Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

#1,076      
bobmILLINI34
There has been debate whether the Illini (as of now) have improved compared to last year.

I find "follow the money" to be an efficient way of baking everything in.

Going into the 2025/26 season the Illini were about 40:1 to win it all.

Going into the tournament this March the Illini were about 19:1

As of now on Kalshi Illini are listed at about 9% chance to win it all in 2026/27 which is about 11:1.

Seems like an upgrade to me!

Time will tell but I can't remember being so excited about the beloved!
 
#1,080      
Illini2010-11
mysterio2525 said:
espn releases first bracketology.

www.espn.com

Men's Bracketology: Florida debuts as No. 1 overall seed for 2026-27

The Gators return their leading scorer to top the first forecasted field for next season's NCAA tournament.
www.espn.com

Illinois a 2 seed???? BOOO!!!!
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I personally like Iowa going from Elite 8 to the last team in the field in this projection. However, I will be happy if the end result is Iowa being the first team out.

Otherwise, a bracketology update now is just plain pointless.
 
#1,083      
illiniguy24
#1,084      
ChiefGritty
mysterio2525 said:
espn releases first bracketology.

www.espn.com

Men's Bracketology: Florida debuts as No. 1 overall seed for 2026-27

The Gators return their leading scorer to top the first forecasted field for next season's NCAA tournament.
www.espn.com

Illinois a 2 seed???? BOOO!!!!
Click to expand...
Michigan 1
Illinois 2
Nebraska 5
Purdue 5
USC 6
Indiana 7
Ohio State 9
UCLA 9
Wisconsin 9
Iowa 11
Oregon Last Four Out

Give me the over on Iowa and the under on USC.

Also Rutgers is making the tournament next year, you will take me off Pikiell Island in a casket.
 
#1,085      
PepeSilvia
AssemblyHallForever said:
Interesting here as someone will becoming off the bench between Foster, Boozer or Sarr. JB didn’t pick Duke to be a sixth man. I also believe one or two of the freshmen bolt, especially if Scheyer leaves.
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I would take Sarr at 15 with the Bulls 2nd pick.

The guy is tailormade to be a special perimeter defender with that combination of size, length, and fluidity.

He may want to stick around and try to develop offensively and go higher but if he goes through the draft process I would bet on someone falling in love with the measurables and betting on the offense to develop.

I think there is a decent chance that both Evans and Sarr go pro but yeah Duke is loaded if one of them and Foster returns.
 
#1,091      
CHI 1086
I believe that almost completely, to a person, members of this board agreed that retention was job 1. Brad accomplished that. Then he brought in highly rated young guys who can probably help immediately and definitely in the future. While I understand the PTSD of the members, why are you criticizing walking from Blackwell if his signing jeopardizes the first goal? How many of you business magnets you would directly fly in the face of the company's stated priorities? None of the successful one would, I'm pretty sure. For the life of me, I can't understand the criticism. 💩🤡
 
#1,092      
Second place is 1st loser
#1,094      
STLini25
ChiefGritty said:
We struggled with that last year and finished 2nd in the Big Ten, and we are still going to add someone to help in that aspect. (And for the record Blackwell doesn't defend well and would not have particularly helped, one of many reasons he didn't make a ton of sense as an addition)

There's always downside risk, but the fundamentals of offensive efficiency that make us hard to play against aren't going anywhere, and if we get above-median outcomes from Mirk, Andrej and Tomi we will be basically unstoppable on that end. There are not other teams in CBB who are returning that kind of skill level with experience playing together.


If Coleman is a knockdown shooter, and there's no reason to think he won't be, he will fit a complementary role better than Kylan did.
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You think QC will be better than 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and All Big Ten Defense?
 
#1,097      
bavanga3
ChiefGritty said:
Michigan 1
Illinois 2
Nebraska 5
Purdue 5
USC 6
Indiana 7
Ohio State 9
UCLA 9
Wisconsin 9
Iowa 11
Oregon Last Four Out

Give me the over on Iowa and the under on USC.

Also Rutgers is making the tournament next year, you will take me off Pikiell Island in a casket.
Click to expand...
Not sure if you intentionally left Michigan St put as an insult, but they're the last 1 seed. I think thats dumb, they have no bigs.
 
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