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The NBA has changed a lot in 20 years. 20 years ago Kofi is a lottery pick. But today the NBA does not use traditional post up bigs. Kofi will have trouble guarding in space. His lateral speed is marginal out on the floor. This was the third time Kofi put his name in so he couldn’t come...

No team since 1991 has finished under .500 in league play one year, then won the Big Ten the next year. Indiana had a 2 week hot stretch but was pretty bad the rest of the year and lost by 30 in the NCAA tourney. They don’t have many shooters. If they find a couple, they will be good, but I...

The Big Ten is loaded with great coaches. No one should count on their coach being superior to or out coaching their peers. It still boils down to talent.

Mayer got rid of his mullet when he did the pro evaluation. Dain Dainja is another highly rated transfer. He has lost 25 pounds since joining the team mid season. Very skilled. Good chance to start at center. Illinois has the #2 ranked transfer class and the #9 ranked high school recruiting...

Our coach (Illinois) overuses the word “elite.” Matthew Mayer is an elite passer. RJ Melendez is an elite athlete. Skyy Clark is an elite point guard. Coleman Hawkins is an elite defender at 6-11, 230. Terrance Shannon is an elite competitor. Dain Dainja has an elite skill set. Luke Goode...

Illinois isn’t done with the portal. At least one more. Maybe two. They are waiting on specific players to withdraw from the draft.

According to Rivals, Illinois has four top 100 recruits. Clark is the highest ranked, and the three others are the top ranked players in their states: Jayden Epps(North Carolina), Ty Rodgers (Illinois), Sincere Harris (Ohio). That is a top ten ranked class without including transfer Dain...

I don’t think Illinois will offer him. He’s a good player, but they evaluate him as a step too slow for the Big Ten to be successful with the style he plays. Not sure who Illinois will get, but their top targets (after getting Terrance Shannon) are Matthew Mayer and Pete Nance.

Dainja is doing well academically and has shed 20 pounds in the conditioning program. Super talented kid.

Technically, the automatic qualifier in the BT and most conferences is the conference tournament champion. Illinois is not the “automatic” qualifier, for example. If I misread your explanation, I apologize.

Kris Murray

I could see Garcia returning to Minnesota. By rule, he would have to sit out a year. He used his immediately eligible transfer already. One time deal.

He has cheated at every stop. Confirmed. Not a guess.

Rule is you have to have 7 scholarship players available. Minnesota has 7 today. On the day of the Illinois/Minnesota game, Illinois had four players available: Frazier, Grandison, Podziemski, Lieb. The five day wait ended two days later and all were cleared.

Yes, it’s wrong. Ask anyone in the conference. Kofi is a really good guy. Never has a bad day. Always personable and funny. Kofi only played 24 minutes. They hadn’t played in 2 weeks. They needed court time. Underwood doesn’t try to run up the score. Never has. Illinois had been...

That’s about where Illinois belongs right now. Team has been devastated with injury and illness plus Kofi’s three game suspension. Full team hasn’t practiced in three weeks. Last game three starters out. Five different starting lineups in six games. Not sure who will play against Notre Dame...

Rule is that a player can’t play for two different teams in the same season. He is a redshirt freshman. He burned a year at Baylor this season by appearing in regular season games, so he will have three years left for whatever team he ends up with.

Illinois could be missing 4-5 players tomorrow. Kofi, of course, but Curbelo had a mild concussion in last exhibition. Trent Frazier and Austin Hutcherson have minor injuries that may keep them out. Game time decision. Kofi, Curbelo and Frazier are the three best players on the team. Could...

Could definitely happen. Midmajors upset good teams sometimes. The biggest obstacle to overcome for these players is adjusting to the grind of 20 games against Big Ten defenses. With so many good big men, the defenses can pressure out more than they are used to at the midmajor level. They...

Northwestern has six of their top seven players back from a team that won 6 games in the league last year. Veteran team with some talent. Hard to see Minnesota winning 6 games in the league this year. Shooting the ball at a decent clip in lesser leagues is not the same as doing it against Big...