Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#201      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
A lot gets made of “why did this guy leave, etc”… I think the guy that made a mistake not entering the portal is Martenelli at NW. 1) could’ve made a ton more money 2) Literally no one else on that team is a Power 4 player. He will face 5 defenders every time he touches and they will lose a ton of basketball games. Virtually zero chance that’s a tournament team and likely the third worst team in the league.

Almost a certainty he would’ve left had Collins gotten one of the big east jobs (Nova, Xavier). Wonder if Illinois could’ve been a possibility (from in-state, following the head coach is not always a guarantee; Donovan Dent, Ryan Conwell, etc). But regardless… just what’s the best situation as a player.
 
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#202      
RandyfromTuscola
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
A lot gets made of “why did this guy leave, etc”… I think the guy that made a mistake not entering the portal is Martenelli at NW. 1) could’ve made a ton more money 2) Literally no one else on that team is a Power 4 player. He will face 5 defenders every time he touches and they will lose a ton of basketball games. Virtually zero chance that’s a tournament team and likely the third worst team in the league.

Almost a certainty he would’ve left had Collins gotten one of the big east jobs (Nova, Xavier). Wonder if Illinois could’ve been a possibility (from in-state, following the head coach is not always a guarantee; Donovan Dent, Ryan Conwell, etc). But regardless… just what’s the best situation as a player.
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We'll never know Martinelli's motivation unless he does an interview, but he still gets some money from Northwestern (now the school can pay him directly starting in July), he walks out of there with a degree (and maybe a masters degree), his family, who lives in Glenview gets to see every single home game and fairly easy travel to most midwest road games. Those may not be any of his reasons, but I think staying and not chasing money at a school half way across the country says a lot. It also could say nothing, because we may never really know.
 
#203      
Illini-Rule
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
A lot gets made of “why did this guy leave, etc”… I think the guy that made a mistake not entering the portal is Martenelli at NW. 1) could’ve made a ton more money 2) Literally no one else on that team is a Power 4 player. He will face 5 defenders every time he touches and they will lose a ton of basketball games. Virtually zero chance that’s a tournament team and likely the third worst team in the league.

Almost a certainty he would’ve left had Collins gotten one of the big east jobs (Nova, Xavier). Wonder if Illinois could’ve been a possibility (from in-state, following the head coach is not always a guarantee; Donovan Dent, Ryan Conwell, etc). But regardless… just what’s the best situation as a player.
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Maybe he is just a loyal player who loves NW? Exactly what we expect and want of our players, to be loyal and love Illinois.

Edited to keep the word Nazis off my back!
 
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#204      
band camp
Illini-Rule said:
Maybe he is just a loyal player who loves NW? Exactly what we expect and want of our players, to be loyal and love Illinois.

Edited to keep the word Nazis off my back!
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Excuse Me What GIF by Bounce
 
#205      
Cravingschampaign
Stretch-four U

armchairillini.com

Illinois basketball offers intriguing east coast power forward

AAU basketball is in full swing, and Illinois basketball recently offered three-star big man Quinn Costello. Costello tweeted (@quinncostello3) on Wednesday, June 4th: Costello is a 6’10” power forward who received co-MVP honors at the Pangos All-American Camp last weekend. He attends The Newman...
armchairillini.com armchairillini.com
 
#206      
PasadenaIllini
#210      
mckyj57
I would like to see someone come and wrest the minutes away from Ben. He played last year because there wasn't anyone else to take those minutes.

As far as the people decrying his rebounding, how many more rebounds were there to take? Weren't we in the top 10? I look at it more as he was blocking out for a top 10 rebounding club.
 
#214      
Get yourself a new map
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
A lot gets made of “why did this guy leave, etc”… I think the guy that made a mistake not entering the portal is Martenelli at NW. 1) could’ve made a ton more money 2) Literally no one else on that team is a Power 4 player. He will face 5 defenders every time he touches and they will lose a ton of basketball games. Virtually zero chance that’s a tournament team and likely the third worst team in the league.

Almost a certainty he would’ve left had Collins gotten one of the big east jobs (Nova, Xavier). Wonder if Illinois could’ve been a possibility (from in-state, following the head coach is not always a guarantee; Donovan Dent, Ryan Conwell, etc). But regardless… just what’s the best situation as a player.
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Yet, it’ll be another dog fight between the Illini and cats in Evanston this season.
 
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