Illini Zip

I completely agree @Blue & Gold. If everything we believe to be true today holds that is going to be one deep roster. So much so that unless Prather comes in and completely lights it up, it would be in his best interest to take a red-shirt year. Something that rarely happens with guards, but we might have a traffic jam at the guard spot. And I'm thinking we might be right back to a running and pressing team next year anyway.

Got it. That makes sense. Thank you.

Here is another question. Why is Miami the sweaters? Asking for a friend.

See, I thought there was a ruling like that too, but I read online earlier in the year that any time on the court during the season counts. Does anyone know if Kalle is still redshirt eligible?

It's all good that Ali hit a 3 there, but I want Tribble to be confident to take an open 3 when it presents itself.

Nice mid-range shot by Clarke.

Nothing easy on the road. Find a way guys.

Tribble has been shooting better from the line.

This would be a good place to get Kalle a few minutes with Freeman having 2 bogus fouls. Edit: Groce chose to go smaller with Wynn.

High energy game so far. The whole bench has been in the game already.

Here is some more useless trivia if anyone cares. The Miami point guard, Isaiah Coleman-Lands is another brother to a former Illinois player under Groce, Jalen Coleman-Lands. Groce recruited Jalen out of La Lumiere prep school in LaPorte, Indiana. Isaiah is a couple of years younger than Jalen, but they did play together. Jalen was the starting shooting guard and I believe Isaiah was the back-up point guard. Their head coach at La Lumiere, Shane Heirman is now the Associate Head Coach at Central Michigan. Small world right?! https://cmuchippewas.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/shane-heirman/694 So the last I knew of Jalen Coleman-Lands he had left Illinois after his sophomore year when Coach Groce got fired. He wanted to make sure he controlled his own destiny. He chose DePaul University because the aforementioned Shane Heirman had just been hired there (2017) as an assistant coach. Jalen is a sharp shooter from deep (40%) when healthy. He had injuries both at Illinois and at DePaul which extended his career. Anyway, I figured his college career was over by now and I was curious if he is playing pro-ball somewhere. Nope, not in the Era of Covid. He is now a Super-Duper Senior playing his 6th and final season of eligibility over 7 years. He's on the K.J. Walton plan. Ha!! There was a mass exodus of players at DePaul for some reason and he was one of them. He then landed at Iowa State. After a year there he lost another head coach to the chopping block so he entered the transfer portal one last time. He is now coming off the bench at 10th ranked Kansas. I’m sure this is not what he envisioned, but he seems to have made the most of his extended opportunity. Another quality young man and family. Godspeed. https://kuathletics.com/sports/mbball/roster/season/2021-22/player/jalen-coleman-lands/

I’m happy for Wynn and Clarke. They have to feel good about tonight.

Aziz needs to both get stronger with the ball and stop bringing it down low. It will come.

We get to see only the highlights. The assistant coaches usually do most of the leg work. And then the head coach gets involved. Depending on the size of the school and their wallet a coach will fly all over the country between games. They learn exactly what you suggest and more. Have they been on championship teams? Family background. Grades, educational goals, etc. Sometimes they meet these kids in person for a few minutes after a game to get a feel of their personality. Recruiting is to coaching as fund-raising is to politicians. Non-stop.

I thought I would take advantage of the down week and see if I could learn more about Ryan Prather Jr. Here is what I found. https://gozips.com/news/2021/11/15/mens-basketball-ryan-prather-jr-inks-nli-for-akron-mens-hoops.aspx https://www.dmvelite.com/news_article/show/1140502 https://ncpreps.rivals.com/news/is-ryan-prather-jr-the-next-big-name-in-north-carolina-hoops- https://www.prephoops.com/2019/07/recruiting-report-ryan-prather-jr-2021/ Twitter: https://nitter.net/_RyanPrather Commitment announcement on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CWO6lSMsG4e/?utm_medium=copy_link High school junior year highlights. ( #24 ) https://www.hudl.com/video/3/9889459/5e73c340dfd9da1a9cb4f0ba AAU ball highlights ( #20 ) Liberty Heights Athletic Institute ( Post-graduate season / 2021-22 ) White jersey, #10 Warning: The first thirteen minutes of this video is terrible. Nice steal and dunk by Prather Jr. at the 1:18:00 mark He starts the game, second appearance 22:00, third appearance 40:40, final appearance 1:02:00.

Freeman: 17 points and 10 rebounds in only 25 minutes.

Does anyone know if we have the same Strength and Conditioning Coach? Not looking to be critical with all of the Covid protocols recently, but this upcoming off-season is going to be important for the program going forward.

Thanks!! That makes sense now. And he mentioned I think that Toledo started the second half on a run with Freeman on the bench with 3 fouls.

I was trying to listen to Groce's post-game interview on the way home from the sports bar. He was so pissed initially and eventually calmed down. What was he saying about the fact that they have video? He thought the fouls on Freeman were complete bunk. Anything else I missed? Specifically, what had him so angry?

We lack a true point guard. Castaneda is really a great shooting guard. We might have two point guards named Johnson next year. Everything is negotiable at this point.

Dawson’s stock is rising.

I am wondering if he needs the off-season to heal his ankle.

I have wondered that too.

I would say Ali, Trimble or Castaneda could carry the team on any given night against most competition. Tonight we might need a couple of them to have good shooting performances with the regular support from Freeman, etc. I also agree with @1981 grad that Trimble needs to continue to be multi-faceted with his mid-range game. That's how he stays in the starting line-up while being streaky from deep. And @Blue & Gold and others have pointed out Trimble's liability at the defensive end. Trimble should be guarding the opponents wing. If he can't stay in front of his guy, please coach, bring in Dawson. I also need to see Clarke continue to grow. He is really picking up his defense nicely and has hit a couple of shots, but has yet to show that he can break down the defense off the dribble or pick and roll. I have him and Tavari Johnson penciled in at the PG spot next year with Castaneda splitting his time between the two guard spots. And Tribble backing up at the shooting guard spot. But Clarke is just not there yet. Plenty of basketball yet to play though. Come on Clarke, you got this. Finally, even though I have seen limited video of Sekou Sada Kalle, I have hopes he will become the next Xeyrius Williams. He is a big 6-10" forward who moves very well and is strong at the hoop. But even though his highlight videos show limited shooting from range, he has a nice release and can hit from the top of the key and beyond the arc. Hello, Stretch Four anybody. I would like to think he is progressing in practice and we might get to see him yet this year.

As much as I enjoy watching a ton of Zips basketball, I think fatigue really showed itself against CMU. We had way too many lazy passes and just didn't value every possession. Add the fact that CMU played like a team that hadn't seen the court in a couple of weeks with a few mind-numbing calls and you get some ugly basketball. Yet we escaped again. We are like the Great Houdini pulling off the impossible. That isn't going to cut it against Toledo. We have to be very sharp and play with purpose. Our guys have it in them. It helps that according to the GoZips schedule there is a full week off after this game. So leave it all on the court fellas and hope for a good shooting night. Prediction: Pain. (Just kidding) All I want is a competitive game to the end. Go Zips!!