The Illini Basketball Thread

Picture on the waistband also on the soccer uniforms. New primary or secondary logo?

Womens soccer uniforms are better. Not impressed with the Basketball.

Beating a dead horse....
Where's my CHIEF!!!

It's gonna take me a while to not automatically read 1LL1NO1S every time I read the new "ILLINOIS" logo

The basketball team should focus on improving play, and not uniforms.

But I guess the new unis will attract recruits.

The navy blue uniform are awesome. The whites are pretty solid. Never been a fan of the orange. Gray? Meh.

I can't help but think "Syracuse" when I see the gray uniforms. Tonight is the official unveiling. It'll be interesting to see these from all angles. I'm curious about the design on the sides of the uniforms. Not sure if it's their zig-zag design that's been on past uniforms, or if it's feather tips in homage to the Chief? None of those pictures show the back of the uniform, so it's hard to tell.

It's also interesting that none of the jerseys say "Fighting Illini" or "Illini".

Watch free on fightingillini.com

The next month or so will be make or break for the future of Illini basketball.

This weekend- 5* PG Jalen Brunson is taking his official visit
Next weekend (Sept 5-7)- 5* PG Jawun Evans is taking his official visit
Sept 19-21- 5* C Elijah Thomas is taking his official visit
Sept 26-28- 4* C Doral Moore is taking his official visit
October 3-5- 4* Combo guard Shake Milton is taking his official visit

Then we wait for 5* PF Carlton Bragg to schedule his official visit hopefully. 3* combo guard Landry Shamet also has an official visit scheduled for October 10th I believe.

What we know so far about the recruits-
Jalen Brunson- Seems like it's Villanova or Illinois from what people are saying now. MSU has apparently dropped back a bit. Temple has dropped back after his dad's legal troubles. Illinois has an upper hand being the first OV. They're going to press him extremely hard for a commitment. Hopefully Brunson only needs to take one of his five OV's.
Prediction- Villanova (but it's close)

Jawun Evans- It's Illinois or USC. He visits USC this week. A lot might hinge on what Brunson does. If Brunson commits, does Evans want to still consider Illinois as a potential landing spot? Dee Brown retweeted a picture of himself and Deron Williams with Jalen Brunson and Jawun Evans next to them. Two PG's can definitely work at Illinois, but I don't think they'll want to do that. If Brunson doesn't commit, Illinois cannot let Evans leave Champaign without a commitment.
Prediction- Illinois (if Brunson goes UI, then Evans to USC)

Elijah Thomas- I have to think Illinois is his leader right now. The kid might love attention, but he always talks about Illinois. Him and Carlton Bragg apparently had a pro Illinois convo on Instagram. Him and Jawun are close friends too. I think if Evans commits after his visit, it'll be hard for Elijah to say no.
Prediction- Illinois

Doral Moore- Hinges on what Thomas does. Seems like its a first come first serve for these two. Moore wants to go to Kentucky. But if he wants to so badly, why can't he commit now? Seems like Kentucky is slow playing him. He was supposed to visit Kentucky recently, but that was cancelled for whatever reason. I think he's going to wait as long as he has to for Kentucky to take him, and Illinois will already be full by that time.
Prediction- Kentucky

Shake Milton- When was the last time Illinois and Indiana were in a recruiting battle? Oh yeah that's right. That one guy. Had his official to OU last weekend. Has SMU in a couple weeks. Then IU and UI in back to back weeks. Gotta believe IU is the leader here. Again, this recruitment all hinges on what Brunson and Evans do.
Prediction- Indiana

Carlton Bragg- The biggest dog of them all. Comparison to Kevin Durant will excite anybody. This one will be hard for Illinois because they're fighting KU, UK and OSU for him. Has back to back OV's to Kansas and then to UK for their Midnight Madness. He and Elijah Thomas are good friends, so if Illinois had Thomas in the fold, they might be a bigger threat. I think it's head and head between Kentucky and Kansas, followed by Illinois and OSU.
Prediction- Kentucky

Landry Shamet- Talk about exploding onto the radar this summer. Going from complete unknown to a top 130 player. Has a final four of Colorado, Illinois, Kansas State, and Wichita State. Like a broken record, how much Illinois continues to pursue him depend on Brunson and Evans. I think he'd commit to Illinois now if he could, but I'm not sure if they'd accept it. If the Brunson/Evans saga ends like I think it will, then Shamet is an Illini.
Prediction- Illinois (runner up- Wichita St)

Illinois made the top 5 for the #14 player in 2015, PF Carlton Bragg from Cleveland (OH). His list is Arizona, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, and UCLA.

Illinois made the top 10 for the #1 player in 2016, SF Jayson Tatum from St. Louis (MO). His list is Arizona, Duke, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Saint Louis, UConn, and Wake Forest.

Two guys Illinois is very strong with.

HighJump31 said:

Illinois made the top 5 for the #14 player in 2015, PF Carlton Bragg from Cleveland (OH). His list is Arizona, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, and UCLA.

Illinois made the top 10 for the #1 player in 2016, SF Jayson Tatum from St. Louis (MO). His list is Arizona, Duke, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Saint Louis, UConn, and Wake Forest.

Two guys Illinois is very strong with.

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While I like seeing us involved with some big names, it ultimately means nothing if the Illini continue to strike out year in and year out. I don't even celebrate verbals anymore since we have a history of losing big guys to scumbag programs that continue to recruit committed players.

HighJump31 said:

Landry Shamet- Talk about exploding onto the radar this summer. Going from complete unknown to a top 130 player. Has a final four of Colorado, Illinois, Kansas State, and Wichita State. Like a broken record, how much Illinois continues to pursue him depend on Brunson and Evans. I think he'd commit to Illinois now if he could, but I'm not sure if they'd accept it. If the Brunson/Evans saga ends like I think it will, then Shamet is an Illini.
Prediction- Illinois (runner up- Wichita St)

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Welp, this prediction turned out wrong. Shamet pulled the trigger today, committing to my predicted runner-up, Wichita State. That was very surprising to me. He and Illinois were talking about moving his official visit up to 9/12 and it felt like he was ours to lose. With situations like this you gotta wonder if he knew that there wasn't going to be a spot left for him in Illinois class.

5* PG Jawun Evans is visiting Illinois this weekend. I feel very good about this one. If I was a betting man, I'd put money on him being an Illini very soon.

5* PG Jalen Brunson is deciding Wednesday. It's Villanova or Illinois. Tough call right now. I'd say it's 55/45 Villanova right now. He had a great visit to UI.

Brunson's GF goes to Illinois though. If Cliff Alexander taught us anything, guys will go where their girlfriend goes.

HighJump31 said:

5* PG Jalen Brunson is deciding Wednesday. It's Villanova or Illinois. Tough call right now. I'd say it's 55/45 Villanova right now. He had a great visit to UI.

Brunson's GF goes to Illinois though. If Cliff Alexander taught us anything, guys will go where their girlfriend goes.

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Is he related to former Bulls guard Rick Brunson, who played for the Bulls during the dark ages?

Scoot26 said:

Is he related to former Bulls guard Rick Brunson, who played for the Bulls during the dark ages?

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Yep. Rick is his dad and has been handling all the interviews during Jalen's recruitment.

Never gets old....

[video=youtube;5qCYErpJTF8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qCYErpJTF8[/video]

Jerry Meyer of 247 switched his prediction on Evans and now has him going to Oklahoma State (guy is usually spot on). If the Illini miss on Brunson, this will just be another failed recruiting season and typical of Illiini basketball.