Illini shed dead weight...3 leave.

J

JHHawk

Well-Known Member
Coach John Groce sat down with some of his Illini sophmores yesterday,and today they announced they are transferring. Sophs Mike Shaw, Ibby Djibe and Devin Langford are moving on,thus freeing up 3 schollys for Groce to re-stock his cupboard which was depleted by the departure of seniors, Richardson,Paul,McClaurin ect.

So the illini will be turning over up one half of their roster going into next year.
No word yet on who will be coming aboard,but Groce made no secret of the fact that he was actively recruiting replacements in recent months.

I thought the Illini would definitely take a step back,but might have to hold off on any proclamations until we see who they find to stock the roster. Last year he came up with the 5th year rebounder McClaurin,who was very helpful. Groce is resourceful,so he might have some guys already set up to come in as replacements.
 
Kind of a d*ck move if you ask me. Devin Langford already burned a redshirt so he loses another year of eligibility.

I wish Fran had schollies to give, I bet a couple of these guys would like nothing more than to dish out paybacks. Mike Shaw was highly rated coming out of high school, Langford was to.
 
Illinois will be fine and really those three are probably more addition by subtraction. Look for Groce to maybe bring in a player or two like McClaurin, or a couple JUCO's. Seven scholarships open (not sure how many incoming freshman he already has that count against that number) he will have to work a little bit this Spring, but I would be surprised if he fills all of them.
 
storminspank said:
Getting rid of a Top 100 PF seems pretty dumb.
I think it's more of Shaw leaving than Groce forcing him out.
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The quote from Shaw indicated that he was told he would not play much and he wants to go somewhere he can play.
The other two were not in Groce's plans.
He has a big class coming in already...5 guys...so might be saving some of these for the very strong 2014 class. They want to make a run at Cliff Alexander and maybe Okafur.
 
ssckelley said:
Kind of a d*ck move if you ask me. Devin Langford already burned a redshirt so he loses another year of eligibility.

I wish Fran had schollies to give, I bet a couple of these guys would like nothing more than to dish out paybacks. Mike Shaw was highly rated coming out of high school, Langford was to.
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You aren't advocating taking transfers are you? Everyone knows that doesn't work. :p
 
sportstalent said:
Illinois will be fine and really those three are probably more addition by subtraction. Look for Groce to maybe bring in a player or two like McClaurin, or a couple JUCO's. Seven scholarships open (not sure how many incoming freshman he already has that count against that number) he will have to work a little bit this Spring, but I would be surprised if he fills all of them.
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They graduated 3 and have 5 committed to this years incoming class. There are also a bunch of 5* and 4* recruits they are in on for 2014. According to Scout the top 2 centers in the 2014 class are from Chicago (Alexander and Okafor).
 
CyChamp said:
You aren't advocating taking transfers are you? Everyone knows that doesn't work. :p
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Only if they want to take out some revenge, but it would also depend on if they were given unrestricted releases. Besides, it does not matter Iowa only has no scholarships to give for next season unless someone transfers.
 
ssckelley said:
They graduated 3 and have 5 committed to this years incoming class. There are also a bunch of 5* and 4* recruits they are in on for 2014. According to Scout the top 2 centers in the 2014 class are from Chicago (Alexander and Okafor).
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Thanks, so they really don't have a ton open then. The 2014 class is loaded period, but Illinois seems to have a load of players that can play in that class. Okafor, Alexander, White, Cunningham, Harris, Austin, Ulis and others I can't recall off the top of my head, Finke is another. Iowa was recruiting Peyton Allen and a couple of his AAU teammates, so yeah it is loaded.

I am going to get hammered for this, but with Tubby fired at Minnesota and thinking of the 2014 class, any chances Iowa can get back in the Tyus Jones sweepstakes? I had read Jones was really starting to warm up to the Minnesota coaches again.
 
CyChamp said:
You aren't advocating taking transfers are you? Everyone knows that doesn't work. :p
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It is working...for now, I haven't seen a program have year in and year out success doing this. It works in the beginning, typically for less than 5 years and then it goes from good year to below average/average to good to good to poor to average to good...anyway I don't see ISU doing this long term anyway, could be wrong though.
 
Rayvonte Rice will be eligible next year after sitting this year due to his transfer from Drake. Rice can play, has 2 years of D-1 experience and had another year to work on his game and learn whatever Groce wanted him to know. I suspect he will step into the starting line-up from day 1 in place of 1 of the departing starters.
 
So in summary, another bottom 1/2 finish for the Illini next year?
Sounds good to me. Hawks will need binoculars to see them next year, them and the Gophers.
 
HawksMN said:
So in summary, another bottom 1/2 finish for the Illini next year?
Sounds good to me. Hawks will need binoculars to see them next year, them and the Gophers.
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Yeah, they'll be down next year, but Groce will build over there. I think Iowa could have two or so years where we move up and then I wouldn't be surprised to see Groce leapfrog us again. The conference is a zero sum game. Fran's gotta land another big class here soon.
 
a couple of my neighbors are Illini fans they are already excited for next year
I think I smell a neighborly rivalry brewing!
 
I'm not worried about a program that has finished below us in the standings for two seasons now.
 
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