Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#326      
the juiceman cometh
Indy Illini Fan said:
Both … There’s some donors who aren’t giving as much … Some have issues with Brad and staff … Some just simply are more interested in football now … But I talked to one specific donor who told me he’s “over it” … I asked more specifically and he stated the landscape of college athletics as well as how Brad is choosing to run the program …

I’ve voiced my concern about this staff and their abilities in game and recruiting and taken a lot of heat for it … We got Josh Dix on campus and literally no one else in the portal wants to even visit ???? That’s a PROBLEM !!!!

No coaching changes … PROBLEM !!!!

Better f’ing work Brad … Better f’ing work …

That 7th place finish and barely beating a double digit seed 🐂 💩 ain’t gonna work every year …
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So we lost out on all of our top choices in the portal last year. We did, it's a fact, we were scrambling to fill out the roster well into the summer. In this day and age of NIL, my best guess is we got outbid for those guys. If boosters give more money, do we get some of them? Who knows, but it probably wouldn't hurt. Nonetheless, BU and staff put together a squad that makes the tourney and at times looks good, gets us to a top 32 finish. Not the best, but not a terrible result given the dramatic offseason.

The boosters' response is to pull money and expect better results?

We've made a lot of fun of the IU fanbase for their unrealistic expectations. I think we're rapidly losing the high ground to judge them from on that one.
 
#328      
HereSoIDontGetFined
Can't wait until our donors are choosing our coaching staff. Why even have an athletic department with this cadre of multimillionaire businessmen who have never touched a basketball who now think they can be kingmakers.
 
#329      
FI_890526
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there's been a whisper campaign against Illinois basketball for a while now. Makes it tough to gain traction with top recruits and transfers. Not impossible, but harder than it should be. Donor fatigue also a factor. The landscape isn't what many fans want it to be or have been told that it is by the sycophants. That's just the truth.
 
#330      
Indy Illini Fan
the juiceman cometh said:
So we lost out on all of our top choices in the portal last year. We did, it's a fact, we were scrambling to fill out the roster well into the summer. In this day and age of NIL, my best guess is we got outbid for those guys. If boosters give more money, do we get some of them? Who knows, but it probably wouldn't hurt. Nonetheless, BU and staff put together a squad that makes the tourney and at times looks good, gets us to a top 32 finish. Not the best, but not a terrible result given the dramatic offseason.

The boosters' response is to pull money and expect better results?

We've made a lot of fun of the IU fanbase for their unrealistic expectations. I think we're rapidly losing the high ground to judge them from on that one.
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See post above …

Also - when Brad says hey we need X amount to be competitive at the top level … Then constantly comes back begging for more after constantly missing on targets … That doesn’t go over well with people …
 
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#332      
My2Cents
Obviously our donors need to seek advice from MTG on stock trading so we can keep up. I'm not a huge gambler....but as we sit today.....I'm putting 6 beach houses on Purdue to beat us by 20 plus next year.....multiple times if we play them.
 
#334      
Illini3458
I respect your insight and this is not a dig at you. I understand you are a messenger.

However, if that’s the mindset of our donors one year removed from the deepest tourney run in almost 20 years we will never be a top tier program.

You have schools who have had significantly less success than Illinois since Brad has taken the helm and are willing to pony up after years of underperforming.

Is there a problem with coaching or is was it a problem with certain players wanting a bigger role than they were given? I don’t think there’s enough of a sample size of this specific coaching staff and their responsibilities Basketball is changing and I personally rather adapt to new school basketball like the nba. Is it a better product probably not but it’s the way it’s heading.

Our donors have to decide are we a big boy program or not.
 
#336      
Heisenbobble
FI_8905 said:
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there's been a whisper campaign against Illinois basketball for a while now. Makes it tough to gain traction with top recruits and transfers. Not impossible, but harder than it should be. Donor fatigue also a factor. The landscape isn't what many fans want it to be or have been told that it is. That's just the truth.
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I don't even know what this means except more excuses from Undy & Co. Other insiders will disagree with me, but his seat is certainly warming up, especially if/when he doesn't land a single big fish in the portal.
 
#337      
Scoregasm
FI_8905 said:
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there's been a whisper campaign against Illinois basketball for a while now. Makes it tough to gain traction with top recruits and transfers. Not impossible, but harder than it should be. Donor fatigue also a factor. The landscape isn't what many fans want it to be or have been told that it is by the sycophants . That's just the truth.
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Who/what is contributing to the whisper campaign?
 
#338      
ILL-Intentions
Other conference teams seem to be putting together nice rosters. I deleted the rest of my post as to not be doom and gloom, portal season is long and gruesome. I hope BU and company can get a solid roster together and get some toughness installed before season.
 
#339      
IMPE Legend
If anything this reinforces that a system built upon pleasing high dollar donors is designed to fail for all but a select few schools who have a select group of donors. It's ridiculous that we have to hope that some millionaire is happy enough to make us a competitive team. Its a joke.
 
#340      
NarrowJ
FI_8905 said:
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there's been a whisper campaign against Illinois basketball for a while now. Makes it tough to gain traction with top recruits and transfers. Not impossible, but harder than it should be. Donor fatigue also a factor. The landscape isn't what many fans want it to be or have been told that it is by the sycophants. That's just the truth.
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Its hardly a whisper campaign, its happening on this message board every single day

Same very influential folks posting the same 50 messages every day with the same content
 
#341      
the juiceman cometh
Indy Illini Fan said:
See post above …

Also - when Brad says hey we need X amount to be competitive at the top level … Then constantly comes back begging for me after constantly missing on targets … That doesn’t go over well with people …
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Well, if Brad is not being up front about the cost, either because of poor calculation or because he's overly optimistic, that is a problem.

But doesn't the team have a GM who should be doing that part? Or maybe the Athletic Department should be involved as well? Why is Brad in charge of figuring out the right amount of NIL?
 
#342      
Turn N’ Burn
IMG_5985.jpegCurrent State:

kids choking GIF by US National Archives
 
#343      
Indy Illini Fan
ILLInNashville said:
Real talk Indy, I know it's April. I know Illinois is far from done. But genuinely, how close are you (personally) to hitting the "Its Time To Panic" button?
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I’ve said it for a little while now … We’ve seen Brad’s ceiling … 1 second weekend in 9 years …

3 All Americans … 15+ top 100 players … 1 second weekend …

2 guys who finished their entire career with the program …
 
#344      
HereSoIDontGetFined
I mean, here's the thing. With great power comes great responsibility. If the donors/boosters would like to bear the responsibility of another six year NCAA tourney drought by trying to force a buyout of Underwood, cool. But that's on you now. I hear Mike Woodson is looking for a job.
 
#345      
RabidDawgClassic
FI_8905 said:
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there's been a whisper campaign against Illinois basketball for a while now. Makes it tough to gain traction with top recruits and transfers. Not impossible, but harder than it should be. Donor fatigue also a factor. The landscape isn't what many fans want it to be or have been told that it is by the sycophants. That's just the truth.
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Isn’t donor fatigue a thing everywhere? I can’t imagine that’s just an Illinois thing.
 
#346      
ChiefGritty
NarrowJ said:
Its hardly a whisper campaign, its happening on this message board every single day

Same very influential folks posting the same 50 messages every day with the same content
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Yeah I'm not going to lie, I grow somewhat weary of our most prominent poster's foghorn campaign against the co-winningest coach in the Big Ten the last 6 years.
 
#347      
Indy Illini Fan
Heisenbobble said:
I don't even know what this means except more excuses from Undy & Co. Other insiders will disagree with me, but his seat is certainly warming up, especially if/when he doesn't land a single big fish in the portal.
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His seats been warming up for a while …

7th in the Big Ten and only beating a double digit seed with the 2nd best NIL support in the Big Ten isn’t gonna cut it …
 
#349      
From the cheap seats
A staff may put a $ value on a player, but if the market places a higher value, that becomes the price. You certainly have the right to stick with your assessment and shop in the bargain bin. Might even get lucky.
As a Cardinals fan, I can tell you that the “keep our powder dry” approach and wait for a great deal to fall into your lap doesn’t work very well.
 
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