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Illinois Fighting Illini (you'll see)

I still want to know what a "long twitch athlete" is...


Back when thakid was entertaining us in the spring of 2008, he talked about how bad a recruiter Ron Turner was and how he was the reason for the ole Zooker's first two horrible years. How Zooker and his staff would out recruit everyone and have them very "Miami-esque" in terms of churning out NFL talent. Well:

http://ohiostate.scout.com/a.z?s=145&p=9&c=8&toinid=680&sspid=-1&yr=2011

That looks like a Ron Turner recruiting class. No ****. He has one **** in his last two classes. One player ranked inside the top-50 nationally at his position. ONE. 10 unranked or in the 100s at his position nationally. But that hasn't stopped thakid. Now instead of having stars, rankings and measurables to forecast greatness, he just says they're "winners". God bless his little heart.
 
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Nominate | Report Posted: 1/21/2011 12:44 AM
Re: Scout and TOS both have us ranked 41st class

comment...but this class is definitely better than 41st. Kirby is a borderline if not 5 star type of player when healthy as a CB. 6'3, 190, 4.5 speed with cover skills and he'll come up and hit you. Those types don't come around often. O'Toole is in the same boat and I'm TELLING you there aren't 5 let alone 10 QB's in this class better. Pat Flavin, Clint Tucker, Matt Lacosse, Clint Boles and Donovonn Young are all four star types when you factor in their talent, athleticism and potential. Thornton is at worst a mid to high three star but closer to four when healthy (Reports are that he healed already). Nick North and Scott McDowell are also mid 3 to high 3 star type players with some very good potential. Right behind them is Henry Dickinson and Ralph Cooper. I haven't even begun to mention guys like Josh Fergueson and his speed, etc. etc. etc. If the Illini add Chris Bryant, Jon Davis and Arrington Jenkins, then again, I would make a case for it being the best in recent Illini history with the 2008 class. It would be even better IMO because again, that class has multiple starters and NFL players. This class is definitely underrated despite what rankings say.

O'Toole had offers from UofI, Ill, St. Minny Toledo and Akron is rated 67th at QB by scout yet in TheKids fantasy world top 5 in the country.

RutgersAL (claimed Rutgers would become USC of the east coast many times) and TheKid are two of the most optimistic posters you will ever see and great for entertainment.
 
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kool-aid-man.jpg
 
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LordJeffBuck;1867029; said:
Zook's cleaning up in-state again ... only one of the top ten Illinois prospects is committed to Illinois, same as last year. In his six full recruiting seasons, Zook has signed only 15 top-ten prospects from Illinois (that's just 2.5 per year):

2006: 3/10 (#2, #4, #6)
2007: 4/10 (#1, #3, #5, #10)
2008: 2/10 (#5, #10)
2009: 4/10 (#1, #7, #8, #9)
2010: 1/10 (#8)
2011: 1/10 (#10)

I don't care what state you're in, if you can't recruit the top talent in-state, then you are going to get creamed. I realize that Illinois has Notre Dame near their territory, and Ohio State has become a big factor in the Midwest, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nebraska are in the area ... but Zook is losing top kids to Purdue, Kentucky, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee, Boston College.

By comparison, during the same period, Ohio State has signed 35 top-ten players in state, with a decision from Aundrey Walker still pending ... and Ohio State never offered twelve of those top-ten players ... so the Buckeyes' hit ratio with top in-state recruits is around 75%, compared to 25% for Illinois.

OK, that one hurt. But I can't see it changing. Not without a 5 year bowl run.

The top players in Illinois have never, ever, ever, ever, ever wanted to come to the flagship in-state school. Mainly for two reasons:

1) It ain't cool, man. What high school kid wants to deal with "you picked Illinois? really?" at the lunch table?

2) 80% of those players are from Chicagoland. And to Chicagoland, anything south of I-80 is cowtown. With every "where do the Illinois fans park their tractors when they play Northwestern?" crack in a Chicago papers, the divide grows. Champaign is the land of line dancing and Super Walmart. Just ask any kid in suburban Chicago. The smart kids go there, but certainly not the cool kids. The cool kids go to Notre Dame (blech) or Michigan (puke).

This year, though - this year hurts. 5 of the top 10 players in the state were from downstate (3 from East St. Louis), and we didn't get any of them. Only one suburban Chicago kid who decided he could deal with the "Illinois? Really?"
 
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OrangeRoughy;1870993; said:
OK, that one hurt. But I can't see it changing. Not without a 5 year bowl run.

The top players in Illinois have never, ever, ever, ever, ever wanted to come to the flagship in-state school. Mainly for two reasons:

1) It ain't cool, man. What high school kid wants to deal with "you picked Illinois? really?" at the lunch table?

2) 80% of those players are from Chicagoland. And to Chicagoland, anything south of I-80 is cowtown. With every "where do the Illinois fans park their tractors when they play Northwestern?" crack in a Chicago papers, the divide grows. Champaign is the land of line dancing and Super Walmart. Just ask any kid in suburban Chicago. The smart kids go there, but certainly not the cool kids. The cool kids go to Notre Dame (blech) or Michigan (puke).

This year, though - this year hurts. 5 of the top 10 players in the state were from downstate (3 from East St. Louis), and we didn't get any of them. Only one suburban Chicago kid who decided he could deal with the "Illinois? Really?"
Hater! Cloaker!

Oops, wrong thread...
 
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Tha_Kid

:lol: I love that guy.

Nominate | Report Posted: 1/25/2011 9:22 AM
Re: Mike Mayock 2011 Draft Rankings (Leshoure, Liuget, Wilson)

Heh, I appreciate ThaKid's enthusiasm, but he is the type of guy who would pick former Illini players way too early in a Fantasy League and always finish last.
tongue.gif

Pretty much.
 
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