29 years of KenPom data to see if last year was truly a mid-to-down year.

Since 1997, our most comparable season to last season was the season prior. Here's how this roster stood up compared to the field of 29 Illini teams, along with a few other notable years I pulled:

2025 was our 10th best Field Rank, 3rd best offensive rank, 25th best defensive rank, and 6th best net rating (ORtg - DRtg).
2024
was our 7th best Field Rank, best offensive rank, 26th best defensive rank, and 5th best net rating.
2021 was our 2nd best Field Rank, 4th best offensive rank, 6th best defensive rank, and 2nd best net rating.
2005
was our best Field rank, 2nd best offensive rank, 8th best defensive rank, and best net rating.

View attachment 41371
2016...
the-rock.gif
 
#320      
There is never a shortage of unhappy people around here.
We could have Houston’s exact roster and this board would be bellyaching about how short our guards are…
Lol, we could have John Stockton, CP3, Reggie Miller, Bird, and Jokic and we would lack athletes that can jump and can't beat athletic teams!
I love what they have done so far because I realize they are not done yet. We have have our 5 for 40 minutes a game with the twins, Boswell is back and we have a young very skilled 4 that is 255 and won't be easily bumped out of the way after an off season with Fletch. We will add our other pieces and be in great shape next season. Tomi, his bro and Boz are a great with key peices like Ty and Jake to help out.
 
#321      
Boring, and doesn't apply. The other coaches could not bid on players. Players could not move from team to team every year. If the Illini had a weakness they had to find a highschool kid to fill the spot. Underwood goes out and buys one.


Why do you old Boomers want to compare everything to the olden days? All we can compare to now are other teams. Other schools.
 
#322      
Add Elyjah Freeman and Ian Jackson/Sarr and call it a day. That would give 7-8 rotation pieces, and the rest are less important, IMHO.
 
#324      
There is never a shortage of unhappy people around here.
We could have Houston’s exact roster and this board would be bellyaching about how short our guards are…
I can imagine “you can’t win basketball games when your tallest player is 6’8. It’s a rule.”
 
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