Illini Zip

I don’t have an opinion on the exact details, but I totally agree that a school needs to be compensated one way or another for a players development.

This really is a good article. I recommend reading it if you haven’t already. Towards the end it talks about players breaking their contracts, etc. I found this excerpt to be interesting: More schools are trying to protect themselves with strict liability in these NIL deals. For example, there's another high-major player who signed a substantial NIL contract near the end of the season but subsequently went into the portal anyway, seeking an even bigger deal. One of his coaches told me they were bracing for this, even though pen was put to paper weeks ago. According to this coach, this player now owes the school "the entirety of a contract he hasn't received a dime of yet." "They think we are bluffing," the coach said. "We are 100% holding them to the contract."

Yes, contracts and transfer fees.

@kreed5120 mentioned before that it’s hard to take any 2025-26 rankings seriously at this point because of all the volatility. I’ll go one step further, how does a team possibly build an OOC schedule until the portal closes?

Great debate guys. I do think their production can be replaced and there are times TJ will come down the court with his mind already made up that he is going to shoot instead of taking what the defense presents. That said, if we do have a significant overhaul I’m concerned it will take all OOC to gel again, relegating us a poor seed in the NCAAT if we are fortunate to get there. Too early to panic though. Have a nice day.

Happy Easter everyone!!

Okonkwo, Johnson & Johnson departs.

If Young hits the portal I will be in the fetal position. No doubt. But Groce and Wentz could have been working the phones themselves behind the scenes for weeks. We are all completely in the dark here as to their agenda going into the off-season.

I don’t think these 2 were the most pressing concerns after the season ended. Replacing Gray’s size on the perimeter and improving the play at the center spot were. But maybe the staff is on a roll and they were presented with opportunities that are too good to pass up. Or maybe I’m all wet. Just floating a balloon here.

I think you speak truth, but this seems way more orderly to me. I’m now leaning towards an intentional roster rebuild taking place. The verdict will be in the end result. If we end up with an improved roster fairly soon, then it’s orchestrated. If not, we got poached and teamism fell apart. Either way, it’s hard seeing guys you have rooted for leave before getting a Senior Day.

No problem. I’m hoping to get away with just one more update. Let’s see what happens here in the next week.

I guess I am in a wait and see mode because either (A) we have some serious holes that will make this season way more difficult than we thought a week ago or (B) Groce and Wentz are playing money ball and systematically addressing issues position by position within a set budget. We already replaced Gray with Evan. Maybe replacing Okonkwo was intentional and we helped him land somewhere safely. Maybe his replacement is already lined up, but we just don’t know it yet. Maybe we needed to cut Nate’s salary to acquire these players. And maybe there are cheaper options for Nate’s replacement in consideration at this very moment. I know that’s a lot of “maybes”, but I’m trying to keep an open mind.

We can’t use the appropriate language on this forum.

And I thought I had commitment issues.

I have been vulnerable to being overly optimistic as well. I think the proof will be in the quality of his replacement, that’s if we land another big at all.

Having not seen a second of Brisco it’s hard to predict his role and productivity next year. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see Brisco step right into the void left by Okonkwo. Here’s hoping anyway.

…and the horse they rode in on!!

I love the holiday tournaments for this reason. No excuse for us not seeing an occasional low tier P4 opponent in a holiday tourney going forward.

I do like it, but one of these low probability games a year is enough for me.

I do like Milwaukee and Princeton heading to the JAR. And I’m counting on our radio guys to lobby the refs on any close calls when we play Princeton.

Playing Purdue will help our strength of schedule and the pay day will be nice. I’m just curious if Groce is more upset with his team’s performance against a much taller team or being asked about not scheduling enough tall opponents in the postgame interview? Either way, message received.

Sure, at Purdue and when they are ranked 2nd in the country going into next year. Good luck trying to get last year’s Minnesota, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech or Oklahoma State on a neutral court. All were our peers or worse in terms of NET. We break that top 75 mark and things could get much more exciting.

It has always been that bigs want to play with elite guards who can feed them the ball. It makes sense that bigs are at a premium, but who wouldn’t want to be the beneficiary of this team’s guard play. Add the style of play with the staff’s ability to develop talent and you have an attractive pitch. But if it comes down to the highest bidder we probably lose.

Do we go from the Akron Mountaineers to the Akron Buckeyes?

I think it might be a good sign as to Brisco’s potential. Even as the possible backup. Edit: Also, from the little I have seen of Brisco it is possible he and Okonkwo have very similar games. Thus, keep the guy who is part of the long term plan.