Morillo will be our Swiss Army Knife, able to play the 1 through 4 positions on the court. It’s understandable Ty entered the portal to see if there are opportunities elsewhere for playing time with Moreno on board.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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I think you fall into the generation of all or bust. I would rather you enjoy the success that has mounted and become what it is despite all the criticism from so many. But that’s our world we live in today and it’s sad. Just enjoy. Enjoy what is happening right now and hopefully for years to come at the U of I. I for one am so excited that we’ve retained so many!!! We’re not long removed from the days when our team came back for another year. The landscape has changed in college basketball but this offseason Illinois didn’t and we’re bringing the crew back to make another run. Enjoy this! Who knows how long it will last. ILL
P.S. we have character guys!!!!
It's 12:07 AM on the East Coast...
This post will be #1,028 for this thread which started at 7AM.
This fanbase is awesome.
This post will be #1,028 for this thread which started at 7AM.
This fanbase is awesome.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
Ethan Brown says Hello. Brown can play he was underrated tucked away in Rolla Missouri. The coaches know what they got in him.
Sounds like his agent is an idiot- does he want to win a national championship or not- that is the question- winning solves all other things. You want to get drafted, win a natty. I can't believe his dad doesn't have enough sway to convince him to come to Illinois.
And teams with whole new roster of transfers win national titles.
It’s bc so many don’t understand chemistry and truly liking one another and playing for one another. If Blackwell is that guy I welcome it. If not I don’t want him. I want this team to care about one another. I watched that badger team several times this year (beat us twice for the record) and lost to high point and it had nothing to do with Blackwell. It had to do with Boyd wanting his own. I like Blackwell and would welcome here but not if he’s not here for the right reasons. I trust in brad and the staff.
chiefini
- Rockford, Illinois
If he’s not coming to Illinois, I want Blackwell to get out of the B1G and go to Louisville. I do NOT want to see him thrive at UCLA for that d*@% of a coach… just sayin’.
Carey Bokth regressed here and then improved when leaving. To your latter point, he was probably misused.
Just curious, Indy....
What does papa Blackwell think about the usage argument?
It would be kind of funny to see him go to UCLA and finish 7th in the Big10 after saying he was leaving Wisconsin because he wanted to win a championship.
CrazedUIFan
UI Fan in QC Land
There’s a part of me that would love to see him at UCLA so he can spend as much time with the insufferable Cronin and we beat them.
It’s really hard to build a super team in this day and age when everyone can portal and make a huge bag. Which makes the retention we achieved amazing- it speaks volumes about the culture created here, how much these guys enjoy each other and that they are all about winningAnd that for me and our staff this afternoon …
The worst thing we can do is add someone that isn’t about winning- so in that regard not getting Blackwell might be the best outcome
What sucks is that it seemed like this would be a perfect fit for him- he’d be a top scoring option on the team, could improve his draft stock by training with fletch, having a pass first point guard in Vaaks, having scoring threats all around him so defenses can’t focus on him and he’d be part of the top offensive efficiency in the country no doubt. If he improves his defense and ups his efficiency on offense that’s what is going to get him to the league- not averaging more points or getting higher usage. It’s his last year in college - what is his camp looking for? It’s just an odd turn of events that he doesn’t want to be part of winning afterall
I’m with you, my man. It’s crazy how many people here watched every single game and still don’t see what a gem we have in David, and I’m not just talking about him being a character. Toughness, competitiveness… The skills need refined a bit, but they are there, and they don’t have to get a lot better to become a Huge problem for opponents. A bit tighter handle and a bit more consistency shooting, and good luck…
Clearly guys love to play with him.
If it weren’t for his teammate, he would have gotten very serious consideration for B1G FOTY…and he missed all of last summer due to visa issues.
I think we still need a strong back up big behind Mirk / Tomi in case of foul trouble. Seems like we only have Tomi and Mirk that can body other string bigs. Z doesn’t have the strength and jumps into the rafters on every pump fake. Any foul trouble up front and we seem weak. Are any of the freshmen able to fill this role?
I think we’ll really see the void of Keaton for the first half of the season.
So many pages behind… summary from 1pm please?
Look at Yaxel deferring throughout the season. Winners win.
Just throwing this out there after reading numerous pages here.
I think the addition of Zavier Zens is a bigger deal than most are thinking. He seems like the type of player that will find a way to compete and win. Also, he appears to be very talented. I think he may make a difference and get some playing time, even as a freshman.
I think the addition of Zavier Zens is a bigger deal than most are thinking. He seems like the type of player that will find a way to compete and win. Also, he appears to be very talented. I think he may make a difference and get some playing time, even as a freshman.
Not necessarily true. If "with Blackwell" includes a locker room cancer that destroys all of the culture, "fun", and collective buy-in that last years squad developed, we might not even make the second weekend of the tourney. If Blackwell is that worried about his "I" in team, as much as I loved watching his Dad play for the Orange and Blue, I don't want him here. We lose more games with him than without him if his focus is that everything on the floor has t go through him. He just becomes the next Matt Mayer, going off script and chucking
up because he thought that he was supposed to be the man.A team with great talent/skill/experience and an incredible "team first" culture=National Title Contender
It was already out there. People were saying either Dre or Boswell not both even though we were hearing no pivot, donors saying pay Blackwell, and the confidence in the staff’s confidence.
This makes sense decision wise for Blackwell but where I’m confused is why the decision has been made to not go after anyone else? Odd to me that they would be all in on a guy coming in to play 30+ minutes and get a hefty payout but now are fine with what they have? Maybe just a matter of the funds being available for Blackwell but not for a lesser piece. With a lot of experience in the front court and on the wing it’s an interesting choice to go with unproven options at guard. And I’m one who is a big fan of Vaaks’s game
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