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Illinois Ayo Dosunmu returns for junior year

NewJerseyHawk

NewJerseyHawk

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This is a smart decision by a player who was in the Top 75 or 100 players that could have been drafted....with the expected return of sophomore center Kofi Cockburn and incoming frosh Adam Miller, my own expectations are Illinois should land in the Preseason Top 25, probably in the high teens to 20 range.

 
Crud. Big Ten teams seem to be getting most of their players back. Will be loaded this year. Every game is going to be supreme dogfight. Makes having the tourney cancelled this past year that much more painful.
 
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RU2323 said:
Crud. Big Ten teams seem to be getting most of their players back. Will be loaded this year. Every game is going to be supreme dogfight. Makes having the tourney cancelled this past year that much more painful.
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Illinois felt that they missed out on a tourney run as well as Penn State who missed the boat with senior Lamar Stevens....while the RU story is top of list to me, there were some huge opportunities missed by a Pat Chambers that may not come back again for PSU.

For Illinois and RU, who should start in the Preseason Top 25, all they have to do is play, develop and improve....the window is wide open for both Illinois and RU to have a huge season in 2020-21, both should be better than last year.
 
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Illinois will be loaded next year if Cockburn returns. It makes the Bif-g Ten that much better as a league and Rutgers wins that much sweeter.
 
The B1G will be really tough again. Very exciting. Just pray they actually play!
 
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Shack’s big ten rankings (Not including Rutgers



1.) Iowa
2.) Illinois
3.) Michigan State
4.) Wisconsin
5.) Michigan
6.) Indiana
7.) Purdue
T8.) Ohio state
T8.) Maryland
10.) Minnesota
11.) Penn State
12.) northwestern
13.) Nebraska

Comments basing on a normal non Covid season and schedule

Nebraska and northwestern are looking at under .500 seasons

Minnesota and penn state are playing for a .500 season

Ohio state and Maryland are reloading...but lost too much to be in the top Half of the big ten league...depending on the ranking of the league, they are either a NIT team or on the bubble if the big ten is the top league in the country again

Purdue has a couple of real nice recruits coming in (more than OSU and Maryland) in the wings and of painter gets them to score...they are a ncaa team again ...

Indiana is a wild card with talent ...but they seemingly can’t put it together. Feel like a ncaa team but not a sweet 16 threat

the top 5 teams are all potential sweet 16 material. I add Rutgers to that list to make that 6 teams that are potential sweet 16 material All deserving of top 15-20 rankings or better...with a threat to the final four if they stay healthy and get the right draws

iowa question is D and depth. That team can score

Illinois And Rutgers are going to be really talented and I expect Some of their youth lumps of 2019-2020 to equate to more wins in 2020-2021. Both are sleeper teams a bit below the radar

I like Wisconsin ...but wonder how much upside they really have

Michigan looks strong and adds some recruiting to it

This is the year to catch Michigan state. With how they are recruiting ...they are going to be getting even better

But ...on topic. I really like Illinois a lot. They are going to be very very good and the are long, and athletic. And add the Freshman point guard...their final piece much like I call cliff our final piece to go further

big ten is loaded!!!!
 
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Kofi just announced his return. Pretty exciting.

Of course, it would be so Illinois to have Ayo, Kofi, Trent Frazier, Giorgi, Damonte Williams, Andre Curbelo, Adam Miller, Austin Hutcherson, Jacob Grandison, Coleman Hawkins, Benjamin Bosnans-Verdonk and have the season cancelled. Arghh
 
NewJerseyHawk said:
Illinois felt that they missed out on a tourney run as well as Penn State who missed the boat with senior Lamar Stevens....while the RU story is top of list to me, there were some huge opportunities missed by a Pat Chambers that may not come back again for PSU.

For Illinois and RU, who should start in the Preseason Top 25, all they have to do is play, develop and improve....the window is wide open for both Illinois and RU to have a huge season in 2020-21, both should be better than last year.
Click to expand...
We deserve some top 25 consideration but if I were betting on this I’d say maybe 27-30 for the opener .
 
RUBOB72 said:
We deserve some top 25 consideration but if I were betting on this I’d say maybe 27-30 for the opener .
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Have to tell you everything I’m seeing based on what we know today we are number 20-21 in the polls top tier big ten program behind Michigan St, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin. With the likes of Indiana, Michigan Ohio St.
 
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I will be much more disappointed if this is no college basketball this year than football. Someone I was speaking with yesterday wondered that if most schools continue with online education rather than in person instruction, might there be an opportunity for a college basketball bubble for each major conference? I think there would still be challenges because certain major require in person sessions but it would be safer and the players could attend their classes from anywhere if online. I just can't see a scenario right now where games are played in the RAC with fans before a vaccine has been widely distributed.
 
13 or 14 is too high for us considering we lose our best shooter. Certainly we have the potential to be that good but somewhere between 20-30 feels more appropriate to me.
 
Scarlet Shack said:
Shack’s big ten rankings (Not including Rutgers



1.) Iowa
2.) Illinois
3.) Michigan State
4.) Wisconsin
5.) Michigan
6.) Indiana
7.) Purdue
T8.) Ohio state
T8.) Maryland
10.) Minnesota
11.) Penn State
12.) northwestern
13.) Nebraska

Comments basing on a normal non Covid season and schedule

Nebraska and northwestern are looking at under .500 seasons

Minnesota and penn state are playing for a .500 season

Ohio state and Maryland are reloading...but lost too much to be in the top Half of the big ten league...depending on the ranking of the league, they are either a NIT team or on the bubble if the big ten is the top league in the country again

Purdue has a couple of real nice recruits coming in (more than OSU and Maryland) in the wings and of painter gets them to score...they are a ncaa team again ...

Indiana is a wild card with talent ...but they seemingly can’t put it together. Feel like a ncaa team but not a sweet 16 threat

the top 5 teams are all potential sweet 16 material. I add Rutgers to that list to make that 6 teams that are potential sweet 16 material All deserving of top 15-20 rankings or better...with a threat to the final four if they stay healthy and get the right draws

iowa question is D and depth. That team can score

Illinois And Rutgers are going to be really talented and I expect Some of their youth lumps of 2019-2020 to equate to more wins in 2020-2021. Both are sleeper teams a bit below the radar

I like Wisconsin ...but wonder how much upside they really have

Michigan looks strong and adds some recruiting to it

This is the year to catch Michigan state. With how they are recruiting ...they are going to be getting even better

But ...on topic. I really like Illinois a lot. They are going to be very very good and the are long, and athletic. And add the Freshman point guard...their final piece much like I call cliff our final piece to go further

big ten is loaded!!!!
Click to expand...


I agree with iowa at the top . I think they will have a great regular season, but wont get out of the first tournament weekend.
 
Confused by the Iowa hype. I mean I get it, the injuries all that. But to me they just don’t have the power to win the conference where you need to battle every game and stay tough. They are the weakest team I’ve ever seen. Unless Franny brings out all the stops for his whining to the refs all year, they will not be able to sustain against the likes of MSU, Wisconsin or even us as the season gets into the later portions
 
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kcg88 said:
13 or 14 is too high for us considering we lose our best shooter. Certainly we have the potential to be that good but somewhere between 20-30 feels more appropriate to me.
Click to expand...

I like 13-14. Lean into it, brother!
 
ScarletDave said:
Confused by the Iowa hype. I mean I get it, the injuries all that. But to me they just don’t have the power to win the conference where you need to battle every game and stay tough. They are the weakest team I’ve ever seen. Unless Franny brings out all the stops for his whining to the refs all year, they will not be able to sustain against the likes of MSU, Wisconsin or even us as the season gets into the later portions
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Just can’t agree with you. I think their hype is well founded. They have the best player in the conference in Garza who can take over in crunch time. Joe Wieskamp is a future NBA player and their 3 point shooting is the best in conference especially with Bohannan coming back. They are loaded and will loose 5 or less games IMHO. We shall see.
 
LOU-RU85 said:
Just can’t agree with you. I think their hype is well founded. They have the best player in the conference in Garza who can take over in crunch time. Joe Wieskamp is a future NBA player and their 3 point shooting is the best in conference especially with Bohannan coming back. They are loaded and will loose 5 or less games IMHO. We shall see.
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Defense is their Achilles Heel. Don’t get me wrong, they will be really good. They can score with anyone. But defense wins championships.
 
Also not seen the best of Johnson or Harper yet. 18 sounds about right. iowa is not quick.
 
combes said:
Defense is their Achilles Heel. Don’t get me wrong, they will be really good. They can score with anyone. But defense wins championships.
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I guess we shall see on this one. I agree defense is very important though but these guys are really loaded. Should be loads of fun to watch regardless.
 
LOU-RU85 said:
I guess we shall see on this one. I agree defense is very important though but these guys are really loaded. Should be loads of fun to watch regardless.
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Yep, Iowa will be very good. Lots of shooters around Garza. Who was the last Big Ten champ that was not a good defensive team?

5th in the league to 5th in the country. That’s a big jump. Bohannan’s Health is key for them. Hip injuries can be tricky to heal.

but, yeah, they will be tough. Illinois and Iowa have developed a bit of a rivalry lately. As Ayo said, “We respect them but we don’t like each other.”
 
combes said:
Yep, Iowa will be very good. Lots of shooters around Garza. Who was the last Big Ten champ that was not a good defensive team?

5th in the league to 5th in the country. That’s a big jump. Bohannan’s Health is key for them. Hip injuries can be tricky to heal.

but, yeah, they will be tough. Illinois and Iowa have developed a bit of a rivalry lately. As Ayo said, “We respect them but we don’t like each other.”
Click to expand...
This will be a great season to watch, if they play. Love it.
 
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