Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#476      
nichi
IlliniFan42 said:
I'd argue that if a noticeable amount of our state's best middle schoolers are leaving the state to get prepared and developed for D1 basketball, that indicates our state's failure at talent development and they're no longer in-state recruits.
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The in-state schools can't offer the same level of competition.
 
#477      
doowink
IlliniFan42 said:
I'd argue that if a noticeable amount of our state's best middle schoolers are leaving the state to get prepared and developed for D1 basketball, that indicates our state's failure at talent development and they're no longer in-state recruits.
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Jaylen Mitchell says hey
 
#478      
Rap47
How many of your bouncy players were interested in the Illini or even in the portal?
 
#482      
illinifan1987
eas23 said:
Am I missing a joke here?
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John Candy No GIF by Laff

They are known for getting top talent in High School basketball...
 
#483      
bavanga3
This isn't true at all. Plenty of in state talent that aren't listed as Illinois products because they tranferred to prep schools late. We don't have non educational basketball factories in Illinois. But the 5 star talent HAS dwindled though. Illinois is still one of the most competitive states and produces talent that you're ignoring. 247 is a bad reference if your trying to figure out where these players are from.
 
#485      
Captain Bubbles
Evansville Courier & Press had a nice story about him going prep. A couple quotes stood out to me from the EC&P story.

"Everyone knows his (Coach Kevin Boyle) resume is the best of the best," Mitchell said. "He has coached and trained the best of the best. The players that get coached under him have all succeeded too. I feel like me and him have similar personalities. Because at the end of the day, we both will do whatever it takes to win."

"The two years at Reitz was nothing less than a roller coaster," Mitchell said. "I learned how to win and learned how to lose. It was definitely a challenge, but the best thing I took from it was the community that was built while there. I made relationships that will last me lifetimes. I thank Reitz and the West Side for the love and support they have given me."

Started in Olney, then moved to Evansville and played at Reitz. Now moving on up to SPIRE...what a story. I want to see Mitchell play for U of I in Champaign.
 
#486      
Weatherspoon1
Second place is 1st loser said:
We need to be careful to not rely on overseas/international players. We're going to get a good gauge on how their play translates to the college game and I think the predominant concern is on the defensive end.

TYPICALLY, Euros, right or wrong, have been put in the "soft" category and that won't play in the Big 10. Also, right or wrong, they're put in the not overly athletic basket, especially with the bigs. When we played teams with a ton of athleticism, especially in the paint, the outcomes were very, very poor. No need to rehash details, but we can all point to more than a handful of games where it just wasn't good.

So, we're pointing out this 7'1" center and we have two of them this year, both from overseas. Both are skilled, both are nifty, but....Z didn't see the floor because of some issues and Tomi wasn't much of a presence on one side of the floor. To be fair and of significant note, he was I'll and it took time to get himself back into playing shape. Not sure he ever made it all of the way back, but what we saw versus Maryland and Kentucky was concerning.

I bring all of that up because this year will be the ultimate litmus test. There's going to be no question on the thought process after this year.

I, personally, would have made above the rim, bouncy, athleticism a priority, but we took the Euro route again. I'm extremely interested to find out how this goes. It's really a fascinating difference in philosophies between what we do versus what others do.

I would hold off on any more overseas prospects until we see what happens this year.
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Except for this Sayon Keita kid. He’s 7 feet and is extremely bouncy wowsa.
 
#487      
eas23
pweo said:
Besides my misspelling - big high school basketball factory. 4 freshman projected in top 20 picks went there.
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It's a prep school. Kids from all over the country transfer there. It's not comparable in relation to players from Illinois.
 
#488      
Weatherspoon1
PepeSilvia said:
I agree. I think if you have access to a reserve bag for Riley if he decides to return then you absolutely throw that at Watkins if/when Riley fully commits to the draft.

Add Watkins to the team and you have a roster deserving of a preseason number 1 ranking(it's Illinois so they wouldn't get it but they would be that talented).
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Seriously hope that’s the plan and the donors are on board. If we don’t get Riley throw it at Watkins.
 
#490      
Grandpa
PepeSilvia said:
I agree. I think if you have access to a reserve bag for Riley if he decides to return then you absolutely throw that at Watkins if/when Riley fully commits to the draft.

Add Watkins to the team and you have a roster deserving of a preseason number 1 ranking(it's Illinois so they wouldn't get it but they would be that talented).
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Unless it is actually, " Hey Grandpa, will you pay Riley $4 million to come back if he decides to instead of going to the NBA, since you have hundreds of millions of dollars?
Me, "Sure"
Illini, "Hey Grandpa, Will isn't coming back, so we would like to spend the $4 Million on player X"
Me, "I hope that you are able to find a donor or 3 to give you that money. I had $4 million for Will, not for someone I never heard of."

BTW, I don't have hundreds of millions, or even 10s of millions.
 
#492      
PepeSilvia
Grandpa said:
Unless it is actually, " Hey Grandpa, will you pay Riley $4 million to come back if he decides to instead of going to the NBA, since you have hundreds of millions of dollars?
Me, "Sure"
Illini, "Hey Grandpa, Will isn't coming back, so we would like to spend the $4 Million on player X"
Me, "I hope that you are able to find a donor or 3 to give you that money. I had $4 million for Will, not for someone I never heard of."

BTW, I don't have hundreds of millions, or even 10s of millions.
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That's fair but I think it would be up to Underwood to sell that vision.

Basically, just sell that Watkins would be a 24 year old sixth year senior that averaged 18 points per game while being an all ACC player and would be the best defensive player on Illinois.

Also, if any big donors were upset with last years lack of physicality/toughness Watkins would provide that and be able to take the ball inside and get to the line when outside shots aren't falling though he's a capable shooter that id argue should shoot even better by playing on an Illinois team with far more offensive talent than FSU has had.

I know he would be very expensive and it probably not realistic when you have a bunch of other schools still looking to drop bags on guys because they have missed out but a top 8 of Boswell, Stojakovic, Watkins, Ty, Tomislav, Zvonimir, Petrovic and Mirkovic would legitimately be the best top 8 in the country imo and you would have great depth behind that with Humrichous, Davis, and potentially Lee too.
 
#496      
illiniwil
i propose that the downfall of chicago public schools and the uptick in college prep programs has seen a number of chicago
HS kids move to florida, indiana,... to prep for college/NBA. still a ton of talent.
 
#497      
illiniwil
The other problem usa has right now, is that AAU does little or nothing to add skills to a young player dreaming of blue bloods and the NBA.
euros come here with skills that HS kids playing AAU simply dont have. we will be 3rd or 4th in olympic action in the not too distant future.

now that's something to argue about
 
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