Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

[skyIdub]

I think the mistake many made was thinking there was ever a real chance that it was going to be Andrej and Blackwell.

It was sure fun to fantasize about, but it was never going to happen. We made the right choice, and watching highlights of Vaaks assists, I am absolutely sold on this group.

I'm brining Bam and Wagler into summer workouts/practices as much as allowed and let them have at it with Vaaks and the freshmen.
It could be one of the most intriguing summers ever.

 

[STLini25]

I’d never heard of Principia until this year. I looked into their schedule and am surprised they even play in the Missouri association playoffs. Place feels like a La Lumiere, which has two teams - one that plays a national schedule and one that operates as a typical high school team.
Principia won all of its playoff games, championship included, by 50 points. But they played a pretty decent schedule otherwise. They beat one of the best teams in Illinois (East St Louis) handily and played a bunch of other out of state powers. They have multiple players who are definitely not local kids, including a few from Ghana/Ivory Coast.
All this to say that Coleman is at least familiar with excellent comp and saw it in practice every day.

Principia is a private high school in a small college like setting. They made a commitment a few years ago to go all out in sports especially basketball. Their facilities are as nice as most small colleges. They basically want to be the number 1 basketball school in the country. QC will not be the last Principia player we will want.

 

[WolfpackIllini]

Loyalty: "OMG WHAT ABOUT THE Y-FACTOR???"

FWIW: We already have the Z factor covered.

 

[I lost Kofi's blue binder]

For all of you hand wringing about “we need another guard” please go back and read all of the posts after Petro signing last summer.
Then make your case for doing the same thing again this summer.

“Petrovic the vet guard was bad, therefore we don’t need a depth guard” is as fallacious an argument as “Wagler was incredible, therefore we can unquestionably count on freshmen guards to be incredible” would be. Nobody is making the latter argument even as many people are very optimistic about the freshmen. You don’t need to make the former just to misrepresent what the less optimistic crowd are saying.

 

[thefalcon5]

I think the mistake many made was thinking there was ever a real chance that it was going to be Andrej and Blackwell.

It was sure fun to fantasize about, but it was never going to happen. We made the right choice, and watching highlights of Vaaks assists, I am absolutely sold on this group.

I'm brining Bam and Wagler into summer workouts/practices as much as allowed and let them have at it with Vaaks and the freshmen.
It could be one of the most intriguing summers ever.

Yeah I think some wires got crossed along the way regarding both Andrej and Blackwell.

I don’t think from start to finish it was an either or conversation, but it sounds like both sides soured a bit after we officially got the gang back.

Which we should all know isn’t a certainty. And I think that’s what drove the narrative that we could get both Andrej and Blackwell. Because the mists that were moving then were massive. Way too many what ifs to just say ya Andrej and Blackwell together will never be a thing.

The roster took shape, we had minimal attrition and already an A+ guard transfer. Frankly if Blackwell wanted to be high usage and if he couldn’t handle having less of the ball, he could’ve been a net negative addition. It’s not all sunshine.

 

[illini0440]

Sure. And that all makes sense. But if the staff still wants Blackwell and can’t get him or don’t like his usage mandates why is it considered nuts by some people here to suggest the team go get a different guard?

WHO ARE YOU GOING TO GO GET!?

 

[jamarvelous31]

I’m curious what everyone thinks about our depth.

If we had our best player go down with injury, do we think we have a backup good enough to come in and win a national championship?

Ha how many teams can actually say that?

 

[WolfpackIllini]

When Blackwell entered the portal, he stated he was chasing a bag and an NC.
I suspect that at that time he forgot about the primary goal - going pro.
Add that into the equation and at 6-4 he's got work to do to get to the lottery.
Maybe the role we offered him wasn't the best to get that done?

 

[zentrails]

17 million percent I’m far more concerned with replacing Ben’s rotation minutes than being caught up in ballhandler depth.

I agree, Ben had a somewhat quiet year but looking back he was consistently good, 3 point shot, rebounding and especially defense. A 6' 9" replacement almost as good to come off the bench would be amazing to get.

 

[JFGsCoffeeMug]

Sure. And that all makes sense. But if the staff still wants Blackwell and can’t get him or don’t like his usage mandates why is it considered nuts by some people here to suggest the team go get a different guard?

If we're unwilling to make certain sacrifices to land a "good fit" like Blackwell, how much do you think we're willing to sacrifice to bring aboard someone we're less excited about?

 

[mysterio2525]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2046333096950149470

I know who it is. it's a name we are familiar with. he fits on with every team across the board. his family is full of pros and play in a lot of sports. impact player and immediate starter. the name... you guessed it .... Frank Stallone

 

[IlliniCaboose]

So back about 10 or so days ago, when all the smoke around Blackwell was positive was he under the impression that someone was going to leave and they wound up coming back?
Or did he (and his dad) know and not care who was coming back and later his agent or another 3rd party changed his mind that illinois wasn't a good fit because of the roster construction?

 

[Calvin]

Wagler has certainly spoiled us.

100%.
Wagler was a unicorn. So was Kofi. There have been a lot of elite players here since Brad took over, but those two for my money are full-on unicorns. I'm not sure about Mirk yet, but he's got my attention. He didn't need to be a floor general with Keaton here, but he's got a crazy skill set and boss attitude.

Looking back, I'd still put Ayo as our #1 overall player for the Underwood years. Coming here when he did, getting to AA, EDG, having a great NBA career after moving on, he really started something special here. He and TSJ in the open floor were both jaw-dropping and great momentum stealers. Watching Illinois bball has just kept getting better and better.

The hand-wringing in this thread boggles my mind. Every team has question marks, but the spot we're in is about as good as it gets. And we're coming off a FF where the thing that kept us from the championship game was a suprisingly off shooting night. Supporters have bought in, and as a regular fan, I'm just happy to be on board.

 

[Illinicpa14]

To all the “all star team” comments;

UCONN just lost solo ball for all of next year
Chinyelu declared he’s going through the draft process

Nobody is entering the year as a super team…these teams are all adding because the news wasn’t out yet.

 

[DrunkWastedHammeredIllini]

I know who it is. it's a name we are familiar with. he fits on with every team across the board. his family is full of pros and play in a lot of sports. impact player and immediate starter. the name... you guessed it .... Frank Stallone

 

[illini0440]

So back about 10 or so days ago, when all the smoke around Blackwell was positive was he under the impression that someone was going to leave and they wound up coming back?
Or did he (and his dad) know and not care who was coming back and later his agent or another 3rd party changed his mind that illinois wasn't a good fit because of the roster construction?

No. Staff was doing everything they could to get everyone back and Blackwell. Retaining everyone from the roster was priority number 1. Had a pretty good idea everyone was coming back from the jump. Everything always sounds good and easy on paper and they tried but when things actually get down to it people start getting second thoughts.

 

[WyattEarp]

David Robinson grew during his time at the U.S. Naval Academy, starting as a 6'7" freshman and growing to roughly 7'0" by the time he graduated.
A.I assisted.

I’m starting to change my tune about A.I.
If my 6 year old wants to be a hoopster; perhaps I could utilize it to assist my son in growing 5-6 inches??

And since A.I is capable of growth AND time travel…(because I don’t think AI existed in 83-87)
I might look into it for myself.
[6’4” + 6 inches…noice!!] /s. Obv.

 

[blackdog]

WHO ARE YOU GOING TO GO GET!?

Seth Trimble? He's in the portal right?

 

[skyIdub]

“Petrovic the vet guard was bad, therefore we don’t need a depth guard” is as fallacious an argument as “Wagler was incredible, therefore we can unquestionably count on freshmen guards to be incredible” would be. Nobody is making the latter argument even as many people are very optimistic about the freshmen. You don’t need to make the former just to misrepresent what the less optimistic crowd are saying.

Lol...way to sensationalize your strawman.

I've presented not a single word of this. Talk about misrepresenting.

 

[WeWillWhen]

WHO ARE YOU GOING TO GO GET!?

Tyler, most of us here don't have a guy like Neel Ganta whose job it is to find players, but we very strongly suspect that somewhere out there exists an experienced mid-major, "team player" who has interest stepping up a level to come off the bench for a team that could compete for the National Championship. The Illini certainly have found those guys in the past: Jacob Grandison, Alfonso Plummer, Justin Harmon, Jake Davis, Ben Humrichous. I simply do not believe that there does not exist a veteran collegian who is willing to fill the 'first guard off the bench' role and provide considerably better defense than (checks notes) a freshman Ethan Brown.

 

[MULEDOG35]

Not adding Mr. Blackwell could be a blessing in disguise........we have a tight well connected base of returning players who took us where we hadn't been in 25 years and everyone except KW and Bam have returned from our major tick players.....to blend in a transfer ( Vaaks ) and an excellent 5 man recruit class seems very doable and seamless , based on the personalities of said retention returnees............our strength should be our TEAM personna and nothing against Mr. Blackwell but we have many players who each could lead on any given game.....expecting Mr. Blackwell to be the Alpha on a team already full of Alpha's might cause some friction with the core EDG's ,mentality,,,,,,,,,,

After careful reflection I believe we will be better off in the course of the season to play the players who gleefully said " I'm back " , not someone chasing the Benjamins.....as BU said , these guys play for the name on the front of the uni , not the back name......

JMHO......................