Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#77      
Noblesville Illini
Combo said:
Three crucial words in recruiting.
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Design Loop GIF by xponentialdesign
 
#82      
March2TheArch
Regarding Keaton potentially returning comments…

Going now puts Wagler one year closer to the lucrative second contract. Please take off the tinfoil hats and get off X. My goodness. Have y'all seen what Will Riley is doing this month? Did y'all see how Miami's developmental system is benefitting KJ? Wagler was farther along than both as an Illini. He got the team to the Final Four. He was an All American as a freshman.

HE GAWN.

My freaking goodnesss. Some delusional Illini homers. Can we please act like a program that's finally ascended to the elite, perennially contending tier?

NIL money is going up. We can market several successful Illini that made the league this decade in Ayo (killing it on Minny), TSJ (just dropped his first 30-bomb), Will Riley (tearing it up on the Wizards), KJ (inconsistent but promising flashes in a very intense/disciplined Heat organization), and, most notably, KEATON effin WAGLER. Dude is going to be our highest drafted player since Deron Williams. We just made a FINAL FOUR. He's a freshman All American. He was the Regional MVP. He dropped 46 at Mackey. He scored 20pts vs. Michigan AND UConn (two of the toughest defenses in the country this year).

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How do y'all not see that Keaton getting picked in the Top 10 potentially Top 7 picks is IMMENSELY valuable to the Illini program?! Gambling the sheen coming off of him, a sophomore slump, an injury, and/or a disappointing non-Final Four season in 2026-27 (which is EXTREMELY likely... how many teams make back to back Final Fours?) is NOT worth the risk to Keaton or, frankly, the Illini in the long run! Let's take this win. Let's capitalize on all this to build a pipeline of great guards and wings coming to the beloved.

To win a Natty you have to consistently put together teams that can compete for 1 seeds. Year in. Year out. The Illini are playing the long game by becoming an NBA factory of guards and wings. Would be nice to get a big man into the lottery too at some point.
 
#89      
gary?
It certainly must be time consuming aggregating other people’s work and passing it off as art. (Sorry… not a fan of Ai slop).
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thank you. AI sucks and people should be shamed for using it.
 
#90      
ChiTown
Buzz is picking up on Blackwell. Duke is still pushing but like where we are at as of now.
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I love taking one from the blue blood….
 
#91      
Illini2010-11
Det_Illini_fan said:
The official basketball team account tweeting the “From Shawnee to the State Farm Center Rafters” sealed it for me. Which is good, kind of would like some definitive details after rumors, or even just the lack of info coming from the team this whole week.
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Yes, I think it is a near certainty that Wagler goes pro, and I actually hope he does go pro in a lottery draft position (it is a continued positive for the program).

However, I am not reading as much into that tweet. Really all it was saying is that Wagler would be having his banner raised to the rafters...which is a guarantee now that he is a consensus All-American.
 
#93      
Chase321
shocked philip j fry GIF


Keaton has learned just about all he can from college basketball. He will get a lot better a lot faster playing against the best in the world. He's ready for the challenge.
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I agree there is an extremely small chance he comes back. But to say he’s learned all he can from college is a gross exaggeration. And, if he is confident he can still be a lottery pick next year, I don’t know why everyone dismisses the idea that a 20 year old might want to play the college game for another year with a group of guys he loves and has a blast playing with. Why is it automatically assumed a player has to be in a hurry? I would applaud a decision to not do that…and not just for selfish fan reasons.

While society assumes everyone has a “I want my money and I want it now” mentality some people, thankfully, aren’t wired that way.
 
#98      
Curbelo Fanboy
OrangeKrush1981 said:
I'd say it's not this board's judgment that matters. Rather, Coach Underwood seemed unable to find a way to play Petro even while Kylan and Andrej were injured. So it appears that Mihailo doesn't provide what his coach is looking for. Maybe that could be fixed up over a full off-season.
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One of the next steps the program needs to take is to build a roster where everyone (or virtually everyone) getting minutes is without limits for the position they play.

Mihailo is short & limited on D. Ty doesn't have much of an offensive game. Ben can't create his own shot. Try hards if you will. Effort guys get you so far but to grab the brass ring it takes elite talent being on the floor 98% of the time. Not guys with holes in their game. Guys like that matter but can't be key pieces of the roster getting major minutes on a nightly basis. I hate how awful that sounds, but from what I've observed over the years it is factual.

I don't intend to bag on guys but IMO, thats the difference. And that difference shows up in the games against the elite programs (UConn, Michigan, etc). I like all of em & especially Ben showed massive improvement in defense & rebounding year 1 to year 2. But he's still limited.

This is the time of year to address that. It's not a major flaw as evidenced by the fact we made a final four with a few guys like that on the roster. But it is a factor to try to ascend the top step of the ladder.
 
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