Deon probablshould have been 5.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
I'm of the opinion that our evaluation wasn't that far off and that he's going to turn out to be a good player.
Late start, new team, new country, the Wagler curveball. I wonder if he just overwhelmed.
Of course he'll be weighing foreign opportunities as well.
We need a strategy for all 5 star scenarios. Team work, makes the dream work. Add football into this collaboration as well.
I agree. I still think he can play well in HM basketball. He is going to need an offensive system that plays more to his strengths and a coach that puts the ball in his hands. Between Keaton and Kylan, there just wasn’t much court time left for him. We saw a few flashes of his offense talent, but his defense earned him a short leash. He never looked comfortable out there for us.
If we ever struggled getting good looks, he might have been able to overcome his shortcomings with his offensive prowess, but we never struggled to get good shots. (Occasionally to make them…)
There was never a reason to sacrifice defense for what he brought on offense, but there are plenty of other teams with the opposite problem.
The Wagler curveball effected Petro, Boswell and Drej. All of their roles did a 180.
The difference is Boswell and Drej were starters who played huge roles, while Petro was essentially no different from a walk on (minus that one Minnesota game).
.....
I do think it's somewhat overblown that Wagler's the entire reason Petro was in the doghouse.
We lost Boswell for an extended period: he still couldn't make the rotation, and we played with 7 guys.
We lost Boswell AND Andrej for a game (Wisconsin): he still couldn't make the rotation, and we played with 6 guys.
Perhaps it just wasn't a good roster fit? There's more than enough chances there to at least crack the rotation.
Honestly, if Wagler was just a 5ppg bench piece, I still think he plays over Petro. He'd just be the 6th / 7th / 8th man in those situations, instead of your best player (1st man).
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The Sprouting Divot
Invisible and Bulletproof
- Miracle Mile
Given that we failed to beat Wisconsin last year, the bolded portion is challenging to reconcile - could be interpreted as him being "unplayable" or cited as an example of how a deeper bench might have made a positive difference.
I struggle to see the Wagler effect. I feel like both Andrej & Boswell's (and the Ivisicai) struggles were more attributable to down years in 3pt shooting.
Andrej saw his usage drop ~3% and got 1.5 less FGA a game which seems reasonable given the huge talent jump between teams. His drop in scoring was because he shot 24% from 3. Were he hitting 32% he likely doesn't pass up those 1-2 more open 3s a game and doesn't see his PPG drop.
Boz just didn't seem as aggressive post-injury. Maybe that was losing alpha status, maybe injury, but another dude that if he matched his previous high 3 pt% it would've been a wildly different story.
Not everyone here accepted that opinion. There were a few posters (at least 2 that I can remember) who kept posting that MP was unplayable or similar words. One even said he could not play in the Big Ten. I kept pushing back on those posts. Even though there are no Big Ten teams on this list, I think he could at least play on one of the lower-tier Big Ten teams. And, of course, he has yet to play anywhere else, so those posters may end up being correct, but I doubt it.
Add in he was injured to start the season. I can see the POV that he was just overwhelmed by the perfect storm of events.
Here's a question for you and I suppose a different way to look at it.
If those two guys(Boswell and Drej) KNEW that there was another player on the roster that would dominate the ball, get the volume of shots and be the go to guy....do either of them come/stay here?
I think that both guys were SUPER professional with how they handled the roles.
Boz was pretty much relegated to being the lockdown defender, our leader and the emotional heartbeat. During rough times, he was the calming effect. You are 100% right that the injury sidetracked his productivity, but it seems as though his purpose on the roster was a much different role that I think he signed up for.
With Drej, I think he came here to be "the man". He carried that type of reputation. I think his role was to be the primary scorer, have the ball in his hands during crunch time and pretty much be the face of the franchise. The injuries definitely didn't help, but he got relegated to 6th man. He's the classic case that it's not who starts rather who finishes that's important. He swallowed hard and was a true team guy to not complain. I don't think his role is what he signed up for, but he did it for the good of the group. I don't know if many of us thought he'd be back in February. March hit, he was extremely successful, he had a huge NCAA Tournament and the way he was thought of by the fans and GMs completely changed. He became a critical need for us to come back. I think that he was promised the Wagler role this year because him succeeding in an expanded role is his ticket to the NBA. Short of a Wagler type shocker, I think we can expect Drej to be "the man".
With Petro....I don't know. He wasn't even being used in mop up duty, which leads me to believe he had practice/effort issues or maybe a bit of clashing with the staff. I seem to remember him having a few words with Brad in a huddle. I might be misremembering, but pretty sure there was beef. I'm not sure Keaton effected that situation at all outside of maybe 5 minutes here and there that potentially needed to be soaked up. When he stayed benched vs Wisconsin, when we were down to 6 players and we were completely out of gas spoke volumes.
It was a wild change in what we thought going in the year. I just wonder what the roster would have looked like if he was an All American candidate going into the year.
Now go get the older brother as a transfer
@Indy Illini Fan how hard do we recruit Scottie Adkinson and is that a kid we can flip
Only addressing the MP question/comments. I posted an article here on IL (which, for some reason, I can’t find now) written around the beginning of May written by someone who, apparently, writes for Gonzaga in some capacity.
Here is the link, but I will only copy and paste the part that pertains to MP’s locker room demeanor.
Why Gonzaga should target Serbian guard Mihailo Petrovic out of transfer portal. May 2. 2026
It doesn’t quite address your comments, but it might be a hint that things were pretty copacetic in regard to practice/effort issues. According to this writer, there were none. But, on the other hand, he wasn’t sitting in on the practices. I don’t know where he got his information, but presumably he got it from somewhere. From an SI.com article, Why Gonzaga should target Serbian guard Mihailo Petrovic out of transfer portal. May 2, 2026, he wrote:
By all accounts, Petrovic was a great teammate while at Illinois, and his veteran experience, facilitation skills, and the potential for a breakout - now that he has a year of college under his belt - make this an intriguing option for Gonzaga to pursue out of the portal.
Oh, yes, I remember you were one of the naysayers.
I will take a quick stab at the Boswell/AS question/comment. Personally, I don’t think Kylan was going anywhere no matter what or who happened. He was locked in as far as anything I heard or read. And I don’t think KW had any effect on Andre. But that is my own personal opinion that, as I said are based on things I have heard or read, mostly here. I will leave it to other, more knowledgeable posters to respond.
Is this him?
JT Pettigrew, Bolingbrook , Power Forward
JT Pettigrew is a 6-7, 205-pound Power Forward from Bolingbrook, IL.
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