Ouch
- Thread starter Raptorpeeps
- Start date
I guess I knew this, but it really stands out that a state as populous as Minnesota only has 1 division 1 school. That is crazy when you look at all of the low population states with more than 1. Amazing that Iowa has 4
I get the 5 stars wanting to go elsewhere. But I would think they could easily grab 1 or 2 in-state 4 stars a year. Maybe they do, but you would think they would be better more consistently.
I get the 5 stars wanting to go elsewhere. But I would think they could easily grab 1 or 2 in-state 4 stars a year. Maybe they do, but you would think they would be better more consistently.
Minnesota is trying to get another in St Thomas as another DI school. May or may not happen.
I lived in the Twin Cities for many years. They SHOULD have a huge advantage in athletics over a university like Iowa with all they have at their disposal. For people that rag on Kirk and Fran for their recruiting, think what it would be like to have 5 times as many viable big time options at your fingertips and not any in-state competition yet still produce below a university like Iowa on a regular basis.
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How about Illinois not being average with all that talent they have in-state.
Illinois AAU is the biggest problem in that state. The AAU coaches all want something for a recruit to go to a school.
That and Chicagoland does not identify with the state school at all really. Illinois’ advantage with Chicagoland recruits is marginal at best and their advantage with Chicagoland elite recruits is non existent. Regular Chicagoland kids want to go to better academic schools and elite athletes want to go to blue bloods. The players who aren’t elite have 12 other in-state D1 programs to choose from in addition to other big ten schools. Ohio State and Purdue have recruited Illinois better than Illinois has for the last few years.
When Peoria and downstate basketball is strong, Illinois recruits well, but it hasn’t been strong for over a decade. That’s why you’re seeing Underwood recruiting heavily in NY, CA, TX etc. as well as Europe, Puerto Rico etc. .
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It’s the Chicago-way; handshake with one hand while placing the cash stuffed envelope into their pocket with the other.
I live in Chicago and while it’s clearly not Des Moines, Iowa fans always understate the influence Illinois has in the metro. I tend to think it’s wishful thinking rather than ignorance, but Illinois gets a foot in the door for “being the state school,” and that alone is a massive advantage to have; other schools who have recruited well here are doing so solely because of their own merit. That’s admirable, but the point is they’re starting from a lower floor and a have a lower ceiling. A good coach at Illinois has an advantage over any non-Blue Blood school in the country here ... the fact that we haven’t capitalized on this (besides Ayo) in recent years does not mean the advantage doesn’t exist ... it just means we’ve been squandering it, and you won’t get many of us arguing with that assertion. Heck, the fact we’ve recruited as well as we have over the past decade despite being awful on the court is a testament to this. A good Illini program recruits even better, and history backs that up.
As for the academic side, come on, dude. There are 220,000+ Illinois alumni in the Chicago area. The next closest Big Ten school is hovering around 60,000, IIRC. Something like 70% of Illinois’ student body is from Chicagoland, and - whether or not it’s true - there is certainly a stereotype around here that a lot of Chicagoland kids go to other Big Ten schools in neighboring states because they couldn’t get into Illinois. Maybe they’re going for other reasons, but in this sense perception is kind of reality.
Illinois will never enjoy true loyalty from Chicago, everyone knows that. It’s too big and cosmopolitan and filled with transplants and pro sports teams to have the college sports intensity that a city like Indianapolis or Kansas City has. However, out of the other Big Ten schools, DePaul, Northwestern and even Notre Dame ... there is only one school that can actually have big (admittedly bandwagon) appeal here when they’re winning, and that’s Illinois. Anyone who lived here in 2005 (Final Four) or 2007 (Rose Bowl) and compares them to any number of great Michigan, Iowa, Northwestern, Notre Dame, etc. seasons knows that. It’s the cliched hot take to talk about how Chicagoland and Downstate are different universes (overstated, but I digress), but Champaign is an exception; it functions as a far-away suburb with a ton of Chicago influence. Illinois could have 1/10th the *loyalty* from Chicago that you guys get from Des Moines, and it’d still be a massive, massive plus.
Good luck this season.
Good post and even better handle.
Illinois has really never had any kind of an advantage with elite Chicago talent (even when they were paying). Those guys have pretty much consistently gone ABI (anywhere but Illinois). The only way I see that changing is an extended run of elite performance.
Bruce Weber dribbled that chance down his leg a dozen years ago. In view of changing demographics, (more people moving out of Illinois every year than any other state) I don’t see it ever presenting itself again. When you’re the flagship state university of a bankrupt, corrupt cesspool of a state, everything is an uphill battle.
I’ll be watching that Adam Miller recruitment with great interest. It will speak volumes if he goes ABI.
...and Illinois is a safety school for suburban kids. Always has been. Always will be. Risky Business didn’t lie.
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Liked for your username
For kids who want to go Ivy League? Sure. But Illinois sits with Wisconsin just below Michigan in the Big Ten pecking order in just about any ranking. Illinois is a safety school for some kids ... other B1G schools are safety schools for many more.
^This. Iowa is the safety school for those suburban Chicago kids who don’t get into Illinois.
Missouri
1
Missouri St.
Dana Ford's Bears are the class of the Valley this season. Get in on the ground floor as opposed to catching up that Sunday morning when the Valley's conference title game airs on CBS. Names to know: senior SG Keandre Cook; senior PF Tulio Da Salva; senior forward Lamont West; wing Josh Hall. Nine players are transfers, including West (West Virginia) and Hall (Nevada). Rare is the year when the Missouri Tigers aren't the best team in this state. The 2019-20 spell looks like an exception.
The rest
2. Missouri
3. Saint Louis
4. UMKC
5. Southeast Missouri State
I agree and they finally have that Portillos to lock in that in state talent.
