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

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WanderingGopher said:
Both would have fit in different ways. Morrow is more of a traditional-style PF but in a SF body. Plays around the rim a lot, very athletic and active, not much shooting range though. Illikainen is more like Joey King. Would have been good in the pick-and-pop role, hitting trail 3's, also has pretty good footwork inside I think (though I think he'll have trouble scoring inside against big PFs, as Alex is closer to 6'7" than his listed height of 6'9", with modest leaping ability).

Both of Morrow's parents went to Nebraska, so I think the writing was on the wall there for a while.
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Thanks WG!
 

WanderingGopher said:
Both would have fit in different ways. Morrow is more of a traditional-style PF but in a SF body. Plays around the rim a lot, very athletic and active, not much shooting range though. Illikainen is more like Joey King. Would have been good in the pick-and-pop role, hitting trail 3's, also has pretty good footwork inside I think (though I think he'll have trouble scoring inside against big PFs, as Alex is closer to 6'7" than his listed height of 6'9", with modest leaping ability).

Both of Morrow's parents went to Nebraska, so I think the writing was on the wall there for a while.
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Agree with all of this.

Side note: Morrow was probably top 5 most impressive people at the EYBL event in Minneapolis. One game I watched he had like 7 or 8 dunks.
 

Alex Illikainen has left the Badgers program with a three year career average of 1.5 points per game.

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I really thought he would be a Gopher and would have helped a lot. Crazy how little he played and produced in Madison
 

Glad we ended up with this guy!

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Wow am I glad Alex spurned the Gophers. I was bummed at the time.


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If Ryan had stayed I can't help but think things would have turned out differently, he was a decent shooter in high school, Ryan seemed to have a way of getting his guys shot on track.

AI was not a post up player at all and struggled defending the post against the better centers in AAU ball, I'm afraid he was used in a way he had no chance of succeeding.
 

See, just like we have been saying all along. Go to Sconny and waste your life....

But seriously, what happen? He had so much promise coming out of high school.
 

alchemy2u said:
See, just like we have been saying all along. Go to Sconny and waste your life....

But seriously, what happen? He had so much promise coming out of high school.
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Slow, can not defend and was not a miss by the Gophers. Many recruits simply never build on or improve their game.
 



builtbadgers said:
Slow, can not defend and was not a miss by the Gophers. Many recruits simply never build on or improve their game.
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But according to many on here and the TC media, anytime a Minnesota player goes elsewhere, it's a miss by Pitino.
 

To add to that , as some of you know i follow 4 programs very closely. Gophers, UW, UVA and my alma-UCLA. UVA has had several recruits that simply did not work out. UCLA too many too count and yeas even UW under Ryan. The key is getting the max out of the ones that do and see who wins. AI would be a force at St. Thomas and pretty good at a N. Iowa.
 

WriterGoph said:
But according to many on here and the TC media, anytime a Minnesota player goes elsewhere, it's a miss by Pitino.
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He has not missed on that many that were realistic, the problem has been doing well with a team concept with the ones he got. Other programs got 3 and 4 stars to the NBA and won conference titles.
 

Yea, I looked at the Sconny msg boards and that is what they are saying. He got a nice share of minutes as a Freshman and Sophomore , but as be bulked up he got slower and lost his explosiveness...
 



builtbadgers said:
He has not missed on that many that were realistic, the problem has been doing well with a team concept with the ones he got. Other programs got 3 and 4 stars to the NBA and won conference titles.
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Gives added credibility to Pitino's judgement as a recruiter.
 



builtbadgers said:
He has missed on several he got and has fallen far short of building a winner. You have to win for several years to be a winner.
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I wonder what losing to a 16 seed for the first time in NCAA history classifies you as?
 

builtbadgers said:
He has missed on several he got and has fallen far short of building a winner. You have to win for several years to be a winner.
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Or what missing the NCAAs for the first time since Jeffrey Dahmer roamed the streets just miles from Madison makes a coach?
 

WriterGoph said:
I wonder what losing to a 16 seed for the first time in NCAA history classifies you as?
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It qualifies you as the coach of the team the lost that game. It also qualifies you as 3 times national coach of the year. Gophers would trade Pitino and boat loads of cash for what Bennett gas done. No 31-59 there. Read his coaching bio or talked to any basketball person about who the better coach is. Richards own father would take Bennett. 3 ACC titles, 2 ACC tourney titles. If we had that hear we would build statues ! Plus how he handled the situation has paid huge dividends on the recruiting front. Finally, no off the court black eyes for the University. You overlook the point i made of Bennett making recruiting mistakes to take a shot at one of the games best coaches. Sure, take your 1-16 shot and a couple of tourney disappointments but first win enough to even make the tourney. I still write my checks to support Pitino, still point out his good but of course the way Bennett wins brings out way larger donations.
 

builtbadgers said:
It qualifies you as the coach of the team the lost that game. It also qualifies you as 3 times national coach of the year. Gophers would trade Pitino and boat loads of cash for what Bennett gas done. No 31-59 there. Read his coaching bio or talked to any basketball person about who the better coach is. Richards own father would take Bennett. 3 ACC titles, 2 ACC tourney titles. If we had that hear we would build statues ! Plus how he handled the situation has paid huge dividends on the recruiting front. Finally, no off the court black eyes for the University. You overlook the point i made of Bennett making recruiting mistakes to take a shot at one of the games best coaches. Sure, take your 1-16 shot and a couple of tourney disappointments but first win enough to even make the tourney. I still write my checks to support Pitino, still point out his good but of course the way Bennett wins brings out way larger donations.
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We all know the history here. I'm just having some fun. I used to watch Tony Bennett in person as a player at UWGB in the late 80s. I like the guy. But he definitely can't finish in March/April
 

He got to a sweet 16 at Washington State of all places, He got to 2 sweet 16's and one elite at at UVA and those 3 national coach of the year awards will go a long towards the gall of fame. His peers think of him as a top 5 coach with many saying he is the best. Lets get one big ten title here before we call someone even a good coach.
 

builtbadgers said:
He got to a sweet 16 at Washington State of all places, He got to 2 sweet 16's and one elite at at UVA and those 3 national coach of the year awards will go a long towards the gall of fame. His peers think of him as a top 5 coach with many saying he is the best. Lets get one big ten title here before we call someone even a good coach.
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Isn’t this thread about Illikainen?
 

XMan said:
Isn’t this thread about Illikainen?
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builtbadgers never misses a chance to talk about his favorite subject on a Gophers basketball board - Tony Bennett.


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scools12 said:
builtbadgers never misses a chance to talk about his favorite subject on a Gophers basketball board - Tony Bennett.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Actually i am very coach centric since my firm represented so many. On this board i am much more interested in how the Gophers are built, who they recruit and how they play. I was merely pointing out how Alex was not a miss by Minnesota and that all coaches miss.
 


builtbadgers said:
He got to a sweet 16 at Washington State of all places, He got to 2 sweet 16's and one elite at at UVA and those 3 national coach of the year awards will go a long towards the gall of fame. His peers think of him as a top 5 coach with many saying he is the best. Lets get one big ten title here before we call someone even a good coach.
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my goodness, get a room or something..... and don't get too quick about building statues around here, the only one I know of is for Herb Brooks and he did a lot more than Tony Bennett (wasn't he a singer? fly me to the moon...)
 



builtbadgers said:
He got to a sweet 16 at Washington State of all places, He got to 2 sweet 16's and one elite at at UVA and those 3 national coach of the year awards will go a long towards the gall of fame. His peers think of him as a top 5 coach with many saying he is the best. Lets get one big ten title here before we call someone even a good coach.
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Outside of UVA, he will be best known for the following: UMBC
 

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