Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

[Second place is 1st loser]

Marcus Liberty says hello. He was an elite contributor on a talented team who made significant contributions...from the bench. As the top ranked recruit in his class, he knew as a frosh to respect the older guys and was willing to use his elite, yet inexperienced, talent to make the team better. Wiley will likely be called upon to do the same and may get 20+ min. per game in a similar role. He has zero experience against B1G level competition and does not need to be put in a role to lead this team from the get go. His time will come, maybe this season as he learns....but he will be needed and get plenty of opportunity to adapt, learn, and succeed. BU will decide when he is one of the five best...not any of us. I sure do not know what he can do to lift the team and how often, but having the opportunity to play with these guys is special...as is his talent and potential. Not making any predictions, just using some common sense. Above all, I certainly hope he is a First Team AA this year...but I would bet my beach house that does not turn out to be the case. As for future years? The sky is the limit depending what is between his ears and in his heart.

With all due respect, we're moving towards 40 years removed from that time period, when freshmen sitting and developing was the expectation. Going to the NBA after your freshman year wasn't normal.

Fast forward.

If Marcus Liberty were in HS now, he'd be sitting down and just waiting to cash in. He would be guaranteed to be starting by 30 different schools with new offers each day and if he wasn't happy at mid season....he would have been at LSU the next year.

You bring up future years.....without instant gratification, there is no future with these kids. He's not coming here as a five star recruit to not have his name called as one of the starting five from day one.

It's unfortunate, but the common sense is the reality of why he's considering us in the first place.

 

[AlwaysAnIllini]

Boswell was a top 15 recruit and came off the bench as a reclass(15 mpg)

I think bigger wings tend to handle reclassing better but he's going to have to earn his minutes and it's not like Ty, Tre, Hum, and Booth aren't talented in their own right(plus far more experienced).

Jarin Stevenson was a 5 star ranked in the top 15 before reclassing and playing 16 mins a game for Alabama. Emoni Bates and Khristian Lander both flopped as reclass guys.

The goods news is with the talent on the roster I don't think you necessarily have to count on Riley to be great and if he does end up beating out the older guys then he's probably very very good.

FINALLY… a logical and unbiased post. Thank You!

 

[Altuve27]

Tre has looked the best so far. Folks are really underestimating the impact he can make. 6MOTY in the B1G very much in play if he indeed comes off the bench like I expect

Besides his talent White will benefit greatly from being surrounded by better players, a better coach/staff, a better everything.

Louisville was the Camp Crystal Lake of college basketball programs last year.

 

[AlwaysAnIllini]

The Illinois staff believes Riley will be a starter and that's what they've told him.

Obviously, things could change if he shows that he's not quite ready. They have NOT told him that anything is guaranteed, and neither did any of the other schools that were recruiting him.

ANOTHER accurate post. Thank You!

 

[NCIllini10]

Lol, I’m not terribly concerned either way, but it is absolutely not “common sense” that Riley needs to come off the bench. It’s just someone’s opinion. It’s an arguable topic.

Common sense is “don’t stick a fork in an electrical socket”, “don’t eat yellow snow”, “Bruce Pearl is a dbag”, “Indiana sucks”, Iowa blows”….you get the picture.

All of your examples of common sense are spot on!

As for the rest of it - it’s moo. It’s like asking a cow its opinion. It just doesn’t matter. It’s moo!

 

[IlliniNash]

Chet Holmgren says hello.

Hi Chet!

 

[Orangeandbrew]

A lot of freshmen do that solely on Keystone light and Geo's chicken strips (RIP)

Geo’s chicken strips…. 18” long. I hate chicken strips but those at 2 am were the shizzzz

 

[Orangeandbrew]

All these lineup predictions are pure conjecture. I don’t have the energy to research what last years lineups were predicted but I can guarantee most were wrong

 

[NCIllini10]

All 8 of the fellas I outlined I think will play close to 20 min+. Don’t think we’re going to see anyone playing 30+ outside of Kylan and maybe Ben. Ty will still play a ton.

This the problem with having talented depth, not enough minutes for everyone to play big roles. #bestkindofproblems

Hoping that DGL plays himself into rotation piece role this year. I think that if he does with the other guys that play his position, we will be having a pretty great year. (Or all the guys that we have been so excited about will not have panned out as expected.)

 

[OrangeKrush1981]

Hope Booth/DGL don’t get cut out of the rotation. I know most teams don’t go beyond 8 guys but would love to see a minutes breakdown something like:

Boswell: 26
KJ: 26
Riley: 22
Ben: 22
Tomi: 25

White: 18
Ty: 18
Morez: 15
Booth: 12
DGL: 12
Davis: 4

It is very very rare that a rotation includes more than 8 guys. Why? (1) There are not enough minutes (200 total: 5 guys * 40 min/game) that more than 8 guys can establish a regular, confident, comfortable role; and (2) Playing the best 2-3 guys as many minutes as they can handle will win more games than will distributing minutes to the 9th and 10th guys. I don't like that, but it's a fact.

Final note: it is very hard to be in rhythm as a player with 5 or 8 minutes per game. One missed shot, one turnover, one mistake on defense and you don't get much more of a chance after that. It stinks. But that's the simple psychology and arithmetic behind the 8 man rotation. I hate it, but it is the way of the world in college basketball. (It is even more compressed in HS basketball: 32 min/game, and 1-2 stars).

 

[OrangeKrush1981]

Ty has not attempted a 3 point shot in his first two years in college. Not.one.attempt.

So I love the kid, LOVE his warrior attitude but ... unless he wants to be Draymond Green, he has got to make a jumper once a month at least.

 

[Combo]

It is very very rare that a rotation includes more than 8 guys. Why? (1) There are not enough minutes (200 total: 5 guys * 40 min/game) that more than 8 guys can establish a regular, confident, comfortable role; and (2) Playing the best 2-3 guys as many minutes as they can handle will win more games than will distributing minutes to the 9th and 10th guys. I don't like that, but it's a fact.

Final note: it is very hard to be in rhythm as a player with 5 or 8 minutes per game. One missed shot, one turnover, one mistake on defense and you don't get much more of a chance after that. It stinks. But that's the simple psychology and arithmetic behind the 8 man rotation. I hate it, but it is the way of the world in college basketball. (It is even more compressed in HS basketball: 32 min/game, and 1-2 stars).

You're right. That is an absolute fact that many suggesting deep rotations don't consider.

In the championship game, UConn's starters all played over 30 minutes. And only one reserve played more than 10 minutes. You maximize your chances of winning if your best guys are on the floor a lot.

 

[SescIllini]

Durant was the #2 pick in the draft, so they couldn't have been too worried. The talking heads (like us forum participants) talk about everything imaginable. Actions are what matter.

Durant was also the #2 ranked player coming out of H.S. If Riley ends up being anywhere as good as Durant, we should be overjoyed (if we get him).

Correct, folks don't compare Riley to Durant. Durant was viewed as a generation type player at every level and dominated above other top ranked players.

Riley is in the top 10 player conversation for 2025 and bottom half MCAA top 30 for 2024.

 

[chudaman]

Watch a few moments from 3:02 - that pretty much sums up the deal with him!

Also wow, JB hitting a three!

 

[Emerson Bigguns]

Correct, folks don't compare Riley to Durant. Durant was viewed as a generation type player at every level and dominated above other top ranked players.

Riley is in the top 10 player conversation for 2025 and bottom half MCAA top 30 for 2024.

The only reason Durant wasn’t #1 is Greg Oden. If you watched Greg in the NBA, or looked up his stats, you’d go “what?”
If you watched him at OSU, it made perfect sense. He was a massive guy with tremendous athleticism. It’s a shame his legs didn’t hold out. He was a man among boys as a freshman.

 

[Combo]

The only reason Durant wasn’t #1 is Greg Oden. If you watched Greg in the NBA, or looked up his stats, you’d go “what?”
If you watched him at OSU, it made perfect sense. He was a massive guy with tremendous athleticism. It’s a shame his legs didn’t hold out. He was a man among boys as a freshman.

Agreed. Durant would have been #1 most years. At the time Oden was considered the next great big man. And at that time, a dominant big man was still what everyone was interested in.

 

[illiniharrison]

POV: Chet Holmgren taking a charge from Zion

Might not have been pretty but it’s still a charge

 

[5280Illini]

Geo’s chicken strips…. 18” long. I hate chicken strips but those at 2 am were the shizzzz

Do you know when they shut down? Good memories of that place.

 

[IllinoisIntegrity]

Some of us trusted Brad & Co to land a stellar recruiting class, while others here clearly didn’t. I also trust Brad to utilize the best starting 5 and rotations based on skills, chemistry, scheme, and matchups. We have no idea how that will all shake out yet or how guys developed since last season. Last year at this time, no one was saying Marcus would start, much less be the star he became. I read a lot of team blogs and this is literally the only one that obsesses over who will start. I don’t understand the hand wringing by some. No one “deserves” to start and every crazy talented kid on this team will contribute. It’s been 20 years since 05’ and we are in for another exciting season that could bring us back to the F4. Be grateful, celebrate that Illinois is back where it belongs and enjoy the beautiful ride! Thank you Brad, O, TA, Geoff, Fletch, Josh, TU, staff & insiders. Let’s Gooo!

 

[Loyalillini10]

The only reason Durant wasn’t #1 is Greg Oden. If you watched Greg in the NBA, or looked up his stats, you’d go “what?”
If you watched him at OSU, it made perfect sense. He was a massive guy with tremendous athleticism. It’s a shame his legs didn’t hold out. He was a man among boys as a freshman.

My cousin went to school with Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr at Lawrence North in Indianapolis. I remember asking her about school one time and she rolled her eyes and said, "I am so sick of ESPN in the hallways all the time." LOL! What a difference in high school experiences we had.

She ended up getting a cross country scholarship and going to Purdue where they had a giant at center almost every year.

 

[WhiteHorseWings]

I stopped reading your post after the first 4 words, honestly.

Once you compared the late 80s to the 2020's, nothing after that matters.

If I had to guess, the "Riley needs to come off the bench and gain weight and learn" crowd is predominantly 50+ years old.

I completely agree with every word in your first two paragraphs.

But I’m over fifty so I guess I’m an out of touch idiot.

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

 

[GrapplingIllini]

 

[IllinoisssssssVarsity]

I have no idea how ready Riley will be (or if we will land him). But I swear 50% of posters here are under the impression that we’re putting together a weight lifting team.

It’s basketball. Players with different body types can be successful.

Even a weight lifting team has different body types because they compete in different weight clases.

 

[redwingillini11]