Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#626      
ImGonnaBeILL
BretMyBeachHouse said:
Congrats to IU. Burton has missed the tournament the last 3 years. He'll fit right in.
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For a team, per Goodman, that has "top 5 NIL", they sure end up with rubbish.

Still awaiting daddy Devries to get his kid a 15th year of eligibility and give him all their NIL.

Dude is so so fortunate Woodson was God awful before him. Very fortunate
 
#635      
RonC
IMG_1068.jpeg
 
#636      
Emerson Bigguns
ChiefGritty said:
KJ AST% - 26.0
Wagler AST% - 23.2
Vaaks AST% - 18.1

And KJ and Wagler are lengthier guards, but Vaaks is just a little bit taller and thicker and stiffer (behave, people), less of a lead guard's body.

Vaaks is kind of a cross between KJ and Evansville Humrichous. Really nice addition, and he alleviates our distribution questions, but he doesn't solve them.
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Of course, getting an assist is dependent on the guy you give it up to converting... Our big guys being pick and pop options won't hurt either...

I assume that will tick up, at least a bit.
 
#637      
sdiver68
EwGroce said:
both @EmeraldCityIllini and @gville90 have mentioned it on here so far. Wonder if anyone else can confirm?
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Not a confirmation but being reported on a Duke forum thread also. Of course, they may be getting their news here :)

www.on3.com

Transfer Portal - Page 46 - Forums

Reviving this thread as it seems names are coming out for the portal. Not really interested in anyone other than us having to find a big. I've seen that big dude Diop from Arizona State as a possibility depending if we get a big from Europe
www.on3.com www.on3.com
 
#638      
Fly Illini Fly!
I think it’s important to note that our team as it currently stands — with the retention we expect — is still very good. Vaaks was a major addition…. Andrej, Mirk, and Tomi should take steps forward. Say (just hypothetically) our last add is nothing more than a quality bench piece; yes, that’s still a very good team (top 10 IMO).

But now add Blackwell as that final piece, you have an absurdly talented team that could tear through the conference (like Michigan this year).
 
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#640      
Illwinsagain
Fly Illini Fly! said:
I think it’s important to note that our team as it currently stands — with the retention we expect — is still very good. Let’s say our last add is nothing more than a quality bench piece; yes, that’s still a very good team (top 15 IMO).

But now if you make that final piece Blackwell you have an absurdly talented team that could tear through the conference (like Michigan this year).
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Not that I know anything, but I would predict with full retention, and Vaaks, we should be Top 5. Add Blackwell, the sky is the limit!
 
#641      
illiniguy24
Indy Illini Fan said:
Oh and don’t forget UCLA is hosting former 5 star guard Matt Able for a visit today …

For the EXACT role Blackwell would have …

Hmmmmm … 🤔
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I thought Blackwell was there on a visit today also? That’s like going on two dates at once for Cronin…I don’t think he’s got enough to handle all that at his size…
 
#642      
floorburn
ChiefGritty said:
That's crazy, that's such a burned in memory for me too. An Xmas break game if I recall correctly, and I'd driven down from the burbs and was in normal people seats rather than the student section. And yeah, we just were not playing the same sport as those guys, there had been a changing of the guard in the Big Ten.

And the thing about Bruce being suited for a mid-major job (or maybe it would be more accurate to say a scrappy ankle-biter major conference job like a Colorado or a Boston College or something) is that while everybody would say he got way more out of his 08-09 team with Chet and Trent Meacham and Mike Davis than Thad Matta would have, Matta got way more out of Oden and Conley than Bruce would have. He just wasn't able to take that star quality and guide it into big time winners, the only time he ever did that was with guys who someone else had already taught to play and win together.


Loren Tate is a saint of a man and literally the nicest and coolest guy you will ever meet on the Illini media scene, but his and his buddy Guenther's ghost stories around this stuff were always ludicrous and burned the athletic department to wet, salted ashes before Josh Whitman came to build it back up.
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What was ludicrous about their stories (and concerns)?
 
#644      
ChiefGritty
Fly Illini Fly! said:
I think it’s important to note that our team as it currently stands — with the retention we expect — is still very good. Let’s say our last add is nothing more than a quality bench piece; yes, that’s still a very good team (top 15 IMO).

But now if you make that final piece Blackwell you have an absurdly talented team that could tear through the conference (like Michigan this year).
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Again I think this profoundly underrates our returnees and overstates the impact of Blackwell.

I think the difference is more like #10-to-#3 than #15-to-#1, and on top of that while I am happy to play along with the Blackwell thing who is a good player and a legacy and clearly someone the staff likes, if his replacement were in more of a passer and defender mold, I think that team is actually better.

Where Blackwell is the perfect fit is if we lose Stojakovic, which I very strongly hope we do not.

#TheRetention is the big item on the agenda, everything else is secondary.
 
#645      
Dee_4_Three_83
I see some worry about having too talented a roster and that potentially causing guys to go portaling. I am not in that camp. Michigan won the whole thing this year because they gathered 9 starters on one team and said let's go win this thing. Simple message, let's get it done and become legends for a hungry fanbase.
 
#646      
Illinicpa14
Dee_4_Three_83 said:
I see some worry about having too talented a roster and that potentially causing guys to go portaling. I am not in that camp. Michigan won the whole thing this year because they gathered 9 starters on one team and said let's go win this thing. Simple message, let's get it done and become legends for a hungry fanbase.
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And a second point; almost all the guys ended up raising their NBA stock in the process
 
#650      
Frank
Any chance we could move the Weber discussion elsewhere? Vain hope, I know.
 
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