Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#427      
Aillini32
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr? said:
To me this points to is how extremely critical the Blackwell recruitment is.

Land him, and you have a potential All American candidate. Miss, and we’re debating whether we’ll add anyone at all.

I’M NOT saying either stance is wrong. Just need to lock it down. Crucial final piece to a title contender.
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Don’t think Andrej AND Blackwell is an option unfortunately
 
#429      
CoachHooleyHoo
Indy Illini Fan said:
Do we need one ?

That should tell you where I think we are at with Blackwell but also should tell you how confident I am and the staff is telling me they are with Coleman …
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Seems a bit risky to not have a backup plan and hope you catch lightening in a bottle two years in a row with a freshman. Coleman may turn out to be a stud, but Blackwell is a proven commodity. This team has a chance to be special....like to have known production vs potential.
 
#430      
Username
illini0440 said:
Morillo too
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Watching the Nike Hoops Summit, I saw a lot of similarities between Mirk and Morillo - and even what we all wanted Ty to be if he could have stayed on the court. He is not as tall as Mirk, but appeared to have a tighter handle. His shot is not as good as Mirk's right now, but it's closer to Mirk's than Ty's. He was hustling, looking for boards, and seemed to have good vision.

I mean take it with a grain of salt bc it was 20 mins of an all-star game, but I was impressed.
 
#431      
Det_Illini_fan
Chuck Nuggets said:
I'd take Ben back in a heartbeat. That guy is the prototype bench role player. I wouldn't be able to sign the paperwork fast enough.
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I share the sentiment. I was not a fan of how much hate online he got last year, but for him to have the redemption arc he did this season made me so happy. He really locked down and grew as a player on and off the court. His mentality and ability to create game changing plays was something any team needs.

Now him getting 3 Senior Night send offs though would be hilarious
 
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#432      
EmeraldCityIllini
CoachHooleyHoo said:
Seems a bit risky to not have a backup plan and hope you catch lightening in a bottle two years in a row with a freshman. Coleman may turn out to be a stud, but Blackwell is a proven commodity. This team has a chance to be special....like to have known production vs potential.
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You’re not asking him to be nearly what we asked of Keaton though.

Assuming Andrej is back.
 
#435      
Fighting I 95
Fly Illini Fly! said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2044822995269554377
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Sad Ty is gone and sad he had to sit the past 2 years with injury. Hope the best for him.

I also think Lucas Morillo can bring a lot of the same things to the court that Ty did. Both have good handles, passing and vision for their size. Both rebound the ball well. Ty probably the better defender but Morillo's shot is better. Could see him playing a roll that Ty may of played had he stayed.
 
#436      
Aillini32
wncillini said:
Well to better than we were last year....we need to be better than we were last year. We can have a good season without the upgrade, doubtful we compete for a national championship unless Coleman repeats waglers success.

Need Vaaks, dre year 2, Coleman to better than Wagler, bam, dre year 1 PLUS morillo, davis, Z to be better than davis, ben, Z. Thats a hard argument to make.

However add blackwell now you can make the argument blackwell and vaaks are better in total (at least offensively) than bam and wagler as a pair. Also that means Coleman, davis, morillo, Z year 2 are better than davis, ben, Z.


Now it doesn't have to be blackwell, but you really at a minimum if you want to go further than last year need a player that makes vaaks and x better than wagler and bam.

And even if he repeats waglers success, that still wasn't enough to make the national championship. Plus you have a worse bench.
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This. If we only get one of Blackwell or Andrej i don’t see the team being better than this year, and that is what I am expecting. McNeil would be a nice add but he is pretty one dimensional at the moment as he provides little creation and rarely puts pressure on the rim
 
#437      
Chuck Nuggets
NarrowJ said:
Recent B1G movement:

Nolan Groves (G, Texas Tech) commits to Minnesota
Steele Venters (G/F, Gonzaga) commits to Washington
Darin Smith Jr (F, Central Conn St) commits to Rutgers

Ty Rodgers (G/F, Illinois) enters the portal
Rekease Passmore (G, Maryland) enters the portal

docs.google.com

B1G Roster Tracker

docs.google.com docs.google.com
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We better hope Niko Medved is never able to put together a real roster at Minnesota. I believe in that guy as much as almost anyone in the B10.
 
#438      
TheFlyingIllini1317
Bilbo said:
Sad Lionel Messi GIF

I recall watching Ty play for team USA and looking forward to his arrival in Champaign. The guy has had some adversity thrown his way. Hope he destroys it somewhere else - (hopefully in the Big East or some other non-BIG conference!)
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If they added more shooting he'd be awesome at St. Johns.

Edit: Likewise Depaul could be a good fit too
 
#440      
CoachHooleyHoo
EmeraldCityIllini said:
You’re not asking him to be nearly what we asked of Keaton though.

Assuming Andrej is back.
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No, but that's a big drop-off from what Blackwell has proven he can produce and then hoping you get production from a freshman. If we're all in on Blackwell and don't get him, I'd love to see us go find a proven scorer that would make us legit title contenders. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying...we're gonna be really good next year for sure. Just a difference between being 2nd weekend vs national title contenders.
 
#442      
ChiefGritty
Illini2010-11 said:
I am not sure why Podz continually gets brought into the equation on these boards. We should congratulate him on what he has been able to accomplish, but when he played at Illinois, he was simply not good enough to get major minutes on a team that won a share of the B1G (which is common for young players out of high school). He decided to play elsewhere to showcase his abilities (with guaranteed starter minutes), and that worked out for him. However, I am tired of seeing it brought up that Brad potentially mishandled the situation. Playing time is earned in practice and the game, not handed to you.
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I really do think where we've gone since then reflects Brad evolving as a coach from the red-faced treadmill jockey stereotype to someone who can bring the best out of a broader range of personalities. Not that the Podz case created that change, I think it has just happened organically.

But it really is comical how high-horsed people get about refusing to admit the mistake here. To act like the staff can't have misevaluated isn't bad analysis, it's ultimately just not analysis at all.

Aillini32 said:
This. If we only get one of Blackwell or Andrej i don’t see the team being better than this year
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We've got a chance to be. When you're a top 5 KenPom team who made the Final Four it's hard to push even further upward, but with our Big Four back we've got a real chance.

Vaaks, Coleman, Stojakovic, Mirk, Tomi with Z, Jake Davisic, Lee and Morillo on the bench does feel a man light though.

I think the question is whether the missing guy is a big who pushes the rotation up the positional ladder and strengthens the rebounding versus a quick little guard who pushes the rotation down the positional ladder and adds to our shooting and ability to check smaller guards.
 
#444      
Chuck Nuggets
OrangeNTude said:
Imagine if Wagler had chosen Minnesota before getting the Illinois offer. Minnesota could have made the tournament and we would have had to rely on Bam + Lee or Petro at pg for most of the year.
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Yeah, I'd already forgotten about that, even though we were reminded 3 times every single game this season. Minnesota would have been completely different this past season. Anyway, yeah, I'm a big believer in Medved. If he can get the talent, look out for the Gophers.
 
#448      
Rebounding Dog
wpr said:
While reading a blurb on Ty it mention that Tre White was a transfer to the 24-25 team. That made me wonder if Tre had stayed for the 25-26 season would Wagler have gotten the chance to get on the court for any kind of significant minutes? Maybe it would have been KB that would have lost playing time. Early in the season I think they would have wanted his senior leadership on the court.
I wasn't very happy when White transferred especially to Kansas but it worked out pretty well after all.
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Tre was a wing. Had he stayed we may not have had interest in AS. So, no it would not have changed for KW.
 
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#449      
EmeraldCityIllini
CoachHooleyHoo said:
No, but that's a big drop-off from what Blackwell has proven he can produce and then hoping you get production from a freshman. If we're all in on Blackwell and don't get him, I'd love to see us go find a proven scorer that would make us legit title contenders. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying...we're gonna be really good next year for sure. Just a difference between being 2nd weekend vs national title contenders.
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I got you. If we miss on blackwell, even if Coleman is the starting 2 guard, still target a veteran - agreed.

Personally, if Blackwell goes elsewhere and Drej stays, I'm fine with rolling with Coleman at the 2. But, would rather target a big wing who can defend, rebound, and is atleast a threat from 3 as the backup instead of a true 2 guard. A guy like LeJuan Watts. But I'd be thrilled with McNeil as well.
 
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