Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
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I don't think being mocked 5 picks higher is necessarily indicative of "more promising".
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I take no opinion on these guys NBA stocks until I see them more closely.
But having spent the past few months watching so much prospect tape, the guy whose game made me go "wow" was Jakucionis.
I think Riley is terrific, I think Morez has become a bit underrated around here, what an incoming class in general, but the freshman I have the highest expectations for next year is KJ. I'm more convinced he's a Day One core piece than I am for Riley.
Epsilon
M tipping over
- Pdx
Hot take: by end of next year Humrichous has pushed himself into the draft conversation.
From what I can see the #1 skill nba teams are looking for is shooting, and he’s got a great, high, quick release and can shoot off movement at 6’9. And we will see how he does against a higher level of competition but his highlights indicate that athletically, at a minimum he’s not a stiff.
If he shoots 40% from 3 this year on similar volume to last year and proves to be at least adequate on D (ie better than Payton Sandfort), I think he gets looks.
From what I can see the #1 skill nba teams are looking for is shooting, and he’s got a great, high, quick release and can shoot off movement at 6’9. And we will see how he does against a higher level of competition but his highlights indicate that athletically, at a minimum he’s not a stiff.
If he shoots 40% from 3 this year on similar volume to last year and proves to be at least adequate on D (ie better than Payton Sandfort), I think he gets looks.
Dylan Harper is Ron Harper's boy (Ron Harper Jr.'s bro) He basically grew up in that gym. Having Dylan on board helped them land Ace.Also, since when did Rutgers land two top 5 picks?
I think if he has a big year, he's a fringe 2-way or G-league guy. But anyhoo, fun fact about him is he's 1 of 5 players in the past decade over 6'8" to meet the following criteria: assist to turnover ration of 1.5, >55% on two's, 40% on threes while taking nine or more per 100 possessions with a BPM of >5.5.
Those other guys are Duncan Robinson, Sam Hauser, Cam Johnson & Trey Murphy III. We have a good one!
Good stat! And not to toot my own horn but all of those guys are currently cashing NBA paychecks.
Ah, from a college-readiness perspective, I agree.
Joel Goodson
- dawgville
nice little article about Brandon Lee:
I believe it was likely way more. BU and Illinois seem to be running NIL with value in mind. They were not going to pay Coleman or Demin 2 Mill when they could get 3 very high level players for that price.
I'm no insider but I read somewhere that Denim got around 1.5 Million and KJ got around 800k. I don't know how accurate this is though
sacraig
- The desert
Yes, but are his growth plates open?
I really like the guyAbsolutely argee.
I've seen several posts about how great we will be in '25-'26. Maybe. But we have no idea how many players enter the NBA draft or hit the portal after THIS year. We'll be better served to find out how good we will be this year. There's a boatload of talent in the same place and we've got good coaches. Obviously, this team will be better in December (and beyond) than November. Our two Euro guys might be freshmen in the registrar's office, but both bring plenty of experience against challenging competition. They won't be freshmen on the court. In addition, White, Davis, and Booth have spent a year going to war with U.S. college competition. I expect these guys (under BU's leadership) to gel rather quickly. For these reasons, I expect this year's team to be very, very good, and capable of moving deep into the NCAA tournament.
If you're talking one of the top guys, have to believe it's one of Jasper or Khamenia.
If it's one of the guys in that 75-120 ish range...could be a few possibilities...
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Been looking through a lot of mocks...
outside of this, only two others have either Riley or Kasparas mocked in round 1 (On3 has Riley at 25, SB nation has Riley at 14). Egor Demin seems like a consensus high first round pick.
It's "way too early"...but to say there's a chance we get both Kasparas and Riley for two years isn't that much of a stretch. It also isn't that much of a stretch to say we could lose both...gonna have to see how things play out...
Justin Edwards was a projected #1 pick...he didn't even get drafted...
A LOT can change...
I could see that 4sure.
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Good point. Posters here tend to cherry pick only citing the Mock drafts that have them high.
If he replicates his success last year at the Big10 level I think he definitely can get looks but neither of the Hauser brothers got drafted.
All of this. With NIL, the portal, NBA aspirations, etc…it is IMPOSSIBLE to project who will be on the team the following season. Once the NCAA did away with transfers having to sit out a year and the portal came into our lives, EVERY offseason became an open market.
From a player’s perspective there is ZERO reason not to enter the portal EVERY year and turn it into a bidding war. You always have the option to return to your original school. Why wouldn’t you maximize your earning potential?
I expect us to be REALLY good as the season progresses. We all need to enjoy this ride and not worry about next year. I HOPE several of these guys return, but with the way the system is set up I expect most schools to have 4 or 5 transfers MINIMUM.
There is no disincentive for the players not to do that.
Terrific Stat. Love it!
Illini92and96
- Austin, TX
If someone is a Video Coordinator, wouldn't they defacto prefer doing everything over Zoom instead of in person??
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