Illinois basketball fans

[TheGame414]

Good, but not surprising, news about D.J. He's a stud, and I damn sure was on his bandwagon early on.

[IlliniFan]

Good, but not surprising, news about D.J. He's a stud, and I damn sure was on his bandwagon early on.

Why does scout rate him so much lower than rivals? Everyone talks about him being one of the best players in Illinois for 09 but scout has him as a 3 star.

[TheGame414]

I stopped trying to figure out how Scout does things long ago. Don't ask me. But I've seen the kid play a few times and formed an opinion on him before I ever saw a single national ranking of him, and I became a big fan right away.

He's an excellent addition if the reports are true, and there's little doubt to me that he's our starting shooting guard of the future.

Now it's time to find someone, anyone, in 2008. These last two losses- McLaughlin and Little- didn't bother me aside from the fact that we desperately needed wing scoring in this class and we've completely struck out, which is terrible. McLaughlin looks like Calvin Brock Part II and Little's a juco guy. Sometimes those guys give you a boost, especially when they fill a specific need- like Rodney Alexander will this year and like Little very well could've as a wing scorer- but you can't lose a ton of sleep over not getting those guys.

Surprised KU wanted him so much, unless he really just is that good.

[wang4three]

http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles...donpaului.html

And the ball keeps rolling!! Brandon Paul to UI!!

[TheGame414]

Fantastic news. Two of the best three in-state guards from the '09 class.

If these are directly or indirectly due to Jerrance Howard, then props to Snacks.

I think Brandon Paul is another Iman Shumpert, in that he's not that highly ranked nationally at this point but those that have seen him know how good he is, and his national ranking skyrockets after his junior year.

Just too bad these guys couldn't be '08 recruits. I don't even know who's still out there, I wouldn't be upset if we got Verdell Jones, though.

Even without anyone in this class, I like the way our team is shaping up for a few years down the line:

PG- McCamey
SG- Richardson/Paul
SF- Richmond
PF- Davis/Cole
C- Tisdale

[wang4three]

How good is Paul, Game? What are his strengths? I've only read that he's extremely slept on right now.

Man, two years till they play an Illini game. I can't wait. Oh ****, I'll be 25 by then..wow. And Then Jereme! Wow how different things change after one big recruit names us.

Illinois basketball and football on the rise!!!! [homerism] I smell DYNASTY [/homerism]

[IlliniFan]

How many scholarships do we have left for 09 assuming we use 2 for the 08 class?

[wang4three]

Well '09 will graduate Rodney, Chester, Brock, and I think CJ's will be available so that's about 4 scholarships.

[TheGame414]

I still hope we get someone in 2008. If not Verdell Jones or a wing that's out there, then Stan Simpson, who some feel is as good as Mike Dunigan.

About Brandon Paul, I've never seen him play myself. But everything I read about him sounds like he's about to blow up like Shumpert did.

Weber's shown himself to be a pretty good judge of talent, often spotting it before other big-time programs get in the game. Sherron was nowhere near a 5-star player when we started going after him, nor was Shumpert. Jamar was almost unheard-of when he committed early in his junior season. Brock, too, though he hasn't quite become an impact player yet, was offered a scholarship before breaking into the Top 100 (according to Scout). I think Tisdale will prove to be another example of this.

Obviously everyone know how good Rose and IDKWTI were, but he was still in on them early as well.

Equally obviously, his propensity for actually landing those talents has come nowhere near matching his propensity for spotting said talent, but if that is starting to change, well, our fall from the Big Ten and national elite may still prove to be temporary. I'm not yet sold on Ohio State becoming a permanent fixture atop the Big Ten, and I'm not sold on Sampson building Indiana into something better than what he had at Oklahoma, but we'll see. We can only hope that good recruiting news continues to come.

[IlliniFan]

http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/ui3.html
Bertrand commits. Top 10 class?

[JPR]

year after year, the fighting ILL-INI are #1 when it comes to rushing in da BIG 10. and an impressive conference it always is.

[TheGame414]

year after year, the fighting ILL-INI are #1 when it comes to rushing in da BIG 10. and an impressive conference it always is.

Errr, last year was the first year in a long, long time that we've led the conference in rushing. We've traditionally- at least over the last three decades- been a passing team. We've had five QBs pass for over 3,000 yards- not including No. 1 overall pick Jeff George, who threw for damn near 3,000 twice- but only two running backs run for 1,000 yards since 1980 (though Rashard Mendenhall is a couple weeks from changing that).

[TheGame414]

http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/ui3.html
Bertrand commits. Top 10 class?

Too early to say that, but it looks like an early candidate if Paul skyrockets up the national rankings like many predict. It looks like a very similar class to Michigan State's 2007 class.

You never know how the rankings are gonna shake out for guys this early on. It's only the absolute cream of the crop, the Renardo Syndeys and Lance Stephensons, etc, that you can say are pretty much locks for their spots. Everything else still has a ways to shake out.

Still, having seen Bertrand and Richardson play, and hearing all the things I've heard about Paul, I'm thrilled to have them no matter where they end up being ranked. They're three athletic, dynamic guards, and that's what we needed.

And props to Jerrance Howard for whatever role he played in all these, but in reality these were three guys that were Illinois-bound no matter what. It was just our time for an uptick in recruiting.

With these three guys in the fold, I am all for getting Stan Simpson now in the 2008 class.

[wang4three]

This is awesome!!!! The last 36 or so hours have been a thrilling ride.

[ThaKing]

And Mario Little is gone as well. To Kansas. Surprised that guy isn't here to talk **** about it.

Yea the only reason i'm not is because I don't think much of Little. I know nothing about him really, but I can't imagine him contributing a whole lot. The fact is if we are relying on Mario Little then our recruiting needs to improve.

Congrats on all the commitments recently. Maybe Weber is taking Zook on the recruiting trail with him.