• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

Illinois Fighting Illini (you'll see)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Crashcup;679211; said:
Moving constantly is a coach killer!

See Franchione, Mason, Erickson, Davis, and my personal favorite Neuhimlick...I wouldn't give you a nickel for any of them.

Just to name a few.
Click to expand...

If you're talking about Glen Mason, please define "moving constantly". Mason spent two years at Kent State, nine years at Kansas and is entering his eleventh year at Minnesota.
 
Upvote 0
Arthur Ray and Jack Cornell both backout

of their commitment because of coaching changes. Both Considering Illiniois.

A couple of college coaching changes have Illinois' Ron Zook in position for a recruiting trifecta.

No sooner had word leaked out that Boston College coach Tom O'Brien was taking over the program at North Carolina State than Zook and two assistant coaches made a beeline for Mt. Carmel on Tuesday and visited All-State offensive lineman Arthur Ray, who had made an oral commitment to BC last summer.

"This stuff caught me off guard," the 6-foot-3-inch, 285-pound Ray said Friday, with his visit to Boston College this weekend canceled. "I would say I'm a soft commit right now since all the coaches, especially (assistant coach) Don Horton, are going to North Carolina State. Coach Horton and I had gotten real close.

"I'm reopening my recruiting. Illinois and Northern Illinois were the first to contact me since this happened. Illinois is an up-and-coming program just waiting to blow up. It's close to home, and I know Juice (quarterback Isiah Williams) and Chris (receiver Chris James)."

Part 2 of this Illini combination is 6-7, 315-pound All-State offensive lineman Jack Cornell of Quincy Notre Dame. Cornell had made an oral commitment to Michigan State, but that all changed after the firing of Spartans coach John L. Smith. According to Tim O'Halloran of rivals.com, Cornell is now down to Illinois and Nebraska.

Zook could go 3-for-3 if he lands the state's top prospect and the No. 2 weak-side defensive end in the country, 6-4, 230-pound Martez Wilson of Simeon. Wilson's top choices are Illinois, Notre Dame and Ohio State, which he is scheduled to visit over the weekend. He is expected to announce his decision at a news conference just before Christmas at Simeon.

http://http://chicagosports.chicago...its,0,7680771.story?coll=cs-hs-football-print
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
bigtenuofIfb;684239; said:
"I'm reopening my recruiting. Illinois and Northern Illinois were the first to contact me since this happened. Illinois is an up-and-coming program just waiting to blow up. It's close to home, and I know Juice (quarterback Isiah Williams) and Chris (receiver Chris James)."
Click to expand...


I know Illi is losing by smaller margins, but would you say "just waiting to blow up"? Might be a stretch. They might haul in some big-time recruits, but as of right now, I wouldn't say they're "just waiting to blow up". Don't want this to get too out of hand here.
 
Upvote 0
Taosman;684258; said:
I'm sure Zook is using Illinois great "victory" over Ohio State to recruit!
Oh! Wait!
They actually didn't win?
And they average 2 wins the last 2 years?
Great job, coach!
Click to expand...

Yea you are correct. they didn't win....I sure hope Zook isn't using "victory" over Ohio State to recruit....I would laugh if I was a recruit and was told that.....Although they played tOSU tough, it was also just an unusual bad game for tOSU. And yes you are correct, averaging 2 wins over the last 2 years is just terrible. Nobody should ever question Zookers recruiting ability but completely understand questioning his coaching ability....Hell all the Illini fans question that. You guys got it good here.....Great coach and great recruiter. Ron Turner left Illinois in pretty bad shape and to be getting a good recruiting class (talent) to Illinois is the main thing now......But like you said, can he coach them? Thats the million dollar question.
 
Upvote 0
It wasn't too long ago that Illinois gave tOSU all we wanted...

5-5 in the 90's
6-4 in the 80's

I'm not ready to circle that game on the calendar but I'm also not willing to discount what is happening in Champaign.
 
Upvote 0
osugrad21;684273; said:
It wasn't too long ago that Illinois gave tOSU all we wanted...

5-5 in the 90's
6-4 in the 80's

I'm not ready to circle that game on the calendar but I'm also not willing to discount what is happening in Champaign.
Click to expand...

I think you are dead right Grad. Close losses become close wins and momentum builds.
 
Upvote 0
Illinois did have a ton of close losses this year.....But hey, a lose is a lose although they played a lot of people tough and showed a lot of heart. The only thing was that they continued to make the same mistakes in a lot of those close losses which in many of them ultimately cost them the game. A lot of it was due to the experience they had playing, one of the youngest teams in all of the NCAA but you also can't help to point the finger at Zook. It's kind of a double edge knife if your an Illini fan. Was the season a success? Hell no!!!! But they played a lot of good teams close and have an unbelevable young talented team with a great class coming in. So on the other side of the knife, you can't help but get excited about the returning players and players coming in for next year......
 
Upvote 0
Cornerback6;684262; said:
I know Illi is losing by smaller margins, but would you say "just waiting to blow up"? Might be a stretch. They might haul in some big-time recruits, but as of right now, I wouldn't say they're "just waiting to blow up". Don't want this to get too out of hand here.
Click to expand...

Hindenburg-small.jpg


Works for me.
 
Upvote 0
bigtenuofIfb;684292; said:
Illinois did have a ton of close losses this year.....But hey, a lose is a lose although they played a lot of people tough and showed a lot of heart. The only thing was that they continued to make the same mistakes in a lot of those close losses which in many of them ultimately cost them the game. A lot of it was due to the experience they had playing, one of the youngest teams in all of the NCAA but you also can't help to point the finger at Zook. It's kind of a double edge knife if your an Illini fan. Was the season a success? Hell no!!!! But they played a lot of good teams close and have an unbelevable young talented team with a great class coming in. So on the other side of the knife, you can't help but get excited about the returning players and players coming in for next year......
Click to expand...

I live here in the Land of Lincoln and most of my Illini friends are not as sold on Zook as you might think. Maybe because they are older 40 to 70, they would prefer JT. They are still wondering how the Illini AD went with Weber instead of making a push for the hometown boy Thad.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top