Idk. It's a hard pick between KJ and Fears. I can see why staff went with KJ. The real advantage of Fears over KJ was it saved your recruiting time... LoL.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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I think Will Riley returns!
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
KJ became our Euro Ayo. Sure would have loved to have him but the trade off to getting the Balkan 5 is more than making up for it.
He wasn't coming here with KJ so no need to talk about it at all, really
It also wasn't our decision to make anyway, its not like we told him we didn't want him anymore LOL
I am GUESSING this is where the coaches are as well. They are going to make 100% sure Riley stays in the draft. Yes, it is an INCREDIBLY high likelihood that is what happens, but if you’re the staff I don’t think you really examine other options until the Riley door is without a doubt slammed shut.
As always, I don’t know anything. This is a complete guess and how I would be proceeding if I were Brad and company.
All the heavy lifting has been done. They can afford to wait and see how the combine goes and for Riley to make his final decision.
Are you going to pay him the 4M he'll want? Then, once you write that check, who are you going to tell that they're playing time got cut by 3/4?
He's not coming back. With Andrej, we moved on.
It's all moot because he's not coming out of the draft unless he completely melts down at the combine.
The fact that Will is not even in the portal tells me he is dead serious playing the league. My guess is he will go for it unless his stock really tanks after the combine.
For arguments sake, let's say Riley completely bombs at the combine. I mean, he totally melts down and goes from top 20 to maybe top 40. Let's take it a step further and say he wants to remove him name from the draft.
Who's going to come up with that money to bring him back? Are they going to go to the donors and ask them to lock in a few additional million?
Equally as important, who do you tell to transfer at his position? Do you tell Andrej to keep looking? Do you tell Ty thanks, but no thanks and the rest of the roster that you brought in from overseas, whose goal is to go to the NBA.....that their minutes got cut in half?
Everyone's hands are tied here. Brad couldn't wait on this decision and I don't blame him. You have to move on as if he wasn't coming back and all involved have to understand that.
ptgrd23
- orange county CA
I guess Brad is not in his inner circle of advisors.
No problem - NBA drafts on potential and Will has the package
- good size 6'8"
- good outside shot
- good handles
- young - still adding weight
- nice moves in the paint
I can see somebody trying to make him their PG of the future like Lamelo Ball (but more durable)
Whether he goes late first round or early 2nd round he will be OK financially. His dream is to play in NBA, the sooner the better. He did not need to reclassify and go to college early.
No problem - NBA drafts on potential and Will has the package
- good size 6'8"
- good outside shot
- good handles
- young - still adding weight
- nice moves in the paint
I can see somebody trying to make him their PG of the future like Lamelo Ball (but more durable)
Whether he goes late first round or early 2nd round he will be OK financially. His dream is to play in NBA, the sooner the better. He did not need to reclassify and go to college early.
It wasn't between KJ and Fears - it wasn't between Fears and anybody - it was whether or not the staff (and donors with the $$) would agree to take him at the last second (in July) with the roster all set and done. At that point in time, it's probably understandable as it was too many ... but of those "too many" included guys like Booth, Ty, Ben - one was equivalent to a walk on, the other decided sit out, and the third felt like a negative more times than not. Always easier to look in hindsight, but the fact of the matter is the guy on the other hand worked his way into a top 5 pick. That's called a mis-evaluation in recruiting if I've ever seen one. JMO.
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pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
he hates cottage cheese.........he really really does............
Oh no we had an offer out. We just didn't wait around and went and got Petrovic. Tired of waiting around on Mike Irvin.
Fears decommitted upon KJ coming on board, he wasn't coming here once we had KJ
Edit: Also, the second bolded part, you have the timeline all wrong here. Fears committed to us way back in January, then KJ committed on May 28. Fears then decommitted almost immediately (2 days later).
1m4tr
Cliffmas
I heard UNC has him as a target. Hadn’t heard his name before. Figured Illinois probably was aware of him at least. Seemed like an intriguing prospect.
That's my recollection. There was a rumor that the Staff did not want a reclass Fears (cannot confirm it) so perhaps we missed out on Fears. But I was not convinced that we would have KJ/Boswell/Fears on the same team even if we have the $$$ and spots.
I agree that it’s incredibly unlikely to happen. I have a better chance of dating Florence Pugh, but the chance isn’t 0 and until it is zero you let it play out.
It’s a decision that worked out for everyone, Jeremiah wasn’t going to get nearly the amount of usage with KJ, and nor was KJ with Jeremiah - both will be lottery picks.
I agree. Also let me know if you date Florence Pugh after it plays out.
I don't think we didn't want him is accurate, but then again, what do I know? I'm just guessing like the rest of us lol
Surely we're not hairbrained enough to just tell a kid of that caliber to kick rocks because he wanted to reclass (we took Riley as a reclass, to further solidify that)
I'm sure he saw KJ here as part of our '24 class and would have an easier pathway to being 'the guy' at some other program, but again, just speculation/guesswork here
This is good way of looking at it imo
Wrong, he decommited on July 1st.
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Correct, I misread as June 1
Does not effect the timeline, however... Fears had been on board since January
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