Man, I don't mean this disrespectfully, but you're coming in with some of the softest takes I've ever seen on this board. You give a guy minutes because of loyalty? All of these guys getting D1 offers know that this is a competition and you have to earn the opportunity. Nothing is given to you and Brad has shown that with many players that have made demands. The reality is that as much I love Ty and the positive things he brings to the team, he's a massive offensive liability and other guys are just better than him right now. Based on what BU said, he understands that to get to where he wants to go, he has to be able to shoot the ball; right now, he can't do that at this level. And Underwood's job is to win games...not make people happy. I think he has seen the last couple of years, that yes, chemistry matters, but at the end of the day, talent wins championships. UConn showed that in a major way. Are there outliers? Sure. But at the end of the day, the teams with the most talented players who buy into a system will usually come out on top.
Stop making sense.
I am pretty surprised at the general overall negative sentiment about Ty's redshirting. I don't mean that we aren't upset and sad that he is doing this but rather the various assumptions as to what it means and how it will impact Illinois basketball. At least, that was the impression I got from reading through the first 5 or 6 pages. Although maybe all the negative posts were by one poster. I wasn't really paying attention to who exactly was posting what. And it seemed that more reasonable posts started showing up. I am by no means an optimist, but I am pretty ok with this decision. I thought in the Ole Miss game that 14 minutes for Ty was actually higher than I expected, but then it was an exhibition game. And that his minutes would be fewer when the regular season started (which was confirmed by 0440 saying he was going to be a 10 to 12 minute guy). This is also why I disagree with Gritty's assertion that he would be a core rotation piece, at least as I understand what that means. 10 to 12 minutes is not core rotation minutes.
And I think the comparisons to Sincere are somewhat specious. Would Sincere have left if Frazier was still a coach with Illinois? Maybe, maybe not. The same thing could be true for Ty. I don't think there was any hint that he might be upset that Anderson left. So, maybe he will leave, and maybe not. In his presser, BU said about Ty that he is an Illini. Now, I am not saying he will stay, and he will probably transfer, but I think he will take a look at next year's roster and then decide. I think he wants to stay. After all, many believe KJ, Riley, and maybe TI won't be here (and BH runs out of eligibility) next year, so who knows? But I also realize it is complicated. There are timing issues for transferring, and as has been mentioned, Riley did not commit to the Illini until June, so Ty may have to make decisions based on factors that he doesn't know about. Or he could pull a "LaTulip" and transfer but always consider himself an Illini and come back to help in other ways.
And why wouldn't BU take him to media days? That was, what, at least a month or longer ago? I think it was a reward for his loyalty to Illinois and a statement that he is still a valued Illinois player.
And some of the comments about Ty and NIL money seem pretty cynical. I don't think Ty is someone who is just sitting around chortling about how much money he is making by sitting on the bench and being a body in practice. I just don't think he is that kind of guy. I believe he wants to improve and will help some of the new players get better by being a good practice guy. And hopefully, he will keep working to develop his shooting.
Maybe I am naive in spinning this in a somewhat positive light; that Ty uses the year to improve (which I believe was a common sentiment to last year's Sincere announcement to redshirt) and that he might come back depending on how things look but some of the takes here seem a little too cynical.