Talen Horton-Tucker commits to Iowa State

Illinois13 · Oct 27, 2017

PtownIllini8 said:
Solid post, but you can't love Illinois and have a dream to play for Sparty. Corilary to that comment, THT didn't have the place he wanted to go pull his schollie, since the place he wanted to go (MSU) never offered him in the first place. I like your 1-4, makes sense.

Not to be combative but this might help - I love my role and company and often “dream” of using my skillset at a competitor due to resources, comp, etc. within the same industry. This is pretty common practice in life and recruiting - look no further than Eric Gordon, Bill Self (different conference but same industry), and our beloved Underwood.

Circumstantial situations with many factors. It makes sense and appreciate the original post.

Last thing - this was a risky situation and a great learning experience for our staff. They will be better for it in future recruitments.

ChicagoIllini · Oct 27, 2017

LisaMarie said:
It is Illinois's prerogative to choose Ayo over THT, but they have to live with the fallout from doing so at the last minute.

I don't believe we will see any meaningful recruiting fallout from all of this. People tend to move on pretty quickly, high school kids in particular. :illinois:

Orangetool · Oct 27, 2017

1970 John said:
The devil you say!

Nicely done.

Orangetool · Oct 27, 2017

ChicagoIllini said:
I don't believe we will see any meaningful recruiting fallout from all of this. People tend to move on pretty quickly, high school kids in particular.

This.

Way too much over analyzing and hyper-sensitive reactions happening on this thread re this whole situation. Some need to sit back and try to take a longer view.

I would be surprised if this is anything more than fairly typical recruiting stuff, we won't be returning to this issue as time moves forward.
There won't be any long term damage to the program or future recruiting.

Lots of wasted energy in my opinion, just fodder for those who need this stuff to be argued over and over as that is how they define a forum of this type.

We have a good coach.

BFU.

redwingillini11 · Oct 27, 2017

I'm willing to buy the story going around today that we didn't pull the scholarship or do anything dirty, but moving forward I cannot trust the Irvins or really anyone in the Chicago basketball community as far as I can throw them. Hopefully Ayo can come to campus and leave the Irvin garbage behind him.

ChicagoIllini · Oct 27, 2017

redwingillini11 said:
I'm willing to buy the story going around today that we didn't pull the scholarship or do anything dirty, but moving forward I cannot trust the Irvins or really anyone in the Chicago basketball community as far as I can throw them. Hopefully Ayo can come to campus and leave the Irvin garbage behind him.

Orangeblood · Oct 27, 2017

It's amazing how everyone is quick to assign blame. I heard this was just a strange and unique situation. Wasn't Irvin's fault, wasn't coach's fault. Some would say Irvin is helping others save face by taking the blame.

touper · Oct 27, 2017

Orangeblood said:
It's amazing how everyone is quick to assign blame. I heard this was just a strange and unique situation. Wasn't Irvin's fault, wasn't coach's fault. Some would say Irvin is helping others save face by taking the blame.

Tell me more...

UIGrad03 · Oct 27, 2017

Yeah, don’t think the Irvins deserve the backlash they’re getting. And THT is more culpable in this than apparently most realize.

Ayo is an Illini and the Irvins are enabling the Illini program. This is a one off situation, not a coup. This doesn’t look good, but the staff ultimately did the right thing, and I’m excited for the future.

illinitiger · Oct 28, 2017

UIGrad03 said:
Yeah, don’t think the Irvins deserve the backlash they’re getting. And THT is more culpable in this than apparently most realize.

Ayo is an Illini and the Irvins are enabling the Illini program. This is a one off situation, not a coup. This doesn’t look good, but the staff ultimately did the right thing, and I’m excited for the future.

Its good to have "enablers"...I think?

GranMastaFlex · Oct 28, 2017

touper said:
Tell me more...

Certain "insiders" might be willing to get into the rumor more but decent people should not.

Let's just say this was personal.. not necessarily one party's fault..

Ayo had no problem playing basketball with THT nor did MIF.

illinitiger · Oct 28, 2017

GranMastaFlex said:
Certain "insiders" might be willing to get into the rumor more but decent people should not.

Let's just say this was personal.. not necessarily one party's fault..

Ayo had no problem playing basketball with THT nor did MIF.

so conclusion from your comment is THT wouldnt play with Ayo (which seems unlikely) or it was a family feud.

Renegade19 · Oct 28, 2017

https://twitter.com/SShirleyval/status/924274712347336704

Let it go. It's over.

touper · Oct 28, 2017

GranMastaFlex said:
Certain "insiders" might be willing to get into the rumor more but decent people should not.

Let's just say this was personal.. not necessarily one party's fault..

Ayo had no problem playing basketball with THT nor did MIF.

And it gets murkier...I have no clue what is true but one of many unfortunate things in this whole mess is that MOB’s story in the sun times will be looked at the definitive truth by 100% of casual fans....and in that story we look bad.

Illinimobile · Oct 28, 2017

Renegade19 said:
https://twitter.com/SShirleyval/status/924274712347336704

Let it go. It's over.

Yes, I think we can finally put this story to rest now. Good luck to Talen at Iowa State.

mdonsbach · Oct 28, 2017

Renegade19 said:
https://twitter.com/SShirleyval/status/924274712347336704

Let it go. It's over.

So do the media types who have been saying that it was pulled admit they were wrong or call her a liar.

Makes it tough to believe some people.

doowink · Oct 28, 2017

illinitiger said:
so conclusion from your comment is THT wouldnt play with Ayo (which seems unlikely) or it was a family feud.

That doesn't make sense.....if THT wouldn't play on same team with Ayo, then why come to CU and do the weekend visit....did he think BU would tell Ayo to take a hike????

illinitiger · Oct 28, 2017

doowink said:
That doesn't make sense.....if THT wouldn't play on same team with Ayo, then why come to CU and do the weekend visit....did he think BU would tell Ayo to take a hike????

yeah...that's why I think it was a family feud.

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IlliniDent · Oct 28, 2017

mdonsbach said:
So do the media types who have been saying that it was pulled admit they were wrong or call her a liar.

Makes it tough to believe some people.

That or everyone agreed to move on from this and she is doing her best to end the speculation. Either way, with comments like that, I'm very inclined to believe that this will end up being no more than a flash in the pan and people will move on from it.

JSpence · Oct 28, 2017

What I've learned from this ordeal:

Fans and the media (our media, created by demand) are waaaay too wrapped up in recruiting. This ain't healthy.

Combo · Oct 28, 2017

touper said:
And it gets murkier...I have no clue what is true but one of many unfortunate things in this whole mess is that MOB’s story in the sun times will be looked at the definitive truth by 100% of casual fans....and in that story we look bad.

MOB delights in making IL look bad. And he has little regard for the definitive truth.

Do we have a journalism school¿. We could use some alumni in the media.

JSpence · Oct 28, 2017

Innocent Primate said:
I have a couple of degrees from the University. I have been an Illinois basketball fan for over 50 years and a season ticket holder through thick and thin.

I didn’t think I’d ever say this (or have cause to), but if the rumors are true and we “played the game” and yanked an offer to a young man who we recruited and wanted to come to the University simply to placate another recruit and/or Chicago AAU interests, I’m no longer proud of or interested in Illinois basketball.

Yup. I'm still open to hearing a different, truthful account of the mess, but I can see my path forward if the worst is what happened. This incident has crystallized several opinions I hardly knew I had.

Basketball scholarships at the University of Illinois are, first and foremost, there to advance the careers and lives of the best amateur basketball players in Illinois. In the interest of keeping the team competitive, the head coach should get a fair amount of say in which players get offers. The scholarships, though, do not belong to him. Or the press. Or an AAU coach. They belong to the kids in our high schools.

The system does not reflect this, but neither do its operators or our expectations. Basketball is broken. I hope my alma mater has the guts to break away and be a leader in fixing it.

Good luck to Talen Horton-Tucker and his family.

GranMastaFlex · Oct 28, 2017

illinitiger said:
so conclusion from your comment is THT wouldnt play with Ayo (which seems unlikely) or it was a family feud.

Sorry that was misleading.

Ayo/THT put an off the court thing behind them. Not everybody else could do the same.

I think with more time this could have gotten worked out. Families needed to sit down and air out feelings.

Unfortunately that didn't happen.. Kids let things go often before adults do.

Things worked out as they did and they're over but this wasn't MIF at work here or at least the culprit.

illinitiger · Oct 28, 2017

GranMastaFlex said:
Sorry that was misleading.

Ayo/THT put an off the court thing behind them. Not everybody else could do the same.

I think with more time this could have gotten worked out. Families needed to sit down and air out feelings.

Unfortunately that didn't happen.. Kids let things go often before adults do.

Things worked out as they did and they're over but this wasn't MIF at work here or at least the culprit.

only thing that I cant seem to reconcile with all of this is the previous MIF tweets about THT in the summer and to Ayo before THT s announcement.

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whovous · Oct 28, 2017

illinitiger said:
only thing that I cant seem to reconcile with all of this is the previous MIF tweets about THT in the summer and to Ayo before THT s announcement.

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Why does anything need to be reconciled? THT's mom says that Illinois did NOT pull the scholarship offer. That means he could have chosen Illinois, he could have chosen Xavier, he could have chosen Iowa State, or he could have chosen to consider other offers.

He chose Iowa State over the other offers.

Why? I don't know and I don't care. It was his choice. He could choose for any reason at all. It might be a good reason, and it might be a bad reason, but he does not owe anyone an explanation. It was his choice.

Talen Horton-Tucker commits to Iowa State

White and Sixth