ZZ is a guy that is a RS Senior, first year starter under Bo Ryan that beats us in the BT Tournament championship game scoring 28 and 19-19 at the FT line
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
Twitter seems to think the Blackwell dream is dead now. Wish we prioritized Blackwell over Vaaks
Orangetool
Give me back my Afta, heh heh
We are out on Blackwell.
Well if twitter and Orangetool says so
Jeff Borzello had them ranked 8th on April 6th. A lot has happened since then.even espn thinks we're in consideration for pre-season #1 pre-blackwell:
Andrej Stojakovic returning to Illinois for senior season
Andrej Stojakovic is returning to an Illinois team that will bring back five of its top seven scorers from a group that reached the Final Four.www.espn.com
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Five of its top seven scorers is fake news unfortunately, Ben scored more points than Jake.even espn thinks we're in consideration for pre-season #1 pre-blackwell:
Andrej Stojakovic returning to Illinois for senior season
Andrej Stojakovic is returning to an Illinois team that will bring back five of its top seven scorers from a group that reached the Final Four.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
The volunteer cryptographers are back out again. 
SUre has. It feels like that was only yesterday.
(This thread has come a long way since butt stuff)
I disagree totally. The more guys with legit PG skills, the better. eg. Wagler/Boswell, Williams/Brown. Need guys that can break a press.
Dagger 3 with 1:20 left
If you’ve seen this kid play you love this pickup. Also, great to beat out Bucky for their best again.
CrazedUIFan
UI Fan in QC Land
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
I believe your idea has legs!
This is powerful. Only good can come out of this!
The Wisconsin Mr. Basketball is like the 9th or 10th man in our rotation right now.
This is the greatest timeline.
This is the greatest timeline.
With regard to Blackwell, I’ll defer to Yogi Berra: It ain’t over til it’s over. And maybe not even then. 
Illinifan533
- Normal, Illinois
I trust the insiders here more than the conjectures of random Joe Schmoes on Twitter
If only Brad and his staff knew what they were doing… frustrating. Feels like he never listens to us.
Louisville just got major John Blackwell help Pat Kelsey must take advantage of
Louisville basketball and Pat Kelsey might have just received a golden opportunity to land 5-star transfer, John Blackwell. The Cardinals are one of six teamsbigredlouie.com
The article basically states that since Andrej has announced he is returning, Illinois won't pursue Blackwell. Is this a coping mechanism? Wishful thinking?
"However, the Cardinals appear to have received major help from Illinois and Andrej Stojakovic, as the 6-foot-7 shooting guard has elected to return to the Fighting Illini, making it certainly feel like Illinois is out of the race for Blackwell."
sacraig
- The desert
I don't. Vaaks gives you a guy that can play PG (has some similir traits as Keaton and KJ). We didn't have any other obvious guys on the roster like that and Blackwell is a guy that's looking to score.
Vaaks and Blackwell were never mutually exclusive. Both together would be an absolutely elite backcourt.
That said, I'd also be thrilled with Cox.
not sure why we’re “out” on Blackwell. Though if Brad doesn’t nab him, I’ll feel confident that it’s because he drove the asking price way too high. Plenty of cases a big ticket transfer asked too much and didn’t pan out, along with examples like Yaxel last year turned down money to go for the right fit. The latter would seem to be a better situation for us to be in with the chemistry of our team.
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