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

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BarnBoy said:
Ellenson wants to "be the guy".
Illikainen wants to "be on a team".

Buh, bye Henry
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I thought exactly the same thing. I don't know of any good coach that is going to declare him "the guy".


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BarnBoy said:
Not sure if this has been covered, but looks like Alex is "friends" with Dusty Rychart on Twitter. Dusty asked him how his season is going, etc.
That can't hurt.

https://twitter.com/Dusty_Rychart
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Dusty was awesome. Carried the team through some tough times...that after coming in as a walk-on. For Alex to follow Dusty's path to the U (on scholarship, though) would be awesome.
 

I would love to get Alex. I would have a tough time cheering for Ellenson. According to 247 Ellenson isn't even a top priority anymore. Hope that is accurate.
 

Alex won't be a Gopher, so says the talk at Dottie's. He's heard the dirt.
 










Scoreboard said:
Alex won't be a Gopher, so says the talk at Dottie's. He's heard the dirt.
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My problem is with the reference to "the dirt" that would cause Alex to not want to be a Gopher. I have a real problem with this kind of innuendo. I think that Scoreboard has a duty to explain what he is referring to.
 







Scoreboard said:
Alex won't be a Gopher, so says the talk at Dottie's. He's heard the dirt.
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Not a bad food joint, and yes, service could be better. I prefer the Old style Beno's subs! Always seem to hit the spot. Never seem to get any dirt on Alex when I go there though.

Saw Alex the other night against Hermantown. As always, kid can dominate, and is going to be a real prize. It will be interesting to see if this inexperienced Rapids team can ride his back to state again, but it will be possible. If not, I think Alex senior year is going to be a real treat, I am pretty sure he is dying to get back to the state championship.
 

Talked to an AAU teammate of Henry's from 2 years ago who said he didn't particularly like Henry as a teammate. So I guess we can take that FWIW. I thought that was interesting, because it sort of reflects how his attitude has been in interviews as of late. Now, I don't know if he's a great kid, horrible kid, or somewhere in between, but it was just a take from a teammate of his for several years.
 

GameDay said:
Talked to an AAU teammate of Henry's from 2 years ago who said he didn't particularly like Henry as a teammate. So I guess we can take that FWIW. I thought that was interesting, because it sort of reflects how his attitude has been in interviews as of late. Now, I don't know if he's a great kid, horrible kid, or somewhere in between, but it was just a take from a teammate of his for several years.
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yea, that family is not well liked in rice lake I hear. They think they are better than everyone else and are entitled to whatever they want, but thats just what I hear, But I do know kids in the AAU circuit can't stand his family. "they be doing too much"
 

Dottie's is delicious. The art on the walls is spectacular and......for sale. Deals all around. The Ellenson's need to learn their place.
 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Gophers&src=hash">#Gophers</a> coach watching <a href="https://twitter.com/AIllikainen_25">@AIllikainen_25</a> RT <a href="https://twitter.com/TimmRinghofer">@timmringhofer</a>: Richard Pitino is in Hibbing to watch Hermantown and Grand Rapids.</p>— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) <a href="https://twitter.com/GopherHole/statuses/441246201032482816">March 5, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Go Gophers!!
 

Maybe I'll get a chance to meet Pitino today. My squad plays Fon Du Lac at 5:45 in the Hibbing Memorial Building.

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It's probably unlikely, but it would be awesome to get a commit from Alex before he plays for Pulley this summer.
 

Pulley told me last year, that he likes what Richard Pitino is doing, and that he relates well with the kids. He said the big three would be hard to get, but he then said i think he will have a big 2015 recruiting class. So Pulley obviously likes Pitino, and he feels like he is gonna pull in some players for this years class.
 

First time posting here, thought I'd give some thoughts on Illikainen's game. I'm a recent U of M graduate, but grew up and currently live near Hibbing so got a chance to see him play for the first time.

Body wise, Illikainen looked more lanky in person than I thought he would. Right away I thought he could stand to gain some weight over the next year, especially if he's going to be playing the 4 at the next level. There were several instances in the first half especially where he made a good move or got himself in position for a lay in but couldn't finish after contact. Some credit has to be given to the Hermantown big man there, as he brought physicality throughout the game. I didn't keep track of points in the first half for big Al, but I thought it was in the low single digits. While clearly not his best half, some little things stuck out to me. He's clearly a willing passer, and if anything seemed a little too unselfish. He also showed pretty good ball handling when he needed to, but mostly just used it to break through traps in the backcourt.

Luckily, Illikainen showed a little more of what he's capable of in the second half. There was a stretch in the first few minutes of the half where he scored about 10 straight points. The sequence included a drive to the hoop, three pointer and a three point play from a powerful lay in. He'd made a long range two pointer early in the first half, so it was good to see him stretch it out beyond the three line. His form looked really good to me, and if anything it seemed like he should've looked to stretch the court more. Despite his play in the second half, his team couldn't pull off the win. From my experiences playing and watching basketball up here, this Rapids team wasn't on the level of teams in previous years, which was part of the reason Illikainen maybe didn't play as well as he could have. If their guards weren't missing Illikainen when he was open, they were throwing the ball to no one in particular (seriously happened a half dozen times in the second half alone).

Overall, I'd love to see Illikainen in the maroon and gold, but like just about any junior in high school he definitely has some areas of improvement, mostly strength related.

Sidenote: Couldn't even begin to count the number of kids who were coming up to Pitino for a picture during the game. I know coaches are used to that kind of attention, but he seemed more than happy to accommodate everyone, even deep into the second half of a close game featuring a recruit. Also, got a chance to meet him and Ben Johnson after the game and they made it clear how thrilled they were with the support for the team this year.
 

Thanks for the report Bri2K, much appreciated.

Go Gophers!!
 

Bri2K said:
First time posting here, thought I'd give some thoughts on Illikainen's game. I'm a recent U of M graduate, but grew up and currently live near Hibbing so got a chance to see him play for the first time.

Body wise, Illikainen looked more lanky in person than I thought he would. Right away I thought he could stand to gain some weight over the next year, especially if he's going to be playing the 4 at the next level. There were several instances in the first half especially where he made a good move or got himself in position for a lay in but couldn't finish after contact. Some credit has to be given to the Hermantown big man there, as he brought physicality throughout the game. I didn't keep track of points in the first half for big Al, but I thought it was in the low single digits. While clearly not his best half, some little things stuck out to me. He's clearly a willing passer, and if anything seemed a little too unselfish. He also showed pretty good ball handling when he needed to, but mostly just used it to break through traps in the backcourt.

Luckily, Illikainen showed a little more of what he's capable of in the second half. There was a stretch in the first few minutes of the half where he scored about 10 straight points. The sequence included a drive to the hoop, three pointer and a three point play from a powerful lay in. He'd made a long range two pointer early in the first half, so it was good to see him stretch it out beyond the three line. His form looked really good to me, and if anything it seemed like he should've looked to stretch the court more. Despite his play in the second half, his team couldn't pull off the win. From my experiences playing and watching basketball up here, this Rapids team wasn't on the level of teams in previous years, which was part of the reason Illikainen maybe didn't play as well as he could have. If their guards weren't missing Illikainen when he was open, they were throwing the ball to no one in particular (seriously happened a half dozen times in the second half alone).

Overall, I'd love to see Illikainen in the maroon and gold, but like just about any junior in high school he definitely has some areas of improvement, mostly strength related.

Sidenote: Couldn't even begin to count the number of kids who were coming up to Pitino for a picture during the game. I know coaches are used to that kind of attention, but he seemed more than happy to accommodate everyone, even deep into the second half of a close game featuring a recruit. Also, got a chance to meet him and Ben Johnson after the game and they made it clear how thrilled they were with the support for the team this year.
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Thanks for the report. I've only seen him in person once as well, which was the game against Lakeville North. Not meaning to rip on the Grand Rapids team, but he doesn't look like he has much help at all. Lakeville North basically triple teamed him when he touched the ball and dared anyone else to beat them, which was a very effective strategy that game at least. He's ranked pretty highly already, but I'm thinking he might shoot up the rankings this summer playing with Howard Pulley. He should have room to operate and show off the skills he definitely has. I really hope he stays in-state and commits to the U sooner rather than later before most of the big-time blue bloods can offer.
 

Nice report, I was expecting to hear how well he runs the court for a 6'9" guy. I am glad to hear he is expanding his shooting range. With some weight/strength he will be a great pf in the B1G!

Bri2K said:
First time posting here, thought I'd give some thoughts on Illikainen's game. I'm a recent U of M graduate, but grew up and currently live near Hibbing so got a chance to see him play for the first time.

Body wise, Illikainen looked more lanky in person than I thought he would. Right away I thought he could stand to gain some weight over the next year, especially if he's going to be playing the 4 at the next level. There were several instances in the first half especially where he made a good move or got himself in position for a lay in but couldn't finish after contact. Some credit has to be given to the Hermantown big man there, as he brought physicality throughout the game. I didn't keep track of points in the first half for big Al, but I thought it was in the low single digits. While clearly not his best half, some little things stuck out to me. He's clearly a willing passer, and if anything seemed a little too unselfish. He also showed pretty good ball handling when he needed to, but mostly just used it to break through traps in the backcourt.

Luckily, Illikainen showed a little more of what he's capable of in the second half. There was a stretch in the first few minutes of the half where he scored about 10 straight points. The sequence included a drive to the hoop, three pointer and a three point play from a powerful lay in. He'd made a long range two pointer early in the first half, so it was good to see him stretch it out beyond the three line. His form looked really good to me, and if anything it seemed like he should've looked to stretch the court more. Despite his play in the second half, his team couldn't pull off the win. From my experiences playing and watching basketball up here, this Rapids team wasn't on the level of teams in previous years, which was part of the reason Illikainen maybe didn't play as well as he could have. If their guards weren't missing Illikainen when he was open, they were throwing the ball to no one in particular (seriously happened a half dozen times in the second half alone).

Overall, I'd love to see Illikainen in the maroon and gold, but like just about any junior in high school he definitely has some areas of improvement, mostly strength related.

Sidenote: Couldn't even begin to count the number of kids who were coming up to Pitino for a picture during the game. I know coaches are used to that kind of attention, but he seemed more than happy to accommodate everyone, even deep into the second half of a close game featuring a recruit. Also, got a chance to meet him and Ben Johnson after the game and they made it clear how thrilled they were with the support for the team this year.
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Richard said:
Thanks for the report. I've only seen him in person once as well, which was the game against Lakeville North. Not meaning to rip on the Grand Rapids team, but he doesn't look like he has much help at all. Lakeville North basically triple teamed him when he touched the ball and dared anyone else to beat them, which was a very effective strategy that game at least. He's ranked pretty highly already, but I'm thinking he might shoot up the rankings this summer playing with Howard Pulley. He should have room to operate and show off the skills he definitely has. I really hope he stays in-state and commits to the U sooner rather than later before most of the big-time blue bloods can offer.
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Agree about AAU. Got the feeling Illikainen could really put on a show in a more open environment. The game Tuesday was a pretty low-scoring physical affair and he had to work for every bucket. I didn't want to rip the Rapids team either, and I don't know if they're relatively young or what but I've seen other teams in recent years from Grand Rapids that were miles ahead of this squad. Despite some frustrating guard play, I thought Illikainen's demeanor was excellent out there. He was one of the guys going up to encourage teammates who just airmailed a pass. Seemed like a good teammate.

march madness said:
Nice report, I was expecting to hear how well he runs the court for a 6'9" guy. I am glad to hear he is expanding his shooting range. With some weight/strength he will be a great pf in the B1G!
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Thanks for bringing that up. Although he didn't get many chances to get out in the open court and run in that slow-paced game, I could've easily mentioned how well he moves. He really got going on one drive up the court to break the press before cooling the jets at the top of the key to hand it off to the point guard. Based off that game, I'd say he's a very fluid big man.
 

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