https://writingillini.com/2019/09/17/illinois-basketball-illini-tough-fight-coleman-hawkins/
reading this doesn't make it sound like a fait accompli
reading this doesn't make it sound like a fait accompli
Coleman Hawkins
- Thread starter dpwhite
- Start date
Agree here. Missing out on ONE guy is not a "big miss," especially when that one guy lives in California 3,000 miles away and has other, closer high-major options.
However, if we miss out on ALL FOUR of Omoruyi, Hawkins, Mitchell, and Key, it will be a huge disappointment for Pike's 2020 recruiting class.
I heard from a good source that we may have a pretty good inside track on Omoruyi. Could be bad intel and doesn’t mean anything unless it happens, but figured I’d inject some hope.
I don't look at it that way. Pikiell should always be judged based on the guys he gets and not the guys he doesn't get.
Would you blame any of those 4 players to go to a school where 10,000 fans will be at every game, an appearance in the NCAA tournament is expected, and the basketball team was a major sports team in the area.
If a school that matches the above had an interest in those 4 players it would be VERY hard for Pikiell to convince them that Rutgers was the place for them.
Completely agree -- Pikiell's work of uncovering underrecruited guys that can play (Eugene, Johnson, Caleb) gives him cover in my book. I am also curious to see who this mystery mid-season addition may be??
One thing that Pikiell has done that previous coaches have not is that when Pikiell misses on priority guys he's able to reel in another guy who's in the same ballpark. Before when coaches missed they'd be stuck giving scholarships to players who probably weren't Big East players, and it showed on the court.
Now whether he can build an NCAA tournament team this way remains to be seen, and of course will be what he's judged on. If he doesn't make at least the NIT this season, or the NCAA tournament in 2020-21 then I think the natives will get restless.
By the way, despite having four scholarships I'd realistically only expect two high schoolers. The days of 13 scholarship players are behind us, and it's a trend across the sport.
So my guess is that 2 of the 4 scholarships are filled by Reiber and another 2020 high schooler. This would give us 11 again going into 2020-21. Of course, roster turnover happens so I'd further guess that we lose one player to transfer but bring another one, keeping us at 11.
So my guess is that 2 of the 4 scholarships are filled by Reiber and another 2020 high schooler. This would give us 11 again going into 2020-21. Of course, roster turnover happens so I'd further guess that we lose one player to transfer but bring another one, keeping us at 11.
Phase 1 was changing the culture....COMPLETE
Phase 2 recruit under recruited guys that fit the mold.....IN PROGRESS
Phase 3 success on court
Phase 4 recruit some recruited guys
This native will be fine....provided that his talent evaluation and coaching didn't go south
Every coach needs to be held accountable for producing a winning team.At Rutgers long suffering fans are still waiting for minimal success such as a winning season after over a decade of wishful thinking.Coaches and players have come and gone but the results have remained the same.Coach Pikiell must break this cycle of losing starting this season.
I hear what you're saying, GRF, but despite Pike's uncanny ability to backfill with kids who are relatively comparable after losing out on main targets, I think that, here, it will be a pretty big disappointment if we miss out on all four of those primary front-court targets, whom Pike has been pursuing for quite some time. I mean, it's pretty clear Pike is "all in" on all four of them, so I'm sure HE will be extremely disappointed, even though he will find somebody else.
but wait..its the facilities! no? Once we get into the Big East (oops, no), B1G (oops no), APC they will come....
ok, we'll see. So far ...? Didn't mean squat to EO and not hearing any recruiting rave reviews. Now that its open...we'll see. Remaining hopeful but still think its all about winning and being the path to cash for these kids.
ok, we'll see. So far ...? Didn't mean squat to EO and not hearing any recruiting rave reviews. Now that its open...we'll see. Remaining hopeful but still think its all about winning and being the path to cash for these kids.
I would expect to have Hawkins come off the board and pick Illinois in the next 24 hours...Crystal ball predictions now rolling in, which is typically right before the announcement is formal.
Sorry. How many coaches are we going to go through until we realize it is primarily the coaching carousel that has failed us and only secondarily the actual coaches.
The Illinois hoop forum certainly expects this to be true but they have expected this for a while now, even before his visit there.
This is a big part. A lot of recruiting "wins" are due to years of relationship building - with coaches, kids, parents, etc. As they say, it takes years of hard work to become an overnight success.
Coleman just posted on instagram a story of him and Pike infront of the R from Jun 19th.
Wish he didn't use his OV before the facility was ready but I'm sure it's tough for a west coast kid to come out here at the "right" time for the staff.
I think we have a fighting chance. Pike and this kid seem to have a bond. He loved his OV despite the place being not complete, i think it might of pushed him over the edge though if it was completed at the time.
Still waiting to hear who Zags spoke to recruit wise who raved about the place.
See the Omoruyi thread. He said he's hearing that us and UConn are in a good spot for him. Not sure if that's who he meant though. Could've been one of the 2021 kids we're interested in.
Facilities are not the deciding factor. Illinois will have new facilities early in his time here and the present ones are good.
I think the key is family in Chicago and his dad being a huge Illinois fan.
He also has a great relationship with Underwood and Chin.
I don’t profess to know where he will end up, but Illinois and Rutgers both have great things to offer.
If he took that visit before his school year ended it counts as a junior OV and he'd be able to take another OV to RU that would count as a senior OV.
Just got off the phone with someone in the Midwest who gave me enough info to make a Rivals FutureCast pick of Hawkins to Illinois. Noticed that three other FutureCasts have been made for Illinois within the past 24 hours.
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Agree....Marquette landed a PF this past weekend, which removed MArquette's scheduled visit for Coleman Hawkins that was scheduled for this coming weekend....and Key likes OSU a lot. I doubt that Key even visits Marquette at this stage.
The fact recruiting hasn't shown significant improvement in decades has a high correlation with no NCAA bid in almost 30 years.Decades of neglect compounded by poor hiring decisions all have contributed to Rutgers perception as a bottom tier basketball program.Pikiell and staff are hard workers and fighting the good battle to change recruits final decisions.A winning season is a must for this season.
....or the metrics fans use to gauge recruiting need to improve.
Saying our recruiting needs to improve is like concluding a 9 year old will be ugly when they grow up by looking at a yearbook picture
I'll take 4 year seniors playing on senior day combined with coaching carousel.
Many fans have it all wrong and just aren't realistic in their expectations. It isn't perception that Rutgers is a bottom tier program. It is reality! The change doesn't happen overnight. Expecting Pikiell this early to start landing stud recruits is just wrong. Be patient everyone! There will be misses. There have been and will continue to be mistakes. I am starting sense things I don't like regarding people's attitude towards the program. A winning season may happen or it may not (I'd bet on a record real close to .500).
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There is a lot of truth to this. I see it in both sports over the last ten years.
I agree with a lot of what you have said and the B1G schedule will be tough. However, if we can't pull off a record at least slightly over .500 with this team and with our pathetic OOC schedule, I will start to doubt some things.
The difference between 4-16 and 9-11 in B1G can come down to a few bounces, minor injuries or luck.
I still rather refer to my metrics that evaluate things on a possession by possession as opposed to wins and losses.
I want to see us pointed in the right direction and wins and loses don’t always do that.
I still rather refer to my metrics that evaluate things on a possession by possession as opposed to wins and losses.
I want to see us pointed in the right direction and wins and loses don’t always do that.
Coaches are fired based on losing seasons and renewed based on winning.Fans looking for other metrics are simply ignoring Rutgers past decades of losing and how that has impacted recruiting and attendance.
But at some point, you have to set aside the hyper-data-analytics and just look at wins and losses.
That said, I don't know if Year 4 is the litmus test per se, but I think it's fair to ask that we actually show improvement in the W-L record this year, regardless of what the possession-by-possession data looks like. Especially since recruiting kind of depends on Pike showing true improvement this year, lest our competitors be able to say "Ah, Rutgers still hasn't been to the tourney in 30 years, and Pike's a nice coach and all, but they're still YEARS away from a bid."
In short, we need to show TANGIBLE progress in the W-L record THIS YEAR in order to keep momentum going.
Spot on comments. I would think watching decades of futility would have focused fans on what has happened in the past and what needs to happen now like better foul and 3 point shooting for starters which should translate in more wins.
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