are going to be very good in the midwest.
These are the classes that Fran and staff have got to break thru on.
Clearly, the iowa class of 2012 is very strong,and Fran is working it hard already,with Woodbury,Paige and Gesell all offered already.
Now, 2013 will be good in Iowa with Jok at minimum a top 40 player.
But, in Chicagoland, the 2013 and 2014 classes are ultra-strong already.
Illinois is entertaining 14-15 chicagoland players from the 2012-14 classes at their midnite madness. Plus 2011 recruit Chasson Randle.
Now, clearly the illini cannot grab all those guys,so Iowa and other schools will be in the hunt,I presume. Just Whitney Young and Simeon alone have at least 6-8 top 100 type players in those classes,but there are guys from the burbs also.
On the negative side, look for the illini to continue to be strong for the next 6-8 years minimum.
On the plus side, Iowa should be able to grab some of the leftovers.
That is,if we have a strong Illinois recruiter with ties on our staff.
I hope we do,but not sure. I hope Fran really analyzed where the talent that is close to Iowa City resides when he put together his staff. Iowa has the highest percentage of Illinois residents attending their school over any other Big Ten school....so why should recruiting student-athletes from the same area not be a natural component of that situation?
I read about all that talent going to Illini midnite madness and it makes me itchy....we cannot afford to fall behind on the 2012-2013-2014 classes already.
These are the classes that Fran and staff have got to break thru on.
Clearly, the iowa class of 2012 is very strong,and Fran is working it hard already,with Woodbury,Paige and Gesell all offered already.
Now, 2013 will be good in Iowa with Jok at minimum a top 40 player.
But, in Chicagoland, the 2013 and 2014 classes are ultra-strong already.
Illinois is entertaining 14-15 chicagoland players from the 2012-14 classes at their midnite madness. Plus 2011 recruit Chasson Randle.
Now, clearly the illini cannot grab all those guys,so Iowa and other schools will be in the hunt,I presume. Just Whitney Young and Simeon alone have at least 6-8 top 100 type players in those classes,but there are guys from the burbs also.
On the negative side, look for the illini to continue to be strong for the next 6-8 years minimum.
On the plus side, Iowa should be able to grab some of the leftovers.
That is,if we have a strong Illinois recruiter with ties on our staff.
I hope we do,but not sure. I hope Fran really analyzed where the talent that is close to Iowa City resides when he put together his staff. Iowa has the highest percentage of Illinois residents attending their school over any other Big Ten school....so why should recruiting student-athletes from the same area not be a natural component of that situation?
I read about all that talent going to Illini midnite madness and it makes me itchy....we cannot afford to fall behind on the 2012-2013-2014 classes already.
