Rate B1G Hoops job re: Recruiting

JonDMiller

JonDMiller

Publisher/Founder
How would you rate the Big Ten basketball coaching jobs from the standpoint of best recruiting opportunities?


Michigan State: Wasn't always this way, Michigan has had this mantle in the state in recent history, but it's MSU now

Indiana: The loyalty of in state players to this school, when things are going well, is one of the best in the nation and they produce good talent in that hoops crazed state..a great mix of athletes and fundamentally skilled players

Ohio State: Thad Matta has done a great job and that state has a lot of people.

Illinois: If they could ever lock down the eligible best from Chicago, they'd be challenging for the top spot?

Michigan: Starting to get back in the groove here

I think these five are waaay ahead of everyone else in the league and not separated by much in league. How would you rank them?
 
JonDMiller said:
How would you rate the Big Ten basketball coaching jobs from the standpoint of best recruiting opportunities?


Michigan State: Wasn't always this way, Michigan has had this mantle in the state in recent history, but it's MSU now

Indiana: The loyalty of in state players to this school, when things are going well, is one of the best in the nation and they produce good talent in that hoops crazed state..a great mix of athletes and fundamentally skilled players

Ohio State: Thad Matta has done a great job and that state has a lot of people.

Illinois: If they could ever lock down the eligible best from Chicago, they'd be challenging for the top spot?

Michigan: Starting to get back in the groove here

I think these five are waaay ahead of everyone else in the league and not separated by much in league. How would you rank them?
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For the umpteenth time, Chicago kids do not feel connected to Illinois. The Chicago AAU scene is also known to be dirty as hell, so if I were an Illinois coach, I would be careful going after the top talents in Chicago. You either have to do something shady to land the kid or you look like an *** for continually going after the highest rated kids in Chicago and coming up short.

Can we just stop with the "if Illinois locks down Chicago" statements? It hasnt ever happened and probably never will happen.

Now to answer your question:

1) MSU
2)OSU


3)Indiana
4)Michigan
5)Illinois
 
I think that's about right. I've thought about recruiting advantage frequently in regards to Izzo's success. Put him in Iowa City, Lincoln, Neb., Colombia, Mo., or Lawrence, Kan., would he be even half the success that he is?

Absolutely on Illinois: should be able to recruit top players from the metro areas of Chicago, St. Louis, even Louisville, Nashville and Memphis. Granted, stiff competition in Louisville, Nasvhille and Memphis.
 
Without taking prestige to much into consideration I would rank them as follows.

1) OSU
2) Illinois
3) Michigan
4) MSU(once Izzo leaves not sure if MSU owns the state)
5) Indiana
6) Minny
7) Purdue
8) Wisconsin
9) Iowa
10) PSU
11) Nebby
12) NW

Indy has more prestige but Ohio had better prospects.... Same with the states of Ill and Mich.

Minny and Wisconsin have some large cities that help the cause.

Iowa has better players in the state than we get credit for but never in numbers like some of the others.
 
TritonHawkeye said:
Iowa has better players in the state than we get credit for but never in numbers like some of the others.
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Yes and another major conference program to compete with. Iowa has to do a much better job of keeping the Marcus Paige players, home. Hopefully the program going back in a good direction will help that.
 
Illinois is an overrated job. Champaign is nearly 3 hours from Chicago. That's no different than Chicago to Madison. MSU isn't much further. Hell, Purdue is closer.

Indiana would be #1. Most coaches can go there and recruit well
OSU #2. Matta has raised the bar
MSU #3. Does MSU pull in that much talent w/o Izzo?
 
Last year, Illinois got four, 4-star prospects from the Chicago area. There were two five-star prospects, one going to Kentucky and one going to Louisville.

One of those two was Anthony Davis of Kentucky, who is averaging 14/10

In 2010, there was just one highly rated Chicago kid, and he went to ILL

In 2009, there were five and Illinois got two of them.
 
JonDMiller said:
Last year, Illinois got four, 4-star prospects from the Chicago area. There were two five-star prospects, one going to Kentucky and one going to Louisville.

One of those two was Anthony Davis of Kentucky, who is averaging 14/10

In 2010, there was just one highly rated Chicago kid, and he went to ILL

In 2009, there were five and Illinois got two of them.
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Chicago talent is hit or miss but Chicago kids generally have no ties to Illinois. The best kids from Chicago just aren't staying in Illinois that much to make it a better job than 5th in the Big 10.
 
The top Chicago kids will not turn down UNC and Kentucky to go to Illini. Illini will almost always get the leftovers....which is still usually pretty good.
 
tweeterhawk said:
I think that's about right. I've thought about recruiting advantage frequently in regards to Izzo's success. Put him in Iowa City, Lincoln, Neb., Colombia, Mo., or Lawrence, Kan., would he be even half the success that he is?

Absolutely on Illinois: should be able to recruit top players from the metro areas of Chicago, St. Louis, even Louisville, Nashville and Memphis. Granted, stiff competition in Louisville, Nasvhille and Memphis.
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Is there a different school in Lawrence that I'm not aware of? That place is a basketball factory and they get kids from California to NYC. Izzo would be a gangbuster if he was the coach at KU.
 
Section136 said:
JonDMiller said:
How would you rate the Big Ten basketball coaching jobs from the standpoint of best recruiting opportunities? Michigan State: Wasn't always this way, Michigan has had this mantle in the state in recent history, but it's MSU now Indiana: The loyalty of in state players to this school, when things are going well, is one of the best in the nation and they produce good talent in that hoops crazed state..a great mix of athletes and fundamentally skilled players Ohio State: Thad Matta has done a great job and that state has a lot of people. Illinois: If they could ever lock down the eligible best from Chicago, they'd be challenging for the top spot? Michigan: Starting to get back in the groove here I think these five are waaay ahead of everyone else in the league and not separated by much in league. How would you rank them?
Click to expand...
For the umpteenth time, Chicago kids do not feel connected to Illinois. The Chicago AAU scene is also known to be dirty as hell, so if I were an Illinois coach, I would be careful going after the top talents in Chicago. You either have to do something shady to land the kid or you look like an *** for continually going after the highest rated kids in Chicago and coming up short. Can we just stop with the "if Illinois locks down Chicago" statements? It hasnt ever happened and probably never will happen. Now to answer your question: 1) MSU2)OSU 3)Indiana4)Michigan5)Illinois
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This should end this thread. Illinois campus isn't even that close to Chicago. Iowa could claim as much right to Chicago than the Illini.
 
JonDMiller said:
Last year, Illinois got four, 4-star prospects from the Chicago area. There were two five-star prospects, one going to Kentucky and one going to Louisville.

One of those two was Anthony Davis of Kentucky, who is averaging 14/10

In 2010, there was just one highly rated Chicago kid, and he went to ILL

In 2009, there were five and Illinois got two of them.
Click to expand...

Not many kids in Illinois grow up rooting for Illinois where as kids in Michigan and Ohio grow up rooting for the instate school(s).

Indiana turns out a lot of BB talent and too often it's going somewhere other than IU/PU. Not that they're not getting their share, but a good number of kids are going to other Big schools or ACC. I'm sure ND is a player more than ever too.

I would rank 'em as follows-
MSU
Ohio
Indiana
Michigan/Illinois
Illinois/Michigan
PU
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Iowa
NW
NE
PSU

Rarely do I consider ISU a threat for the top talent in the state. It seems since Orr retired their coaches have looked anywhere but in Iowa for their players. More than ever our top 3 or 4 players in the state are getting offers from quite a few power 6 teams. I hope we do a better job of keeping those kids at home.
 
clicheusername3 said:
Is there a different school in Lawrence that I'm not aware of? That place is a basketball factory and they get kids from California to NYC. Izzo would be a gangbuster if he was the coach at KU.
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That was my thought, as well. Maybe he meant Manhattan? I sure hope so. Izzo might have had even more success at Kansas than he's had at MSU.
 
tweeterhawk said:
I think that's about right. I've thought about recruiting advantage frequently in regards to Izzo's success. Put him in Iowa City, Lincoln, Neb., Colombia, Mo., or Lawrence, Kan., would he be even half the success that he is?

Absolutely on Illinois: should be able to recruit top players from the metro areas of Chicago, St. Louis, even Louisville, Nashville and Memphis. Granted, stiff competition in Louisville, Nasvhille and Memphis.
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What are thiose schools in Lawrence, KS or Columbia, MO where he would have 1/2 the success? The ones I'm thinking of he would have zero problems recruting big time players or winning big there.
 
Are we not taking facilities into account?

I've always thought Northwestern was a sleeping giant, and have never understood why they haven't been able to have periods of greater success in basketball.

They should be able to get all kinds of recruits right out the back door. I know not every kid is going to qualify or want to go to Northwestern, but not every school can sell a Northwestern education either. There should be a few kids that fit that profile.

As much as O'Keith will argue otherwise, Northwestern is hardly a football school. It isn't like the basketball team, with a little more success, would be overshadowed by the football team. At the same time, the football team has had enough success that the school can be taken seriously for its overall commitment to athletics.

It plays in a great conference. Recruits know they will have the opportunity to play against some of the best teams in the country.

It should be far easier to shift momentum for a basketball team - all it takes is a couple really good players to create an extremely competitive team. If Northwestern can do it in football, there is no reason it can't in basketball. The small numbers for basketball make the academics less of a hurdle, too.
 
Ronco said:
What are thiose schools in Lawrence, KS or Columbia, MO where he would have 1/2 the success? The ones I'm thinking of he would have zero problems recruting big time players or winning big there.
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You are correct but that's not necessarily my point: would Izzo have the same success if blue chip recruits weren't literally a stone's throw away? Of the current roster, nine are from Michigan, three are from Indiana and two are from Ohio. Without doing a Mapquest analysis, it appears at least 10 players come from three hours away or less. That's a pretty rich pool of talent to draw on and a great selling point if Moms and Pops want to come see you play; a huge inherent advantage.
 
tweeterhawk said:
You are correct but that's not necessarily my point: would Izzo have the same success if blue chip recruits weren't literally a stone's throw away? Of the current roster, nine are from Michigan, three are from Indiana and two are from Ohio. Without doing a Mapquest analysis, it appears at least 10 players come from three hours away or less. That's a pretty rich pool of talent to draw on and a great selling point if Moms and Pops want to come see you play; a huge inherent advantage.
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Izzo basically recruits only three states: Indiana, Michigan & Ohio. All of the Spartans current scholarship players come from those three states. Michigan State has a top ten recruiting class this year. All four of the recruits are from those states.
 
ColumbusHawk said:
Izzo basically recruits only three states: Indiana, Michigan & Ohio. All of the Spartans current scholarship players come from those three states. Michigan State has a top ten recruiting class this year. All four of the recruits are from those states.
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Only Todd Lickliter could screw up a deal like that.

Champaign would seem to have the same inherent advantage. But it sounds like the Chicago AAU circuit makes it much harder to do, and there's less natural inclination to go to the in-state school.
 
NW could be a great basketball mecca if they wanted to be. They don't allow exemptions when it comes to athletes, not that they should. It's a great school that, obviously, thinks that education is more important than being a great basketball program. I admire them for it but at the same time don't understand how someone like Carmondy could be on the hot seat after the seasons he has had recently.

Indiana
Ohio State
MSU
Ill
Michigan
Minne
Wisc
Purdue
IOWA
NW
PSU
Nebby
 
Illinois will never be an Elite job.....and Northwestern....phulease. People trying to make the connection of Chicago to Illinois are way off base. As has been stated, it's not even that close to Champaign. Furthermore, the true elite players in Illinois are mostly looking to get out of state and go to one of the blue bloods of the basketball scene. Yes they sign some good kids from Chicago, but the elite ones like Anthony Davis are not going to Illinois. Don't get me wrong, it's a good job, just not elite.
 
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