MSU very overrated there.espn releases first bracketology.
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!!!!
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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Lunardi has been slipping for years, most people know that.
It’s business magnate. Common mistake.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.
I absolutely believe Coleman can and will be better than post-injury KB offensively
I don't believe KB was anywhere close to being good enough at end of season. JMO his all defense was a gift based on rep IMO. He's fine with bigger/slower players that he can get his hands on. Quicker guards ate him alive most season. Is that still as good or better than what QC will bring defensively? Probably
12 games post-injury KB: 9.25pts/3.75 rb/2.41asst with .380fg%/.305 3fg%/.702 ft%
If QC posts those types offensive #s, I believe most will be highly disappointed.
I think the National media need to get used to the fact that we aren’t going to have a 6’1” quick PG for the foreseeable future - our PG’s are going to be 6’6 guys who can shoot the three really well and run P&R who handle the ball just well enough (see KJ, Wagler, Vaaks) Brad and Tyler have a type and that’s who they want running the offense and it’s hard to argue with their results on offense
They said the same thing when we had Marcus Domask.
I think if we signed Blackwell we would have been preseason #1, AND not been as good as whatever preseason rank we get this year.
Krombopulos_Michael
- Aurora, Illinois (that’s a suburb of Chicago)
Winston Bishop as the backup to the backup. Book it
Duke's roster right now:
Foster
Blackwell
Evans
Williams (#4 freshman)
Ngomba
.....
Boozer
Sarr
Rippey (#10 freshman)
Howard (#14 freshman)
Scharnowski (Belmont transfer)
Wilkins (#35 recruit in 2025; redshirted THIS PAST SEASON as developmental decision)
Evans is really the lone true draft decision there.
There is NO other program -- I mean nobody -- that's capable of stacking that much talent on one roster PRESEASON (we don't know how it's gonna turn out, but preseason).
It's kind of like Ohio State's wide receiver room.
Foster
Blackwell
Evans
Williams (#4 freshman)
Ngomba
.....
Boozer
Sarr
Rippey (#10 freshman)
Howard (#14 freshman)
Scharnowski (Belmont transfer)
Wilkins (#35 recruit in 2025; redshirted THIS PAST SEASON as developmental decision)
Evans is really the lone true draft decision there.
There is NO other program -- I mean nobody -- that's capable of stacking that much talent on one roster PRESEASON (we don't know how it's gonna turn out, but preseason).
It's kind of like Ohio State's wide receiver room.
Orangetool
Give me back my Afta, heh heh
Yup, this right here.
I’m not sure if you were actually responding to me but if so the OP was talking about Boswell/QC not Wagler.
All fair points. I’ve seen QC play 5 times in person. I’m very interested to see how he develops/performs over the next year.
Not even biased when I say this... Illinois needs to be top 5 preseason. And I think they will be once people get down to it.
Outside of UCONN / DUKE / MICHIGAN / FLA .... there's not a better roster in CBB (even among those teams UCONN lost Ball for the year; and we're uncertain on scUM's draft decisions).
Add in the fact that all this is off the backs of making the F4.
I don’t want to murder Kylan because he gave a lot to this program, but he was not very good defensively last season. I know about the All Big Ten stuff. He did not belong there this past year. The previous season? Absolutely. He was elite. This year there was a big drop off in his defensive performance.
If they don’t switch Andrej on to Bennett Stirtz in the Elite Eight game, it’s very likely Iowa wins that contest. Kylan was getting whipped.
The "Blue Blood" status pertains more to football than basketball. In basketball it has more to do with who is the coach. What was Duke before Coach K? Certainly not a blue blood. Good program but not comparable to North Carolina. Eventually under Coach K they passed North Carolina.
Agreed after sitting on it
Would be pretty surprised if Evans doesn't declare.
Rippey likely moves to starting 5, Duke still has the most talented roster in CBB and Scheyer will still find a way to lose..
That makes sense. I do think this team is being overhyped a bit. We’ll be a very good team and should comfortably be in the top 10, but thinking this group is a top‑five team in the country feels unrealistic. At best, I see us around 8 or 9.espn releases first bracketology.
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!!!!
It also feels like a lot of people have framed this season as Final Four or bust, and unless we get a really favorable path like we did this past year, I don’t see this team making another Final Four run. The biggest issue is depth—we just don’t have enough of it.
I’d also take the starting lineup of several other teams over ours. Realistically, we have about seven guys who will be dependable contributors this season, which means injuries would be extremely difficult to overcome. Hopefully everyone stays healthy, because we don’t have much margin for error.
I think it’s fair to say Duke will likely be 1 and Florida at 2, though if they fix their back court they’ll be solidly a 2 or possible 1 depending on just how much they fix it (ie Momilovic)
Then I could see either UCONN or Illinois, leaning towards us with Ball out for the season, but it’s a tight enough race.
Michigan is dependent on the Draft. If they retain I could see them jumping us both, but if not they could drop a couple spots.
I think he just did declare, announced within the hour I believe
Thanks Lville....we really needed that confirmation.
He might be the best player on that team though. I think he stays.
What I feel is happening is alot of the guys projected late 1st round saw what Yaxel did ... and how his decision payed off in the long run. Come back, be the head of the snake on an awesome team... and boost your stock even more. Plus get paid very handsomely.
Why it makes sense for a guy like Haugh and (possibly) Evans to return.
.....
It's just so easy to say this... but not get down to it. If you're gonna claim we're 8 or 9, then you should be able to name 7 or 8 teams that have a more talented roster than ours.
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Colgate transfer Jalen Cox has committed to USC, per Daniel Green of
@GSEworldwide
.Averaged 17.9 PPG, 5.3 APG, and 5.2 RPG last season.
@GSEworldwide
.Averaged 17.9 PPG, 5.3 APG, and 5.2 RPG last season.
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