You’re right, the number 1 guard in the transfer portal who’s a senior coming from a B1G school that tore us up from their guard play is worse than a bunch of 4 star incoming freshmen.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
Wasn't Blackwood a 3 star out of Michigan and a top 100 guy? Look what he did at Wisconsin in his freshman year. Why would we not think that a 5 star, top 30 guy, Coleman, couldn't accomplish as much as Blackwood did?Wow, now a 5 star!
Quentin Coleman, The Principia School , Shooting Guard
Quentin Coleman is a 6-4, 180-pound Shooting Guard from Saint Louis, MO.247sports.com
Sad to see lee leave. good luck in your next chapter Brandon!
I imagine a guy like Jaylon Cox, I would see him closing out games. Good luck trying to catch him with the ball. Would take him over the VCU player.
Any guards in the portal that have high assists and can prevent someone like Fears or Boyd driving straight to the basket in the last 10 minutes of a game? I’d throw a bag at them
IL PoY as a freshman. IL PoY as a sophomore. A Chicago (IL) kid. Might want to make an exception for this particular short kid?
Illinois will not be adding a significant piece….More a depth piece, if that. They really like the freshman. So don’t expect a significant addition. 
It's not a matter of could/couldn't, but a matter of how likely, and whether we should have options in case not. Too important of a year to take that risk IMO.
Seeing Lee's tiktok ... it really seemed like he enjoyed being part of this team. Wish him nothing but the best.
I’d still like to see a big added.
I feel pretty good about our backcourt and wing depth. I just don’t know where the Ben minutes go and I think it’s risky to rely solely on Morillo and Z to back up Mirk.
I feel pretty good about our backcourt and wing depth. I just don’t know where the Ben minutes go and I think it’s risky to rely solely on Morillo and Z to back up Mirk.
I feel like the conversation should be more about Vaaks, Stojakovic and Mirkovic than 4/5 star freshmen when it comes to which players prevent John Blackwell from sporting a 35% usage rate next season
The problem with Cox is the fit. Vaaks likely came here to be the on ball guy... and Cox is a pure PG.
Plus the price tag is probably hefty.
Sucks Brandon's leaving but I get it
Plenty of time to add an international player before or during the summer
Not likely too many backup minutes available there.
Interesting, 247 shows that we offered Nasir Anderson on Feb 2, but we don't appear in their "College List - Interest" section
I agree completely, though that wasn’t the basis of the argument. The idea was Blackwell would be guard #5 behind Coleman, Vaaks, Morillo, and Brown
Zorak
- Naperville
At the risk of being rude, what precisely did y'all see from Brandon Lee that you're gonna miss? Seems like the staff got better guys and played them over him, and they got better guys again this offseason. I wish him the best and will be rooting for him but am not at all sad.
Rowan Brumbaugh?
DGL back?
Joel Goodson
- how was I to know, she was with the Russians too?
is Blackwood Greenwell's cousin? does he have game?
I was just going to ask if he had another year left
his jumper is still sort of broken but man it would be nice to have a cooler we could bring in off the bench.pretty sure Blackwell would not be behind any of those guys unless we get another unicorn this year
I am confused yet again. Are we talking about getting him for the next year, the 2027-28 season, and not this season? Isn’t Anderson in the class of ’27? Is he re-classifying?
By the way, Illinois offered him Feb. 3 of this year.
He was WCC freshman of the year and 6th man of the year. Watched him twice against Oregon State. Got in foul trouble both games but very productive when he was in.