I talked to a few connected people on the Chicago BB scene. It seems a few schools are willing to throw a lost of money at Adam Miller and also pay off his handlers. I don't see Illinois matching that kind of money, nor should they IMO. Nothing against Ace. He has some positives. But Illinois really needs a more versatile combo-guard who can be a secondary ball handler. It's not over, but moving in that direction as of today.
Illinois really never gained a ton of traction with Ian Jackson, and the money doesn't make sense for the Illini either. St. John's apparently caved to his $ demands and are considered the leader (again). Other visits were to Georgia and USC.
Through third parties, Illinois has been engaged with Cal transfer Andrej Stojakovic longer than any other school. They are willing to match his top NIL offer (somewhere in the $3m range). A lot of names pop up during portal season. Fans play whack-a-mole and are disappointed every time Illinois seems to miss. (it's not tragic to "miss" on Josh Dix). If they miss on Andrej it will be disappointing for everyone, though. Other schools are jumping in late. Kentucky is one.
The money for Adrej if they land him will likely be prohibitive in the pursuit of Italian wing Dame Sarr. There's a way they could figure it out if Sarr is willing to ride it out for a while, but I don't see it happening. Underwood seems to prefer a proven college player like Andrej. I think Sarr wants to stay in the draft, but will make a business decision. He's done at Barcelona. Told them to pound sand when they didn't want him to play in the Nike Hoop Summit. Oregon the rumored leader as of today.
Some other supposed misses will be staying in the NBA Draft, IMO. One is Washington St. transfer Cedric Coward, who is an absolute stud.
There are some potential combo-guards and backups to Boswell are in the portal and Illinois has been tracking them in stealth mode. Those names will likely start to pop up soon.
One I really like is SIU transfer Kennard Davis, Jr. No, he hasn't been connected to Illinois. I'm just spit-balling. But I like him a lot. I think he probably wants to start somewhere, though. Purdue has been rumored. He just visited LSU and Ohio State. Other schools reaching out include Miami, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Iowa, Arizona State, and Virginia Tech. $1m price tag, roughly the same as Adam Miller.
Illinois really never gained a ton of traction with Ian Jackson, and the money doesn't make sense for the Illini either. St. John's apparently caved to his $ demands and are considered the leader (again). Other visits were to Georgia and USC.
Through third parties, Illinois has been engaged with Cal transfer Andrej Stojakovic longer than any other school. They are willing to match his top NIL offer (somewhere in the $3m range). A lot of names pop up during portal season. Fans play whack-a-mole and are disappointed every time Illinois seems to miss. (it's not tragic to "miss" on Josh Dix). If they miss on Andrej it will be disappointing for everyone, though. Other schools are jumping in late. Kentucky is one.
The money for Adrej if they land him will likely be prohibitive in the pursuit of Italian wing Dame Sarr. There's a way they could figure it out if Sarr is willing to ride it out for a while, but I don't see it happening. Underwood seems to prefer a proven college player like Andrej. I think Sarr wants to stay in the draft, but will make a business decision. He's done at Barcelona. Told them to pound sand when they didn't want him to play in the Nike Hoop Summit. Oregon the rumored leader as of today.
Some other supposed misses will be staying in the NBA Draft, IMO. One is Washington St. transfer Cedric Coward, who is an absolute stud.
There are some potential combo-guards and backups to Boswell are in the portal and Illinois has been tracking them in stealth mode. Those names will likely start to pop up soon.
One I really like is SIU transfer Kennard Davis, Jr. No, he hasn't been connected to Illinois. I'm just spit-balling. But I like him a lot. I think he probably wants to start somewhere, though. Purdue has been rumored. He just visited LSU and Ohio State. Other schools reaching out include Miami, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Iowa, Arizona State, and Virginia Tech. $1m price tag, roughly the same as Adam Miller.
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