Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#276      

IlliniwekKDR

IlliniwekKDR
Colorado Springs, CO
IlliniwekKDR
strobes77 said:
Ginger Squirrely Dan GIF by Crave
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blinking trailer park boys GIF
 
#277      

Joel Goodson

Joel Goodson
dawgville
Joel Goodson
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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yep, Lute was a clean as a whistle
 
#280      

nichi

N
nichi
HensonHall71 said:
Mike White did a great job turning around our football program - but to say Lou Henson inherited a good program just isn’t true

We hadn’t make the NCAA tournament in 12 years and the previous two years we were 5-18 and 8-18. It’s safe to say the basketball program was at the bottom and he brought it to national prominence and a decade of greatness.
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Harv Schmidt was able to keep the program fairly competitive with players like Dave Sholz, Mike Price, Jodie Harrison, Randy Crews, Fred Miller, Rick Howat, and Greg "Breakfast" Jackson.

Then, with the help of assistant Nat Frazier, he lined up formidable recruiting classes in 1969 and 1970 with Nick Weatherspoon, Nick Conner, Alvin O'Neal, Billy Morris, and Kris Berymon.

After that, the wheels fell off. There was a lengthy NCAA investigation. Recruiting, and the program, hit rock bottom.
 
#281      

Bucktown

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Bucktown
HensonHall71 said:
Mike White did a great job turning around our football program - but to say Lou Henson inherited a good program just isn’t true

We hadn’t make the NCAA tournament in 12 years and the previous two years we were 5-18 and 8-18. It’s safe to say the basketball program was at the bottom and he brought it to national prominence and a decade of greatness.
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The record those two previous years was bad, but then again there where only 16 teams in the NCAA tournament until 1975.
 
#282      

BDMAN

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BDMAN
Oh is that what it was, I always thought the Farmin word was the slang term for procreation :ROFLMAO:
 
#283      

bluemountain

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bluemountain
HensonHall71 said:
Mike White did a great job turning around our football program - but to say Lou Henson inherited a good program just isn’t true

We hadn’t make the NCAA tournament in 12 years and the previous two years we were 5-18 and 8-18. It’s safe to say the basketball program was at the bottom and he brought it to national prominence and a decade of greatness.
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Oh I agree, Lou inherited a program coming off a really poor 2 year stretch. Before that however we were highly competitive, even after the Slush fund scandal. As much as Harv struggled his last year, he had 3 teams that would have been locks for the NCAA tourney under today's rules and recruited extremely well in the beginning.
 
#293      

derrick6

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Illini Dawg
Seattle
derrick6
Reminder: reader mode…thanks to whoever recently posted
 
#294      

Brosky

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Brosky
And I didn't think of Kendall Gill or Nick Anderson, two uber talented guys who went on to successful NBA careers.
 
#295      

Brosky

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Brosky
I think the players can have informal workouts during summer, but I think formal practice (with coaches) begins Oct. !. Used to be Oct. 15.
 
#296      

Brosky

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Brosky
I think most of the guys are on campus and doing informal workouts on their own. I believe KJ is on campus too. Still waiting for Ivisic, but things all worked out for his brother, so I have no worries.
 
#297      

Brosky

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Brosky
I take that back; Riley is a worry. This long waiting game seems ominous. I don't have many fingernails left.
 
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