Yeah I am thrown off by how proud the OP is of the supposed direction. That sounds like a self-inflicted horror story.
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Completely delusional fanbase.
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Yeah that sounded pretty out of whack to me too. Was IHCBU really known for not recruiting at a high level pre Illinois? I never thought so but I didnât pay super close attention either. I just know there were shady things going on, so I assumed he was someone who tried to recruit in the deep end.
The 247 mod is still pretty openly nervous about attrition, specifically from 21s Melendez (Antigua), Goode (Gentry) and Podz (Coleman), sophomore Hawkins (Coleman), transfer Plummer (Antigua), and transfer Payne (the theory being that he would not want a reunion with Pinkins).
Same mod (Piper) says that Underpants has guaranteed Gentryâs spot to Alexander if/when Gentry bounces.
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Thatsa lotta names, sheesh
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I wonder what RosterCast would spit out if I took them all away. Probably 150th
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Is that good? 
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Fans can be crazy and talk themselves into loving or hating any decision. Clean out all of your assistants? They were part of what held us backâŚorâŚthe sky is falling. Who knows how much of any of it is true. Being happy youâre getting rid of your best recruiters isâŚone way to look at it.
Feels like such a weird vibe over there. Attrition is happening everywhere, but just an overall strange feeling after such a good season.
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I feel like if Illinois hadnât lost to Loyola, the vibe would be way different, even if these same exact offseason events were happening. Illinois fans have long been desperate to be good again, so I think it hurt a lot extra that they had such a good team and still couldnât get much done in March.
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I see your pointâŚand maybe if they make a run beyond that game it makes some sense. But losing all assistants to lateral moves? Losing your top returning player because you canât convince him heâs the star on the team next year? Not doing well in recruiting even when you still have these supposedly good recruiters on your bench? Losing your planned starting center to a professional league in Europe?
If youâre a glass-half-full guy and ignore the assistant departures I guess you can argue that you got two of your seniors to come back, you got two impact transfers at positions of need, and youâre still coming off your best season in a long time.
Oh no lol I wasnât disagreeing on this being a bad offseason for them haha. When I said âthe vibe would be way differentâ, I meant the vibe amongst the fans. You mentioned that its âa weird vibe over thereâ and I totally agree. I just think the weirdness comes from desperation mixed with disappointment. A bad offseason is a bad offseason, but mixed with your best team in a decade losing in the round of 32⌠yikes. I think theyâre hurting, at least thats the vibe with my cousins who go there.
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The thing that really stood out to me in the stomping they gave us was that junkyard dog attitude they had. They were just nasty and really took it to us. Thought it was really impressive how they did to us what we had done to teams all year long. I can see where HCBU wants to make that âthe callingâ of his program.
But its one thing to rally together talents like Ayo, Kofi, Miller, Georgi, Frazier, etc. Its another thing to move away from the âdramaâ and aim for the 3 stars with the attitude you want. That might be fine for Underwood, but in the long run the talent that we are amassing and the things happening across the league will probably put Illinois more as a middle-of-the-pack team. And I donât think those results are something that Underwood survives for very long.
Nick Irvin has been an assistant at Western Illinois for a year. If I were Underwood I would hire him in a heartbeat - they demonstrably already have a relationship given the two Morgan Park stars he got.
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They have supposedly offered him a non-coaching, non-recruiting admin role. Basically replacing Alexanderâs office role when he gets bumped into Gentryâs chair.
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Why would you offer the former director of Mac Irvin Fire (and the son of the man himself) a non-recruiting role. The guy has 5 city and 3 state titles as a head coach.
The idea leaves me gobsmacked.
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Anyone know anything about this guy?
He likes to shout things. Good arm mobility.
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Started his career at NKU, transferred to Cinci when Brannen was hired. Played two years at Cinci, took a huge step back last year, went from 70% of minutes played with a 113 ORTG on 18% USG to 49%, 93.4 and 16% respectively. Cinci fans were incredibly happy to see him go, said he wasnât an interior presence at all despite his size and thought he was Horizon league bound.
Between this guy and the Wake guy Wisconsin took as a transfer, their team is looking rough next year.
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Back on topic: this dudes stats are terrible. 6th year COVID guy. Played <50% of minutes for disaster Cinci. 92 ORTG as a Center??? 45% career FT shooter. Rebound rates similar to Chaundee Brown and Turnover rates that dwarfs Johns and Davis
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