Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#177      
I would like him back as well but I get the feeling the stern looking dude that shares his name is calling the shots. He wants Drej to be “the guy” night in night out. Plenty of mid-teams will let him be that.

Just don’t see him staying. Only way Drej stays is if he REALLY wants to be here bc it will be for a smaller paycheck and likely a similar role.
He aint going to a mid major! Lol., he wants pd too.
 
#179      
Half the people posting are dumber than their pet rock. We had a great ein whn Self was coach but everyone knew he would leave when a better job came available. I don't like some of Underwood's strategy but he is so much better than anyone else that we have had. Lou Henson was a good coach and his teams, with the exception of two, under performed in the tournament.
 
#182      
That is ridiculous. You do realize the best player in the world is from over there and a first round draft pick from last years team.
You can tell you guys are young and don't do your research. Gonzaga, Arizona and St.Marys are the 3 prominent colleges that has always had foreign players up to this point. Someone please tell me how many championships do those 3 teams have? NADA, NOTHING, ZERO!! Hell, Michigan had foreign players under Bielein and they never won a National Championship. Unless a team wins this year then case closed on foreign players. I SAID WHAT I SAID!!
 
#185      
Illinois has a lot of cache with their agent but personally I would be done recruiting European players because you won't win a National Championship with them.
Right because European players suck and never amount to anything. It’s why the NBA and other elite programs don’t take Europeans.
 
#186      
He aint going to a mid major! Lol., he wants pd too.
It appears BatteredWifeSchwartz said mid-team, not mid-major. Probably referring to a HM that’s more middle of the pack that’ll allow him to be ball dominant like he was at Cal and Stanford. I agree with both of your sentiments.

Peja’s net worth is estimated at $45MM…generational wealth. For them, college ball is about money and Peja will ensure they maximize Drej’s salary next year regardless of how good the program is and then heads back to Europe set for life. Hope he finishes strong here and then best of luck to him.
 
#187      
Pretty safe bet is that you want a mixture of all sorts of players... I would never go all one way or all another way.... We had a great hit this year and a horrible miss I guess in Petro, though has he really been given a chance? Give me 5 junkyard dogs and I guarantee you will have a toxic environment!! Couple of euros, couple of athletes, couple of shooters, three dawgs, and a goon!! We need a goon
 
#188      
I agree on the turnover, i'd like a little less. Mirk, Jake, Ty, Lee, and Z are all guys id like back. Also agree on older players - which Ty, Z, and Jake would be. I also like the idea of bringing a "illinois guy" back as a senior every year, someone who this opportunity and spot means the world too instead of an international handshake deal. Tons of guys from Illinois go tear it up at mid-majors and lower levels, someone like Harmon every year is amazing.

Only thing id push back on, in the bolded atleast. Is @Second place is 1st loser right? Underwood looks to be a top 15 paid coach, and we are what? a Top 15-20 NIL program? To me, the "resources we have" are much like what you're saying with underwood and regular season wins - it's good, but are resources "great"?

Take the Haggerty example. Indy brought him up as us having interest and indicated he would come here and not necessarily be the guy. Candidly, I've just been around the block enough too many times here to know that won't be the case - if we get Haggerty and Mirk (also been around the block enough to know im not just locking in Mirk to come back), bring back those role guys, and pull in Morillo - That's gonna be our budget. We're not gonna have enough to go get someone else, and I do think the schools with "great" resources right now, have that ability.
It’s not all about who has the most resources. I think Illinois has plenty of resources, but I guess this is evolving situation. I remember last summer, it was said he’d have X amount the give player A, Player B, and Player C. It was said without two NBA guys in the roster we had a lot of money to spend and especially when we didn’t get Sarr.

We spent money on a guy on to sit in the bench, on the Twins who most now want to leave, and a ton of it on a guy we draw no offensive plays for and now the consensus we don’t want back and who is leaving anyway.

Also, when NIL first started there were brags about Illinois alum and donors who could write big checks w/o it having to be under the table as before which Illinois wouldn’t do. I guess that’s not the case any longer.

Trust me, Illinois has more NIL money than Houston has and not even half the success in the past 9 years or even since NIL and revenue sharing.
 
#189      
It’s not all about who has the most resources. I think Illinois has plenty of resources, but I guess this is evolving situation. I remember last summer, it was said he’d have X amount the give player A, Player B, and Player C. It was said without two NBA guys in the roster we had a lot of money to spend and especially when we didn’t get Sarr.

We spent money on a guy on to sit in the bench, on the Twins who most now want to leave, and a ton of it on a guy we draw no offensive plays for and now the consensus we don’t want back and who is leaving anyway.

Also, when NIL first started there were brags about Illinois alum and donors who could write big checks w/o it having to be under the table as before which Illinois wouldn’t do. I guess that’s not the case any longer.

Trust me, Illinois has more NIL money than Houston has and not even half the success in the past 9 years or even since NIL and revenue sharing.

Are you positive Illinois has more money on the roster spent than houston? Chris Cenac was the 7th rated player in America, Harwell was the 16th rated player in America, and Flemings the 20th rated player in America - 3 kids in the top 20 these days aint cheap. And I promise you, Jojo Tugler and Emanuel Sharp got massive paydays. If houston's roster is not more than ours, i bet it is extremely close.

As for the bolded. Petrovic - sure, 100%. Miss. Everyone else, at times, has greatly contributed to us winning.
 
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#191      
Are you positive Illinois has more money on the roster spent than houston? Chris Cenac was the 7th rated player in America, Harwell was the 16th rated player in America, and Flemings the 20th rated player in America - 3 kids in the top 20 these days aint cheap. And I promise you, Jojo Tugler and Emanuel Sharp got massive paydays. If houston's roster is not more than ours, i bet it is extremely close.

As for the bolded. Petrovic - sure, 100%. Miss. Everyone else, at times, has greatly contributed to us winning.

Yep, Uzan got a bag too… that team was already pretty good on returners and then spent a ton in the offseason to boot
 
#192      
If Fletch can do for Mirk what he did for Ben over the offseason, Mirk will be an All-American next year. Thin him down and quicken his footspeed and he will absolutely dominate. Hope he stays just to see if that will happen.
Not sure how the dynamic with Tomi and Z is working and whether it has played a role in Tomi's seeming lack of edge. But I would want either or both if they want to be here. Tomi's role from the prior year was taken by Mirk to a large degree. Tomi was an excellent passer but did not get a lot of opportunities to playmake this year. Afraid he may look for an alternate team to try to get that going again.
Lee isn't Wagler, but Wagler was a fluke. Another year in the system for Lee could make a big difference - and the price will likely be OK.
Andrej was frustrating this year. He is obviously skilled around the rim but does not take contact anywhere near what TSJ was capable of - maybe he stays, gets Fletched and TSJ gives him some lessons (or whomever taught TSJ in the offseason before this last year works with Stoj over the summer). A second year in the system makes a big difference for most players.
With Morillo, those guys give you a team to compete, and if you can add a good piece or two from the portal we be looking good.
It is unfortunate that we always seem to lose more guys than we hope, then struggle to replace them, and then BU pulls a rabbit out of the hat at the last minute. All that can be said is - are you not entertained?
 
#193      
Even with Wagler being arguably the biggest recruiting "hit" in modern history, i STILL think duke has more around sarr offenseivly than Illinois would have. Because it would be either Sarr or Andrej, and as much as everyone dislikes Andrej at the moment hes been far more productive and efficient scorer than Sarr this year. Elite resource programs could have gotten both.

And if we went into the season banking on Keaton being a 2nd team all american, you're 1000% right, i think different choices would have been made. But come on. Thats just not remotely realistic
It's not even close. Duke is in a different world than us talent-wise.
 
#195      
Are you positive Illinois has more money on the roster spent than houston? Chris Cenac was the 7th rated player in America, Harwell was the 16th rated player in America, and Flemings the 20th rated player in America - 3 kids in the top 20 these days aint cheap. And I promise you, Jojo Tugler and Emanuel Sharp got massive paydays. If houston's roster is not more than ours, i bet it is extremely close.

As for the bolded. Petrovic - sure, 100%. Miss. Everyone else, at times, has greatly contributed to us winning.
No, I’m in no way positive, but I agree they probably are in the same range. However, the school and athletic dept don’t have as much money as Illinois.

Despite the basketball success and Phi Slamma Jamma days, Houston is a football school and of the 20.x million, the football team will get the majority of the revenue share. I assume it to still be on par with what Illinois men will get.

There is no way NIL wise Houston can compete with Illinois from donors or other collective contributions to athletes.
 
#197      
What is the obsession of some posters with having Z back? He makes highlight plays, yes, but otherwise pretty meh. Other than that, he’s soft as a pillow on the boards and inside otherwise, no post game, and tends to make emotionally dumb plays. I.e. he always tries to swat shots into the stands instead of just blocking it and grabbing the rebound. If he makes a smart play and does that in the Wisconsin game at home, we win that game. Instead he sent the ball out of bounds when he very easily could have caught it instead.

it’s been easy to see why he has little playing time at the end of last year with Arkansas.
 
#199      
Are you positive Illinois has more money on the roster spent than houston? Chris Cenac was the 7th rated player in America, Harwell was the 16th rated player in America, and Flemings the 20th rated player in America - 3 kids in the top 20 these days aint cheap. And I promise you, Jojo Tugler and Emanuel Sharp got massive paydays. If houston's roster is not more than ours, i bet it is extremely close.

As for the bolded. Petrovic - sure, 100%. Miss. Everyone else, at times, has greatly contributed to us winning.
When you spend multiple millions of NIL on a player, occasionally contributing to winning isn't enough. Andrej at this point has to be considered a miss.
 
#200      
Illinois has a lot of cache with their agent but personally I would be done recruiting European players because you won't win a National Championship with them.
Would Brad win one without them? Love Brad really good coach but just never see title game/final four for him. Be contender for B1G, 1st or 2nd weekend and always in tournament but dont see N.C in that future.
 
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