Next Wave

Laparkafan

All-American
Sep 5, 2004
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Guy on espn radio thinks now that Illini have gone the euro route the next big thing will be grab d2 transfers.

There’s always a big wave of change.

Iowa coach and Bruce Pearl were d2.
 

Laparkafan

All-American
Sep 5, 2004
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I keep saying Pope should recruit the top 3 players from a good D2 team and build around them with available cash. That way you know they are winners and know how to play together as a team.
Iowa coach basically took guys 2 years removed from his d2 spot brought them to drake. Took most to Iowa and they took out Fla and Nebraska.

I know there’s many layers but definitely a different outlook.
 

20MRoster

All-Conference
Nov 16, 2018
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We need scorers, I don’t care where they come from nor what us amateur scouts think of them.

Some people got butt hurt when we took AA from Fairleigh Dickinson, Brea from Dayton, and Williams from Drexel. I’d have taken all those guys in our starting 5 this season!
Brea was recruited by Duke and UConn. Williams was highly rated out of the portal. Almonor I will give you but it wasn't like Almonor was amazing. You can't win featuring players like Almonor.
 

TX Wildcat

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Apr 12, 2024
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Brea was recruited by Duke and UConn. Williams was highly rated out of the portal. Almonor I will give you but it wasn't like Almonor was amazing. You can't win featuring players like Almonor.
Fair, but you can win with an AA type player in your rotation (unless Pope cools him off by pulling him when he gets hot).
 
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katwest

Heisman
Feb 16, 2003
39,825
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Pitino was mostly right in when he said blue bloods don’t mean much in today’s game. With NIL and the transfer rules it’s a different game. The Kentucky brand doesn’t do much unless you are a Kentucky kid, I never thought it would be this way but it is, it’s here. I still think we can get our share, I’m not happy with the way this year went but you can’t have the kind of injuries we have had the last two years and expect much more. Next year is Popes make or break year and he knows it, for all of the connections our staff had, we didn’t have much to show for it. As for Duke and how they keep getting more 5 stars than they can play I don’t know. There has to be more than we know, the media plays a big part in their recruiting and the not to mention how lucky they always seem to be, it’s sickening. I guess playing in an old airplane hangar has it’s privileges.
 
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Laparkafan

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Whats the connection between euro players and D2?

And id take a team full of Euro players all day. Less entitled. Play harder. Master the fundamentals. There were times where it seems Jelavic was our most "polished" basketball player... had a nose for rebounds, could pass, could shoot.. he was just young and raw, playing on a crap team.
There’s not a connection but there’s a correlation. Illini and other schools went the euro route and it paid off this year.

Iowa basically had guys 2 years removed from d2 and it worked.

if there’s any connection they are hard working and highly skilled and not gobbled up in that aau ball.
 

LineSkiCat14

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Aug 5, 2015
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There’s not a connection but there’s a correlation. Illini and other schools went the euro route and it paid off this year.

Iowa basically had guys 2 years removed from d2 and it worked.

if there’s any connection they are hard working and highly skilled and not gobbled up in that aau ball.

Yeah I guess I didn't know that D2 had a lot of euro players. But im all for building a team full of Lithuanians and Turkish guys
 

rivercatinfl

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Nov 21, 2012
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I really hope coach can build a competitive roster.
We need some brutes like I watched last night between Zona and Purdue. Those were men playing and they were all really good. The speed and passing ability at the guard position was incredible. We need guards like them too.
I enjoyed watching both teams. Excellent basketball and the refs let them play big boy basketball.
 

Laparkafan

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I really hope coach can build a competitive roster.
We need some brutes like I watched last night between Zona and Purdue. Those were men playing and they were all really good. The speed and passing ability at the guard position was incredible. We need guards like them too.
I enjoyed watching both teams. Excellent basketball and the refs let them play big boy basketball.
Yup and the crazy thing is AZ doesn’t shoot a lot of 3s unless they absolutely have to. They follow the Bobby knight philosophy make more free throws than your opponent attempts.
 
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Jul 6, 2025
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Right now, the two biggest indicators of success seems to be chemistry and basketball iq. Big part of chemistry is being a team player.

Aau stars lack both. They're crowned kings early and rarely get enough scrimmage time to develop any feel for the game.

That's exactly why foreign players took over the nba and college. D2 guys are right there too but just won't be as good as foreign pros.

Another great option is finding late bloomers like AD or Shai. Being late bloomers they didn't get ruined by aau. However they're so rare, you certainly can't afford to bank on finding them every year.
 

TommyMansky

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Dec 5, 2025
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Ideally you wouldn’t need DII players, but nothing is currently ideal.

It is better though to get successful small school DI players or elite DII players to move up rather than SEC or BIG10 players with “potential” who averaged 5 points a game.
 
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BlueBloodKyFan73

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Oct 29, 2010
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There’s not a connection but there’s a correlation. Illini and other schools went the euro route and it paid off this year.

Iowa basically had guys 2 years removed from d2 and it worked.

if there’s any connection they are hard working and highly skilled and not gobbled up in that aau ball.
Arizona for some reason kills it with good euro players seems every year
 
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preacherfan

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Pitino was mostly right in when he said blue bloods don’t mean much in today’s game. With NIL and the transfer rules it’s a different game. The Kentucky brand doesn’t do much unless you are a Kentucky kid, I never thought it would be this way but it is, it’s here. I still think we can get our share, I’m not happy with the way this year went but you can’t have the kind of injuries we have had the last two years and expect much more. Next year is Popes make or break year and he knows it, for all of the connections our staff had, we didn’t have much to show for it. As for Duke and how they keep getting more 5 stars than they can play I don’t know. There has to be more than we know, the media plays a big part in their recruiting and the not to mention how lucky they always seem to be, it’s sickening. I guess playing in an old airplane hangar has it’s privileges.
I wonder if the Duke success will continue especially if they lose again this year. Last year it was Cooper Flagg. He pretty much fit the Duke profile for a top recruit. This year it is the Boozer twins. They are at Duke for obvious reasons. If NIL/Portal are as life changing as some say, I could see Duke sliding down a notch. Scheyer has had immense talent but sooner or later falling short is going to hurt the recruiting.
 
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