Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#276      
DeonThomas
We locked in the 2 most critical guys in Mirk and Tomi. We have a guy who can play point in Vaaks. We have complementary pieces in Z, Jake, Coleman, Morillo and hopefully Ty. Lock in either Andrej or Blackwell and we can call it a day.
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And I would have to call you a pessimist..........
 
#277      
ChiefGritty
FI_8905 said:
As of yesterday, details were still being worked on the deal to retain Andrej Stojakovic.
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Always Be Closing Alec Baldwin GIF
 
#279      
Juju
Damn. On one hand, it REALLY sucks because you know he loved/loves Illinois and took 2 redshirt years and stayed here and you hate to see someone that loves the program not get the chance to shine as much as he could've because of unfortunate injuries. On the other hand, the silver lining is we're so talented and deep that even someone as talented as Ty Rodgers was gonna struggle to find meaningful minutes and that means we're a hell of a team. Still sucks seeing him go, though...best of luck, Ty! Always an Illini!! 🧡💙
 
#280      
BWBW
Sorry to see Ty go. Hopefully, he finds a good situation. All the best, Ty.

Fingers 🤞 for Andrej's return. He really fits into this offense.

Fingers 🤞 🤞 for Blackwell. He should don the orange and blue to show his dad how it is done. :cool:
 
#281      
HailtotheChief
lstewart53x3 said:
With the loss of Ty, if we were now to lose Andrej, but get Blackwell, we would never have a non-shooter on the floor. We’d play 5-out with 5 three point threats with every lineup on the floor.
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Ty was a non shooter but Andre is at least a threat to shoot and can shoot. This was his worst year from 3 but he is a 30% three point shooter for his career and i look for him to do much better than he did this season in 2026-27. With the addition of Vakks and Coleman the quality of looks should improve for Andre.
 
#284      
DeonThomas
Damn. On one hand, it REALLY sucks because you know he loved/loves Illinois and took 2 redshirt years and stayed here and you hate to see someone that loves the program not get the chance to shine as much as he could've because of unfortunate injuries. On the other hand, the silver lining is we're so talented and deep that even someone as talented as Ty Rodgers was gonna struggle to find meaningful minutes and that means we're a hell of a team. Still sucks seeing him go, though...best of luck, Ty! Always an Illini!! 🧡💙
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On the other hand, someone who saw Ty every day in practice (at least when he was healthy) for 3 consecutive years opted not to pony up for his services.
 
#285      
Illinicpa14
HailtotheChief said:
Ty was a non shooter but Andre is at least a threat to shoot and can shoot. This was his worst year from 3 but he is a 30% three point shooter for his career and i look for him to do much better than he did this season in 2026-27. With the addition of Vakks and Coleman the quality of looks should improve for Andre.
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This 100% and the fact he shoots FTs well he absolutely can become a more consistent threat.

Andre at 33% (and most on catch and shoot)….look out
 
#287      
joekam
Selfishly I’m bummed about Ty leaving because he was the definition of an EDG. Still believe he would have carved a needed toughness, defensive, and rebounding role on 26-27 Illini, but after two seasons lost to res shirt, understand wanting to seek a larger role.

For me it’s going to sting even more if Illini don’t secure BOTH Andrej and Blackwell. Because without both on board minutes would’ve been there for Ty.
 
#288      
OB positive
Emerson Bigguns said:
Their "athletic" big guys weren't able to do much against our big guys when it mattered most. You aren't going to find a big guy who is much more athletic than Z.

Our Top 3 big guys Head to head:

25 points, 17 Rebounds, 4 fouls

Houston's:

12 points, 14 Rebounds, 8 fouls.

Sometimes we were lacking effort, but our front court was elite in the Tournament.
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Tomi came to life rebounding and scoring in the tournament.
 
#289      
CoachHooleyHoo
Indy Illini Fan said:
Bingo …

Tried to hint at it earlier this AM …

Hate seeing Ty go but the role just likely wasn’t going to be there for him next year …

I do think Lee could step into that role …
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Hate to see Ty go and felt like he could have had an opportunity b/c of his rebounding, defense, and ability to play bigger than he is.

Regarding Lee, I'm assuming you mean take the minutes that would have gone to Ty. Because, at least to me, Lee is way too small to take Ty's actual role. I know his playing time was a small sample size, but I just don't see him having a role on this team.
 
#290      
Emerson Bigguns
Ty is too good of a player to mostly watch games for a 3rd year. To me, him returning just made no sense. This does.

Thank you for being the standard bearer the last couple of years, while the rest of the roster churned. Thanks for always staying invested in your teammates, despite not being on the court.

Illini nation will always be rooting for you to be great... unless you play us...

Toy Story Woody GIF
 
#292      
Da88
Saw some posts on X that Blackwell and Andrej may not happen together. One of them concerned about minutes.
If had to choose, we should dance with the one who helped bring us to the dance. If Blackwell really wants to pursue a championship, he'd be willing to split minutes. Championship teams aren't one man shows.
 
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