Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

[STLini25]

He’s not coming here to sit … But minutes are earned in the summer and in practice …

Petro wasn’t coming here to sit either … Best players play …

I’m glad you’ve stopped your QC is a starter opinion. There are a lot of players on the team right now who aren’t on the team to sit. The saying means nothing (as shown by your Petro comment). QC has a LOT to prove to be a starter at Illinois.

And as i have repeatedly said, we are best off with 5 veteran starters and QC and Morillo off the bench hopefully developing into adding more and more valuable minutes.

 

[artist3]

Ayo averaged about 14 points on a 12-21 Illinois, does that make him a losing player

Yes we all know Ayo was a winning player. That’s not the point. The point is why would anyone want to kick Jake to the curb for someone else who isn’t even necessarily better when Jake has been here for 2 years, has played big minutes here, made clutch shots, made winning plays, is well liked by the guys we hope to retain, is an unselfish & low maintenance player, and is a leader in the locker room?

 

[RimPressure]

Marketing image is going to be elite - can't wait for it to drop.

My theory is that they're waiting for UPS to deliver everyone's new orange track suit with a final four patch for the "run it back" group photo.

 

[audie]

Regardless of ability, Jake Davis is a national treasure and EDG. We shouldn't be pushing out players from a F4 roster who have shown their commitment to this program just to hopefully "upgrade."

And I would say the same for Ty Rodgers! We would be so lucky to keep both of these guys. Both are leaders.

 

[SoILLini1]

Where's Petro headed?

 

[ColSLU69]

he's got it going on:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2043500257854599677

An Illinois MUST GET in my humble opinion.

 

[ChiefGritty]

Way different times. Above-board legal payments vs. under-the-table stuff has leveled the playing field for a school like the U of I. I am grateful to Bruce Weber for taking the Illini the furthest they've ever been, even with someone else's recruits, however those recruits happened to end up here. I also thought it was time for a change. But there were reasons the Illini did not cash in on that run, and it wasn't solely because of Weber.

Even Jerrance Howard dragging around the anchor of Weber as his head coach dramatically improved recruiting instantaneously.

Weber 04-08 is a world historic 1-of-1 of catastrophic recruiting failure that condemned us to a decade in the wilderness.

Not a mistake we will be making again.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

Our AD today also helps a lot. Our previous ADs would not have done well in this environment. Without a good AD it is hard for a coach to have sustained success

there are more than a few schools struggling in the new environment of NIL & transfers because their AD's cant adapt

 

[BretMyBeachHouse]

Not relevant for our recruiting, but a few blast-from-the-past in-state names that are portaling:

Entered, uncommitted:
AJ Casey - Miami-->SLU-->Evansville -->??
JJ Taylor - Memphis-->UCF-->Northern Illinois -->??
James Brown - UNC -->??

Entered, committed:
Dai Dai Ames - Kansas State-->UVA-->Cal-->Tennessee
Cole Certa - Notre Dame-->Clemson
Jaden Schutt - Duke-->Virginia Tech-->Kansas State

Those were pretty much "must get" recruits. How did we survive?

 

[Miles Leonard]

Weber + NIL Bag would have been interesting, and much different.

Only bag Weber had was the bag ‘o excuses

 

[logjam]

Our AD today also helps a lot. Our previous ADs would not have done well in this environment. Without a good AD it is hard for a coach to have sustained success

I seems like quite awhile since we had a FB or BB player not qualify for a scholly...

 

[STLini25]

Even Jerrance Howard dragging around the anchor of Weber as his head coach dramatically improved recruiting instantaneously.

Weber 04-08 is a world historic 1-of-1 of catastrophic recruiting failure that condemned us to a decade in the wilderness.

Not a mistake we will be making again.

There is a reason for why Weber recruited poorly compared to our other coaches.

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

Indy, i know that we need another Mirk back up besides Z or others. I hope we add a transfer like this. That said, i havent seen Jaktys really in 2 years, he was 247 110th 2 years and now he can medical redshirt, be a 3rd year freshman and be cheap. At 6'10 or 11 and more mass of 250lb hopefully by November. Do you know if he was improving before this or on the plan to provide depth and spot minutes for very little if any NIL down the road. I know he isnt expected to next year but when he has played he has done ok, rebounded and not screwed up. Is he getting better like bigs have at Wisconsin? With this blood clot he is still a freshman and isnt skinny anymore.

Jakstys isn’t Big Ten caliber … Not even close … Especially for a team competing for championships …

Practice body … That’s it …

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

Marketing image is going to be elite - can't wait for it to drop.

Let … Courtney … Cook …

 

[1m4tr]

Jakstys isn’t Big Ten caliber … Not even close … Especially for a team competing for championships …

Practice body … That’s it …

We still need several of those right?

 

[Illini B-Ball Fan]

So, why the continual negativism on Ty Rodgers and his non-shooting ability? Yeah, we've heard few reports, if any, that he's developed an outside shot or not, but refresh our memory, who's said he hasn't been working on that aspect of his skills and abilities in the last couple years? Trying to stay positive here for a guy that appears to be as loyal as it gets as an Illini.

 

[ChiTown]

Not relevant for our recruiting, but a few blast-from-the-past in-state names that are portaling:

Entered, uncommitted:
AJ Casey - Miami-->SLU-->Evansville -->??
JJ Taylor - Memphis-->UCF-->Northern Illinois -->??
James Brown - UNC -->??

Entered, committed:
Dai Dai Ames - Kansas State-->UVA-->Cal-->Tennessee
Cole Certa - Notre Dame-->Clemson
Jaden Schutt - Duke-->Virginia Tech-->Kansas State

Tennessee seems to be hunting some of the in state transfers.

 

[Oldskoolkoach]

Those were pretty much "must get" recruits. How did we survive?

 

[ChiefGritty]

There is a reason for why Weber recruited poorly compared to our other coaches.

Yeah because he stinks

 

[ThePortalMadeMeDoIt]

Can't give this comment enough likes...easy preseason #1 with Blackwell.

I mean have you seen Michigan's roster? Blackwell or not Michigan will be preseason number 1. Guaranteed

 

[STLini25]

Yeah because he stinks

You might not have a very good understanding of why certain coaches at Illinois recruited well and why Weber didn’t.

 

[HailtotheChief]

Jakstys isn’t Big Ten caliber … Not even close … Especially for a team competing for championships …

Practice body … That’s it …

I wasnt thinking that he was now or even ever for extended minutes but more of as a third or 4th option incase of injury and to have 5 more fouls. I am over seeing a guy like Jake, Ty or Andre try and guard a 6'10 260lb guy in the post if Mirk or anyone gets in foul trouble ior even this guy at 215 from Pepperdine. Hell Coleman Hawkins was asked to play the 5 and got killed. I glad we had Hawkins too. Not everyone needs to be great to just fill a role when needed. Thats why i was asking about Jason. I would think in the post other than Tomi or Z he would do best at keeping someone like Mirk from just pushing undee the hoop. We certaintly need that type of guy at times. Id love to add someone like Georgi B at the 4 that strong enough to bang a lil bit.

 

[sdfidaho]

There is a reason for why Weber recruited poorly compared to our other coaches.

Telling a recruit “we don’t need you” apparently wasn’t a winning recruiting strategy.
Who would have thunk it

 

[WeWillWhen]

#TheMeeting

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

We still need several of those right?

Blackwell
Vaaks
Andrej
Mirk
Tomi

Bench:
Q Coleman
Z
Ty
Jake
Morillo

Deep Bench:
B Lee
Jakstys
Ethan Brown
Landon Davis (redshirt)
Fagbemi