Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

#176      
Second place is 1st loser
Illin1 said:
The way I see it, this level of retention, adding Vaaks, and the added freshman have us easily in the running for title contention.

Adding Blackwell would just push us a bit more up the ladder, but it certainly shouldn’t be a be all-end all for us.
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I see the continued commentary that he pushes us up the ladder. When I see a guy that removes his interest because he's not going to shine enough, visions of Matt Mayer comes into my head. We were so excited to get him, but ultimately, it was a terrible marriage because he wanted to get shots up. He wanted his and if he didn't get it, he wouldn't get back on defense. Anyone else remember that?

I'm not saying that this would be remotely the same situation, but it does look like wherever he ends up, he's going to want his shots and he's going to obviously want to be featured and not be part of a shared ball, winning cures all approach.

Hey, he sees his dream and money at the end of the rainbow so close that he can smell it and wants that spotlight. I can totally understand that line of thinking. Can't fault a guy for that.

However, if you're Illinois and you already have a bunch of mouths to feed.....you need to be careful to keep that balance in your locker room. Part of what made last year's team special was that there were no me first guys. Drej could have definitely been that way, but he put the team first and came off the bench. Something tells me, he got some assurances that won't be the case again, which might be where the bottleneck is? I'd hate to be a coach trying to manage all of this and putting together a team that fits vs a team that has resentment towards the guy at the locker next time him.

There are a lot of teams out there with a really, really good roster, but they just don't mix. That's not us thankfully and BU needs to make sure that stays the case.
 
#177      
Birdus
Not concerned about Blackwell. After reading all the posts concerning Quinton and Vaaks, I went in and watched a lot of their tape and came to the conclusion that I am absolutely STOKED for next year. Quinton is absolutely a baller. Vaaks played on a cruddy team. For Vaaks, if he continues to grow on defense, he could work his way into the lottery next year. He is an offensive MACHINE and will be a stud. He is more athletic than I thought and has good handles. He doesn't turn the ball over like K.J did and from my view is a better shooter. An offseason with Fletch will do him wonders.
 
#178      
Altuve27
gville90 said:
Time for my first Kool Aid post. 🙏🏾 Zero reasons to doubt @LvilleILL1, @Indy Illini Fan - their record speaks for itself.

But as an “outsider” for some reason I’m still (foolishly?) holding out hope that we land Blackwell. Things don’t seem to add up. If our read on Blackwell is true (i.e. he wants to win)…..

1. Contention: haven’t heard he’s canceled the IL visit yet. Staff, players, his Dad, the Flyin’ Illini, can push in all remaining chips on this final piece and sell the vision.

2. Usage: Louisville/Duke/etc. aren’t exactly short on talent either — not sure those situations are dramatically cleaner for his camp.

3. Bag: sounds like were competitive. And who knows… a legacy who catapults his Dad’s Alma Mater to a prohibitive preseason favorite? Extra NIL?

4. Winning: of the finalists, Illinois offers Blackwell the most predictable path to a natty

To be clear — the current roster is already 🔥🔥🔥. What a time to be an Illini fan: already set up to be elite and hoping to push into that “inevitable” tier.

It ain’t over till it’s over. 🤞🏾
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It seems unlikely and all of our insiders have been steadfast on where things stand. That said, recruiting can turn on a dime. It happens all the time. Lord knows, we have seen things change with guys in literally 5 minutes.

I am not trying to give false hope. It seems VERY unlikely, but recruiting is crazy in this day and age. You just never know.
 
#180      
BoiseBaller
dank1982 said:
I love Illinois and their fans but I feel like some of you are always so negative. I feel like if it was raining money outside you guys would complain about what it is doing to the environment.
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Maybe it’s pragmatism, but I don’t see it that way. I’d say there are far more sunshine and rainbows than anything else. And that’s great. But I don’t begrudge those taking a cautiously optimistic approach. 40+ years of being an Illini fan has certainly conditioned me that way.

The math is pretty simple with Blackwell. He’d be a bellwether piece on an already stacked lineup. Cherry on top if you will. And I can’t think anyone can rationally argue that having more great players is a bad thing, though there are a lot of mental gymnastics happening here with the “better off without him” takes.

For me, I feel better with more talent and more depth. You never know what a season will bring in relation to injuries, sicknesses, etc.

I’m curious to see who we round out the roster with. I’m hoping for another guard that can handle it and shoot it, and a backup for Mirk.
 
#182      
Altuve27
bobmILLINI34 said:
With our current returning lineup, what's a realistic expectation for the Illini’s final KenPom ranking at the end of next season (2026-27)?
Expected overall KenPom rank?
Expected offensive efficiency?
Expected defensive efficiency?

KenPom has proven to be one of the strongest predictors of tournament success. Last year, Illinois finished in the overall top 5, which perfectly aligned with an Elite Eight (or better) outcome—it was spot on.
As we all know, the Illini were No. 1 in offensive efficiency last season, but only around 20th defensively.

Historically, teams that win national championships have almost always been top 10 in both offense and defense on KenPom (with very few exceptions).

Given the core returning from our Final Four team—including standouts like the Ivisic brothers, David Mirkovic, and Jake Davis—what do you think is a reasonable projection for next season? Can we push into true title-contender territory with top-10 balance on both ends?
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I’ll play along. I like games.

Overall Ken Pomeroy rank: #6
Overall Ken Pomeroy offense: #1
Overall Ken Pomeroy defense: #23

Offense will be no problem again. Need to exceed my defensive guess to be in the championship conversation by season’s end.
 
#183      
wncillini
BoiseBaller said:
Maybe it’s pragmatism, but I don’t see it that way. I’d say there are far more sunshine and rainbows than anything else. And that’s great. But I don’t begrudge those taking a cautiously optimistic approach. 40+ years of being an Illini fan has certainly conditioned me that way.

The math is pretty simple with Blackwell. He’d be a bellwether piece on an already stacked lineup. Cherry on top if you will. And I can’t think anyone can rationally argue that having more great players is a bad thing, though there are a lot of mental gymnastics happening here with the “better off without him” takes.

For me, I feel better with more talent and more depth. You never know what a season will bring in relation to injuries, sicknesses, etc.

I’m curious to see who we round out the roster with. I’m hoping for another guard that can handle it and shoot it, and a backup for Mirk.
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I might be missing someone but Z was injured, T was injured, dre was injured, boz was injured.....

And Vaaks recently had the worst injury of all of them. Can't have too much talent. Every year people you expect to play well, dont work out. Usually you have 1 or 2 play better than expected.

Last year when we all saw early season Michigan and Zona and late (pre injuries) duke, we all knew we were in trouble if we met them in the tournament. I would love to be the team that gives people that impression again like after the wake game.
 
#186      
AirTran
IllinoisssssssVarsity said:
Our system does a good job playing to our strengths. If we were a pressure + deny team with our personnel we’d give up 120 a game. (Interestingly enough, my HS team played a huge team in the playoffs that should have been a wall building team, but they were pressure and deny, and we sliced right through them).

We play a pretty solid zone. A little more matchup than traditional for my preferences but it works, especially on BLOBS/SLOBS. That said, for as a good as a rebounding team as we were, even we had the traditional zone rebounding struggle, which in theory is partially negated by the fact that we play more of a matchup zone. We clean that up, there’s even more room for growth defensively.
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Just to add to what are very astute observations:

How much zone we play will depend on (1) who we are playing and (2) which match ups are hurting us.

Given whom is returning, I would expect the final version of our MTM (which usually coincides with the end of the first academic term) to be somewhat similar to what we ran in 2025 - 26 where almost all of the 2 man movement happens at the rim. That would be unless we can't find a defender similar to Kylan the past two years, and Ty 3 years ago - that handle the opponent's best guard. That role went to Andrej last year (until he sprained his ankle) while Kylan was out.

One last thing to keep in mind. The vast majority of the time in 2025 - 26 the five on the floor at the end of the game were Hummer, Andrej, Mirk, Kylan and Keaton. So, in line with your comments, who finishes the game is all going to be about match - ups.
 
#187      
Big Jack
RichardKeenesCousin said:
I usually put pepper on my cottage cheese. Am I the only one?
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No Way GIF
 
#191      
hoopsfan47
Trueblue777 said:
I think it’s really important Z takes a step up next year, puts on muscle, gets stronger. Especially at his base. Also he matures and shoots the 3 at a 33% or + clip. Also further developing his post moves as dog gone it he’s 7’ 2” tall. Nobody will block his shot. I’d like to see him score twice as much in the paint and on putbacks than 3’s. Defensively he’ll be fine if indeed he is stronger and puts on some weight. Fletch! Do your magic!
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Z is one of the top three most important weapons to max out next year IMHO. He has talent out his ears waiting to be developed. Hope he can improve all the areas mentioned and then some. Sure hope so....love his potential and energy...not to mention how well he fits the team culture.

You cannot teach 7'2" and few coaches will ever look down their bench and see a guy like Z. Hope we can coach him up some more...it should not be difficult.
 
#192      
CoalCity
Dinger said:
6' 7"
6' 7"
6' 6"
6' 9"
7' 1"

What's the plan on defense???
Dare teams to shoot, pass, rebound around our Monstar size lineup.
Then make their 6' pg guard Vaaks and Dre
Worked ok last year.
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This is a great post
 
#194      
blackdog
HailtotheChief said:
Will he wasnt listed that on 247 but 215lbs is way to small in mass. We are not the only one with a power 4 the size of Mirk and has some post game. Heck, someone the size of Domask as a 3 will likely eat vs 215lbs. Vs someone like Pherrell Payne, Mirk, a MSU 4, Rez or a Purdue 4 do you really think at 6'7" 215 Morrillo is a real viable quality option to stop them? Good luck because its not going to happen. Mirk and guys his size or bigger with any skill at all would have a field day vs 215lb freshman. Hell Maryland and others killed our much bigger guys than Morillo. It is totally chugging kool aid to expect Morrillo to guard a power 4 guy well. It was hard enough for Ben. I would be concerned if something happenned to Z or either 1 or both of T n mirk are in foul trouble. I hope we add another at the 4/5
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What makes you think that Brad would put Morillo out there to guard big 4s? If the other team has two true bigs its going to some combo of Mirk and the Ivisics on the court. Morillo would only be needed to take up a couple of minutes at the 4 when we want to run small.
 
#195      
FI_890526
If Illinois does add anyone, it would almost assuredly be after the portal window closes.

Don’t want to upset the apple cart - which is why the message right now is “we’re set”, as has been repeated dutifully in the media.
 
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#196      
sulli
Oracle21 said:
We have nobody that can stop dribble penetration playing this lineup.

Vaaks
Stojakovic
Davis
Mirk
Tomi

So what’s the plan on defense? Is Vaaks gonna be the KJ of this group?
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When we played zone this year it was very good. If they take the year of continuity to run the 2-3 Syracuse style zone more it could be elite. Especially since this team is going to be even taller than last years team.
 
#198      
HailtotheChief
blackdog said:
What makes you think that Brad would put Morillo out there to guard big 4s? If the other team has two true bigs its going to some combo of Mirk and the Ivisics on the court. Morillo would only be needed to take up a couple of minutes at the 4 when we want to run small.
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Thats all most teams in the B10 play at 4. Thats kund of the point to hunt muss matches. Do you really believe for 1 minute that Morillo was brought in the back up the 4? I dont. This talk came about because after Z our next best option isnt a big drop off. Morilli wasnt brought in to play power 4 nor will he. He would be picked on in this league in that role. He here to be a wing. If our opponent sub someone like that on at the 4 BU would sub in size in 2 seconds and abused them.
 
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#199      
jamarvelous31
HensonHall71 said:
I hear you- but those top 8 include two freshman we would be banking on starting/ready for significant minutes. The beauty of this year is we weren’t banking on Keaton breaking out or Mirk being a starter.

It would be good to go into next year having an experienced SG (or SF and slide Andrej down to SG) to count on- doesn’t have to be a high usage guy but one that can be a shooting threat and guard on the perimeter
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Adding someone wouldn't hurt. But banking on 2 top 60 freshman in your top 8 is not nearly as concerning as when we asked Trent, Giorgi, Ayo, Kofi, KJ, Riley, etc. to be one of our top 3. Your "experienced sg" would arguably be Jake given he started over Andrej end of year.

A starting 5 of of vaaks, Jake, Andrej, Mirk and ivisic with adrej & ivisic reverting to career 3p% is formidable.. It's also pretty unlikely given this staffs talent ID past that Coleman, Morillo, Lee, and Brown will all flop.
 
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