Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#253      

illinifan1987

illinifan1987
illinifan1987
Indy Illini Fan said:
1. Iā€™m freaking ready ā€¦ šŸ˜Ž

2. It starts Sunday ā€¦

3. This is just the beginning ā€¦

Happy Got You GIF by Bounce
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Bebe Rexha Its About Damn Time GIF by 2022 MTV Video Music Awards
 
#256      

bluemountain

B
bluemountain
ChiefGritty said:
It's really quite strange the way Mike White is a more sainted, untouchable figure among Illini fans than Lou Henson.

Now, my natural inclination is to engage in an overcomplicated (but correct) conspiracy theory about why this is Ron Guenther's fault, but instead let me just say that Lou Henson was great!
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yeah, not sure about that. Lou is pretty much universally loved by the Illini fan base. I think it's fair to say White had a bigger hill to climb than Lou did. UI hoops with a few exceptions had been very good historically and bounced back quickly from the Slush Fund Scandal. Football, not so much. As a kid growing up in the 70's I didn't think we could ever compete with UM and OSU. White made it happen, and unless you were there it's hard to imagine just how great the atmosphere was at UI games. I've been to a lot of games at a lot of places, and the atmosphere at Memorial stadium in the early to mid-80's stacks up favorably with anywhere else I've been. For that reason, he will have my undying gratitude
 
#258      

Quixotic Illini

Q
Quixotic Illini
bluemountain said:
yeah, not sure about that. Lou is pretty much universally loved by the Illini fan base. I think it's fair to say White had a bigger hill to climb than Lou did. UI hoops with a few exceptions had been very good historically and bounced back quickly from the Slush Fund Scandal. Football, not so much. As a kid growing up in the 70's I didn't think we could ever compete with UM and OSU. White made it happen, and unless you were there it's hard to imagine just how great the atmosphere was at UI games. I've been to a lot of games at a lot of places, and the atmosphere at Memorial stadium in the early to mid-80's stacks up favorably with anywhere else I've been. For that reason, he will have my undying gratitude
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I beam with pride when either of them come up in conversation.
 
#262      

Altuve27

A
Altuve27
WyattEarp said:
Thatā€™s the most Gen X thingā€¦Iā€™ve seen in a while. Wasted many hours watching that show. lol. Nice.

The more I think about thoughā€¦I think Iā€™m gonna have to disagree. Hereā€™s a few examples for your consideration:
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All excellent selections! I just wanted to give ā€œYou Canā€™t Do That On Televisionā€ its rightful place in Canadian lore. šŸ˜‚
 
#263      

NashvILLe05

N
NashvILLe05
Fly Illini Fly! said:
Just came across an AZ podcast where the 2 guys constantly ranted for the first 10 minutes of the vid about how...

ILL has no place in CBB, their program is way better than ours, and that they have...in their minds...still a great chance at landing Riley.

And then came across a poster who claimed we're getting Riley because we're "desperate." (Might be the same thing Brosky was talking about šŸ˜‚ )

šŸ˜‚ šŸ˜‚ šŸ˜‚ šŸ˜‚ šŸ˜‚ So amusing...I gotta say...
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Theyā€™re still butt hurt about 2005. I would be too.
 
#264      

Altuve27

A
Altuve27
Quick question: I could be wrong but I thought I saw that KJ is on campus. What makes Tomislavā€™s situation different and more time consuming? Thanks in advance. :)
 
#270      

jezzadownunder

J
jezzadownunder
Interesting speaking with Ty today that he said the coaches can be present even during the summer as players get work in and scrimmage. Has this always been the case? Thought they couldnā€™t until October but maybe that changed long ago?
 
#272      

HensonHall71

H
HensonHall71
bluemountain said:
yeah, not sure about that. Lou is pretty much universally loved by the Illini fan base. I think it's fair to say White had a bigger hill to climb than Lou did. UI hoops with a few exceptions had been very good historically and bounced back quickly from the Slush Fund Scandal. Football, not so much. As a kid growing up in the 70's I didn't think we could ever compete with UM and OSU. White made it happen, and unless you were there it's hard to imagine just how great the atmosphere was at UI games. I've been to a lot of games at a lot of places, and the atmosphere at Memorial stadium in the early to mid-80's stacks up favorably with anywhere else I've been. For that reason, he will have my undying gratitude
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Mike White did a great job turning around our football program - but to say Lou Henson inherited a good program just isnā€™t true

We hadnā€™t make the NCAA tournament in 12 years and the previous two years we were 5-18 and 8-18. Itā€™s safe to say the basketball program was at the bottom and he brought it to national prominence and a decade of greatness.
 
#273      

nichi

N
nichi
bluemountain said:
Brad > Lou when it comes to recruiting. Lou had 2 great classes - the Winters/Douglass class and the Anderson/Gill class, with more or less average classes in between. Brad is knocking down top talent year in/year out.
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The Winters / Douglas class in 1982 was Henson and Tony Yates. They brought in some top talent prior to that. Yates and Gene Bartow recruited Audie Matthews in 1974.

Henson and Yates;
1976: Levi Cobb, Steve Lanter
1977: Eddie Johnson, Mark Smith
1978: Derek Holcomb, James Griffin, Perry Range.
1980: Derek Harper, Craig Tucker
1981: Jay Daniels, Anthony Welch
1982: Winters, Douglas
1983: Snake

Henson and Collins;
1985: Lowell Hamilton
1986: Anderson, Smith, Gill, Battle, Bardo
1987: Marcus Liberty
1989: Deon Thomas
1992: Richard Keene
1993: Garris, Hester, Clark
1994: Notree, Gee
1995: Ryan Blackwell
 
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#274      

Bert2022

B
Bert2022
hoopsfan47 said:
LOL....as an Arizona alum and athlete, and an Illini hoops fan for the past 70 years, I can tell you for certain that there are delusional fans in every fanbase.

Sitting in the bleachers at Bear Down Gym in the Fall of 1965, I could not ever imagine the Cats would ever compete with my beloved Illini on the hardwood. I even made my only trip to Carbondale to see them play SIU over Xmas break when they pulled out a struggling win against a team that was elite in the Walt Frazier days.

But things have changed. Along came Fred Snowden and Bob Elliott, a beautiful new McHale center, and finally Lute Olson. Also, all the athletic programs at Arizona are going to pay the price of some critical accounting errors that seem to have lost 240 million dollars under the guidance of AD Dave Heeke. I don't claim, like many other posters across the internet, to know how to solve that problem...but it can't provide anything positive over the course of the next decade or two.

What I do know is that for the past handful of seasons, Brad Underwood and Josh Whitman slowly elevated the hoops program back to a level at which I think it belongs....and appear to have done so with hard work and great coaching....and without cheating (something of which I have no tolerance). They have locked in the support of a fanatical fanbase in a basketball crazy state and will ride that wave for another decade or more. There is no telling how many years I will get to enjoy watching elite Illini teams play in the original Assembly Hall (I saw the first game there in 1963), but it is an opportunity for which I will be forever grateful in my twilight years.

Thank you Josh Whitman, Brad Underwood, and Illini donors.
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Great post! Thanks for sharing. What sport did you play at AZ?
 
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