there ya go

Yeah, it was something all f-d up. Really weird drama.

Illinois going to win 10 straight now.

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.

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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.

No i'm familiar with the story and Also familiar with the Irvins and how they operate. THT left the Fire because they were featuring Ayo too much during the AAU season. Got with Team Rose and his recruitment took off as a result. There also was a physical altercation between one of his family members and the parent of a kid that played for both Morgan Park and the Fire at one of the AAU events.

Someone that i spoke with stated that he never was going to attend Illinois. Did the dog and pony simply to show respect to the state school.

No way Ayo gets Mr. Basketball. He has missed more than half their games because of injury. They have shut him down til the playoffs start.

If they give him Mr.Basketball with that being the case more than a few eyebrows will be raised.

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Different coach. Same Illinois.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Beating Indiana?

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

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

So you're saying different coach, different Illinois?

I was not referencing the series with indiana at all.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

BTW, someone at Indiana should tell McSwain that it is okay to skip arm-day once in a while. Guy needs to even out.

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

ok. Progress

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

This is THT's family's side of the story. For whatever reason they felt the need to clear the air.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story ... 305375002/

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Soccer 1,2,3
Spanish Honor Society 1,2,3,4
Forensics 1,2,3,4

"Smiles with Nostrils"

"...no Hmong, go find some blacks"

Illinois won today

Gonna be an ugly week for the Illini....

He better learn to coach defense.

61 pts allowed in 2nd half and 96 for the game to a bad Iowa team

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Oops.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

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.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

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.

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Don't take it personally.

No it really doesn't. I also don't know what kind of kids he is looking for. They like to run and gun so will he be going after many true big men?
I would think his system would appeal to a lot of kids, of course they also want to win.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

The Illini were bizarre. They have talent. They play hard. They weren't very good though.

He also seems like a guy who is going to die on the court.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

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.

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Don't take it personally.

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.

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Don't take it personally.

Smith was an OVC level recruit before last high school season. He got inflated due to playing on team that had vastly superior players than most of the the teams they played.

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

Smith was his first recruit.