Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#801      
hoopsfan47
STL Illini said:
Random thoughts…
1. JW will find the money to bring in top tier assistant coaches. Brad needs to eliminate the coaching nepotism, crap defensive schemes, and horrible in game decisions. Bring in a couple proven, highly skilled coaches to help with player development, strategy, schemes, and in game decisions. Brad needs to focus on self awareness and realize that if coaches don’t want to be here then he is likely part of, or most of, that problem.
2. We need to have a better culture…..whatever that looks like. Young players need to want to be here long term. Look at our roster. We don’t have anyone other than TR that we initially recruited, developed, and retained. Young players need to feel valued and be motivated while developing as players. They will have a higher likelihood to stay and be more affordable than targeting NIL free agents. Had BU handled Rez differently throughout the course of the season, we would all be stoked seeing what he will do next year for the beloved. I think Brad is responsible for this loss, both with losing TA and not playing Rez when he clearly earned more playing time than he received.
3. This mantra of UI or BU developing KJ, WR, and others, and putting them in the league is ridiculous. KJ was, from the onset, talked about as a one and done. He had so much talent when he got here that we were unable to screw it up for him. Yes, WR got better, but it took 2/3 of a season before BU let him actually shine. We were led to believe when he got here that he was possibly a one and done and we hoped for a second year. We simply do not have a reputation for getting guys to the league like many posters talk about. Other schools have that “sell” far more so than we do.
4. I agree with get old and stay old. Reloading the roster with guys for their final year of eligibility may result in getting old, but that’s way more costly than we are able to pay. Adding that there is always the risk of limited continuity amongst teammates, missing on the right or wrong guys, while paying top dollar for that player. (Where we currently sit) If we want to complain about players and agents shopping for the best NIL deal, quit playing that game. Retain, develop and add in a limited way through the portal. We churn our roster year after year and rely on transfers to create a roster. We somehow think we should be to be the desired landing spot for everyone. Reality check…we aren’t the ultimate destination for MOST players, even though we “think” we should be the ultimate destination. Time to wake up to reality….so many schools have a much better sell than we do.

It all falls on Brad to build the culture so players want to stay, having coaches that are excellent tacticians and strategists, and having a solid core to add to it every year in the portal.
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Good points that are quite true. I will repeat an earlier statement that Riley was a pleasure to watch and did not deserve starter minutes until 2025....but as I watched closely to see what the noise was about, he showed that he could learn, work hard, and grow his skills seemingly every game until he was the one guy on offense that could score almost any time needed. His curve rose quite steadily.

Thanks for posting STL Illini!!
 
#806      
logjam
RimPressure said:
Can you or anyone else be any more specific regarding the "for a while now" part? Is this whisper campaign weeks, months, or years old?
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Whispering No Way GIF by TIFF
 
#808      
OrangeKrush1981
jacekpardol said:
It’s sucks we waste so much time with recruiting, building relationships - especially with the euros. So much opportunity cost. I feel like their aren’t many programs who have done more and gotten less so far this portal season.
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I get it. David Mirkovic is likely a real prize though. Hard work, lots of failure, and perseverance. Also, changes as needed.
 
#809      
TheodoreRex
jsmoke2215 said:
Paying over $3 million for a player who will use your facilities to improve his game and mostly be suffering through learning pains while in uniform for 8 months is kind of ridiculous.
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I mean 4 other big time programs are willing to pay it..
 
#810      
MC06
RowdyFromRow22 said:
Brad is probably going to have to face some tough questions tonight with a ton of big donors at the Coaches VS Cancer banquet.

Also, season ticket renewals start in a few weeks. Not a good look when ticket prices jump and an incomplete roster.
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Shouldn’t the boosters be the ones facing the questions? They obviously need to step up their commitment to the program if they want a winning team.
 
#811      
ColSLU69
Big money wing? Jamir Watkins.
Guard at the 2? Kennard Davis, Jr.
Backup guard at the 1/2? Samage Teel, Indiana State. (Or Isaiah Swope, SLU.)
 
#812      
alexander58
I-L-L 1318 said:
Missing on Sarr is not great, and not to be a revisionist, but the young lottery pick route seems to not be the path for success in today's game. Add a wing who can get downhill, and 2 shooters.
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This. Getting one year out of first year college players doesn’t seem worth the time investment if your goal is national championships.
 
#813      
TheodoreRex
at this point, big money is relative, considering we continue to back off guys because of... too big of $...
 
#814      
BfosterL
That just because the football success is relatively new. We all had the same excitement for BU by year 3 and 4. He is a victim of his own success in many ways. BB will be in the BU boat in a couple of years. Illinois football is not winning a NC anytime soon, nor most likely in my lifetime., but I still have a great time watching and supporting.
 
#816      
BfosterL
Indy Illini Fan said:
1 second weekend in 8 years … That’s what the big money people see …

And whether people like it or not … Their opinion matters more than anyone’s nowadays …
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Yet, I know one of the biggest donors through work (client of the office) and he and his family think BU is the right guy for the job and are happy with the direction of the program.
 
#819      
ColSLU69
I like the way you're thinking. Watkins at SF. and Kennard Davis or Malik Thomas at SG. I think that Rylan Griffin, Tyon Grant-Foster, and Blake Harper are all talented players, but I think that a rock-solid backup PG, one who could run the point if Kylan is out injured or sick, would be a higher priority for that next scholarship/roster spot. Like Samage Teel of Indiana State U, or Isaiah Swope of St. Louis U.
 
#821      
Frank
MC06 said:
Shouldn’t the boosters be the ones facing the questions? They obviously need to step up their commitment to the program if they want a winning team.
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Goes both ways imo. Yes, more money = more likely to get the guys we go after. At the same time, are we winning the battles where all else is held constant (i.e., we're willing to pay the same amount as other programs)? Doesn't seem like it. But it's super early. There's time for things to change, but to Indy's point, the lack of campus visits is concerning.

I do appreciate that this staff has upper limits after which they are not willing to go for certain players. You can't pay everybody everything and need to maximize dollars. That said, is their math off? Not clear at this moment.

I wonder if we're going to see the inverse of last offseason, where prices consistently went up the further we got into the portal period. With how dramatically prices for players have risen in recent weeks, I wonder if we'll see that taper back down as we get further along and fewer teams are pushing all their chips in for certain players. Some teams have thrown a lot of money at certain players and have hit on most of them, filling up their roster (e.g., Louisville); perhaps those teams will be less competition later in the process, clearing the way for more value adds? If we can find players that are ready to commit around the time that other players are pulling out of the draft, we could hit on some value with a late glut in the market. But that's a high risk proposition. We could easily end up holding a half-empty bag, which is what I think most of us here are worried about.
 
#824      
Second place is 1st loser
It's the chicken or the egg theory.

Unless you have money and huge donors in college sports, you're not going to consistently win. The price of competing has gone through the roof. It's an unsustainable model, but it's what we have for now.

If you're a booster and are demanding wins, either pay market price for domestic, experienced, college transfers or live with the results of going overseas and loading up with the youngest, most inexperienced roster in the sport.

Just don't complain when you're not able to belly up and provide resources to match that of your counterparts or competition. All we heard, for over an entire basketball season, was that we were top 10 in NIL.

We're bailing on transfers who want 2M, while Purdue is kicking in 5M to keep Smith. Just depressing.
 
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