Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#1,101      
PepeSilvia
Thaillini22 said:
Seems like the "get old, stay old" thing has gone the way of the dodo. We won't exactly be inexperienced next season, but the staff is obviously fine with recruiting younger dudes in the portal (plus several freshman noobs).
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Huh?

Vaaks will turn 21 in May(he's less than a month younger than Kylan Boswell).

Stojakovic will be a 22 year old senior
Zvonimir and Tomislav will be 23 year old seniors.
Mirk will turn 21 in January.
Jake Davis will be a 22 year old senior

Then Blackwell will turn 22 in December as a senior.

That would be an extremely old and experienced team. Yeah, Morillo and Coleman will be freshman but they will be surrounded with vets.

Yeah its a bit different than all the COVID teams that had 23 and 24 year old upper classmen but those guys are all out of eligibility now.
 
#1,102      
TheDukeUIUC
Thaillini22 said:
Seems like the "get old, stay old" thing has gone the way of the dodo. We won't exactly be inexperienced next season, but the staff is obviously fine with recruiting younger dudes in the portal (plus several freshman noobs).

I kinda like the balance we have because of it, in terms of being able to bring guys back even after next season.
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Blackwell is a senior and our 1A target. With Tomi, Z, Andrej, Jake from State Farm, and Ty on the roster, you have plenty of seniors where you can fill out by skill gap and not worry about class. Obviously some of those could choose to portal, but you get the point.
 
#1,104      
PepeSilvia
LvilleILL1 said:
A couple are, one is not.
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Maybe not the biggest name but I think Alex Wilkins would be a fantastic backup plan.

Needs some development and would benefit from Fletch but he's an explosive athlete, has the positional size that Brad loves, and the jump shot looks promising(33% from 3 on 5.7 attempts per game in the SOCON but was also 82% from the line).

UConn legitimately couldnt keep the kid in front when he was attacking the basket.
 
#1,105      
fuggles
Oracle21 said:
Vaaks looks like a high volume 3 point shooter to me but not much else. I think with the amount of 3s point makes IL is losing (Wagler and Ben), this guy definitely helps replace those. I think he looks like a big upgrade over Ben.

Brad said he loves coaching Euros so getting this guy isn’t surprising. He’s already gonna be 21 before next season starts
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Did you see this highlight reel? Way more than just a shooter.

Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

Pivoting is for puss!es and poor people! lol I-L-L
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#1,107      
Breaking
IllinitripleJ said:
I really thought we could have won it it in either/both 1984-1985 and 1985-1986. But Efrem Winters was never the same after his leg injury. Roy Tarpley, who became a top player for Michigan in 1984-1985 and 1085-1986, was not as good as Efrem before Efrem's injury and both of them came out of high school in 1982 and both played power forward.
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And here we thought JCL was around for a long time.
 
#1,108      
joeybcrazy13
I think, in this day and age, the challenge for all coaches is going to be how to play / keep 10+ people involved / happy. To play only 8, numbers 9-15 are going to look to jump ship. There is no way for them to know their time will come as they will constantly be recruited over every year and now it is much easier with the unrestricted portal and euros. If you feel didn’t get a chance to contribute why would you stick around when someone else “wants” you and is willing to pay you. Thoughts?
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Ummm money and development!!!
 
#1,113      
IlliniNash
Oracle21 said:
Vaaks looks like a high volume 3 point shooter to me but not much else. I think with the amount of 3s point makes IL is losing (Wagler and Ben), this guy definitely helps replace those. I think he looks like a big upgrade over Ben.

Brad said he loves coaching Euros so getting this guy isn’t surprising. He’s already gonna be 21 before next season starts
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i think he’s much more than a three point shooter. Can really drive it!
 
#1,115      
WxIllini
Andrej is the one guy I have been a little concerned about. Feel good about his retention, as of now anyway?
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Has been said that things are trending in the right direction with him
 
#1,116      
Combo
hoopsfan47 said:
I do not see Vaaks as an upgrade over Ben. The only thing he can do or is willing to do is chuck more threes.

Now read closely. This does not mean he cannot learn to become a strong and valuable defender. Ben did, but Vaaks currently is not. That does not mean that he cannot become a valuable rebounder. Ben did, Vaaks currently is not. That does not mean he cannot learn to become elite at not turning the ball over. Ben did, Vaaks currently is not

But Vaaks likes to score and is a "pretty good" shooter. Can he provide 40% from the arc against B1G competition? We do not know, but we hope he can.

The point is if Vaaks can provide the contribution "to the team" that Ben provided this season, he will be a very good replacement. I am certainly not saying he can't be....but he currently is not. The fact is it would be easy to create a highlight film of Ben that would make you think Ben could not be replaced.

So my view of Vaaks is much the same as AS...show me on both ends....and Adrej certainly did. I hope Vaaks does also. And John Blackwell too while I am at it.
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Ben was a PF. Vaaks is a legitimate guard who handles, passes, and shoots well.

Apples and oranges.
 
#1,118      
Thaillini22
PepeSilvia said:
Huh?

Vaaks will turn 21 in May(he's less than a month younger than Kylan Boswell).

Stojakovic will be a 22 year old senior
Zvonimir and Tomislav will be 23 year old seniors.
Mirk will turn 21 in January.
Jake Davis will be a 22 year old senior

Then Blackwell will turn 22 in December as a senior.

That would be an extremely old and experienced team. Yeah, Morillo and Coleman will be freshman but they will be surrounded with vets.

Yeah its a bit different than all the COVID teams that had 23 and 24 year old upper classmen but those guys are all out of eligibility now.
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I meant that Vaaks has one year of CBB experience, and then we'll have potentially, what, 2-3 fresh-out-of-HS contributors. I should have acknowledged that we never know nowadays who may or may not stay after a season, but it sure feels like we don't have a roster full of upper-classmen mercenaries. (But yeah, you're right, covid too.)
 
#1,123      
madillini4
Thaillini22 said:
I meant that Vaaks has one year of CBB experience, and then we'll have potentially, what, 2-3 fresh-out-of-HS contributors. I should have acknowledged that we never know nowadays who may or may not stay after a season, but it sure feels like we don't have a roster full of upper-classmen mercenaries. (But yeah, you're right, covid too.)
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Yeahhh but vaaks played professional ball in Estonia, and the two freshmen that will get significant playing time both are on the up and up, and augment the veterans we will put around them. The plan is to bring back almost everyone that contributed last year that hasn’t graduated or played themselves into the NBA. The retention.
 
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#1,124      
OB positive
jrichisamazing said:
He could for sure, it would just look different than what we've been doing. The most natural thing to do is get another shooter to keep the offense humming, and figure it out defensively.

That being said... A lineup of Big Z, Ty, and pick whatever 3 guards you want would be fun to watch. Could switch 1-4 with Z as the rim protector and offensively you can really run.

Tempo is going to be the thing to watch for me. Don't forget we started the season trying to play pretty fast. Got slower and slower as the season went along. But I do think Brad's natural mindset is to attack and be aggressive. Wouldn't be surprised if we try to pick up the tempo again, but let's see how the roster finishes up first.
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We were pretty selective about pushing the ball up the floor by the time big ten season started but if Andrej was the leading the break you knew he was going to push it especially if he only had one guy to get by. I still think one of the funniest plays this season was Mirks full court underhand pass. Between that and him losing the ball a few times trying to lead the break he certainly took a lot better care of the ball in those situations as the year went on. It was nice to have a team that didn't turn the ball over or foul at a high rate for once.
 
#1,125      
phats22
RonC said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2043412845661188227
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yep-yup.gif
 
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