Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#826      
Second place is 1st loser
They were indeed "pretty good"

Preseason #1 nationally and ended up 6th in the B1G... probably not where you want to be if you were preseason #1
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As you know, by many(especially here), the season is defined by the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. Though they finished 6th, they still had 30 minutes, played for the BTT Championship, got a #2 seed(over us) and played in St. Louis(over us) and got to an Elite 8, where they lost to a phenomenal Arizona team.

Our path to the FF opened up. Their's stayed true to form.

They had their bumps in the road(as did everyone not named Michigan), but given where fandoms are with the regular season doesn't matter philosophy(ours leads the country in these awful takes).....they ultimately had a really good season.

Getting to an Elite 8 is fantastic by any measure. Iowa was extremely average during the year, but their season will forever be remembered because of three wins. I disagree with this process, but it is what it is.
 
#828      
Second place is 1st loser
7 of those 10 (all of the top 7) wound up in the top 10 of the final AP poll both pre and post tournament, and Texas Tech lost their superstar to injury with whom they were very much in that mix, so the only two there that you could say were wrong were Kentucky and BYU.

"New-build NIL superteams under shaky coaches" is definitely the common theme of the modern day overrated team.
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Kentucky was destroyed by injuries and when BYU lost Saunders to injury, they went from a potentially great team to.....how far can AJ get us? They're both in the Texas Tech category. Injuries happen. They've hurt us multiple years running.
 
#830      
PepeSilvia
I don't know why this has to be explained a million times but this is going to be the case for pretty much any team dealing with [multiple] injuries. You can't get rotational quality players to come sign for lowball NIL and be expected to play zero minutes the whole season in the case that there are minimal injuries.

Duke went to a 6 man rotation when they had guys injured
Texas Tech went to a 6/7 man rotation when Toppin went down
Michigan went to a 7 man rotation with Tschetter playing spot minutes after the Cason injury
UConn was playing 7 guys when they had injuries
Iowa St played 7 after Jefferson got injured
Alabama played 7 after Holloway was arrested
Gonzaga played 7 after Braden Huff was injured
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That's why you're not going after a 9th man. You go after a guard that pushes Coleman for a starting spot or is the first guard off the bench if Coleman is better.

You bring a guy in with the intention of them competing, not being a 9th man. If Morillo and the other freshman are better than great, if not you push Morillo/Davis down the rotation to where they are better suited and you're not so reliant on them.

As far as the teams you're pointing out I don't think they are making the point you want to. Michigan was 9 deep all year and played 8 deep without issue when Cason went down(Tschetter was absolutely past of the rotation playing 10-15 mins). UConn was 9 deep all year and dropped to 7 when Ball and Demary were hurt before being back to 9.

Those were the only two teams that were able to weather the storm with injuries.

Duke was 8 deep and Siena had them on the ropes with 2 guys injured while they had two former top 50 recruits(Harris(so) and Wilkins) that couldn't get any tick when they desperately needed help.

Texas Tech, Iowa State, Alabama, and Gonzaga were all different levels of cooked as soon as they faced injuries/depth concerns. None were really title contender at that point.

Illinois is going in basically counting on Coleman and Morillo to be 8 deep with the 5 returnees and Vaaks. If none of the other lower rated freshman are ready to play than that is it(More likely than not). If one of Morillo or Coleman doesn't translate right away then you're all of a sudden trying to play the season 7 deep with Davis as your last guy - someone goes down and you look like the Wisconsin game real quick.

It's basketball, an injury can always kill a season at anytime but if you have the money why not get a guy to compete with Coleman and buy the freshman time to come along at their own pace. Just because Brad has struggled to manage rotations(see Morez minutes) does not mean you cant play 9 or even 10 guys in the regular season and condense down to your best 7/8 when you need it.
 
#832      
PepeSilvia
Just kind of?

Do we think it’s easier to identify a top 7 now or (for example) in January?
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I mean both have their problems, right?

If we struggle with our ultra-hard non-conference schedule and are unranked on January 1, are we dead and buried? Or will what we knew in May reassert itself?

I dunno, I don't really think this is that important of a debate, other than just identifying us as one of a group of programs who are just in really durably great shape looking toward next year. If 2026 Purdue is your floor, that's a heck of a floor.
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You basically have an idea of who truly are the best teams within two weeks of the start of the season. Definitely by Thanksgiving.

Preseason rankings do still tend to be a good indicator but were probably better one pre instant portal imo.

If Illinois is unranked by January after a rough noncon then historically speaking they are probably dead and buried unless it was all injury related and their getting multiple guys back.

If there is any month you can afford to struggle a bit it is January. Your talent shows out early in the season, and it gives you enough time to right the ship and fix things in February to be ready to peak in March.
 
#836      
OB positive
I don't know why this has to be explained a million times but this is going to be the case for pretty much any team dealing with [multiple] injuries. You can't get rotational quality players to come sign for lowball NIL and be expected to play zero minutes the whole season in the case that there are minimal injuries.

Duke went to a 6 man rotation when they had guys injured
Texas Tech went to a 6/7 man rotation when Toppin went down
Michigan went to a 7 man rotation with Tschetter playing spot minutes after the Cason injury
UConn was playing 7 guys when they had injuries
Iowa St played 7 after Jefferson got injured
Alabama played 7 after Holloway was arrested
Gonzaga played 7 after Braden Huff was injured
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I didn't say we need to get a 4star. Just saying we need another quality reserve. You an keep your mansplaining to yourself!
 
#837      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
Emerson Bigguns said:
The mpg stat is flawed, if you get. DNP, it doesn’t affect your MPG average, which leads to totals>actual minutes per game. (200)
If you look at aggregate minutes, it’s noisy because guys who wouldn’t get minutes in competitive games can get significant run in blowouts.
Occasionally, there are over 200 minutes a game, (OT) but in those kinds of games the 9th man probably isn’t playing barring injury or significant foul trouble. Even then, 6-8 are going to just play more.
When considering the 9th man, the main utility is mitigating the impact of a long term injury. The role of “injury mitigation specialist” is a tough sell.
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My point is that the 9th man will get onto the court. We need to stop equating them with the walk-ons, as if they'll never get playing time. If that's the case, then you probably have a problem in and of itself.

Jake Davis in 2025 played in 32 out of 35 games, averaging 9.5 minutes in those games played.

DGL played in all 7 of our Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament games -- fairly meaningful minutes:

UConn - 9
ISU - 6
DQ - 8
Morehead - 10
WISC - 7
OSU - 4
NEB - 4

I don't think it's unreasonable to say one of Brown / Zens will be asked to be functional role players in fringe, limited minutes (unless they're downright unplayable, which probably isn't ideal either).
 
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#838      
bavanga3
"anything remotely noteworthy in the tournament"
Several of them did just fine throughout the year and lost in the crapshoot that is the tournament
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Yet you post their regular season result instead of their tournament result in an obvious attempt to slander their season while posting every other team's tournament result.

That's not how to get your point taken seriously.
 
#839      
joeybcrazy13
Chicken Wings Hot Ones GIF by First We Feast
 
#846      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
NarrowJ said:
Original person I replied to said “definite top 7” which was what I had pushed back on. Now that the conversation has shifted to “is it as accurate as a preseason poll?” I can see my stance has certainly lost its luster.
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Definite top 7 for the PRESEASON. Obviously once the year starts anything can happen.
 
#848      
Illinilosch
blackdog said:
Dude looks like a gamer. I was impressed by the footwork and was going to say he doesn't wow with athleticism but then the first clip they showed in 2026 was a monster jam.
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Completely agree. Think when it's all said and done, ZZ is gonna look like a freaking steal for the Illini. Absolutely love every part about his skillet and just his overall game.
 
#849      
Joel Goodson
ZZ: there's an efficiency to his game that stands out, no unwasted motion. shot is pure, release is quick, VG range. and he doesn't force squat, despite being the alpha. a lot to like here. he could be a booty ball terror and is already a better outside shooter than Domask. obvously, a huge step up, but I love this get. kid is a baller
 
#850      
Joel Goodson
$ article, but you'll get the gist:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2058155984896270790

sounds like he might make the team:

"No. 13 Quentin Coleman, committed to Illinois – No high school senior emerged more this year than Coleman and he looked even better this week in Colorado Springs. Not only was his skill and feel evident, but there were increased signs of athleticism and physicality. He was initiating contact off the dribble in ways I hadn't seen before and even had a tip dunk. In other words, he looked every bit as good as advertised and poised to be a key contributor for this team."
 
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