Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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None of those guys besides Kamissoko have commited elsewhere.
Wabbington is from Arizona. Arizona has been on him the earliest and the most given the in-state connection. He recently visited and didn't commit. That probably leaves some possibility for the Illini. I think that's an 70 Arizona / 20 Illinois / 10 Indiana probability situation. He very clearly wants to play more in the mould of a Cam Boozer (a playmaking 4) than a traditional 5 center. I'm not sure if Wabbington will wait till Spring 2027 to see how 2027-28 rosters start to take shape.
Betts and Lusakueno are for the time being 2028 recruits. But like Pettigrew, all the visits they're making this year suggests they're like re-classing. I don't think either of these recruits has any early favorite (ala Arizona for Wabbington).
So I think it's early to say we've struck out any besides Kamissoko.
A couple of those guys are 2028 targets. I think the days of a lot of those type guys committing before their senior year are over.
Currently, only about half of the top 50 247 composite recruits for 2027 are committed. (Only 1 of the Top 10)
None of the top 100 for 2028 are, at least that I saw.
Too much guesswork on how rosters will look in 18 months.
Wabbington is the only one to pay attention to right now. It’s a battle. Think we’ve done a good job of closing the gap
Not Pettigrew!?!? Time to panic! /s
I heard someone say that if you flipped when Deon and Kofi were drafted, they both probably would have been NBA stars. One too early for his skills, one too late.
247 didn't even mention Illinois on a pod today, seemed to think Indiana was the team with an outside shot.
The next iteration of Brad's recruiting will be interesting. Is this euro model repeatable? I feel like just in the past 1-2 years, all the programs are now on top of euros.
The data junkies will love this. Data driven website has 26 Illinois as the 7th best team since 2008 and would suggest they would be favorites to win the title in all years but the last three and 2018.
www.unfurledhq.com
UnfurledHQ — College Hoops OVR
Player and team ratings for every Division I season, 2008 through 2027.
www.unfurledhq.com
The data junkies will love this. Data driven website has 26 Illinois as the 7th best team since 2008 and would suggest they would be favorites to win the title in all years but the last three and 2018.
UnfurledHQ — College Hoops OVR
Player and team ratings for every Division I season, 2008 through 2027.
This site launched today? Crazy similar to what I just launched two weeks ago on the 16th. I love that they have team logos and player images.
By the way, was inspired by the chatter this morning about best frontcourt (PS, nobody look at where USC's depth is ranked
):Projected Frontcourt Rankings — 2026-27 | My Perfect Campaign
Which D-I programs have the strongest projected frontcourts heading into 2026-27?
Projected Backcourt Rankings — 2026-27 | My Perfect Campaign
Which D-I programs have the strongest projected guard rotations heading into 2026-27?
Projected Bench Depth — 2026-27 | My Perfect Campaign
Which D-I programs have the deepest projected benches heading into 2026-27?
Looks like a fairly new launch, but just realized that I ran it in the wrong thread!!!This site launched today? Crazy similar to what I just launched two weeks ago on the 16th. I love that they have team logos and player images.
By the way, was inspired by the chatter this morning about best frontcourt (PS, nobody look at where USC's depth is ranked
Projected Frontcourt Rankings — 2026-27 | My Perfect Campaign
Which D-I programs have the strongest projected frontcourts heading into 2026-27?myperfectcampaign.com
Projected Backcourt Rankings — 2026-27 | My Perfect Campaign
Which D-I programs have the strongest projected guard rotations heading into 2026-27?
Projected Bench Depth — 2026-27 | My Perfect Campaign
Which D-I programs have the deepest projected benches heading into 2026-27?
This site launched today? Crazy similar to what I just launched two weeks ago on the 16th. I love that they have team logos and player images.
By the way, was inspired by the chatter this morning about best frontcourt (PS, nobody look at where USC's depth is ranked
Projected Frontcourt Rankings — 2026-27 | My Perfect Campaign
Which D-I programs have the strongest projected frontcourts heading into 2026-27?
Projected Backcourt Rankings — 2026-27 | My Perfect Campaign
Which D-I programs have the strongest projected guard rotations heading into 2026-27?
Projected Bench Depth — 2026-27 | My Perfect Campaign
Which D-I programs have the deepest projected benches heading into 2026-27?
You know what I see? The beloved are the only team that’s Top 5 in both Frontcourt and Backcourt
This is the guy that we're not hearing much about. Our insider crew said that he's a lock, but that was months ago. He's gotten around since then. Who knows......
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
He's even better than an old school walk on. He's gonna provide some excitement in garbage time this year and have one or two spectacular dunks.
In the first game (Jackson State) of the season last year, he was the first substitution off the bench (I am pretty sure). And it was in the first half, not garbage time, although he probably played then, too. Played 14 minutes. At the time, I thought he might become a more prominent sub. But, of course, Lee, Stojakovic, Tomi, and Petrovich didn’t play, mostly because of injuries. And then, after this game, we didn’t see much of him until garbage time.
The bottom is a tweet from June 30th.
The top is the tweet from a few minutes ago.
He’s down to Arizona, Indiana, Illinois.
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Kudos to our staff for swooping in last minute to make this a real battle. We may yet lose to Arizona. But to battle for a 5-star recruit FROM Arizona against a program like UofA (that never seems to have a shortage of them) reflects the beloved's strength in the current NCAAM landscape!
Here’s to hoping Indiana is a VERY distant third.
I'm only hoping Illinois is first.... but an inch or a mile. winning is winning.
I learned that from a family man, cuh
It's great that we get these guys on campus, but I'd hope that we're WAY past moral victories. If our recruiting has gone from making the jump from Euros to five star high schoolers.....have to win some of these. This is where my username actually does check out.
If we're going to change philosophy, we have to land some of these guys. My fear is that the cost of doing business is slowly starting to get away from us. With the European pipeline being en vogue across the country now, that cost has gone up. The cost of getting a major name in the portal is ridiculous. We're not one of the programs that are getting involved in the courts to obtain players. I'm wondering if High School 5 stars(high 4 stars) has become the cheapest option and we're pivoting that way?
It just seems like a program like ours is starting to get into no man's land with this. As the cost of business has gone up, schools in that second tier vs the endless money pits is now being affected. All that said, we have a very expensive roster this year, so we're clearly still a player. Just wondering for how long and is hitting the prep ranks and taking huge swings of the bat with 5 stars the new financial plan. If so, can't put a donut up when it comes to getting all of these big names on campus.
Arizona all the way
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