Talen Horton-Tucker commits to Iowa State

#252      

Hoppy2105

H
Little Rock, Arkansas
Hoppy2105
Why do we have to keep thinking all of this went down like our coach is a slimey used car salesman that decided to screw over this kid? We literally don't know everything that happened. All we know is there was a rift and it could not be overcome.

BU may have truly thought he could work it out. Maybe it was close to happening and then one turd in the punchbowl went and screwed it up. BU had to have a rough sit down or a rough call with THT letting him know that he couldn't take him as much as he wanted to.

Maybe BU called Robert Smith and let him know that he is being paid to make a decision and sometimes life doesn't work how we want it because of collective turds in punchbowls.

BU wanted THT. He wanted Simeon's guy. I bet if Robert Smith were being candid, and was in BU's shoes, he would do the same thing. You have to build a program with talent if you want to be successful. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Robert Smith HAS been put in a similar situation already and made a similar choice.

The argument that MIF forever has the keys to our program is silly. There was a reason for the animosity in this one. (legitimate or not) It's not like they are going to come to BU out of nowhere and say, "you want Miller? Well don't take any other players in the class". BU will simply say no thanks. MIF had the keys to the recruitment of these 2 players because there was strife already. That won't be the case if there is no strife between other players.

If we only had room for 1 shooting guard in a class and we were courting 2, you take the first to commit. In this situation, replace "shooting guard" with "recruit from this funky MIF/Simeon mess". We were only getting one from what it seems. We took the first to commit. Luckily, he happens to be the better one.

I learned something when going through resistance training (military), you don't blame the people that are hostages for their actions. You blame the hostage takers. It's their crazy demands that are being met. In this ONE recruitment, we/THT were held hostage to MIF/other folks involved. Let's just remember who the enemy was in this one.

The turd in the punchbowl.
 
#253      

Captain Bubbles

Captain Bubbles
Fairfield, IL
Captain Bubbles
#254      

EJ33

E
San Francisco
EJ33
winorlosewestillbooze said:
https://twitter.com/KedPrince4/statu...10197416005632

From Kedric Prince this morning

"#Illini bball fans IMPORTANT tweet (fact) here, Illinois DID NOT pull Talen Horton-Tucker’s scholarship offer. More to come from me later!"

https://twitter.com/KedPrince4/statu...16612926918657

And he reiterated his point here, so for everyone freaking out about that relax for a minute.
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Now that's interesting.

And this from Prince:

For you old timers do you remember a bball player from Springfield named Ed Horton went to Iowa. Related to THT they lived in Springfield.
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This explains it all...do not recruit a Horton. :)

I seem to remember that Horton went to Iowa because we chose Lowell Hamilton. I loved Lowell, but I think Iowa got the best of us on that one. Anybody have a better recollection of the Ed Horton recruitment?
 
#255      

skyIdub

skyIdub
Winged Warrior
skyIdub
winorlosewestillbooze said:
https://twitter.com/KedPrince4/statu...10197416005632

From Kedric Prince this morning

"#Illini bball fans IMPORTANT tweet (fact) here, Illinois DID NOT pull Talen Horton-Tucker’s scholarship offer. More to come from me later!"

https://twitter.com/KedPrince4/statu...16612926918657

And he reiterated his point here, so for everyone freaking out about that relax for a minute.
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Well now, imagine that. Some of us can put away our Jump to Conclusions mat.:illinois:
 
#256      

Captain Bubbles

Captain Bubbles
Fairfield, IL
Captain Bubbles
Just a thought that I have and no one has addressed this yet: How does the outcome of this recruitment affect the relationship between Robert Smith and the Mac Irvin Fire? If the Irvin's really did this, Smith shouldn't be mad/frustrated at Coach Underwood, I would think he'd be mad/frustrated at the Irvin's, not at Underwood. If all this was caused by the Irvin's, then the Simeon connection to Illinois isn't damaged at all. I still see the connection is open from Simeon to Illinois here, I don't view it as "damaged" like some see it already.

Just food for thought. If I was Robert Smith in this situation, I wouldn't point my finger at BU, he would be pointing his finger at MIF. But alas, remember the old saying: "Don't point your finger if your hands aren't clean."
 
#257      

Obelix

Obelix
Obelix
Classic Kedric... The conjecture that he is trying to make with Ed Horton is simply laughable. Because of their relationship, THT was attracted to a totally different school, just because it also has "Iowa" in their name, while in reality, it is not only a totally different school, but their most hated rival. If nothing else, if that was important for THT, "Iowa State" would be the last school THT would consider. Iowa, Iowa State, sure, it does not matter Ked :)
 
#258      

PJD86

P
Texas
PJD86
Obelix said:
Classic Kedric... The conjecture that he is trying to make with Ed Horton is simply laughable. Because of their relationship, THT was attracted to a totally different school, just because it also has "Iowa" in their name, while in reality, it is not only a totally different school, but their most hated rival. If nothing else, if that was important for THT, "Iowa State" would be the last school THT would consider. Iowa, Iowa State, sure, it does not matter Ked :)
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I replied to that (The 85 H-F tweet, we played them downstate) I wasnt sure what he was saying but it brought back good old memories lol :)
 
#259      

Hoppy2105

H
Little Rock, Arkansas
Hoppy2105
Berg88 said:
Surely you understand how the situation is likely to be different in the future. Ayo had connections to chin and no blue blood offers. When those facts are different, the outcome will likely be different.
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It could be...or maybe it won't. Maybe us taking Ayo gave us enough clout that in an even race with Duke and Illinois, MIF will push their player our way.

It will be even easier if BU wins this year and especially next year with Ayo on board. Winning will cure all and make it easier for us to not have to cater so heavily to an AAU program.
 
#260      

FollowTisdale

F
FollowTisdale
Berg88 said:
Surely you understand how the situation is likely to be different in the future. Ayo had connections to chin and no blue blood offers. When those facts are different, the outcome will likely be different.
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But moving forward, why do you think that? Since Self left, there hasn't been a reason for the top Chicago talent with blue blood offers to even consider Illinois because we've had a joke of a program.

Underwood, in my opinion, is the guy to change that. So moving forward, we'll be worthy of consideration.
 
#261      

Obelix

Obelix
Obelix
Berg88 said:
Surely you understand how the situation is likely to be different in the future. Ayo had connections to chin and no blue blood offers. When those facts are different, the outcome will likely be different.
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Ayo had plenty of early interest and offers from blue bloods, including Kansas.

But let me sure I understand what you are saying:

That we will not be able to win every single recruit from the top program in Illinois and one of the top in the country (something that no single blue blood has been able to do either), but in less than a year we have been able to get in the game and grab their top player? OK...

Chin does not have connections with just Ayo, he has extremely strong connections with MIF where he had been a long time coach. He is also very well connected with many AAU and HS programs and coaches.
 
#263      

Peoria Illini

P
Peoria, IL
Peoria Illini
icengineer said:
All you doom-n-gloomers that hammered BU for 'pulling his offer' and damning the program please get in line for absolution! :D
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LOL... nah... it was a terrible thing for our staff to do to a kid that had his heart set on going to Illinois...er Michigan State... er Iowa St... er back to Illinois... ummm.... wait...what?
 
#264      

EJ33

E
San Francisco
EJ33
Kajagoogoo said:
Ed wanted to be an Illini from what I recall. And Lou wanted him. But I think Lou wanted him as a low-post player, but at that time, Horton was being compared to Bernard King and envisioned himself a small forward. I think Iowa might've promised him a chance at that role, but of course, he ended up beefing up and becoming a really good low-post player after all.

Side note: I think his former Lanphier teammate, Kevin Gamble, ended up being the better player and was nearly an all-star with the Boston Celtics. Good guy, too.
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Thanks, great memory on this. It looked like Lowell Hamilton was going to play the 3/4 so Horton went to Iowa. And then they both ended up playing center.

Gamble was one of the few Iowa players I liked - really good player.
 
#265      

Charleston

C
Charleston
icengineer said:
All you doom-n-gloomers that hammered BU for 'pulling his offer' and damning the program please get in line for absolution! :D
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Doesn't this contradict what O'Brien reported last night, which was consistent with the rumors that were flying yesterday? From my understanding, Prince doesn't have a lot of credibility.
 
#266      

NB2D

N
NB2D
Peoria Illini said:
LOL... nah... it was a terrible thing for our staff to do to a kid that had his heart set on going to Illinois...er Michigan State... er Iowa St... er back to Illinois... ummm.... wait...what?
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y'all forgot Xavier UIC Depaul
 
#267      

DaChief4ever

D
Urbana
DaChief4ever
Imagine a giant Wheel of Fortune Wheel...with Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Illinois and others. The player spins.....and jubilation as he selects Kansas...only to announce there will be 3 spins and then a spinoff....er...maybe not.
 
#268      

Ga65

G
Ga65
Have no idea what happened here but feel sorry for the innocent parties as all are painted with the same PR brush. Someone in the mix, however, has no ethics and I don't think it is the kids.
 
#269      

BMo79

B
BMo79
I seem to remember that Horton went to Iowa because we chose Lowell Hamilton. I loved Lowell, but I think Iowa got the best of us on that one. Anybody have a better recollection of the Ed Horton recruitment?
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I was thinking this was really about the same deal, Lou wanted them both, but Horton was going to have to play Center and he didn't want to so he picked Iowa. then played center there. I disagree though I think Lowell was the better of the 2, but he would have been way better had we had a center and him play PF
 
#270      

skyIdub

skyIdub
Winged Warrior
skyIdub
Good lord, this worked out best for everybody. Guaranteed.:illinois:
 
#271      

americanoutlaw11

A
americanoutlaw11
BryceC said:
First off I'm an ISU fan. I feel bad for both THT and the staff. I like Underwood.

It's easy to say that the staff failed to find out how big of a problem the rift was between Ayo and THT. I'm sure they tried. For all we know Irvin said it was no big deal then dropped the ultimatum on the staff the day of in an effort to embarrass the kid. Clearly this is an adult man who has no problem carrying a grudge against a teenager. We don't have enough information to make that call.

He was screwed either way. They either give in and burn bridges with MIF, or they burn bridges with Simeon. Probably doesn't help the CPL at large. I mean what do you do in that time with such short notice? Who knows. All I know is Underwood's job just got infinitely harder because he missed on not only a good player but ultimately pissed off some people.

As for the story, I think a national guy would be dying to write this, but I hope they don't, because it might embarrass Horton-Tucker. It's over and done now. The relevant parties know what happened. Just move on.

For the record we had a lot of Illinois fans show up on CycloneFanatic this week to talk about this recruitment, and even when it looked like he was going to Illinois everybody was absolutely awesome. Sports message boards can be just a trash heap but I really respect the good number of fans that showed up. Definitely rooting for Illinois and I wish you guys nothing but the best.

For the fans that are upset - don't let this taint your love of the team. The staff, and particularly the players on this team as it stands are the only ones that will be hurt by you tuning out.
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Sincerely hope that the Illinois trio can help you guys end Self's run at the top of that conference.
 
#272      

BMo79

B
BMo79
Charleston said:
Doesn't this contradict what O'Brien reported last night, which was consistent with the rumors that were flying yesterday? From my understanding, Prince doesn't have a lot of credibility.
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Ked has pretty much saying both things are true, seems he is sitting on the fence and trying to make things look good/bad for both sides. Kind of like he is doing all he can to piss off as many people as he can while trying to make everyone love him
 
#275      

PtownIllini8

P
PtownIllini8
Charleston said:
Doesn't this contradict what O'Brien reported last night, which was consistent with the rumors that were flying yesterday? From my understanding, Prince doesn't have a lot of credibility.
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Well gee, if it's your understanding that Prince doesn't have a lot of credibility, then why wouldn't we go with that?:confused: