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

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UWOle said:
An open period, which allows coaches to watch and talk to prospects at their high/prep schools, just began. Alex would appear to be a priority of all of UW, Minnesota, Iowa and Oregon, so it makes sense that those coaches would be out to see him right away.
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Thanks for the info - I was unaware of the open period starting.
 

UWOle said:
An open period, which allows coaches to watch and talk to prospects at their high/prep schools, just began. Alex would appear to be a priority of all of UW, Minnesota, Iowa and Oregon, so it makes sense that those coaches would be out to see him right away.
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Just curious, who else besides Alex is Wisconsin recruiting at the 4? (besides Ellenson, whom I know has moved on)
 


golfing18now said:
Wandering.....couple names that I've seen for WI.


http://247sports.com/Player/Josh-Sharma-23431

http://247sports.com/Player/Esa-Ahmad-31162

http://247sports.com/Player/Jeremy-Miller-22632
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These are the names I would have posted. At this point, Diamond Stone is the absolute priority for the UW staff in the 2015 class, and it sounds like there is a very real chance he ends up in Madison. Jeremy Miller does not have an offer at this point, but I think UW would be very happy to take a commitment from any of Illikainen, Josh Sharma or Esa Ahmad to hopefully team up with Diamond. Sharma is from out east and is more of a potential guy than someone who will be productive early in his career. UW has been the rumored leader going all the way back to January when he visited officially. Sounds like that lead may be fading, as BC may be in position to land him (he visits there next weekend). Stanford is also in the mix and very attractive given Josh's focus on academics. Esa Ahmad is a stud, and probably the one I would want the most of the three. UW is in his final five, but he has not visited Madison and appears to have a top three of Ohio St., Maryland and West Virginia. I will be surprised if he ends up in Madison. Everyone here knows about Alex, and while I still believe he chooses Minnesota, I am encouraged that he is taking an official visit to Madison, especially since it is planned for the same weekend as Jarvis Johnson's official visit. Miller is probaby fourth in line, though he has talked about visiting Madison this fall, at which time he could get an offer.

It's been a weird recruiting cycle for the UW staff, as they typically have an early commitment or two. Brevin Pritzl is a very nice start to the class, but there are still several spots (probably four more) to fill. Adding Stone would make it a very good class regardless of who else joins him. Without Stone, it could still be solid, but there is certainly work to be done by the staff.
 



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Gopherguy0723 said:
We need this guy or Clarke.
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I agree with you.

But I think the fact the Gophers didn't run out to see Clarke at the start of this open period probably tells you all you need to know about where they think they are with him. Also, the fact that all four of Illikainen's suitors ran out to see him on day one and two probably means he hasn't been giving off the impression this race is over either (for any of the four).

Who is behind door number three?
 

Didn't we run out and see current committed recruits on the first day of the open period? We've got out guys locked up. ai told Pitino he wasn't ready to commit last weekend and Pitino took wank woo.

2015 class is set until after the season when we will possibly take a transfer if a scholarship opens up.
 



Winasota Gopher said:
Didn't we run out and see current committed recruits on the first day of the open period? We've got out guys locked up. ai told Pitino he wasn't ready to commit last weekend and Pitino took wank woo.

2015 class is set until after the season when we will possibly take a transfer if a scholarship opens up.
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I believe Pitino saw Jarvis, Coffey, and McBrayer on Tuesday, Illikainen yesterday, and will see Michael Hurt today. I would be surprised if we don't see one or two more commits before the season gets started.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
2015 class is set until after the season when we will possibly take a transfer if a scholarship opens up.
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We still have an open scholarship if no one leaves and Gaston is admitted. If another scholarship opens up we'd be signing a 5th player, we currently only have 3.
 


Winasota Gopher said:
Didn't we run out and see current committed recruits on the first day of the open period? We've got out guys locked up. ai told Pitino he wasn't ready to commit last weekend and Pitino took wank woo.

2015 class is set until after the season when we will possibly take a transfer if a scholarship opens up.
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Pitino wouldn't have gone to visit Alex yesterday if our class was already set.
 




If we get JJ, I think we definitely get AI. No idea if Gaston, Buggs, or someone else gets the short end of the straw. Maybe there is a player on the roster that has already told Pitino and Co. he may transfer after the season is done.
 

Winasota Gopher said:
Could ai hold out until the late signing period?
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I doubt Alex would wait until the Spring based on everything that has been said about his timeline to this point.

MadtownGopher said:
If we get JJ, I think we definitely get AI. No idea if Gaston, Buggs, or someone else gets the short end of the straw. Maybe there is a player on the roster that has already told Pitino and Co. he may transfer after the season is done.
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"Definitely" is a little stronger than I would say, but I think it easily could happen where we take both Jarvis and Alex. I highly doubt that a current player on roster has already told Pitino he might transfer at the end of the year though; that would make for an awkward season for that player, don't you think?
 

MadtownGopher said:
If we get JJ, I think we definitely get AI. No idea if Gaston, Buggs, or someone else gets the short end of the straw. Maybe there is a player on the roster that has already told Pitino and Co. he may transfer after the season is done.
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Just curious, but do rules allow a team to oversign? So in our case sign 5 players this fall even though there are only 4 available and figure it out later, or are we only able to sign 4 since only 4 are technically available?
 

34Gopher said:
Just curious, but do rules allow a team to oversign? So in our case sign 5 players this fall even though there are only 4 available and figure it out later, or are we only able to sign 4 since only 4 are technically available?
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I thought you could over sign. Doesn't Kentucky over sign all the time because their underclassmen are always likely to go pro?
 

34Gopher said:
Just curious, but do rules allow a team to oversign? So in our case sign 5 players this fall even though there are only 4 available and figure it out later, or are we only able to sign 4 since only 4 are technically available?
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Programs can "oversign", and some of the blue blood programs do it often since they either anticipate players leaving for the NBA or having potential transfers. For schools like Minnesota, since they don't typically have players leave early for the pros, it tends to create "ethical" questions that they might be trying to "run" someone off the team to open up another scholarship.
 





Richard said:
Programs can "oversign", and some of the blue blood programs do it often since they either anticipate players leaving for the NBA or having potential transfers. For schools like Minnesota, since they don't typically have players leave early for the pros, it tends to create "ethical" questions that they might be trying to "run" someone off the team to open up another scholarship.
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Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't all scholarships technically one year only, that if a player is here 4 years he/she received 4 scholarships? Though what I don't know the answer to, but I suspect is if a player lost out on a later year scholarship couldn't the school just give the person academic scholarships of equal value?
 

My guess is Gaston would be the odd man out. He's a power forward and he didn't do his homework well enough to be admitted to the U. Pitino is taking care of him now, but my guess is that he's out the door if JJ and Alex want to commit and no one else leaves. Pitino really doesn't owe him anything…and he can help him find a school if necessary.
 

macgopher said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't all scholarships technically one year only, that if a player is here 4 years he/she received 4 scholarships? Though what I don't know the answer to, but I suspect is if a player lost out on a later year scholarship couldn't the school just give the person academic scholarships of equal value?
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They could give them an academic scholarship if they want but the individual receiving it would not be able to play on the team.
 

CoMn said:
My guess is Gaston would be the odd man out. He's a power forward and he didn't do his homework well enough to be admitted to the U. Pitino is taking care of him now, but my guess is that he's out the door if JJ and Alex want to commit and no one else leaves. Pitino really doesn't owe him anything…and he can help him find a school if necessary.
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If that was the case Pitino would have found him another school this year, kind of late but I am sure there were schools out there with available scholerships where he would have been accepted this year, especially some of the mid majors.
 

macgopher said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't all scholarships technically one year only, that if a player is here 4 years he/she received 4 scholarships? Though what I don't know the answer to, but I suspect is if a player lost out on a later year scholarship couldn't the school just give the person academic scholarships of equal value?
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I think you're correct in that scholarships go year-to-year, but it's almost a guarantee that a player will get the full four years. It would be a public relations nightmare for a program to rescind a scholarship and would also severely harm recruiting if there was a precedent set for a recruit not getting the full four years. Other schools would definitely use that as ammo against another program.

The academic scholarship idea was always brought up back when Hoffarber was on the team, but no, it doesn't work that way. If that was an option, I'm sure schools would try and use that all the time as a loophole.
 

Richard said:
I think you're correct in that scholarships go year-to-year, but it's almost a guarantee that a player will get the full four years. It would be a public relations nightmare for a program to rescind a scholarship and would also severely harm recruiting if there was a precedent set for a recruit not getting the full four years. Other schools would definitely use that as ammo against another program.

The academic scholarship idea was always brought up back when Hoffarber was on the team, but no, it doesn't work that way. If that was an option, I'm sure schools would try and use that all the time as a loophole.
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I think its becoming a little more common that coaches will rescind a players scholarship before the full 4 years complete.

Illinois State head coach has been there 3 years and has had 10 transfers not all of those transfers were the players choice. He has proven multiple times that it is not garunteed that players will get all 4 years of school paid just because they committed to that school.

He is over recruiting as we speak, he will only have 3 schollys next season but is recruiting and offering a lot of players.
The interesting thing is it has not negatively affected his recruiting, in fact he has the best recruiting class that ISU has had in a long time coming in this season.

it seems to be a good strategy for them, but maybe thats because they are a smaller school and can get away with that sort of thing without the media and public scrutiny that would affect a bigger program.
 

Jigga said:
I think its becoming a little more common that coaches will rescind a players scholarship before the full 4 years complete.

Illinois State head coach has been there 3 years and has had 10 transfers not all of those transfers were the players choice. He has proven multiple times that it is not garunteed that players will get all 4 years of school paid just because they committed to that school.

He is over recruiting as we speak, he will only have 3 schollys next season but is recruiting and offering a lot of players.
The interesting thing is it has not negatively affected his recruiting, in fact he has the best recruiting class that ISU has had in a long time coming in this season.

it seems to be a good strategy for them, but maybe thats because they are a smaller school and can get away with that sort of thing without the media and public scrutiny that would affect a bigger program.
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Interesting...like you said, it may be easier for the smaller schools to get away with it. I have a hard time believing that philosophy will work long-term. I can't imagine many parents/recruits wanting to buy in to a school that isn't willing to give them the full ride.
 

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