A good friend of mine who writes blogs on the UCONN men’s team and has press privileges said they are not going after Coleman. Take it for what it’s worth.
… George Washington was elected president.Will Riley would be our highest ranked recruit since....?
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Jeremiah fears (per ESPN)Will Riley would be our highest ranked recruit since....?
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…Jesus was a baby.… George Washington was elected president.
Disagree. He did stay and stick it out. He played an entire 4 year college career here.Lol Social media team better delete all those videos they posted last year where Coleman was saying how he could've transferred like "a lot of other players" but stuck through the process because it meant more to him.
As always, money talks. No shade to Coleman for doing what's in his financial interest but the flip side here is that he probably can't ever be considered an Illini legend if he finishes his career with a UNC or Razorback jersey on.
I think Coleman is probably smart enough to realize this but he's best off if he's going to a situation where he can be a role player and be the 3rd or 4th option offensively.Crazy NIL inflation due to Calipari moving to Arkansas, UK restocking with Pope, Louisville new coach, and Indiana trying to save Woodson. My guess in NIL payouts doubled vs. last year. Not sure that Coleman is going to see a 7 figure payout. He is a excellent complementary glue player not a sexy 20 ppg 10 rbg stud that can carry your team.
I would be more disappointed in the current college NIL environment than the NBA. Hawkins is going to make more next year through NIL than he would with a non guaranteed NBA contract. I bet he would have gotten drafted because he feels like he'd be a better NBA player than college player, but surely no team was willing to promise him guaranteed money at this point in the process.I'm not disappointed in him, I'm disappointed in the NBA. I'm sure that's where most of the negativity is coming from.
Coleman will see a 7 figure payout.Crazy NIL inflation due to Calipari moving to Arkansas, UK restocking with Pope, Louisville new coach, and Indiana trying to save Woodson. My guess in NIL payouts doubled vs. last year. Not sure that Coleman is going to see a 7 figure payout. He is a excellent complementary glue player not a sexy 20 ppg 10 rbg stud that can carry your team.
Riley. He will be visiting in a month
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Will Riley, The Phelps School , Small Forward
Will Riley is a 6-8, 178-pound Small Forward from Malvern, PA. He is ranked No. 22 in the country by 247Sports. Riley is the No. 2 recruit in Malvern, PA...247sports.com
Mongolian MIke ain't happenin'A couple of the insiders referenced that we aren’t done potentially- so I’m intrigued by who we can add as well- I think it either needs to be a home run type guy that will take someone’s spot and we will have to just deal with the fallout or a developmental guy who has multiple years left
If it’s Riley I would put him in the Homerun camp and he will play right away - just less time for others to go around
If it’s Mongolian Mike or someone, I think it has minimal impact on this year
I for sure see it completely different. Coleman really wanted and believed he would get a guaranteed NBA contract. He did everything he could to let Brad build a team knowing he would not be in Champaign early. That was a huge favor Coleman did. If he knew 2 months ago he was coming back to college for sure I am thinking we don’t get hummdinger and Coleman is in that role.Really? I think in today's game, staying 4 years makes him more of a legend!
How many are staying 4 years? It's a different breed and that says a lot about him and his family than money to me. Something about loyalty, integrity, dedication, work ethic, and honor that hits different to me.
Sounds like you don’t think much of his NBA prospects. Certainly finding a good fit is important, but I doubt the feedback he got was find a team where you can be the third or fourth offensive option to show your stuff. But I agree that he would not excel as the alpha on offense.I think Coleman is probably smart enough to realize this but he's best off if he's going to a situation where he can be a role player and be the 3rd or 4th option offensively.
If he simply picks the biggest payout possible and it's not the right situation then it could get ugly with a fanbase expecting more offense from their big transfer portal target.
Honestly, if Creighton could afford him he would fit in very well next to Kalkbrenner and playing for McDermott might be the best thing for his development.
Dont really understand UNC either as that would force him into playing the 5 again. Arkansas is a great fit next to Aidoo and Big Z but do they have enough cash left over with everything they've spent? UConn would be a good fit but painful after how last season ended.
Mongolian MIke ain't happenin'
I actually don't think it negatively impacts his NBA prospects. He is role player type that can stuff a stat sheet a bunch of different ways without needing the ball in his hands a lot.Sounds like you don’t think much of his NBA prospects. Certainly finding a good fit is important, but I doubt the feedback he got was find a team where you can be the third or fourth offensive option to show your stuff. But I agree that he would not excel as the alpha on offense.
Marcus Liberty was a #1 recruit, don't remember who was president at the time. LOL… George Washington was elected president.
He gets to play college ball for one more year for probably around a million bucks, then he might get drafted higher than he would have this year, who knows. Anybody posting here make a million bucks a year? I sure don't LOLI actually don't think it negatively impacts his NBA prospects.
I can't hate that though. I know some don't like what the landscape's become, but I can't oppose players getting paid, because that's really the core of the matter. Players are getting paid to stay in school vs. risking going undrafted/unpaid. If the NBA cared they can afford to guarantee the rookie minimum salaries for the whole draft. NIL already successfully killed the G-League Ignite so it's the NBA who needs to act now.I would be more disappointed in the current college NIL environment than the NBA. Hawkins is going to make more next year through NIL than he would with a non guaranteed NBA contract. I bet he would have gotten drafted because he feels like he'd be a better NBA player than college player, but surely no team was willing to promise him guaranteed money at this point in the process.
Agreed, but this offseason feels like we’re loading up for the 2025 season not this upcoming season as much. Insiders can correct me if I’m wrong but if we keep most of the core players after 2024 (which in todays college bball is a thing if it’s own) we will have:I want to win
***MIGHT***Werner isn't a representative of the Illini Athletic Department. He's running a professional organization that covers Illinois athletics, plain and simple. He's not paid to be a mouth-piece of the DIA. What he wrote was fine. Coleman might need to grow thicker skin.
Bingo! Just Bingo.I would be more disappointed in the current college NIL environment than the NBA. Hawkins is going to make more next year through NIL than he would with a non guaranteed NBA contract. I bet he would have gotten drafted because he feels like he'd be a better NBA player than college player, but surely no team was willing to promise him guaranteed money at this point in the process.
KasparasWill Riley would be our highest ranked recruit since....?
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Now with the news of heavy interest in Riley, it looks like, ever since that Egor ship crashed, the dream plan in the staff's mind all along was Riley and Kasparas. Riley - they worked that one pretty quietly and it seems they're on it now. They seemed heavily interested in Watkins but seemed to cool...It looks like Watkins is visiting Michigan this weekend and St. Johns and Michigan are the two favorites right now - I would certainly hate to see him go to Michigan for obvious reasons
I love KJ's potential, but Watkins would have been such a great fit for our team this year