[NCarmean18Participant]

 Hey guys, I figured that I would start a new forum post about this the upcoming year in college hoops, and give you some brief predictions and thoughts about my favorite team – the Illinois Fighting Illini.  Now, I would like to say that I am very interested in the way you guys view your favorite college teams, and would love to hear some of you guys’ predictions and thoughts on your favorite college teams, as well!  

Well, I figured that I would start off by talking about our new head coach, John Groce. I am pretty impressed by Gross’s resume.  He was the head coach at the University of Ohio from 2008-2012, leading the Bobcats to 2 postseason tournament appearances, making the Sweet 16 this past year in 2012.  In the Sweet 16 game, Ohio lost in overtime to heavy favorite North Carolina, a team that sent 4 players to the NBA this past summer during the 2012 NBA Draft.

Groce was our 3rd option as a head coach.  We had first sought after Shaka Smart of VCU, and then we pursued Brad Stevens of Butler.  Neither coach wanted to break the commitment they had made to their respected schools, and the both decided to turn down more money, and a chance to coach on a higher platform to remain dedicated to their respective universities.  Honest decisions.  

Now, Groce.  I like Groce.  I think he has a lot of potential to be a very good coach, and I think that he brings a lot to the table for this Illinois team.  Groce was a very respected man in Ohio.  He got a lot of credit, and he was very well liked in Ohio, thus earning the commitment of some good players in Ohio.  

Now, Groce can recruit in both Ohio and Illinois, along with several states surrounding the region.  Those states include Missouri, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa.  With good recruiting, Illinois can be a pretty nice force in the Big Ten for years to come.  However, in years past, we haven’t recruited that well and our performance will suffer throughout the first year or two of Groce’s tenure at Illinois.  

Now I’d like to give you my opinions of this year’s Illinois roster.  To begin with, I’d like to say that I am not impressed with this year’s roster.  It is even less appealing than last year’s roster, because last year we had Meyers Leonard, who was drafted 11th overall to the Portland Trail Blazers.  

Now, I will have to admit that I am excited about the return of senior guards D.J. Richardson and Brandon Paul.  Both Richardson and Paul are very underrated prospects, but they both are highly inconsistant.  Hopefully Groce will help them improve that.  A key thing to remember is that Brandon Paul did post 43 points in a single game last season as the Illini topped conference foe Ohio State in Champaign-Urbana.  

Now, I’d like to talk to you about 2 Illini players that I am very excited to watch this season.  Those two players are Nnanna Egwu and Joseph Bertrand.  Egwu was the backup center to Meyers Leonard last season.  At 6’11", 235 lbs., he has pretty good size and athleticism for the center position.  However, he is very thin, and needs to add muscle mass to be fully affective as a basketball player.  He’s a great defensive player, as he averaged 5 blocks per game as a senior in high school.  I’m very interested to see how Egwu develops as a player, and a big man down low.  In his freshmen season, I saw flashed of brilliance, but that was in limited time against unworthy opponents.  Now that he will be the starting center against teams in the Big Ten, I really am intrigued to watch him play.  

I was highly impressed with Joseph Bertrand last season.  He came out of nowhere and played extremely well for us, averaging 6.5 points per game while shooting 52% from the field, starting only 14 games of the year, but playing in each and every one of them.  That was good enough to make him the 4th best player on last year’s squad, right behind Paul, Richardson, and of course, Meyers Leonard.  Bertrand single-handedly kept us in the game against Missouri last season, scoring 19 points on 9-9 shooting.  Bertrand is a good athlete who is a bit undersized for the small forward position.  However, he finds ways to get inside and finish around the rim.  He also has an efficient jump shot that stretches out to the 3-point line.  

Now, I would like to give my opinions on the acqusition of power forward Sam McLaurin from the University of Costal Carolina.  I think he will be a solid addition to the squad this season.  He is a 5th year senior, and will provide a strong presence for the Illini at the power forward position.  At Costal Carolina, he shot a very good career percentage of 61.8%.  He was a very good and strong defensive presence, blocking the most shots in school history, as well as finishing 7th all-time in rebounding.  In his senior season, McLaurin averaged 10 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game.  

An interior defensive presence is definitely something that Illinois lacks, and is hoping to improve on by adding McLaurin.  With enough scorers on the wing, they don’t need to rely on McLaurin to score.  He can just sit back, relax, and play the best defensive basketball that he can. 

Projected starting lineup/10-man rotation:

Brandon Paul (SR) – D.J. Richardson (SR) – Joseph Bertrand (RS JR) – Sam McLaurin (GS) – Nnanna Egwu (SO)

Tracy Abrams (SO) – Myke Henry (SO) – Devin Langford (RS FR) – Tyler Griffey (SR) – Ibby Djimde (SO)

It’s honestly not that great of a rotation, but it’s a start…

With guys like Paul, Richardson, McLaurin, and Griffey all leaving after this season, it allows Illinois to recruit many different prospects.  According to ESPN RecruitingNation, Illinois has already had 4 commits for next season, only 1 more than they had this year.  The commit that they had this year wasn’t even ranked on ESPN, nor Rivals.  However, next year we have the 16th and 24th ranked shooting guards in Kendrick Nunn and Malcolm Hill, along with the 17th ranked center in Maverick Morgan and the 57th ranked point guard in Jaylon Tate.  The shooting guards are both 4-star prospects, the center is a 3-star prospect, and the point guard is a 2-star prospect.  It’s not the best, but it’s definitely a start.  

We also have offers to 5 other players who have yet to commit for next year.  3 of them I can see commiting to the University of Illinois, one of them being the 14th ranked center for next year’s class.  

Now, I’d like to talk about this year as a team.  I think we will struggle this season.  However, I do believe that we will improve over last year.  Last year, we finished 17-15, (6-12) in Big Ten play.  This year, I have projected us to go 19-15, (7-11) in Big Ten play during the regular season.  It’s not that great of a jump, but at least it’s a start.  

It seems more impressive since our roster is down compared to that of last year with the graduation of Sam Maniscalco and the early draft entrance of Meyers Leonard.  

All in all, I think it will be a pretty frustrating year for Illinois.  However, I think it will be a learning stone and I believe that we will only get better with experience and good recruiting.  

As I said before, I’d really like to hear what you guys think about your teams and the seasons that you think they will have.  

I would like to thank anyone who took the time to read and process this entire post. 

 

[NickWayne87Participant]

 yall should’ve recruited the kid from my old high school a little HARDER….shouldve been ranked higher than he was and he was the 82 player on espnU and 98 on scout 4 star pg fred van vleet…..they had him listed at 5’11 on those sites but witcha state’s official listed height of him his 6’0, i’ve met him and i think he might be 6’1 i’m 6’0….people knock his athelticism even those he doesn’t in this video he can dunk and is quicker than he looks….http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipkgRPtHI2A&feature=related

[NCarmean18Participant]

 I just looked your boy up, and it shows that we didn’t even recruit him at all.  That really surprises me, because we have young, unproven point guards, other than Tracy Abrams.  We really lack in that department, and I think Van Fleet would have made us a better team.  He is a true point, and he looks to be a very willing passer, and a pretty solid scoring option.  I don’t know if the transition between Bruce Weber and John Groce was such a difficult process that he got overlooked, or if they just weren’t interested?

Whatever the case is, I hope Van Fleet has a good career at Wichita State, and I wish him the very best!

[NickWayne87Participant]

 came to Auburn a couple times….but it was back when he was a sophmore….before he really started to pick up steam as a prospect……he committed to witchita in the summer before his senior year and before his aau run where he played and was documented he outerperformed every pg he played against including yogi ferrell twice if he had’ve waited a little longer he would’ve had high major offers…..this probably why yall didn’t recruit him because he was already signed and showed he wasn’t gonna back out of his LOI……i kinda answered my own question lol but I WISHED he would’ve went to U of I….and yall NEED HIM……more than witchita state does actually.

[NickWayne87Participant]

 21ppg 8 ast 5 reb and 5 stls per game his senior year and led his team to a 3rd place state finish

[NCarmean18Participant]

 He sounds like a pretty solid player!  I think he will have a very good career at Wichita State, and has a solid chance at making the NBA if he continues to improve.  I wish he would’ve waited to make a commitment, because the Big Ten is much more prestigious than whatever conference Wichita State is in.  

We do need point guard help, but that’s alright.  We will continue to recruit to the best of our ability and hopefully a guy like this won’t commit to a small school before he has been given a chance by bigger schools. 

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