College Basketball Offseason

[raw]

So, Trayce Jackson-Davis is leaving the NBA draft and returning to IU. I kind of wanted him to go to turn over the program to the great recruiting class, but dare I say, IU is loaded for 2022-23?

 

Bring back TJD, Thompson, and Xavier Johnson....top 3 players from this past year. Add a pair of top 30s. Malik Reneau likely off the bench now. Add Jordan Geronimo who has a ton of upside, and you have a very deep front court. And that's not counting Miller Kopp, who started at SF this year. Which, MEH. I'm fine if he doesn't see the floor.

 

In the backcourt, they have Johnson at PG. And incoming freshman, Jalen Hood-Scifino, who has elite wing talent. Tamar Bates will need to step up as a shooter off the bench since Kopp didn't do well enough there and Trey Galloway should continue to slash and annoy me with his really short shorts.

 

ESPN has them 15th in the way too early rankings (ahead of Gonzaga). Returning 4 starters from the top B1G defense, their top 3 scorers and adding at least 2 instant contributors. Should be a fun season in Bloomington.

 

Now this thread can turn into your regularly scheduled Illinois basketball thread.

[Rex Buckingham]

So, Trayce Jackson-Davis is leaving the NBA draft and returning to IU. I kind of wanted him to go to turn over the program to the great recruiting class, but dare I say, IU is loaded for 2022-23?

 

Bring back TJD, Thompson, and Xavier Johnson....top 3 players from this past year. Add a pair of top 30s. Malik Reneau likely off the bench now. Add Jordan Geronimo who has a ton of upside, and you have a very deep front court. And that's not counting Miller Kopp, who started at SF this year. Which, MEH. I'm fine if he doesn't see the floor.

 

In the backcourt, they have Johnson at PG. And incoming freshman, Jalen Hood-Scifino, who has elite wing talent. Tamar Bates will need to step up as a shooter off the bench since Kopp didn't do well enough there and Trey Galloway should continue to slash and annoy me with his really short shorts.

 

ESPN has them 15th in the way too early rankings (ahead of Gonzaga). Returning 4 starters from the top B1G defense, their top 3 scorers and adding at least 2 instant contributors. Should be a fun season in Bloomington.

 

Now this thread can turn into your regularly scheduled Illinois basketball thread.

 

But none of them can shoot

[raw]

So, Trayce Jackson-Davis is leaving the NBA draft and returning to IU. I kind of wanted him to go to turn over the program to the great recruiting class, but dare I say, IU is loaded for 2022-23?

 

Bring back TJD, Thompson, and Xavier Johnson....top 3 players from this past year. Add a pair of top 30s. Malik Reneau likely off the bench now. Add Jordan Geronimo who has a ton of upside, and you have a very deep front court. And that's not counting Miller Kopp, who started at SF this year. Which, MEH. I'm fine if he doesn't see the floor.

 

In the backcourt, they have Johnson at PG. And incoming freshman, Jalen Hood-Scifino, who has elite wing talent. Tamar Bates will need to step up as a shooter off the bench since Kopp didn't do well enough there and Trey Galloway should continue to slash and annoy me with his really short shorts.

 

ESPN has them 15th in the way too early rankings (ahead of Gonzaga). Returning 4 starters from the top B1G defense, their top 3 scorers and adding at least 2 instant contributors. Should be a fun season in Bloomington.

 

Now this thread can turn into your regularly scheduled Illinois basketball thread.

 

But none of them can shoot

 

Johnson shot 38%. Though he's not a shooter, he can hit an open shot at time. Bates and Hood-Scifino have the ability to hit shots as well. CJ Gunn, who I haven't mentioned is an incoming freshman that projects as a shooter as well. None of them are really big time shooters, but part of the reason I wanted TJD to go is because I think they'd play more wide open and potentially get more shots from the outside to find guys that can make shots.

[Rex Buckingham]

So, Trayce Jackson-Davis is leaving the NBA draft and returning to IU. I kind of wanted him to go to turn over the program to the great recruiting class, but dare I say, IU is loaded for 2022-23?

 

Bring back TJD, Thompson, and Xavier Johnson....top 3 players from this past year. Add a pair of top 30s. Malik Reneau likely off the bench now. Add Jordan Geronimo who has a ton of upside, and you have a very deep front court. And that's not counting Miller Kopp, who started at SF this year. Which, MEH. I'm fine if he doesn't see the floor.

 

In the backcourt, they have Johnson at PG. And incoming freshman, Jalen Hood-Scifino, who has elite wing talent. Tamar Bates will need to step up as a shooter off the bench since Kopp didn't do well enough there and Trey Galloway should continue to slash and annoy me with his really short shorts.

 

ESPN has them 15th in the way too early rankings (ahead of Gonzaga). Returning 4 starters from the top B1G defense, their top 3 scorers and adding at least 2 instant contributors. Should be a fun season in Bloomington.

 

Now this thread can turn into your regularly scheduled Illinois basketball thread.

 

But none of them can shoot

 

Johnson shot 38%. Though he's not a shooter, he can hit an open shot at time. Bates and Hood-Scifino have the ability to hit shots as well. CJ Gunn, who I haven't mentioned is an incoming freshman that projects as a shooter as well. None of them are really big time shooters, but part of the reason I wanted TJD to go is because I think they'd play more wide open and potentially get more shots from the outside to find guys that can make shots.

 

Johnson looked awful every time I saw him play (which admittedly wasn't much) so I'm surprised he shot that well. They've got all kinds of talent for sure, will just be interesting to see if they can shoot well enough. They'll surely play D and rebound well, especially with TJD back

[Bobson Dugnutt]

 

Illinois should be very fun to watch next year. So much length and athleticism on the roster. The size difference between next year’s roster and last year’s is night and day.

[gflore34]

 

Illinois should be very fun to watch next year. So much length and athleticism on the roster. The size difference between next year’s roster and last year’s is night and day.

 

Definitely, they may struggle a little coming out the gate however, towards the end of the season I could see them being very good with a real chance to finally make it past the first weekend of the tournament.

[bukie]

Illini departures:

- Trent Frazier (Sr) - Graduation

- Damonte Williams (Sr) - Graduation

- Alfonso Plummer (Sr) - Graduation

- Kofi Cockburn (Jr) - NBA Draft

- Austin Hutcherson (Jr) - NBA Draft

- Jacob Grandison (Jr) - Transfer portal

- Omar Payne (Jr) - Transfer - Jacksonville

- Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk (Jr) - Transfer - South Carolina

- Andre Curbelo (So) - Transfer - St. John's

- Brandin Podziemski (Fr) - Transfer - Santa Clara

 

Illini Additoins:

- Terrence Shannon Jr (Sr) - Transfer from Texas Tech

- Matthew Mayer (Sr) - Transfer from Baylor

- Dain Dainja (So) - Transfer from Baylor

- Skyy Clask - 2022 signee ranked #30 on 247

- Jayden Epps - 2022 signee ranked #67 on 247

- Ty Rodgers - 2022 signee ranked #48 on 247

- Sencire Harris - 2022 signee ranked #105 on 247

 

Illini holdovers:

- Coleman Hawkins (So)

- RJ Melendez (Fr)

- Luke Goode (Fr)

 

So, I mean...it'll be a mostly new team. Should be good, but there's still room to add players yet, but it's a tough sell for a transfer where there may not be much playing time available. Nobody wants to transfer to be the 11th or 12th guy.

[SouthSideRyan]

No respect for Brandon Lieb

[bukie]

No respect for Brandon Lieb

I was going to say "I didn't consider the walk-ons" but I forgot he's not a walk-on. He's just a built-in 13th man. I still think the team could use an experienced PG and a backup big, but again convincing a transfer to join up in Champaign for 10-15 minutes a game is a tough sell for a quality player.

[Tryptamine]

If by some miracle Pete Nance chooses Illinois, they're solidly a top 15 squad if not top 10.

[bukie]

If you're starved for college basketball stuff, the FIBA U18 Americas championship is starting today, featuring a team of top high school prospects from this and next year. Illinois recruit Ty Rodgers is on the team and starting today.

 

[UMFan83]

Lots of discussion today about the NCAA wanting to expand the NCAA tournament. I just don't see how this is a good idea. One format I've seen proposed is a 96 team tournament where the 32 conference champions get a bye, and the 64 at large teams all play a play-in game to advance to the round of 64. Funny thing is, they say they want to do this to reward the high and mid-major programs who put a lot of money into their basketball programs, but I can't see how having half of all at-large teams eliminated (likely 90%+ made up of high and mid-majors) before the real 1st round is much of a reward.

 

There is literally nothing broken about the NCAA tournament. While its large enough that almost every college program has a chance to make the tournament (sorry schools like Chicago State and New Hampshire), its small enough that it feels like an accomplishment if your team makes it.

[Andy]

Not satisfied with doing all they can to ruin college football through pointless and nonsensical realignment, the power conferences are now taking aim at college basketball.

 

It's all about infusing new revenue growth rather than just being pleased with the already financially healthy state of things.

[Old Style]

Leave March Madness alone.