This is a long post that starts out talking basketball, but ends up about Illini football recruiting.
Had a really fun and totally unexpected interaction while I was in Daytona Beach for the Illini women's basketball tournament this past weekend (after Las Vegas with the men the weekend before). I was in the hotel bar watching the OSU/Michigan football game before the Illini/Delaware game Saturday afternoon. A woman came into the bar and sat next to me, and we started a conversation. She was in town to watch her daughter play for the Cincinnati team in the same tournament as the Illini. Turns out the woman, Kristi, played at Drake and was all conference for 3 years in the early '90's, and then coached at Iowa, Southern Illinois, etc., prior to getting married. (She also coached AAU ball in Cincinnati, and coached Makira Cook, Illini's point guard, in the 4th grade along with her daughter. This was easily confirmed as Makira and her father walked into the bar while we were talking, and they immediately came over and gave Kristi a big hug). Kristi's husband, Jonathan Hayes, played football at Iowa in the early '80's, then for 8 years with the KC Chiefs, and 2 years with the Steelers, before coaching at Oklahoma when they won a National Championship.
Kristi indicated Orlando Antigua and Illinois had recruited her oldest son (Jaxson Hayes) back in 2018. He decided to go to Texas instead, spent one year there before heading to the NBA (now on the Pelicans). She indicated she had two more sons who were high level athletes, a class of 2024 defensive end at Cincinnati Moeller (Jewett Hayes) who is 6' 4 " and 225 lbs. She indicated that Illinois had invited him for a visit, and there were indications that Illinois would offer on the visit. However, he had a previously set up visit to Kentucky on that particular weekend, and it was not in the family ethics to cancel it at the last minute. Her other son, a class of 2025 at Moeller, is a 6' 5" basketball wing who has had some initial contact from Illinois.
An interesting tidbit she let slip, was that her husband would like to see their son Jewett go to Iowa like he did, but that she is dead set against it. She is White, and their kids are bi-racial, and she is very cognizant of the recent stories of racism at Iowa. Doug can you check this out with the football staff?
BTW, after we talked for about 2 hours and I left the bar, I texted Orlando and he immediately got back to me with the fallowing comments, "Wow, small world...wonderful woman and a great family....loved my interaction with them...and she can still beat her kids in a race 🤣"!
Had a really fun and totally unexpected interaction while I was in Daytona Beach for the Illini women's basketball tournament this past weekend (after Las Vegas with the men the weekend before). I was in the hotel bar watching the OSU/Michigan football game before the Illini/Delaware game Saturday afternoon. A woman came into the bar and sat next to me, and we started a conversation. She was in town to watch her daughter play for the Cincinnati team in the same tournament as the Illini. Turns out the woman, Kristi, played at Drake and was all conference for 3 years in the early '90's, and then coached at Iowa, Southern Illinois, etc., prior to getting married. (She also coached AAU ball in Cincinnati, and coached Makira Cook, Illini's point guard, in the 4th grade along with her daughter. This was easily confirmed as Makira and her father walked into the bar while we were talking, and they immediately came over and gave Kristi a big hug). Kristi's husband, Jonathan Hayes, played football at Iowa in the early '80's, then for 8 years with the KC Chiefs, and 2 years with the Steelers, before coaching at Oklahoma when they won a National Championship.
Kristi indicated Orlando Antigua and Illinois had recruited her oldest son (Jaxson Hayes) back in 2018. He decided to go to Texas instead, spent one year there before heading to the NBA (now on the Pelicans). She indicated she had two more sons who were high level athletes, a class of 2024 defensive end at Cincinnati Moeller (Jewett Hayes) who is 6' 4 " and 225 lbs. She indicated that Illinois had invited him for a visit, and there were indications that Illinois would offer on the visit. However, he had a previously set up visit to Kentucky on that particular weekend, and it was not in the family ethics to cancel it at the last minute. Her other son, a class of 2025 at Moeller, is a 6' 5" basketball wing who has had some initial contact from Illinois.
An interesting tidbit she let slip, was that her husband would like to see their son Jewett go to Iowa like he did, but that she is dead set against it. She is White, and their kids are bi-racial, and she is very cognizant of the recent stories of racism at Iowa. Doug can you check this out with the football staff?
BTW, after we talked for about 2 hours and I left the bar, I texted Orlando and he immediately got back to me with the fallowing comments, "Wow, small world...wonderful woman and a great family....loved my interaction with them...and she can still beat her kids in a race 🤣"!
