Illini Zip

Groce was yelling the guys. Saying we’re better than that. I wonder what that was about?

No Barre or Brisco. Not that I’m surprised.

Eric quickly calls a timeout and the refs call it a jump ball.

Evan, no!!

We’re winning. I think we have then nervous. 😄

Tavari and Lyles have been around to experience Mississippi State, LSU, Creighton, St. Mary’s and Arizona. Shammah Scott played in the last three. Evan should not be overwhelmed at all. Eric is the only starter to not have played against this level of competition. I just hope they play well.

It feels like a March Madness game.

That was basically the Ohio vs. Louisville game. I’m hoping for a better result, but Vegas is pretty good at what they do.

Groce has said in the past that the criteria to play the point in his system is being able to break down the defense in the half-court, distribute the ball, run the fast break quickly while staying under control and be an efficient 3 point shooter. The deeper the shot the better. It doesn’t matter how they beat their defenders as long as they can do it regularly. For some it’s speed and quickness, others it’s shiftiness or even brute size and strength. All usually have to be good playing off of ball screens as well. You combine what @Blue & Gold posted with the fact that Jashawn Ladd shot 41% from deep last year and you have another point guard in the making. Maybe not his first couple of years, but very likely in time. https://bleacherprospect.com/2025/05/27/top-performers-from-the-3-stripes-gold-session-ii/ https://gatorswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/high-school/2025/11/11/indiana-basketball-recruiting-rankings-top-30-players-in-class-of-2026/87204242007/ I know what you’re thinking…everyone can’t play point guard. True. Jashawn would likely have double-duty, half the time run the point and the other half play as a shooting guard. I think the smaller, quicker 6 foot guard is the mainstay at the position and I can see us bringing one in every 2 years. If they redshirt for a year even better. The other years, bring in true combo guards. At Illinois, I witnessed 6-1 point guard Tracy Abrams share the job with 6-4 ultra athletic, shooting guard Brandon Paul. It was kind of like the thunder and lightning dynamic you see football teams utilize with running backs. I bring up Brandon Paul because Jashawn looks like a poor man’s Brandon Paul. Expect to see this guy hanging on the rim quite often. Look at how easy dunking is for this guy. He’s just a junior in high school here. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/basketball/friday-night-fast-break-play-of-the-game-nominee-ben-davis-jashawn-ladd/vi-AA1xpj26 This dynamic of a point guard and combo guard sharing lead guard duties is nothing new during Groce’s Akron era. We started out with Virshon Cotton and Malcolm Duvivier. Then LCJ and Tyler Cheese. We then struggled partly due to Covid and partly due to Garvin Clarke’s failure to get north and south in the half-court. Thank God for Xavier Castaneda. As a shooting guard he held down the lead guard duties mostly by himself. Tavari was a freshman, but not at all ready for prime time. Since Tavari has taken the reigns he has shared the job with Tribble, Nate Johnson and now Shammah Scott. So don’t be surprised if the 5th year senior version of 6-5 Josh Henderson or RJ Jones becomes the next Tyler Cheese. I witnessed injury (and other shenanigans) at the point guard position derail Groce and Co. at Illinois. Together we witnessed Garvin Clarke’s failure handicap the Zips for a year or two. And now we are in the NIL era where you could see our future point guard leave at any time. In my opinion you can’t have enough lead guards on the roster. I suggest we grab one per recruiting class of alternating skill sets and size. And I think that’s exactly what we’re doing. 🙏

Yes, it is.

A bit of RJ Jones, #10.

Ohio playing at #12 Louisville on WGN. Still early on.

He’s legit 6-8 according to this article, so he might still have another inch or two in him. I really like that he has shown signs of being able to hit mid-range shots. https://u1hoops.com/2025/07/14/devan-christion-scouting-report-clark-high-schools-sleeper-with-size-touch-defensive-upside/

I honestly don’t know enough about them yet. But the video above of Devan is quite impressive. Is he really 6-9? He sure is skilled and athletic for a young forward.

Bummer. I thought a high motor was a strength of his. He is still young and bigs take longer to develop. Hopefully he has a high ceiling and can hit the midrange shot.

I differ just a bit. I think if Groce could dictate the style of play for every game it would be wide open and fast. He would play with 5 guards or 4 guards and an Oggie type wing. He has always been that way. We slowed the offense down because our best player was Freeman and Groce adjusts to his roster and the strengths of the competition. Now he is just getting back to his natural identity. What I do agree with is Brisco will likely only get spot minutes this year and only when the matchup justifies it. Purdue is exactly why you need players like Brisco and Barre on your roster. Should be interesting to see how the staff approaches this challenge. For Brisco to ever play significant minutes he will need to grade out as a top producer in practice like everyone else.

I am following up my own post. Ha!! I thought Brisco was going to be an explosive rebounder, power forward type. But Groce has said he will play strictly the center position. Well, he’s only 6-8 so he’s not a rim protector. All accounts say he moves slow and I watched him miss a dunk against Princeton. So he’s not going to be an athletic, jump out of the gym, Freeman type center. That only leaves the traditional, back to the basket, play under rim, earth mover type. He’s currently 240lbs. Maybe he gets to 245-250lbs by his senior year. The question I have is can he shoot at all away from the rim? Right now I believe he adds value by banging down low with the big boys and rebounding. Let’s see. I have posted this video link before of Maverick Morgan at Illinois under Groce. He was 6-10 and maxed out at 250lbs. This video is from his Junior year without a redshirt year. So he was even bigger as a senior. Notice how like a big tight end in football he gravitates to the open holes in the defense. Not flashy, but effective.

Zips add Devan Christion. Also, Zachary Halligan is a redshirt sophomore. Correction made.

Good post. I just want to launch a conversation off of it. We have had a few centers at Akron during Groce’s era similar to Barre. Tall, mobile, shot blocker type; Riak, Aziz and briefly Gueye. The other type of center we are accustomed to obviously is the Freeman type. Very versatile, athletic and skilled with more of a power forward frame. You can add Sayles, Lyles and now Marvin to that list. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Oggie play the 5 spot in time as well. But the last center type we are not too familiar with at Akron is what I call the “earth mover” center. I witnessed it with Illinois. They are big, strong and weigh about 250lb. They typically range between 6-8 and 6-10, but have a low center of gravity. They are immovable objects. The only guy that has fit this description was Kostelac. They are less versatile and athletic, but can be highly skilled and effective in Groce’s system. They don’t run the break as fast as the others, but they do run the court. Brisco is an earth mover. We have had other MAC teams use earth mover centers against us recently. I don’t remember their names, but the Zips recruited one of them. Any way it will be nice to have a big body to throw out there during those match-ups especially. Personally, I would like to see Brisco cut his teeth with some time against the 6-11 big for Purdue. And I would let Barre get some time against their 7-4 center. The rest of the time I would play small with Lyles and let their bigs chase us up and down the court.

That was one of things I loved about Freeman early on. Of course, Freeman’s list of accomplishments went through the roof and it was easy to take that quality for granted. Hopefully our guys just need to get some reps and work out any jitters.

One has to think that with the limited playing time through 3 games these 2 big guys will have little impact on the Purdue game. Or is that what Groce wants Matt Painter to think. Hmmm. 🧐🥸🤫

Always a bonus when Evan hits from deep.

I will be listening tonight, but I would appreciate any further observations especially pertaining to Barre, Brisco and Halligan.

Maybe it’s already been said, but I’m so happy that the Paradise Jam games will be shown on ESPN+. It’s fairly reliable, I’m familiar with it and have already paid for it.

That surprises me. Although I can see Buffalo being more of a football and hockey school.