Wouldn't surprise me at all to see them get a W vs Indiana. Indiana is real up and down.

I think here were rumors of family issues between THT and Ayo that made them playing together an issue. Ayo has a sister.....

Dis Henricksen thinks Horton-Tucker has major star potential. Sounds a lot like Q Richardson to me, based on his comments. Thinks Griffin can be very good once he develops his off-hand. Conditt is a string bean project. Have you seen any of these guys play this year?

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story ... 056757001/

I actually saw him a few weeks ago and he better than what i thought originally. He can do a little bit of everything. I was wrong about him. He is much more skilled than Ayo. He has moved up to 31 nationally on one list. He will be the state's Mr. Basketball this season.

He has slimmed down this year and is more athletic as a result. Don't see him as an NBA player but i expect him to do big things in the Big 12.

The problem for him may be his height He is only about 6'3. They list him at 6'5 but he is nowhere near that. His arms make him appear taller than he actually is. I wonder where they play him in college.


As far as Conditt goes i've never seen him play but a good friend of mine's son plays with him at Corliss. When i asked my guy about him he really didn't provide a ringing endorsement. Don't think so anyway. I remember him saying "He ain't no Garnett". I said shit Garnett was a pro and a damn Hall of Famer. If that is only knock then he should be decent.

I'm always leery about guys like Conditt. They play in a weak ass conf. and don't play high caliber basketball. Difficult to scout playing against that level of competition.

Now he is going from that to a top 3 conf. He also is a guy that came out of nowhere and hasn't really been scrutinized that much.

Ayo is going to be Mr. Basketball. He is the bigger name. That's all they care about. Sad part for Illinois is the Mark Smith, last year's Mr. Basketball will probably be transferring because he can't handle Underwood. He has Conditt's problem.

THT and Ayo had an issue when they were teammates on Mac Irvin Fire that caused THT to leave the team (kicked off the team?). Mac Irvin is considered the golden goose for Illinois recruits. He told Underwood that if he accepted THT's commitment (which THT was about to do), that he would not get any future recruits from Mac Irvin Fire and Ayo would probably decommit. Underwood made the choice for long-term recruiting and pulled the scholarship offer from THT.

Different coach. Same Illinois.

Beating Indiana?

indiana has won 5 out of the last 7 meetings and leads the overall series.

I was not referencing the series with indiana at all.

I would say Illinois is totally different under the new coach. The results are just worse, so far.

Ayo is going to be Mr. Basketball. He is the bigger name. That's all they care about. Sad part for Illinois is the Mark Smith, last year's Mr. Basketball will probably be transferring because he can't handle Underwood. He has Conditt's problem.

THT and Ayo had an issue when they were teammates on Mac Irvin Fire that caused THT to leave the team (kicked off the team?). Mac Irvin is considered the golden goose for Illinois recruits. He told Underwood that if he accepted THT's commitment (which THT was about to do), that he would not get any future recruits from Mac Irvin Fire and Ayo would probably decommit. Underwood made the choice for long-term recruiting and pulled the scholarship offer from THT.

Underwood has been really good wherever he has gone. Illinois is a tourney team next year.

Disappointing year to be sure. Giving him a chance to bring in some of his own guys and recruit. I didn't see the loss last night but
losing by 9 to weak Iowa team is not a good look. They played a lot of relatively close games and only got blown out a handful of
times. Looking at the bright side I think that is something to build on.

The problem for me is that his recruiting doesn't seem so sporty thus far. I mean, Dosunmu is a good get, but the Horton-Tucker thing is looking like a bigger disaster after each game the kid plays. Beyond that, he doesn't seem to have done much.

The problem for me is that his recruiting doesn't seem so sporty thus far. I mean, Dosunmu is a good get, but the Horton-Tucker thing is looking like a bigger disaster after each game the kid plays. Beyond that, he doesn't seem to have done much.

Mark Smith to transfer. Rumors are several more are going to be following.

Not a good look when your best recruit up and leaves after one season.

No surprise. The writing was on the wall with that one.

He pretty much did nothing. Couldn't shoot, couldn't pass. And it's not like he was playing five minutes a game, either.

Yeah, I'm not sad to see him leave as an individual. But as Big Chicagoan's post suggests, it's not good for a program to have top recruits bailing after a year.

True, but I guess Underwood is gonna bring in his own guys. (I am assuming he didn't recruit Smith?)