Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

[WyattEarp]

What do we do the rest of the summer...?

Learn a Foreign Language?

 

[DeonThomas]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2045185199185506815

And what's really odd? There's even a good vibe coming from Joe Tipton!

(Those damn Tipton edits for recruiting news have been a thorn in our side for the past 4-5 years.)

 

[skyIdub]

 

[DirtyBurgIllini]

Blackwell wouldn’t be free … Lol …

Any idea if this staff can do math?

 

[sitka]

And then, there was one...

Is Blackwell visiting campus?

 

[altgeld88]

Said it in late January after Keaton hung 46 in Mackey, said it in March, said it in early April: we livin' in the golden age, fam. Soak it all in.

 

[Illini_Jack]

ANDREJ IS BACK BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LET'S GO!!!

#THERETENTION

 

[Bootheel Illini]

Taking UCLA a bit more serious right now

If Blackwell goes all UCLA and Mick Cronin, I'd be glad that we didn't get him. Hope that's not the case and he wants to be an Illini just as much as he wants the $$$. He would regret going elsewhere.

 

[illiniguy24]

Having the roster set and now just going big game hunting on April 17th …

Life is good …

This x100000

 

[Emerson Bigguns]

An entire summer to work together with a nucleus that is already connected? oh man... Dre is going to be a beast this year. Really figured it out down the stretch (especially if he learns when to kick it out)

I can't wait to see what Fletch does with our front court with a full off-season of physical development. I feel like Tomi was just getting his mojo back too. If we consistently get Tournament Tomi... Very few teams will have a chance.

 

[EmeraldCityIllini]

Yes.

And yet several assured me here in early/mid-March that he was useless and deserved to be fired.

You mean fans saying a team going into the tournament as a 3 seed “was dead in the water and the reality of the business is underwood should be on the hot seat” was asinine?

Good thing we have an AD

 

[wncillini]

I hope we don't get to the point where we have no meaningful returning roster players like Louisville, I mean they are buying an entire new team of players = not ideal regardless of who. Gotta develop from within to make it sustainable.

I mean if we have a really successful year this year, we might need to do some of that next year, especially for bigs. We could potentially lose our top 8.

 

[DeonThomas]

And it all started with................

Michael Finke
Aaron Jordan
LeRon Black
Mark Alstork
Te'Jon Lucas
Mark Smith
Et.al..........

 

[Chuck Nuggets]

All your portal are belong to us.

All of Tomi, Mirk, and Andrej would have been top 10-15 portal entries. Z would have been way up the list, too. Add Blackwell and you're talking 4 top 10-15 guys. Wild.

 

[From the cheap seats]

There really are no words to express how much fun it is to be an Illini fan right now. I’m looking forward to every 40-minute episode in what should be an epic season.
This type of retention is not only rare in the college ranks, it’s rare in the pro ranks. Brad is the lead, of course, but from the AD to the staff (Fletch should be given a higher title, IMO) to the donors and fans, all have played a part in developing this Illini environment of success.

 

[skyIdub]

Any idea if this staff can do math?

Balkan math.
Retention math.
Portal math.
Pizza Hut math.
Elite math.
Super soaker math.
Beet juice math.
Greek math.
Assistant math.
AI math.
Shoe math.
Social media math.
B1G math.
NCAA math.
Banner math.
Ticket math.
Substitution math.
BLOB math.
SLOB math.



Still working on:
Time out math.

 

[LvilleILL1]

Fantastic news!!!!

Expecting one more add from the staff. They are going to try to make Blackwell work.

If Blackwell goes elsewhere, they will pivot for their last addition.

 

[FrankNitty30]

First post, but been reading for years. I don’t believe anyone has mentioned this…getting Zavier Zens is smart as it would get Illinois an easy look from all four of Kon Knueppel’s younger brothers- Zen’s first cousins - should they also be D1 caliber players.

This. Thought the same thing

 

[TampaToo]

I guess this also silences all the Brad naysayers who said he couldn’t retain talent.

Nah, they’ll be retained as well.

 

[illinipioneer]

Flying back from vacation, sitting at a Bubba Gump’s shrimp, think I’ll have another one of these!!!

[failed to attach picture of a delicious Dos Equis Amber at Cancun international ]

We are cooking with gas now boys! As my girl Julia Childs would say!

Gonna be a good year!

I-L-L

 

[Illini in Italy]

This is EXACTLY what happened in yesterday's thread. Folks literally making things up regarding what the insiders said based off of "interpretations." When they never said anything close to said claim.

It's Loyalty.

FIFY

 

[1m4tr]

Anyone else have a better claim than us?

 

[Chuck Nuggets]

Taking UCLA a bit more serious right now

People can say what they want about Mick Cronin, but the dude can coach and he's insanely competitive. He will not go gentle into that good night. And I assume they have plenty of cash to throw around.

 

[altgeld88]

You mean fans saying a team going into the tournament as a 3 seed “was dead in the water and the reality of the business is underwood should be on the hot seat” was asinine?

Good thing we have an AD

I believe one entry around the time of the second Wisconsining made the analogy of BU to a sales professional chronically failing to close who would be put on a performance improvement plan if not outright canned.

I mean, don't get me wrong, from time to time even in the off-season rage overtakes me when I think about the lack of clever inbounding plays. That gem to Mirk underneath our basket at Maryland in the final minutes was all well and good but I'm still not sold.

 

[wc_illini]

Kalshi has us tied for #4 with Florida (with a gap between us and UM/Duke), but a handful of others are close behind us. FanDuel has us tied for #5 with four teams, and BetMGM has us #7 (with #4-10 close).

FWIW, Louisville is behind us in all these (~#10), so their amassing of talent hasn't convinced people yet.