Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#151      
NarrowJ
ChiefGritty said:
Doesn't seem that way in this Ringer writeup (which is a fun read in general and also features Podz as one of KJ's comps)


nbadraft.theringer.com

The Ringer 2026 NBA Draft Guide

Explore this year's best NBA prospects, broken down in depth and ranked.
nbadraft.theringer.com nbadraft.theringer.com


Yup, this is what a good agent does.


But like that's the thing, right? How much did TSJ actually improve his draft stock? 10 picks maybe? On the first round bubble those 10 picks are all important, but I feel like TSJ is a classic example of someone's season-long proof of total mastery over college basketball not really changing the shape of what the NBA saw for his future.

They do not care, at all, how good of a college basketball player you are, how much you contribute to your college basketball team winning. It's about what skills and traits you show and what those indicate about the path of your development over the next 3-5+ years.
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I definitely am buying the injury angle, idk... he has a well-documented injury to the hand/forearm... would be incredibly difficult, imo, to substantiate (let alone, completely prove) "mental issues" as a precise reason for a shooting slump that occurred directly following the injury itself
 
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#152      
Mobi
HensonHall71 said:
I don’t want to keep belaboring the point because I’m a huge fan of Will and he seems to have his head on straight and have great family support around him- atypical of the 5- star attitude and influences

But, in an age of analytics in the NBA, analytics aren’t going to love him and his shooting %’s leave a lot to be desired from this year and he was not impactful in some big games. He has more of an old school game, but the talent and potential is absolutely there and maybe that’s all it will take for a team to draft him. But I can definitely see a world where he drops after the combine and comes back for a year
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3 pt% is not a problem at all. They know he can shoot and you can always put him in the G league to polish the shooting.
 
#157      
Illiniguy13
ChiefGritty said:
Doesn't seem that way in this Ringer writeup (which is a fun read in general and also features Podz as one of KJ's comps)


nbadraft.theringer.com

The Ringer 2026 NBA Draft Guide

Explore this year's best NBA prospects, broken down in depth and ranked.
nbadraft.theringer.com nbadraft.theringer.com


Yup, this is what a good agent does.


But like that's the thing, right? How much did TSJ actually improve his draft stock? 10 picks maybe? On the first round bubble those 10 picks are all important, but I feel like TSJ is a classic example of someone's season-long proof of total mastery over college basketball not really changing the shape of what the NBA saw for his future.

They do not care, at all, how good of a college basketball player you are, how much you contribute to your college basketball team winning. It's about what skills and traits you show and what those indicate about the path of your development over the next 3-5+ years.
Click to expand...
It's hard to prove this out...10 picks might be selling his final season short. If TJ hadn't been able to demonstrate clear improvement going left + consistency from 3 + how much of a terror in transition he could truly be...he may have been a mid to late-ish 2nd round guy 🤷‍♂️
 
#158      
Fly Illini Fly!
:oops:

Slam Dunk Sport GIF by NCAA March Madness
 
#159      
Deacon05
sacraig said:
I mean, he was never the same after he missed time with his wrist wrapped up, so I guess I always assumed he was still nursing it in some way.

He did seem to be playing a lot looser with the ball, though.
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I've always assumed a tendon issue, whether wrist or forearm. He was never quite the same adter that. Only way for those to really heal is to shut it down.
 
#160      
Trueblue777
ChiefGritty said:
The trick with Will is that it's very obvious to us and everybody that if he comes back he would be a good bet to be one of the most dominant scorers in college basketball, his prominence as a college basketball player and his impact on Illinois' season would be gigantic, certainly worth throwing as much NIL as we can muster to try to make happen.

BUT, the league already knows his natural scoring ability and offensive feel, that is priced into his draft stock and he does not have a lot more to prove there. The worries about him are his athletic profile and his defense. It's very, very difficult to convince NBA doubters of those things against college level competition and they're very easy to nitpick. And remember, Father Time is undefeated, he comes back and all of a sudden he's older than his competition for those lottery slots.

So you add it all up and while it's easy to dream about (and certainly possible) him becoming an All-American and rocketing to the very top of the 2026 Draft, there also looks like a real risk that he has the season of Illinois' dreams, becomes an All-American but nitpicky scouting bugaboos put a second-round ceiling on him permanently. This board would be shocked and confused and disgusted, but that's a great outcome for Illinois. It would be a disaster for Will Riley though, so it all flows back into the age old conventional wisdom: if you have a rock solid first round grade you need to go.
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I’m dreaming of a WR-DS combo on the wings with Boswell at the pg spot
 
#162      
logjam
Agree with most except to an extent on TSJ...imo alot of his dropping down was due to court case...
 
#163      
jrichisamazing
Forget the offense. A lineup of Bos, Ace, Ty, and Z has the potential to be elite defensively. Obviously we will have to see who that last guard. Plus whether or not Hamer will be leading them:ROFLMAO:
 
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