All Things Alex Illikainen Recruitment Thread: UPDATED 11/12/18: Illikainen leaves UW

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I watched Alex play up in Moorhead earlier this year. I think he finished with about 30 points and 12 rebounds. Here are some things I took from watching.

He had an awesome game with running the floor. Grand Rapids doesn't have much for guards as mentioned above so Moorhead basically pressed the whole game. The way Grand Rapids beat the press was by dishing to Alex in the middle of the floor after inbounding and letting him cross halfcourt. He had good handles and moved really well with the ball. In a lot of these cases he was leading a fast break charge. He passed well and took it nearly coast to coast a few times. Another positive was that he went 11-12 from the free throw line. Always a great stat with your big men. Unlike above Alex was great around the rim. He didn't get a chance to shoot much outside but he made one 3 out of maybe two attempts.

Some things I noticed that I think he needs to work on are his aggressiveness. Moorhead played a zone most of the game and he was double/triple teamed. I would have liked him to fight to get the ball more. He also used his size when it came to rebounding instead of working to box out and fight for the ball. This will hopefully change during AAU as he goes up against taller more athletic big men.

Overall the guy will be a great get.
 

Great comments on Alex's game and the improvements he can make. I am a Grand Rapids native, and have watched him many times this season. I was unfortunately not able to make the game last night because of my daughters basketball practice, so I was a little disappointed but did get to listen a little on the radio. Unfortunately, this Rapids team suffer horribly at the guard spot, and really did not have another legitimate scorer to take some pressure off of Alex. By about 5 games into the season, teams learned that all they needed to do was pack it in hard on defense, and ultimately Alex was going up against 5 defenders himself. He still was able to put up good numbers by doing it all on his own, and yet he still is a very unselfish player. The most exciting part of the game I have seen from Alex in the the last year is his ball handling skills are getting very good for a guy his size. Plus, he is really starting to get confidence in his 3 pt shot. Adding more of the outside game, along with him becoming an even better face up player, is going to make his game even more intriguing. I was disappointed the streak at 6 straight state tournament runs came to an end, but I think its going to burn a fire even hotter for the Thunderhawks next year. Alex was apart of a runner-up team in 2010, and I am sure he would like to get back to the championship game. Really looking forward to next season. It will also be fun to see him compete in Pulley.
 

MadtownGopher said:
It's probably unlikely, but it would be awesome to get a commit from Alex before he plays for Pulley this summer.
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Yup. It's going to take the out-state guys to change the culture of Minnesotans committing to the U.


The metro guys want to get away.

If out-state MN is now Greater Minnesota, does that mean the metro area is now Lesser Minnesota?:)
 




When can he expect to receive his McD's All-American invitation?
 

My fiance actually got a picture with coach Pitino that I tweeted out. Said he could not have been a nicer guy to her. She got her pic before the game before he got bombarded at halftime. As far as Al goes I actually feel bad for him on the court. He hit a 3 and a couple of jumpers but besides that I think Rapids hit 1 triple and 2 mid range jumpers. He consistently saw double and triple teams. It wasn't his best game. I thought the big man from Hermantown was stronger than Al and it bothered him a little. Overall I thought his handle and shot looks really good and he runs the floor well. Its a team game though and he didn't get any help out there at all.
 







Is he suggesting Nebraska is the favorite? That seems like a really random thing to say.
 




BleedGopher said:
per Shama:

Alex Illikainen, the junior forward from Grand Rapids who might one day play for Nebraska, will be a favorite to win Mr. Basketball next year.

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

He may also play for Cal, since that's been his only official, so while I hope that's not the case it would have been less random than just picking Nebraska out of a hat.
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Ben Johnson was recruiting Alex when he was at Nebraska but obviously that works in our favor now. I haven't seen anything suggesting Nebraska is the favorite.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
 

If De wins another 3A title next season, Jarvis will be the favorite for Mr Basketball.
 

If I were Alex I would cross ISU off the list. A strong chance exists that Hoiberg either 1) will be coaching the Timberwolves or 2) at some point in his career will bring in another dis-functional, talented castoff to take minutes away from him. In addition it would require living in Ames.
 

Alex has a close relationship with Tim Miles. Evidently it goes back longer than the Ben Johnson relationship. I've heard Nebraska is definitely a favorite.
 



We must get Alex and Jarvis.
 

Alex previously took an official visit to Cal earlier this season:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Cal coach Mike Montgomery is retiring, sources told ESPN.</p>— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/GoodmanESPN/statuses/450707006094311424">March 31, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Go Gophers!!
 





afurry91 said:
They are about as close to must get as possible. Can we really expect to build the program if we go 0-6 in MN recruits in 2014-2015?
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Don't state the facts, furry...it complicates the board for many on here.
 


afurry91 said:
They are about as close to must get as possible. Can we really expect to build the program if we go 0-6 in MN recruits in 2014-2015?
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Why do you think that a coach has to lock down the borders to be successful here? Only about 20% of top 100 kids stay home nationally. We are recruiting higher ranked kids than Jarvis and Alex at their respective positions. It would be nice to get them, but in no way are they must get.
 

scher215 said:
Absolutely we can.
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We could still theoretically be fine. But if we are then striking out with all the top national recruits, then we are going to be in some big trouble. Regardless, we need to start attracting high-rated recruits.
 

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