Yes, it’s nice to return all that scoring but also realize it was heavily facilitated by having Wagler run the offense in the back half of the season.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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247 has a crystal ball for Scharnowski to Duke. His FT % is 43! But his form isn't bad actually. Still, hack-a-schar when he's in there.
Miami Univ.'s Byers and Elmer in the Big 10 now--Penn State and Wisconsin, respectively. Both can shoot the 3 well, but Byers seem soft and Elmer tends to disappear for stretches.
Miami Univ.'s Byers and Elmer in the Big 10 now--Penn State and Wisconsin, respectively. Both can shoot the 3 well, but Byers seem soft and Elmer tends to disappear for stretches.
All of the absolutely WILD takes in this thread the last couple days. A little perspective on how this is the greatest time to be an Illini basketball fan from a 40 year old life long Illini fan:
I was only 4 when we were the flyin Illini and those banners in the rafters don’t mean much to me but the memories and good times live on with my Dad, uncle and my grandpa (RIP). I went to games during the Brian Cook years, and really started my fandom during the late 90s Cory Bradford years. I still remember being a middle school kid and all the Peoria dudes going to Illinois: Sergio, Frank and Marcus and being a central Illinois kid falling in love with those teams. I still rember an obscure ESPN piece about Lucas Johnson and his !!!!!! car back in the day. My memories run deep of those great years. I remember we built to 2005 and we lost in the title game. I was 20 drinking under age in a bar during that game.
We fell off shortly after and went through some awful times. A decade plus of mediocre basketball and missing tournaments fueled my fandom.
Fast forward to Brad underwood being hired because I don’t want to relive the end of Weber and the John Groce Years lol.
He took over a bottom feeder program, and has got guys like Trent, DMFW, Ayo, Kofi, Adam, Giorgi, Marcus, Coleman, Keaton, Bam and my all time favorite..TSJ into the program.
We as a fan base suffered through some awful with Brad, EIU loss preseason, Penn State 33 points, Penn State loss following the Texas win at MSG. And…my worst day of fandom in my life..the loyola 2nd round loss was rock bottom
For me.
I give that history lesson for folks of how much we’ve been through TOGETHER and how much we LOVE this school and program. I also say all of that to give perspective and how much different this feels from our past “golden years” of 02-06.
Then we lost our coach and we weren’t set up to have long term succsss.
This year We go to the final 4, we retained every single relevant piece we could, will be preseason top 3 and title favorites. The future is bright, brads not leaving and the next 5-10 years will truly be the greatest stretch of Illini basketball since the late 40s.
I implore all of my fellow crazy Illini fans to stop worrying about what we don’t have (Blackwell) and focus on what we DO have: the best damn program in college basketball that’s set up for long term success
ILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was only 4 when we were the flyin Illini and those banners in the rafters don’t mean much to me but the memories and good times live on with my Dad, uncle and my grandpa (RIP). I went to games during the Brian Cook years, and really started my fandom during the late 90s Cory Bradford years. I still remember being a middle school kid and all the Peoria dudes going to Illinois: Sergio, Frank and Marcus and being a central Illinois kid falling in love with those teams. I still rember an obscure ESPN piece about Lucas Johnson and his !!!!!! car back in the day. My memories run deep of those great years. I remember we built to 2005 and we lost in the title game. I was 20 drinking under age in a bar during that game.
We fell off shortly after and went through some awful times. A decade plus of mediocre basketball and missing tournaments fueled my fandom.
Fast forward to Brad underwood being hired because I don’t want to relive the end of Weber and the John Groce Years lol.
He took over a bottom feeder program, and has got guys like Trent, DMFW, Ayo, Kofi, Adam, Giorgi, Marcus, Coleman, Keaton, Bam and my all time favorite..TSJ into the program.
We as a fan base suffered through some awful with Brad, EIU loss preseason, Penn State 33 points, Penn State loss following the Texas win at MSG. And…my worst day of fandom in my life..the loyola 2nd round loss was rock bottom
For me.
I give that history lesson for folks of how much we’ve been through TOGETHER and how much we LOVE this school and program. I also say all of that to give perspective and how much different this feels from our past “golden years” of 02-06.
Then we lost our coach and we weren’t set up to have long term succsss.
This year We go to the final 4, we retained every single relevant piece we could, will be preseason top 3 and title favorites. The future is bright, brads not leaving and the next 5-10 years will truly be the greatest stretch of Illini basketball since the late 40s.
I implore all of my fellow crazy Illini fans to stop worrying about what we don’t have (Blackwell) and focus on what we DO have: the best damn program in college basketball that’s set up for long term success
ILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Another person that thinks Wagner did it all by himself and the team can’t function without him.
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Mullins back to uconn
I understand what the insiders on here have said, but it’s been reported elsewhere and has been my read that we backed off him in order to avoid further attrition. The FL insider is the only one on here to elude to something similar with regard to the portal date. Not sure who it was that would have left but the fact we aren’t going after anyone else at this time tells you all you need to know
Yeah, I was not thrilled to hear that lol... He's going to be tough next year
Seems like he and his camp want him to go somewhere where he can play hero ball and pad his stats. Doesn't want to be on a team with 5 guys averaging double figures.
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POWURR
- From Downtown
With that said, I would like to re-open my growth plates. I-L-L
Hell yeah. Pineapple is my favorite cottage cheese add, as well.My all time favorite with the cottage cheese…
I do also enjoy pepper on it.
At the moment Louisville only really has Shelsted as a high usage guard. Blackwell would then slide in next to him and then they have Bidunga as well. Knox isn't as much of a scorer.
Duke I would assume Scheyer would be selling on him being the lead guy on a team with a bunch of younger players.
Illinois has Vaaks, Stojakovic, and Mirk who will all handle the ball and then Tomi and Z will also take shots.
I think Blackwell would obviously still have a major role here but he might not get as many shots here as another school.
The portal date ends on the 21st so may also be Illinois going quiet in hopes of not upsetting someone and losing a guy in the portal but I do hope the Illini aren't settling. If they had the money for Blackwell then go spend it on another blue chip guard.
Yes the roster is already loaded but another key piece could be the difference in winning a championship and this upcoming year looks like a great opportunity to finally do so.
Other teams will fill out their roster and get better too. UConn will likely have Ball, Demary, Mullins, Khamenia, and Hines plus a pair of top 40 freshman and Ross back. Go get another blue chip guard that puts you over the top.
Niko is taking a chance on a pair of talented kids that got buried on an absurdly good roster.
Such high expectations lol. The roster is already full of “blue chip” guys. It’s the reason Blackwell wasn’t attracted to play here.
All I’d like to see is a capable guard who can give you a punch off the bench (but that might not happen either). Essentially the DGL / Harmon role.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
If Vaaks, Coleman, Andrej, and Mirk each play 30 minutes and Tomi plays 25 minutes, that leaves just 55 minutes for the bench. That’s 20 for Davis, 20 for Z, and 15 for Morillo. Not easy to attract a quality player who’s willing to come in for a small bench role. Werner and Tausk are also decently confident that the freshman (Morillo and Ethan Brown) can provide quality guard minutes + Brandon Lee potentially.
Hey, I want to see Illinois win a national championship. They are arguably the best program to have never won one.
Now they are coming off a final four run and retained a ton of talent while a lot of the top tier programs lost a lot. It's a unique opportunity that is not going to come around every year(or potentially for several years).
The current roster is awesome with Vaaks, Morillo, Stojakovic, Mirk, Tomislav, Zvonimir, Morillo, and Jake plus potentially Lee and the other 3 freshman.
However, I don't want to see them get complacent and just rely on retention, Vaaks, and the freshman because things don't always go according to plan.
Injuries happen, freshman don't live up to expectations or can take time to adjust. Also, the final four run was awesome but they only beat 1 team(Houston) that finished in the kenpom top 20. They beat the 14, 11, 2, and 9 seeds to get there, it was a great draw and they took advantage but things won't necessarily fall that way again.
Purdue last year opened as the preseason #1 and relied on retaining a good core, adding a good transfer in Cluff, and a touted international prospect in Mayer. They ended up finishing 6th in the Big10 although they did win the conference tourney, and then got soundly beat in the Elite 8.
I think Illinois already has better roster construction than Purdue did last year but you have a chance to make a great team an all timer if you have the type of money Blackwell was asking for that you can go spend on another addition.
To take a page from Coach Yost, I think the goal should be to leave no doubt(or as you saw Jaylon Johnson talking about Ben Johnson wanting to blow opponents out not just win).
PizzaHutParkingLot
- Vodice, Croatia
I think Blackwell was less about money and more about fit. Blackwell’s camp wanted higher usage. I was not a big fan of bring him in. Just had a bad feeling about what he would do for team chemistry.
I don’t think it’d be that small of a role. He’d back up the guard spots. Coleman and Vaaks should sit for around 25 minutes combined. Now, he might not get ALL 25 minutes… but there’s minutes available.
Justin Harmon in 2024 played 19min with Shannon, Hawkins, Domask all over 30min… with Ty and Quincy just under 25.
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Love ya 0440 and maybe (hopefully) Brad will make him use said lateral quickness but there is a legit shot he was the worst defender in the country last year if you watch the tape its so bad. Keaton is also a way better defender than people think.
If you watch his shooting at Kentucky his shot movements are much smoother. They were quick but not rushed. Now it looks like hes playing hot potato. Hope he can work out his shot this summer. I feel likes he is just a well of untapped potential.
I cannot say enough how much I hate cottage cheese. My baby sitter when I was very young used to force us and her kids to eat it.
Then after years of that, we all loaded up in the van one day and her son projectile vomited it all over the back seat. I’ll never forget that smell.
PTSD
Then after years of that, we all loaded up in the van one day and her son projectile vomited it all over the back seat. I’ll never forget that smell.
PTSD
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