Talen Horton-Tucker commits to Iowa State

#127      

BMo79

B
BMo79
IndyILL said:
If THT wanted to be an ILLINI why didn't he commit months ago? Seems to me MSU was his DREAM school. And I am sure he will get over this... the question is will you recover???
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A lot has to do with Groce wasn't recruiting him, so till BU started we were way behind on him. So guess we can blame all this on Groce
 
#128      

IllinistuckinGopherland

IllinistuckinGopherland
IllinistuckinGopherland
#129      

STLIlliniMike

S
STLIlliniMike
IndyILL said:
If THT wanted to be an ILLINI why didn't he commit months ago? Seems to me MSU was his DREAM school. And I am sure he will get over this... the question is will you recover???
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Yeah let's blame the 16 yr old kid for not knowing where he wanted to attend college fast enough and not the grown men that pulled his scholarship on the day of his announcement. Classy. Loyalty know no bounds I guess.
 
#130      

PJD86

P
Texas
PJD86
One positive guys-

Reading the National takes on this (Fran Fraschilla is all over it) they blame chicago club teams and politics, and are pretty much leaving us blameless to this point. Lets hope that narrative sticks and doesnt cost us down the road.

All the positive I got, we need a game soon lol
 
#131      

illinitiger

I
illinitiger
ChicagoIllini said:
Everyone needs to take a moment to breathe. Here is a much better take on the whole situation:

https://www.thechampaignroom.com/2...i-iowa-state-cyclones-underwood-irvin-dosunmu


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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"Any staff that is brought into this state has to bring in a navigator to guide them through the sensitive and tense recruiting hot-bed that is Chicago."

So who is our Chicago Navigator that this article references..is it Chin or one of the Irvins...or "player to be named later"?
 
#132      

SescIllini

SescIllini
SescIllini
frozenrope9190 said:
Thank you!! This. You don't think BU WANTED to sign them both? I'm sure the coaching staff did everything they could to smooth things over. In the end, it was one or the other. They chose the 5 star PG who committed first.

My goodness, take a step back, people.
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Exactly. They played AAU together and it didn't work. So THT got more offers at Team Rose but he always had one at Illinois. He could of committed earlier and not burn bridges. Winning and style of play will repair optics.
 
#133      

Deleted member 556108

D
Guest
Deleted member 556108
illinibballfan said:
Who in the right mind will want their kids to play for Nick Irvin now? Dad needs to move out of the area after sophomore season for work and leave the fire? Expect to be Blackballed when trying to go to college. Kid rides the bench for the fire and will get to play 3/4 of the game for team Rose, expect to get talked down about by a grown man if your 15 year old son wants to play a game instead of sitting on a bench. Pathetic.
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+1000

"Big boy recruiting"-christ what a joke. This isn't big boy recruiting. The big boys aren't held hostage by a wannabe power broker AAU coach who trash talks 16 year olds on twitter.
 
#137      

Bailey

B
Los Angeles
Bailey
skyIdub said:
Seriously, why would you feel bad for THT? He/they chose to leave MIF for selfish, personal reasons. He chose showcasing himself over team. He never spoke of Illinois as his dream school. He was never all in for Illinois.
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What in the world
 
#138      

IllFanInMi

I
Guest
IllFanInMi
skyIdub said:
Seriously, why would you feel bad for THT? He/they chose to leave MIF for selfish, personal reasons. He chose showcasing himself over team. He never spoke of Illinois as his dream school. He was never all in for Illinois.
You make choices, you have to be prepared for the consequences, and sometimes the consequences are not ideal. Especially with regards to CBB recruiting on the Chicago AAU circuit and CPL.

BU and company made the ONLY sensible decision they could today/yesterday/whenever....you honor the commitment you have first. Dosunmu was first. He wins. #WeWillWin

Next.
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Funny, AAU and Team don't go hand in hand. AAU IS ABOUT SELF PROMOTION!
If you win while doing it, bonus!

Novel concept, a 16 year old kid changed his mind. Why is it so hard for people to see THT fell in love with U of I, and perhaps they became his dream school after all? I just hope that MIF Pipeline pans out. You owe us now Mac Daddy
 
#139      

USandA89

U
USandA89
Hard to play the "stay home" "our state" card when this is how an instate recruit is treated.
 
#141      

Calvin

C
Calvin
illinibballfan said:
Piper said THT woke up this morning ready to commit to Illinois and then by mid day he was told that wasn't going to happen and not by THTs choice. No specifics on how it happened, but the fact that it happened on the day of the public commitment is pathetic and embarrassing for the program and donors like myself.

Whitman will need to have a talk with Underwood on this one because this is obviously not the way the university should be represented and this was the absolutely worst route that could've been taken. Who knows, this could end up alienating the Irvins now with all this negative press. So many unforced errors.
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Yeah, the sausage is supposed to get made in the back of the kitchen. Now everyone's grossed out and talking about how it's made, when actually nothing has changed.

Bottom line is Illinois is getting stung by decisions other folks made that spiraled out of control. Unfortunate, but as far as I'm concerned, the landscape is what it is, and you gotta get at least some top-notch talent if you want to compete. Politics is not a risk-free game.
 
#142      

IlliniDent

IlliniDent
Chicago, IL
IlliniDent
It seems that BU was over bullish about the situation and got burned for it. We all wanted a coach that wouldn't back down to the Chicago game but when he didn't he put himself in a very poor position. Seems as if it was obvious THT and Ayo weren't going to play together and even though BU may have gotten close, he ended up getting burned hard for it. Underwood got stung for trying to get them both, we'll see how he handles this in the future.
 
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#143      

IllFanInMi

I
Guest
IllFanInMi
Well BU, we ain't in Texas or Oklahoma anymore. PR nightmares rookies make!
 
#144      

SescIllini

SescIllini
SescIllini
Should we prefer a coach that is passive? BU went after two alpha dogs. I have a feeling we end up with Finke who I think will have a strong season.
 
#145      

illinitiger

I
illinitiger
IlliniDent said:
It seems that BU was over bullish about the situation and got burned for it. We all wanted a coach that wouldn't back down to the Chicago game but when he didn't he put himself in a very poor position. Seems as if it was obvious THT and Ayo weren't going to play together and even though BU may have gotten close, he ended up getting burned hard for it. Underwood got stung for trying to get them both, we'll see how he handles this in the future.
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Hard not to reflect on the Irvin-Ayo twitter exchange. their pact for Ayo's MIF loyalty over Ayo's Illini loyalty,...at least that's how I perceived it.
 
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#146      

SycIllini

S
Sycamore, Illinois
SycIllini
Just catching up. Didn't expect to read all of this when I came in looking to see where THT announced. I was prepared that he might pick ISU or X but, wasn't prepared to see that we effed him over. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised to see Ayo back out now. Get away from the whole mess. Maybe this is how it goes down all the time at the "big boys" but, they can have it if that's the case IMO. Hard to support my Alma Mater in this case.
 
#147      

LisaMarie

L
LisaMarie
IllinistuckinGopherland said:
That's a really good article with level headed perspective. I'm not there yet. I should read it again in a few days when I'm ready to take emotion/anger/disappointment out of the equation.
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I disagree with the author, and I do blame Chin and Underwood for waiting until the last minute to pull the offer. This has been going on all week. Obviously, it's actually been going on for months; one of the Scout national guys has said since the summer that they were not going to play together. But it has been going on all week, and if they had pulled the offer yesterday, there would have been much less drama. Ideally they would not have had THT in for an official visit and put a hard, hard sell on him, but they still could have managed it better than pulling the offer today. It looks bad, and it is bad.

Illinois wanted both guys, but they prioritized Ayo and THT looked elsewhere. Then they missed out on their other targets, decided they badly wanted THT, and fired things back up. Then they discovered that the rift between the two camps was really true, and desperately tried to patch things up, waiting until the last minute to pull the plug on THT. Perhaps these are growing pains that one would expect from a head coach who has been a high major head coach for a year. I certainly expect them to get better at this. But this is a mess that really didn't have to happen.
 
#148      

IllFanInMi

I
Guest
IllFanInMi
SescIllini said:
Should we prefer a coach that is passive? BU went after two alpha dogs. I have a feeling we end up with Finke who I think will have a strong season.
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Nah, he didn't understand Lake Michigan is full of sharks. Flat out got put in his place by the real alpha dogs, MAC!
 
#149      

whovous

W
Washington, DC
whovous
A couple hundred students heeded the call to show up at Ubben to cheer for THT's shoot-around. They probably made the difference which led THT to choose Illinois.

BU told them they don't matter, either.
 
#150      

ForWhomTheBellTolls

F
ForWhomTheBellTolls
Unless y'all are 16-17 year old kids (or younger), can we refrain from attacking 16 year old kids for acting like 16 year old kids, and keep our comments focused on those who should be acting like adults (namely, the adults in the situation)?

These kids, in general, have a whole bunch of crap to deal with almost constantly today that most of us were either spared from or endured, but in in much smaller doses. For those with talent or who are just a little bit different from their peers, its even worse.
 
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