(04-09-2013 11:55 AM)niusfactuary Wrote:  

(04-09-2013 11:18 AM)The Frisky Biscuit Wrote:  We would improve tremendously if we could recruit any talent from anywhere on the planet. I couldn't care less if it's from Chicago.

Agreed. The great Chicago kids leave the state, the good ones end up at U of I, and we get the "projects." Recruit some shooters. NOT "athletes."

Yeah, like D.J. Cooper, right? Ooops. The MAC freshman of the year (Darius Paul) was from Gurnee.

(04-09-2013 05:02 PM)7 Wrote:  

(04-09-2013 11:55 AM)niusfactuary Wrote:  

(04-09-2013 11:18 AM)The Frisky Biscuit Wrote:  We would improve tremendously if we could recruit any talent from anywhere on the planet. I couldn't care less if it's from Chicago.

Agreed. The great Chicago kids leave the state, the good ones end up at U of I, and we get the "projects." Recruit some shooters. NOT "athletes."

Yeah, like D.J. Cooper, right? Ooops. The MAC freshman of the year (Darius Paul) was from Gurnee.

Is he related to Brandon Paul at U of I?

(04-09-2013 05:03 PM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  

(04-09-2013 05:02 PM)7 Wrote:  

(04-09-2013 11:55 AM)niusfactuary Wrote:  

(04-09-2013 11:18 AM)The Frisky Biscuit Wrote:  We would improve tremendously if we could recruit any talent from anywhere on the planet. I couldn't care less if it's from Chicago.

Agreed. The great Chicago kids leave the state, the good ones end up at U of I, and we get the "projects." Recruit some shooters. NOT "athletes."

Yeah, like D.J. Cooper, right? Ooops. The MAC freshman of the year (Darius Paul) was from Gurnee.

Is he related to Brandon Paul at U of I?

Yes, brothers.

And Paul's teammate at Warren started as a freshman for UT and UT's point guard is from Chicago.

(04-09-2013 07:52 PM)NIUSAE Wrote:  And Paul's teammate at Warren started as a freshman for UT and UT's point guard is from Chicago.

Yeah who wants any of these guys? lulz

Those guys will be fine MAC players, we've been trying to find a MAC star, (Nader, Henley) so we get projects. They all have a flaw, and so far it hasn't paid off.

(04-09-2013 03:49 PM)OldTtimeNIU Wrote:  

(04-09-2013 11:33 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(04-09-2013 11:18 AM)The Frisky Biscuit Wrote:  We would improve tremendously if we could recruit any talent from anywhere on the planet. I couldn't care less if it's from Chicago.

We're doing great! We got 2 studs from Norway. Maybe we should now go for some big studs from Liechtenstein.

All joking aside Ukrainia and Slovenia (Valpo did well there)

Yep Valpo is going to rule the Horizon if they can keep that eastern european pipeline flowing. They have a ton of competition for instate talent so they hit europe hard, alot less competition for talent over there and players likely to stick around longer in your program.

(04-09-2013 11:55 AM)niusfactuary Wrote:  

(04-09-2013 11:18 AM)The Frisky Biscuit Wrote:  We would improve tremendously if we could recruit any talent from anywhere on the planet. I couldn't care less if it's from Chicago.

Agreed. The great Chicago kids leave the state, the good ones end up at U of I, and we get the "projects." Recruit some shooters. NOT "athletes."

EVERYBODY in college basketball wants shooters. NOBODY in college basketball can shoot. It's why everyone gets away with playing zone. You don't see zone in the NBA for that reason, because even the tall guys can shoot.

I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying it's super hard to get good shooters.

(04-09-2013 05:02 PM)7 Wrote:  Yeah, like D.J. Cooper, right? Ooops. The MAC freshman of the year (Darius Paul) was from Gurnee.

Where did you get this notion there are talented players in the Chicagoland area who don't just go to the ILL-ness or other big schools?
Maybe we should look in some less obvious places, like Wichita State found one from Rockford, or the leading scorer for Holy Cross who came from Kaneland, or the old days when we'd get a kid from Dakota or Franklin Center.

We were in on Van Vleet. He just made the right choice.

I was being sarcastic.

We also recruited the kid that went to HOLY CROSS.

Unfortunately "recruited" and "signed" are two different animals. We're always "recruiting" someone, but recently it doesn't seem like we're "signing" that many difference-makers from what should be our backyard.
Everyone these days seems to be hung up on "players" with all kinds of individual ability, I'd rather have guys (ala, Hartke, Lipnisky, Coleman) who combine with a "player" (Lux) to form a competitive team. As much as I genuinely hope it happens next year, it still seems like we are far from even being competitive. And if you want to label me as being negative, sorry, but that's how things look right now and until the record says something different, that'll remain my view.

Smith would be a HUGE but unlikely hire