It sure is sounding like THT to Illinois, still not sure what the severity is of Ayo's camp stance is. There's hope, but I wouldn't be surprised by either direction at this point.

It sure is sounding like THT to Illinois, still not sure what the severity is of Ayo's camp stance is. There's hope, but I wouldn't be surprised by either direction at this point.

Seems like everything has settled down and it should be fine.

Sometimes in recruiting its addition by subtraction anyway.

Sounds like Ayos camp told him not to commit again lol

Sounds like Ayos camp told him not to commit again lol

Yup. Looks like I spoke too soon

lol ridiculous.

Well, talk about your fork in the road decision by Underwood. Hope it's the right one long term. I hope he or his assistants are still tight with Robert Smith at Simeon. This is a bad look, even if he's picking the better player. I wonder how much Miller's recruitment next year plays into this.

What is the big deal though? THT is a SG and Ayo plays PG. I don't understand what the problem is.

What is the big deal though? THT is a SG and Ayo plays PG. I don't understand what the problem is.

 

Ayo doesn't like THT.

Ayo must HATE THT. There is no reason or logic to this. Brad and staff just let Ayo dictate things, will see how that works out now.

 

I have such a love/hate relationship with recruiting, wish I could stop following it.

I completely avoid recruiting, but hearing whispers about this and it's kind of entertaining.

 

Is this just a straight personal beef? Or is it more rival high schools or AAU teams?

Well, talk about your fork in the road decision by Underwood. Hope it's the right one long term. I hope he or his assistants are still tight with Robert Smith at Simeon. This is a bad look, even if he's picking the better player. I wonder how much Miller's recruitment next year plays into this.

I guess they feel pretty strongly with Okoro, Miller, and Whitney by doing this. Simeon pipeline is pretty dried up. Definitely not a good look though.i feel bad for THT and wish him luck.

This is stupid and I'm not even an Illini fan. I would accept THT's commitment and go from there. Ayo Dosunmo really gonna make himself look stupid and de-commit after all the "staying home" talk last week? You can't let guys like this dictate what you do with your program. He's good and it's a big deal for Illinois but he's not like some immediate top 3 pick or something.

This is stupid and I'm not even an Illini fan. I would accept THT's commitment and go from there. Ayo Dosunmo really gonna make himself look stupid and de-commit after all the "staying home" talk last week? You can't let guys like this dictate what you do with your program. He's good and it's a big deal for Illinois but he's not like some immediate top 3 pick or something.

Rumors that it isn't just Ayo, but the Irvins too. If the Illini chose to take THT it may have cost them a good chance at guys like Okoro, Miller, and Whitney.

 

I would have called Ayos bluff too if it didn't have the Irvins backing it.

Maybe this is why Illinois basketball is in shambles every year. They need to recruit Chicago and Chicago seems to be a cesspool in every facet of society.

Maybe this is why Illinois basketball is in shambles every year. They need to recruit Chicago and Chicago seems to be a cesspool in every facet of society.

Very possible, but Illinois wasn't in shambles when it had good coaches.

Rumors that it isn't just Ayo, but the Irvins too. If the Illini chose to take THT it may have cost them a good chance at guys like Okoro, Miller, and Whitney.

 

I would have called Ayos bluff too if it didn't have the Irvins backing it.

 

 

Maybe so. Simeon is down too but you get run the risk of alienating them. What if you do this and then you don't land the MIF guys?

Maybe so. Simeon is down too but you get run the risk of alienating them. What if you do this and then you don't land the MIF guys?

Then it would be the latest mistake by an Illini staff in a long line of them.

Maybe so. Simeon is down too but you get run the risk of alienating them. What if you do this and then you don't land the MIF guys?

 

If it's a binary choice between Ayo and THT, you take Ayo.

 

The mistake here was the staff not understanding how deep the rift was between the Ayo camp and THT. The staff could have exited the THT sweepstakes gracefully last week when everyone thought he was a long shot to come to IL. Then there's no shade thrown at Ayo, no issues with Simeon, and no drama. Staff made a bad read here and they are going to pay for it.

 

Note, that I understand why the staff pushed for THT - Underwood loves him, and he and Ayo would have a great 2 man start to a class. The upside of pushing for THT to join Ayo was high. Staff didn't have a good read on how deep this rift (at least from the Ayo and MIF side) was.

Ayo must HATE THT. There is no reason or logic to this. Brad and staff just let Ayo dictate things, will see how that works out now.

 

I have such a love/hate relationship with recruiting, wish I could stop following it.

 

I wouldn't assume this is an Ayo/THT thing. Seems like it is coming more from the Mac Irvin Fire and people in Ayo's camp. Ultimately, Ayo has ties to Okoro and the MIF will play a huge role in the Whitney and Miller recruitments. If you land those guys this is all forgotten. If you don't this was a huge mistake, not because Ayo isn't great but because you will have let the Fire dictate another recruitment with nothing to show for it long term.

Maybe so. Simeon is down too but you get run the risk of alienating them. What if you do this and then you don't land the MIF guys?

 

This probably doesn't bother me as much as most. I love THT's game so it really sucks to lose him and you never want to burn bridges with a power program in the state but at least for the next few years it doesn't look like Simeon has anyone that special on their roster and Illinois hasn't gotten an impact player from Simeon since the 90s.

My personal opinion from watching both the past few years...THT > Ayo

 

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Nick Irvin is behind the heat. Smith is one of the most respectful coaches in Illinois. Irvin is on the other end of that.

If it's a binary choice between Ayo and THT, you take Ayo.

 

The mistake here was the staff not understanding how deep the rift was between the Ayo camp and THT. The staff could have exited the THT sweepstakes gracefully last week when everyone thought he was a long shot to come to IL. Then there's no shade thrown at Ayo, no issues with Simeon, and no drama. Staff made a bad read here and they are going to pay for it.

 

Note, that I understand why the staff pushed for THT - Underwood loves him, and he and Ayo would have a great 2 man start to a class. The upside of pushing for THT to join Ayo was high. Staff didn't have a good read on how deep this rift (at least from the Ayo and MIF side) was.

 

This could be the situation, or they could have been talking to Ayo's camp about this and got the impression they didn't care. The clearest evidence of this is that Illinois continued to recruit THT and set up an official visit with him just days before Ayo was going to commit. If this is such a big deal to Ayo's camp, why isn't this communicated to Illinois? "i'm not committing if you still intend to recruit THT."

 

But maybe the answer there is that Ayo's camp wasn't going to make a big deal of it unless it had to. THT has been an ISU lock for a while. The visit apparently sold him on Illinois. So once those rumors got out they felt compelled to make their position known.

 

Who knows, the whole situation is f***ed. I'm behind them choosing Ayo over THT given the upside going forward. But you're right, if they whiff on those guys the next year or two at Morgan Park they're really setting themselves up for more Chicago recruiting failure (although it's been that way for decades, so it's not like this staff is any different than any post-Henson)

This could be the situation, or they could have been talking to Ayo's camp about this and got the impression they didn't care. The clearest evidence of this is that Illinois continued to recruit THT and set up an official visit with him just days before Ayo was going to commit. If this is such a big deal to Ayo's camp, why isn't this communicated to Illinois? "i'm not committing if you still intend to recruit THT."

 

But maybe the answer there is that Ayo's camp wasn't going to make a big deal of it unless it had to. THT has been an ISU lock for a while. The visit apparently sold him on Illinois. So once those rumors got out they felt compelled to make their position known.

 

Who knows, the whole situation is f***ed. I'm behind them choosing Ayo over THT given the upside going forward. But you're right, if they whiff on those guys the next year or two at Morgan Park they're really setting themselves up for more Chicago recruiting failure (although it's been that way for decades, so it's not like this staff is any different than any post-Henson)

 

It amazes me these AAU clowns can have so much influence over these kids and their families....they're like the mafia for cryin' out loud. Really a sad situation. So somebody fill me in...is this because THT blew off playing with Mac Irvin?

This probably doesn't bother me as much as most. I love THT's game so it really sucks to lose him and you never want to burn bridges with a power program in the state but at least for the next few years it doesn't look like Simeon has anyone that special on their roster and Illinois hasn't gotten an impact player from Simeon since the 90s.

 

Yeah, that's the other thing. Swinging allegiances to MP from Simeon may not be a bad thing. It's not like the relationship with Simeon has done anything for Illinois recently. The last two huge recruits, Rose and Parker, went elsewhere. What good did playing nice with Simeon over the years get us?