Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#51      
DICKnaggie
The prospect of MJ and DD playing together makes me very excited. Also, My gramp's name was John Lash and he used to treat his arthritis with WD40. #legend!
 
#58      
Tacomallini
Indy Illini Fan said:
Wouldn't say he's a priority yet ... But Austin Swartz is a name to watch ... https://247sports.com/Player/Austin-Swartz-46133263/

I actually was able to watch him live last night and just haven't had time to do a write up yet ... He played Charlotte Christian who has some kids that are absolute athletes ... There were 4 high major D1 prospects in the game that I saw ... Austin and Isaiah Henry (2025) for Cannon and then for Charlotte Christian they had Micah Gilbert who is a star football player but could easily be a top 150 kid for basketball (https://247sports.com/player/micah-gilbert-46128048/) as well as John Lash who averages nearly 26 PPG along with 14 RPG but his main sport is baseball and he is all of 6'6 and 235 as a 2025 kid ...

Game was very fast paced ... Isaiah Henry had a poster dunk in the first few minutes that would have been SC top 10 ... They had to stop the game bc his chin got caught on the rim and he was bleeding ... Amazing dunk ... Cannon got up by as much 16 before Charlotte Christian cut it back to single digits after switching to a zone ... Cannon could not figure out zone offense and Swartz took quite a few questionable shots ... Swartz is very skinny and reminds me of a Sincere body type ... Would need to spend some serious time with Fletch ... But his shot is smooth, he was a good teammate, seems like a very quiet kid but was listening to the coach in huddles ... Best way to describe some of his game is that he has like a Romeo Langford type of demeanor when on the court at times when he knows he is the probably the best player and is only going to go 60-65% and still find a way to get 20 ... I think my main takeaway was that he would struggle to find the court for Brad if that is the best he can play defensively ... The few times he did guard Gilbert ... Gilbert got to the rim at will ... He spent the majority of the night guarding the other teams 3rd best player ...

Overall, I think he's got some traits that I like but I am not sold on him as a take quite yet ... I think seeing him play EYBL this year with Boo Williams and go up against some of the other top talent for his age when he can't just go through the motions and get 25 and actually has to sit down and guard or he will sit the bench ... That will be the real test for me ...
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I'll take "Things You Don't Read Every Day" for $1,000 please.
 
#59      
jamarvelous31
Joel Goodson said:
Certa: AAU ball is gonna be telling

Transfer: agreed
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Girl Why Dont We Have Both GIF
 
#65      
Joel Goodson
Indy Illini Fan said:
Not surprised we made the offer … And this is the offer he was wanting/waiting for … 🤷🏻‍♂️

Iowa and Wisconsin will try and make a push but if Brad really pushes the gas for him … We’ll be tough to beat
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Yeah, that's what I assumed. Good info, thanks.

The big question is timing: do we wait until we see how he fares against elite competition (AAU)? Guessing we do.
 
#66      
Indy Illini Fan
Joel Goodson said:
Yeah, that's what I assumed. Good info, thanks.

The big question is timing: do we wait until we see how he fares against elite competition (AAU)? Guessing we do.
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Think a lot of it will depend on other schools and how they approach it ... If Fran or Gard really starts to push the gas for a commitment before AAU then I could easily see Brad pushing for a commitment as well even if he kind of wants to wait ...

The fact he is coming on campus a lot is pretty telling ... They've tried to slow the process down a little bit for the kid and his parents do a great job of making sure he knows Illinois isn't the only option but I know he was through the roof to get the offer last night ...
 
#67      
Joel Goodson
Indy Illini Fan said:
Think a lot of it will depend on other schools and how they approach it ... If Fran or Gard really starts to push the gas for a commitment before AAU then I could easily see Brad pushing for a commitment as well even if he kind of wants to wait ...

The fact he is coming on campus a lot is pretty telling ... They've tried to slow the process down a little bit for the kid and his parents do a great job of making sure he knows Illinois isn't the only option but I know he was through the roof to get the offer last night ...
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This. Slow playing a kid that's being fast tracked by BIG schools has a tendency to backfire.

One thing working in Certa's favor is his height. Who knows, maybe his growth plates are still open...
 
#69      
BashCtIllini
Indy Illini Fan said:
Think a lot of it will depend on other schools and how they approach it ... If Fran or Gard really starts to push the gas for a commitment before AAU then I could easily see Brad pushing for a commitment as well even if he kind of wants to wait ...

The fact he is coming on campus a lot is pretty telling ... They've tried to slow the process down a little bit for the kid and his parents do a great job of making sure he knows Illinois isn't the only option but I know he was through the roof to get the offer last night ...
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We definitely need a shooter on the team badly. Hopefully Goode can bring that shortly. But we don't have a single player where I feel like, if he's open, it's going in. Our top 3 pt shooter is Mayer at 37%.

I'm sure I'm just trying to post this into existence, but Jaden Schutt is at the end of the bench for Duke. Has there been any backchannel conversations to see if Jaden is thinking he will leave so he can see the floor? I would guess Bloomington Central Catholic is actually a little bigger than Yorkville Christian, but I think Schutt has proved himself much more in the summers, and is physically bigger. So if it was an either or type of thing, I'd take Schutt. Obviously if he is not leaving Duke, that changes that, and both would be just fine with me.

Doing a little research on Certa, it looks like he won the state 3 point shooting contest last year. Made 13 of 15 3s to win his 2A competition. Then made 12 of 15 against the other class winners to be crowned the King of the Hill. Kid can shoot. Can't find aggregated stats, but every individual game box score I find he's scoring over 20, including one game where he scored 47. He's already at 1,000 points early in his Jr year.
 
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#70      
Indy Illini Fan
BashCtIllini said:
We definitely need a shooter on the team badly. Hopefully Goode can bring that shortly. But we don't have a single player where I feel like, if he's open, it's going in. Our top 3 pt shooter is Mayer at 37%.

I'm sure I'm just trying to post this into existence, but Jaden Schutt is at the end of the bench for Duke. Has there been any backchannel conversations to see if Jaden is thinking he will leave so he can see the floor? I would guess Bloomington Central Catholic is actually a little bigger than Yorkville Christian, but I think Schutt has proved himself much more in the summers, and is physically bigger. So if it was an either or type of thing, I'd take Schutt. Obviously if he is not leaving Duke, that changes that, and both would be just fine with me.

Doing a little research on Certa, it looks like he won the state 3 point shooting contest last year. Made 13 of 15 3s to win his 2A competition. Then made 12 of 15 against the other class winners to be crowned the King of the Hill. Kid can shoot. Can't find aggregated stats, but every individual game box score I find he's scoring over 20, including one game where he scored 47. He's already at 1,000 points early in his Jr year.
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Wouldn't shock me one bit to see Schutt in the portal ...
 
#71      
Indy Illini Fan
Joel Goodson said:
I love this kid's game:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1616491857189511168

he's pretty underrated, IMO
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I've been on him for quite a while ... Sat and watched quite a few times and when I do talk to the staff, he is always a name that gets brought up ... Same AAU team as Buck ... He's been on campus a few times and we are going to push hard for him ...

Right now, I'd say IU, Xavier, Illinois, MSU, and Ohio State are the clear top 5 ... We are sitting 3rd at best right now, probably 4th ...
 
#73      
727ill
DB11Headband said:
I’d be surprised if he doesn’t enter the portal
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Who's the leader in the clubhouse if he does? Have to think he goes the Big10 route.

We fit the mold along w/ Iowa, Indiana and Wisconsin
 
#75      
Joel Goodson
BashCtIllini said:
We definitely need a shooter on the team badly. Hopefully Goode can bring that shortly. But we don't have a single player where I feel like, if he's open, it's going in. Our top 3 pt shooter is Mayer at 37%.

I'm sure I'm just trying to post this into existence, but Jaden Schutt is at the end of the bench for Duke. Has there been any backchannel conversations to see if Jaden is thinking he will leave so he can see the floor? I would guess Bloomington Central Catholic is actually a little bigger than Yorkville Christian, but I think Schutt has proved himself much more in the summers, and is physically bigger. So if it was an either or type of thing, I'd take Schutt. Obviously if he is not leaving Duke, that changes that, and both would be just fine with me.

Doing a little research on Certa, it looks like he won the state 3 point shooting contest last year. Made 13 of 15 3s to win his 2A competition. Then made 12 of 15 against the other class winners to be crowned the King of the Hill. Kid can shoot. Can't find aggregated stats, but every individual game box score I find he's scoring over 20, including one game where he scored 47. He's already at 1,000 points early in his Jr year.
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Yeah, I'd be pretty darn shocked if we haven't touched base with Schutt's camp.

As to Schutt v Certa, agreed. Who knows who's gonna be better? But Schutt's the more sure thing. If it's a choice, I'd go with 3 years of Schutt versus 4 years of Certa. That and $5 will get you a cup of coffee.
 
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