Illinois recruiting vs. Iowa recruiting

H

hawkIhoops

Well-Known Member
Not sure why so many knock Weber's recruiting. He has four 4-star kids signed all from Chicago and all with multiple high D1 offers. He also has a 3 star from Alabama who has verbally committed, but not signed.

This isn't a knock on McCaffrey, just hope this staff can make some progress in Illinois. With Chicago only 3 hours away, it would seem like a much easier recruit than east or west coast kids. Cully Payne, Tony Freeman....anyone I am forgetting? Lots of talent in IL and if we can get a kid here and start winning, it would make things much easier.

Odd Weber was rumored to be a candidate for OU. Doesn't strike me as the typial OU hire.
 
I'm not sure too many people knock on Weber's recruiting. It's his coaching that's questionable. He does less with more than almost anybody in college basketball.
 
He is playing the salary game. He is trying for a raise.

I wonder if Izzo needs another raise. His name will be popping up again
 
Just ask hardcore Illini fans how Webers recruiting was after the National Championship game year in 2005. They will tell you it stunk for a number of years,until the current sophmore class,the current frosh class and now this next years class. Jerrance Howard joined the staff about 3 years ago,and the tide quickly turned. Weber missed on a number of targets that were supposedly headed their way,Jon Scheyer(coached by his brother in HS),Derrick Rose,Evan Turner,Eric gordon,Julian Wright,Etuan Moore,Robbie Hummel(family connection to Illinois),Iman Shumpert,all primary Illini targets that he missed on. The illini fan base thought that going to the national title game would yield big benefits on the recruiting trail and they got squat.
But,Weber hired Howard away from Kentucky and it all turned around.
The guy is total white bread,but at least he finally has a guy that can talk street.
He is a pretty good coach tho...but has trouble with his star black players like Jamar Smith,McCamey and Richmond. Might not be his fault,but it could hurt him with future recruits if Richmond bails.
 
CHShawk said:
I'm not sure too many people knock on Weber's recruiting. It's his coaching that's questionable. He does less with more than almost anybody in college basketball.
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BlackGold57 said:
Agreed. Plenty of talent.
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Talent has always been a problem for Weber since his national title run. Since than he recruited very poorly and his teams were middle of the pack in the Big 10 because of it. Check this out

Yahoo Sports: Rivals.com 2005 Illinois Commitments
 
I see people ripping Iowa all over this board for not being able to recruit Chicago...forgive my ignorance, but what great players has Iowa had from Chicago...thinking I am missing an obvious one, but refresh my memory please.
 
Shortly AFTER Self bailed for KU I heard that Weber wasn't a good recruiter. That may have been a perception thing (compared to Self) and it may have been a circumstances thing (Kids see talent on roster and go elsewhere). I think not getting Rose to 'stay home' may have lead to this knock as well. As of late Weber's recruiting has been pretty darn good. Is it what Self was bring in? I dunno, I don't follow BB recruiting much because Iowa is rarely a factor with kids deciding between the upper tier schools in the conference and nationally.

As for sportstalent's question- Well........, none really. Sure, Ronnie Lester was great, but I don't know as the top schools of the time were going after him much.
 
sportstalent said:
I see people ripping Iowa all over this board for not being able to recruit Chicago...forgive my ignorance, but what great players has Iowa had from Chicago...thinking I am missing an obvious one, but refresh my memory please.
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Ronnie Lester, Kevin Boyle, Arnold & Krafsicin. Of course, Steve Krafsicin is the answer to a trivia question.
Name the last Iowa player to start in the NCAA Championship Game.

Since the Pearl incident, Iowa has been persona-non-grata in the Chicago area. We did get Pierce & Freeman out of Chicago. But, basically, the Chicago pipeline dried up after Lute.
 
ColumbusHawk said:
Ronnie Lester, Kevin Boyle, Arnold & Krafsicin. Of course, Steve Krafsicin is the answer to a trivia question.
Name the last Iowa player to start in the NCAA Championship Game.

Since the Pearl incident, Iowa has been persona-non-grata in the Chicago area. We did get Pierce & Freeman out of Chicago. But, basically, the Chicago pipeline dried up after Lute.
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It was Lester that was the obvious one, though I didn't ever see him play.

As for the rest, obviously, Freeman/Pierce were after, but where did the rest of them fit in before, after, or during the Lester years?

Illinois is an important state to recruit, to me anyway, there is a lot of talent there, just like Ohio and Michigan are states that I am hoping Iowa puts even more focus on. I like the fact that Fran and staff are recruiting all over the place, didn't think I would hear a kid from Georgia coming to Iowa in the past.
 
Ray Thompson was a very good player out of Lemont but alas,also had a short-lived career at Iowa.
Kenny Arnold was good.
Iowa needs to find a way into the chicagoloand region,as it is a natural market for us with almost 40% of the student body coming from there. It is weird not to get players from there.
 
JHHawk said:
Ray Thompson was a very good player out of Lemont but alas,also had a short-lived career at Iowa.
Kenny Arnold was good.
Iowa needs to find a way into the chicagoloand region,as it is a natural market for us with almost 40% of the student body coming from there. It is weird not to get players from there.
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It is beyond weird. It was a massive oversight not to hire an assistant with strong ties to Chicago. Bet Fran thought Dillard might be more successful.
 
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