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Talking Illini recruiting with Kedric Prince
97 Plays2 years ago
I talk about the University of Illinois, football, and Basketball recruiting with Kedric Prince from the Illini guys.com
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Transcript
Introduction to NCAA Report & Missouri Tigers
00:00:00
Speaker
This is Gateway City Sports. From Talking Sports on the Bleachers, it's the NCAA Report.
00:00:24
Speaker
And my co-host Russ Robinson sit back and enjoy folks
Interview with Kendrick Prince: Illinois Sports Recruiting
00:00:59
Speaker
All right, welcome to the NCAA report, a proud part of not only talking sports on the bleachers, but Gateway City Sports. At Gateway City Sports, we strive in bringing you as much content as possible from the Blues to the Battle Hawks to the Missouri Tigers and the Fighting Alliance of Illinois. As normally I would have my, I've introduced my coach at this time, but he's not here yet. Hopefully he'll be able to join us soon.
00:01:29
Speaker
But I do have with me, Kendrick Prince. I hope I pronounce it, Kendrick, right? Did I get that? Yeah. Kendrick Prince, the director of recruiting for the Illini Guys podcasting network and a columnist for the Quad City Times. We're going to talk a little bit of Illinois football recruiting. Well, Illinois recruiting in general, basketball and football.
00:01:50
Speaker
I'm gonna go with the transfer program a little bit and see what what Kendrick thinks about everything and I hope to get we Russ and I hope to get the Missouri aspect of this in the coming days so Kendrick well welcome to your show sir.
Complexities in Tracking Recruits
00:02:07
Speaker
I appreciate you coming on Thanks for having me. I appreciate it
00:02:11
Speaker
No problem. Okay. Well, first of all, we kind of talked a little bit before the show started being able to keep track of all this stuff on, on, you know, just in one sport would be, would be hard. I can't imagine you're trying to do this for, and how many sports do you actually try to keep track of before there's recruiting goes?
00:02:28
Speaker
Well, I mean, to be honest with you, it was just men's basketball and football. And now Illinois women's basketball is relevant. So now it's three sports. And you're right, it wasn't so tough, you know, years ago because it was just the high school, you know, recruits. But now the transfer portal has thrown a monkey wrench into it. So that makes it really tough because there's so many names out there. And then there's so many kids to all the colleges, not just University of Illinois.
00:02:57
Speaker
a lot of these colleges, they're pursuing kids and it's a lot. I mean, it takes a lot. I have a spreadsheet that I try to go by and look at, remember all these kids because there's so many other men when you think they're gone, all of a sudden they're on campus for a visit and then the kid gets an offer and then some kids commit. So it's a lot. You probably locked into Twitter like a dog chewing a bone. Oh yeah. I could imagine that.
00:03:26
Speaker
Yeah, I can imagine
Illinois Basketball Recruits Analysis
00:03:27
Speaker
that. Yeah. Hey, uh, well, I guess we'll start with basketball because that's the hot, the hot thing going around champagne or banner right now. And I get to the big reason for that in a minute, but I want to kind of go over the, the, the incoming freshmen. And I guess we have to consider actually Nicole, that Nicole O'Maretti as part of that. But, uh, of the three freshmen we got coming in, Moretti, Lawhorn and Hansberry. Who do you see as making the biggest impact right now?
00:03:53
Speaker
That's a good question. If Illinois was not pursuing another guard, which we know that this picked up a couple of guards, I would say Drayvon Gibbs-Lawhorn, because I think he committed to Purdue when he was a freshman, I believe, and he's a freak athlete, really, really gifted. I just don't know how many minutes he's going to get, because I know last year, Illinois relied on a bunch of young guys in the back court, and I don't know if that's going to happen.
00:04:19
Speaker
But so now having said that to answer your question, it may be a Molly Hansberry because in his position, there's some depth there, but not like in the guard position, I think. And here's a kid that a lot of people forget about. And, you know, what's sad is that now the transfer portal is so big, people forget about high school kids. I mean, Illinois has a 2024 kid that's a top 25 recruit, Morris Johnson, and no one talks about him.
00:04:46
Speaker
So the high school kids are kind of forgotten about because they all focus on
00:04:51
Speaker
the transfer portal, but it's a good incoming class. And Nick already is a guard who just, he's a past guard first, not the most athletic guard in the world, but I think when they brought him in, it was a serviceable guard. So they didn't get caught not having somebody to take care of the ball because there was way too many times last year when Coleman Hawkins at 6-11 was having to bring the ball on the court. They want to avoid that as all possible from now on. It hurt his game.
00:05:20
Speaker
And I know I'm good friends with his father. I know they didn't like it, but he did it out of necessity.
00:05:25
Speaker
Right, right. Well, I mean, he's a good, he's a good ball handler, but, you know, not so much as a point guard. He's, he's good on that wing pass and finding an open guy here and there, but yeah, you're right. I think bringing the ball up was really not, not Coleman's game last year, for sure.
Three-Point Shooting Struggles
00:05:41
Speaker
We'll get to the transfers here in a minute, but what do you see as you say Lawhorn could be the X factor, if you will, as far as the incoming freshmen go?
00:05:52
Speaker
What about Sincere Harris? Have we written him off as a possible point guard option? No, you know, when the transfer portal first opened up, I like a lot of people thought that Sincere was going to transfer out. And he was one of the first guys
00:06:12
Speaker
who went to social media and said, I'm coming back. He's a fierce competitor. What's going to keep him on the floor, I mean, let's face it, he has to shoot the basketball. I mean, I think he shot
00:06:24
Speaker
20 something percent from three in the free throw line. You're not going to, you can't play at this level. I mean, the way the game is played today at the college level, men's, women's game, and even in the NBA, you have to be able to knock down shots or they're not going to guard you. And so, you know, I talked to the coaches periodically, you know, just check in. I'm like, Hey, you know, him and Ty Rogers both, they need to go to shooting camps because
00:06:51
Speaker
They're good athletes. They are probably two of the better, two of the better athletes on the team. And I think Drayvon Gibbs-Lawhorn is another one.
00:06:58
Speaker
But if you can't put the ball in the basket and you can't score and other than layups, you're going to have a hard time. So he's such a good defensive player. And I don't want to take that away from his game because truthfully, there was a lot of games. I know the Northwestern game at home when they struggled, the UCLA game that they won. He can change the game defensively. He's that good of a defensive player. But on the other end,
00:07:23
Speaker
Again, like I said, you got to be able to put the ball in the basket and I do like his athleticism and he'll get a lot He'll get bigger from year to year of these kids get bigger from their freshman or sophomore year He just needs to take that leap. He doesn't have to become a you know 40% three-point shooter but an average three-point shooting cause basketball is anywhere from 32 to 34 percent and he has to get to that clip and
00:07:47
Speaker
Oh yeah, no doubt about that. And as you say, shooting was the one thing or well, at least three point shooting was the one thing last year that Illinois really.
00:07:57
Speaker
Well, I shouldn't say uncharacteristically because it's happened before, but it just seemed like what we had coming back last year with Melendez and of course Goody was hurt, but you had all these guys that had performed well in high school as far as three foreign shooters and they get to the big 10 game and it's like they forgot how to do it. I mean, Cole has never been a great three, but even he was worse than his normal.
00:08:26
Speaker
Yeah, well, it's tough as him. If you ever watch him in a practice or like if you ever go to a game and watch him in warmups, he doesn't miss. But when the lights turn on during the game, it is different. And a lot of people criticize his percentage. But my thing is this, I mean, yeah, I do recruiting, but I've also coached at the game at the high school and collegiate level. And I'm going to tell you, you know, Coleman shot a lot of bad shots because
00:08:52
Speaker
the team could make shots and they didn't have a pure point guard to get him in an offense. So the team's three point shooting struggled because he did that. And I think toward this after the Northwestern game at Northwestern, I don't know if they had a team meeting, but I saw his game change. He didn't shoot as many bad threes as he did, you know, prior to that. And he seemed much more relaxed. I think you can shoot a little bit, but just getting him a guard and getting him shooting the ball in rhythm is big because
00:09:21
Speaker
Truthfully, I mean, I know we're talking about, you know, the incoming freshmen and things, but that's why Coleman didn't stay in the NBA draft. They want him to improve his three-point shooting. If he shoots 34%, 35% from the NBA, you can bet that he's gone next year, and he
Transfer Portal Strategy for Shooters
00:09:37
Speaker
will be drafted.
00:09:38
Speaker
Well, yeah, no doubt about it. Oh, well, I mean, yeah, I mean, I'm going to get Coleman and and Shannon here in a minute, but OK, so let's talk about the transfers now. When I first saw the list of who they were going, who they got first and then they started the domino started falling, if you will, the first two guys with the mosque and Harmon, good shooters, both. And it looked like that's what they were were headed with this. And
00:10:06
Speaker
Have they continued with that with Gurier and Williams? That's what they do. Or did they shift? No, he's addressing. I mean, you hit the nail on the head.
00:10:16
Speaker
they typically always been a good shooting team and you know I'd sit in the press conferences and Coach Underwood would tell us that the kids could shoot but we're not blind we knew that the kids couldn't put the ball in the basket you know they just didn't do it and one of the things I mean and a lot of people will question Coach Underwood was coaching and here's what I'd say to that
00:10:37
Speaker
I'd see him call a timeout or I'd see them draw plays. Guys would get open looks and just couldn't make them. Other teams did that. Illinois couldn't do it. They were the worst three point shooting team in the conference and one of the worst in the country. Toward the end of the season, he mentioned that. So this offseason, he wanted to get older.
00:10:56
Speaker
He wanted guys that can make shots and you know, you mentioned a guy and Justin Harmon who had one of the best nit runs of anybody in the last four or five years And no one talks about him. I mean everyone talks about the guards the guards of guards, you know And i'm gonna tell you this kid can score. I mean, I think it gives new mexico He put up 30 something points in the nit game. Uh, he he looks really really good down the stretch and people forget about him I they are going what they're trying to do is
00:11:25
Speaker
spread the floor and make teams have to guard everybody. A lot of teams can't do that. And that's what I like that they're trying to do.
00:11:35
Speaker
You mentioned Dormask was another guy that came out of nowhere, just came out of nowhere who can knock down shots. And, you know, there's these percentages where they keep track now in the, you know, the, you know, 2000s when back in the 1800s when I played, they didn't do this, but they really do a good job of keeping track of kids catching and shooting, catching left and going right. And the guys that they brought in all could catch and shoot guards, wings, all of them.
00:12:04
Speaker
Now, uh, Williams, I, I, you know, the, the latest one, Jeremiah Williams, have we heard any more about whether he's what his possibility because I understand he has to clear waivers. Uh, cause he's one of those guys who's already transferred once. So now, since he's not a senior.
00:12:24
Speaker
He needs a waiver to play immediately. Is there any feeling as to how that's gonna fly or will it go or will it not go? Cuz I know on the football side, we had a couple guys that applied for that waiver for another year at least and it didn't happen. So how's this gonna affect or does it affect?
00:12:44
Speaker
Well, it's going to, it's going to affect the money because here's the thing and he's been to two schools and this is why he has to set out the NCAA. They will allow you to transfer once without sitting out. So he went to Temple and then he ended up going to Iowa State. So this is his second school and if you know any history with the University of Illinois, the NCAA doesn't.
00:13:03
Speaker
do them any favors. I would be very surprised if he was granted a waiver. There are some clauses, you know, if people look at them at the top of my head, I only remember, I think I remember two of them. There's like four clauses where you can become eligible. One of them is if you're abused verbally by your coach and you can prove that. The other one is if there are some disabilities from the classroom.
00:13:29
Speaker
you could possibly get a waiver. And there's two other ones, but if those aren't in the play, the kids don't make it. And so it's tough for them to get that. So having said that, I would be very surprised if he played. And I don't think Illinois is done. I mean, it's not a secret that they're not done. And I know there are other scholarships, and I don't know what their plan is to how they address that. But
00:13:50
Speaker
Um, but I would be very surprised if Williams gets, if he's eligible, I mean, he'll be older and he has three years of eligibility. So by the time he's done, if he said, sorry, he may be 25, 26 years old. Yeah, no doubt. No doubt. I mean, he's got the, the Achilles injury with, so maybe they can, he can, he can play that as well. I didn't get to play last year because my Achilles was busted.
00:14:14
Speaker
Maybe that'll come a little help, but, uh, okay. So if, and I agree with you, I mean, they're out of technically right now, they're out of scholarships. So anybody they're bringing in is going to have to go in as a walk on. They're going to have to remove her scholarship from somebody like say, I'm already, or, you know, somebody like, you know, uh, he's the only one I can see them taking scholarship away from them. Cause the rest of them are all have all been.
00:14:38
Speaker
solid contributors or, you know, you're not going to, you're not going to pull something from one of the other two incoming freshmen. So I don't know. I mean, it's, I guess I've heard the talk about NIL money for walk-ons. I've heard that too. I've heard that. And I, I mean, it's, it would stink to do to a kid, but it'll always in a situation right now where
00:15:00
Speaker
Um, they have to go out and they have to try to win. You know, there's a couple of kids that's in the traditional portal and Tonya Reeves from Kentucky. I know who's a Chicago kid, but I know that they're pursuing. I mean, he's a guy that who's definitely interested and you can't turn your back on a guy like that because you know, this guy scored 16, 18 points a game in the SEC. And then Chris Jordan is a kid. Um,
00:15:26
Speaker
who went to my bird, who was a guard, and he asked to get out of the scholarship from Kansas. And right away, Illinois contacted him. So they're looking in to bring somebody else. I mean, you know, whether, you know, it's NIL money or somebody's being told, hey, you know, if we get one of these two kids, you know, we're going to probably take your scholarship. But maybe they may not do that, and maybe NIL money. I don't want to speculate. But I know their plan is to bring another guard. I'm 100% sure of that.
00:15:55
Speaker
Yeah. I guess, uh, uh, it's kind of like an injury trying to get like an insurance policy with, with, with what you've already brought in, so to speak. Oh yeah. I mean, cause he wants an older guard. And the thing that he mentioned last year, you know, his press conference was, um,
00:16:14
Speaker
he really wanted to bring in a veteran guard. Last year, the whole Skye Clark situation, it failed and Jay Neps was good at times, but they hit that freshman wall. And if you look at the NCAA tournaments, all the teams who did well, the teams that advanced and that, or even if they didn't advance, they were in the games as teams with older guards and guys, guards that could just make
00:16:38
Speaker
Everybody else better. I mean, Parkinson Walker from Michigan State. I mean, he had a phenomenal run in the tournament. And he's a transfer, but he's an older guard. So and I know that's what Brian Underwood is really looking for. He doesn't want to go back to relying on freshmen. And as good as I think Drayvon Gibbs-Lawhorn is, he's not a point guard. And we just talked about St. Harris. He's a good player. But if he can't shoot it well enough, that's not going to help you advance in the tournament.
Return of Key Players: Coleman Hawkins & Terrance Shannon
00:17:05
Speaker
Oh, exactly right, exactly right.
00:17:07
Speaker
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00:17:53
Speaker
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00:18:17
Speaker
How big is the news of Coleman Hawkins? We've talked about him already and, uh, Terence Shannon coming back. Game changers from a, uh, team standpoint, a big hand standpoint, a national and, and he is wrong. I'm going to go with that from a team standpoint. Coleman Hawkins, um, is about under was first four year player. We've been there four years and he's a guy that a lot of people don't.
00:18:42
Speaker
understand how valuable he is. It's easy to look at scoring, but he does so many other things well. In his first NBA pre-draft game, his first game, he almost had a triple double.
00:18:55
Speaker
I mean, he's not going to score 25 points, but he was like two or $3 maybe assist away from a triple double and people don't get it. But again, I've talked to his father and he's played overseas and they know Coleman is not going to be a guy that's going to come in and score 25 points a game. But tell me other than
00:19:14
Speaker
shooting the three, well, what doesn't he do? Well, he can handle the basketball. You mentioned his passing ability. He can defend. He can block shots. He can make other people better. I mean, and in six 10 and six 11. So having him back is huge. Then you go to 10 Shannon, who probably will be a preseason, all American, definitely all big 10, a preseason, all big 10 caliber type player. Um, and he averaged 17, 18 points a game last year for Illinois. Here's what I mean by nationally.
00:19:42
Speaker
you know, or even in the Big 10. Before those two came back, people are obviously everywhere. It doesn't matter whether it be national or local guys. They had Illinois picked anywhere from 7th, 8th, and 9th in the Big 10. When they both decided to come back to school, they immediately jumped up to 3rd behind Michigan State and Purdue.
00:20:00
Speaker
Then you look nationally, everybody now has them in their top 25. That's how big that is to get those two kids back because they're proving guys and it's depth. Illinois is going to be deep. I would not want to be brought into work. We talked about all those junior college players or transfers that they brought in. You got Ty Rogers guys that are coming back and Coleman and Terrance Shannon.
00:20:22
Speaker
I don't know where the minutes are going to come from but it's a nice problem to have because now when you play guys you don't have liabilities on the floor you have guys that can all play you know where you don't have to hide people on and that's going to be really nice for the Illinois this year but to answer your question those two guys coming back those are game changers because you now know Illinois is going to be engaged now they're going to win probably 20 games again
00:20:45
Speaker
And then, you know, I know they need to advance in the tournament, but having those two guys and getting them back on campus and their leadership is big.
00:20:56
Speaker
Oh yeah. I mean, I, I, again, uh, when I talked to Dion Thomas, uh, at the end of the last basketball season, you know, I mentioned something about the Hawkins and, and, uh, at that time, Melendez was actually considering it or was, was thought to be considering an NBA, uh, jump, uh, and, and, and Shannon and, uh, and, uh, you know, he said, no, he said, I don't think either one of them will school won't go. He said.
00:21:23
Speaker
because I think they both have things they need to work on. He said, he did kind of hesitate. He goes, whether they come back, he said, they'll come back to college. He said, if they get the right advice, they'll come back to Illinois. So he wasn't 100% sure they were coming back to Illinois, but he knew that he had the idea that, well, like you said, the NBA knew that
00:21:48
Speaker
what they needed to work on and told him and said, hey, next year you get this work done. You can go first draft, you know, oh, you know, thought that Shannon had to come back from Colin Hawkins. Believe it or not, he did consider. I mean, but it was a small possibility, but the transfer portal him entering that portal was a small window. And I think his bad, you know, convinced him differently to say, Hey, you know what? Stick around. Brad, I know what's been good to you. And you know, so that would have thrown a monkey wrench into it because
00:22:18
Speaker
I know as much as I hate to say this and it happens, you know, people do things that are illegal. And I mean, there was a lot of schools that were interested in Coleman. I'll put it I'll put it like that. I'll leave it at that. Yes. Oh, yeah. I mean, I'm sure that that goes in just about.
00:22:35
Speaker
Everybody's had a conversation or two like that, no matter where you're at and in whatever school you're at. So, you know, one guy we haven't talked about and brought up, well, two guys actually haven't talked about or brought up and how it's going to, how all this, all these moves and all these people coming in are going to affect. And that's Luke Goody and Dane Danger. Glad you mentioned Dane Danger first, because
00:22:59
Speaker
Um, I'm talking to one of the coaches and they said people need to realize that last year was his first year. This kid averaged 10 points and six rebounds a game. That's pretty good. I mean, and he didn't play a lot. And if you get up, you know, I was talking about Twitter and what Twitter was like.
00:23:17
Speaker
Look at his body. He's lost another 15 pounds. Oh, really? Oh my gosh. Oh, you can sit in his face. He's lost 15 more pounds and they're expecting big things from him. And the reason he doing it because he wants to play more medicine. He came off the floor last year. It wasn't a secret, you know, and today's terminology is called drop coverage. And so teams would pick on Dane. They will go to his side because he at the time wouldn't get out and cover.
00:23:45
Speaker
the guards could have quick enough. And that was a notch on Kofi. Well, now Daines lost weight. He wants to be on the court because teams did it. And I know one team that picked on him more than anything. If anybody has the big 10 network pass, I'm not plugging them. Go back and watch the Michigan game. They went to at him every single time.
00:24:03
Speaker
Now that he's lost weight and he's much more mobile, he's great inside. And Illinois is going to have him for another two years. I mean, so this, having him back is huge because he's a service or big guy. He has good hands. He can finish with both hands around the brim. He's a tough guard for anybody to, you know, to defend and Luke Goody. We, you know, going into the preseason, I know it was early on when they played Kansas and everybody knew Illinois beat Kansas.
00:24:32
Speaker
He was one of the best players on the court. I thought the ending of the game at Indiana was when Luke Goody was kind of getting his feet underneath him. Having him back and being in the system, he's stronger and he's another knockdown shooter.
00:24:46
Speaker
Him and Domasquez are the same type of players. I mean, if you have to guard guys on a perimeter like that, and then you have guys that can get to the rim, you're going to be a tough team to defend. And I think having looked back and been around is huge. And he's an old school guy. I remember when he was being recruited and I was talking to his father. His father made it really clear to me
00:25:07
Speaker
I think he played football in Northwestern Indiana. He's like, in my family, we don't transfer. You know, when he commits to a school, that's exactly what that means. If he graduates and, you know, once he works as a smart kid, then that's different. But he's like, we're not running from competition. And that's the kind of family he is. And so I like the kid because he's fissure. So we're supposed to do a fishing tournament as well. So Luke's a good kid, man.
00:25:32
Speaker
All right. Well, good. I kind of felt sorry for him last year, a little bit when he got hurt and, you know, trying to come back and, and, you know, it's tough to do that. I mean, you come on off an injury, it's, it's hard to get back. And I don't care how hard you practice. I don't care, care how many simulations you run. It's not the same as playing in the, in the actual game. I just, it's just not. And, uh, you know, so I kind of felt, but, but he, he did, he came back and, and, and showed that.
00:26:02
Speaker
you know he hadn't lost that much that much of a step no no and he can shoot it he can he can fill it up no doubt about that okay um so given all that and given all this new i've seen a couple projected lineups and i'm like okay
00:26:22
Speaker
One of them, I think didn't have any of these, any of the new, any of the transfers on the floor, except for, for Williams. And which I, which I thought kind of funny. So he's not even sure if he's going to be able to play or not. Um, what do you see? I mean, of all these guys we've talked about the new guys coming in, the, the, the Moretti and the, the two freshmen and the, and the four, uh, transfers, who's got the best shot is cracking the starting lineup.
00:26:47
Speaker
Grincey Gurieri. He's the one guy, I think, because he's 6'8 and only recruited this kid three times. And I don't think he came to Illinois to sit. I think he's the one guy who's been at power five schools, you know, with Syracuse and Oregon. I think he's going to be a guy that's going to probably get to, and who will make the lineup. I think the mask is going to be tough to stay out.
00:27:11
Speaker
Um, as well, but if he had your question, I think he's going to be the one guy that's probably going to get that nod in the starting lineup. Okay. Fantastic. All right. Let's, let's, uh, flip it over to football now. I don't, I'm finding it very hard to remember and I've been following only football since the early seventies and I've don't think I remember.
00:27:36
Speaker
maybe Mike white, but I'd have to go back and look at the, look at the, uh, or McEvick, I didn't go back and look at the stats, but I don't remember a coach, uh, coming in and in two years, having the university pretty, or the, the, the fans just falling all over him at the, I mean, what he's been able to do with this program. And, you know, when he went five, five and what was it five and eight, the first year, five and seven, the first year.
00:28:04
Speaker
You know, as somebody asked me about the seasons, I didn't come here to win five games. You know, I mean, I don't know of another coach has been that out, frankly, out front of it and saying, this is not what we're accepting. We're going to, we're accepting championships, not also rants. How much has he meant to this program?
Brett Beelama's Cultural Shift in Illinois Football
00:28:27
Speaker
Well, I remember when Lovey Smith was fired, and I remember, and for all you listeners out there, they can go to Twitter and go back and research it. I was one of very few guys. I wanted Brett Beelama as soon as Lovey Smith was fired. And I'm not making this up, because here's why.
00:28:46
Speaker
He dominated the big 10 in Wisconsin. And I'm going to tell you the truth. And I'm going to be honest with you. I don't like his style. I don't, I don't like it because it's run first. I'm an aggressive guy. I like the office, but I'm not criticizing it because guess what? It works. It works. And they're winning games. So here's what's different about him. He has been successful. He has done a great job of putting guys Lyman in the NFL.
00:29:14
Speaker
He speaks well to boosters, donors, to recruits. One of the things that I've done, I've been doing this recruiting for 20 years, and I'm going to tell you, I've been around Ryan Zuck, I've been around Bruce Weber, a lot of guys, I'm telling you, and Brett Beelmer is one of the top two or three recruiters, including Bill Self. He is good at what he does.
00:29:37
Speaker
I mean, and the reason I'm saying that is because he is, when he was at Iowa, you know, I went to school at Iowa, and a lot of, one of my friends who, I live in the Quad Cities, and they were hoping when Kirk Barrens retired, they knew that they wanted Brad Biedlmer. That's how good of a coach he is. And you know how good the program is at Iowa. What he does is, is he came in, every coach, they all say the right things. I mean, you've seen the press conferences, we're going to recruit the state.
00:30:06
Speaker
He does it and it's not a lie. He really recruits this state and every coach has an assignment and what makes Brett unique versus any coach and I would ask anybody. I would challenge anybody out there at a power five school, especially the big 10 to tell me. Brett Biedema doesn't care about stars. They go out and they look for kids and they see talent.
00:30:28
Speaker
There's a kid from my area from Moline High School. His name is Matthew Bailey. He's a cornerback, defensive back. And his only offer coming out of high school was, I think, South Dakota or something like that. The kid ended up making the second, he was on second depth chart for Illinois as a true freshman because they saw talent in him. Beelmer can see talent and he can recruit talent. And Illinois now, they're competitive and they're going to be
00:30:55
Speaker
He is building depth. They never had a walk-on program. They're getting kids to walk on like some of the other big schools. Like, you know, you look at, you know, Missouri, Michigan, Iowa, and all those other programs, they have good walk-on programs. Illinois didn't have that. So getting him on campus was big. And when I talk to these parents, like, there's a tweet right now that went out. The parents went on campus that I think the football program put out yesterday.
00:31:22
Speaker
Every one of those parents will tell you, you know, all the kids say, oh, Mr. Prince's, you know, family atmosphere. They really do that. They really treat every kid the same. One kid was a walk-on and he made the comment to me, so they treated me like I was a fire star athlete.
00:31:35
Speaker
That's what makes Brett special. He makes sure, cause he was a former walk on once. So he knows what that's like. I'm a, I'm a big fan and I will tell you they're going to win games and they're going to always be competitive. They're never going to go for years of going to a nine and you know, whatever it is for five, six years in a row, as long as he's there, I'm not saying they're going to win the big 10 every year, but they're going to win six, seven, eight, nine games. As long as he's there, I'm a hundred percent sure of it.
00:32:03
Speaker
Yeah. I know what you mean when you're talking about the, the, cause you know, I look at, I'm looking at the, the list of, uh, signees, the kids have already signed. Uh, and you know, I see one four star kid, you know, everybody else is three stars. Um, and they've got some, they've got a couple of four stars that have got letters of intent that haven't actually signed yet, I guess.
00:32:28
Speaker
But, you know, a couple of names that I'm looking at here and one, it kind of intrigues me because many, many, many moons ago when I played high school football, I played against this school many times and I never liked playing against them. And that's a Caden Feegan from Arthur. Uh, where does he think he fits into Illinois?
00:32:48
Speaker
I'll tell you what, you know, it's what I like about Brad Biedlema with this kid. He basically said that this kid is probably one of the best recruits that he has ever, ever had on campus. And they really see him being in their mind at probably an NFL prospect. They went after him and they, oh my gosh, they went after Kate, they went after Kate Hart and he was a game changer.
00:33:14
Speaker
You know, and the other one, which I mean, I don't know if you're quite good to or not, um, is the wide receiver from Simeon Malik Elzi. Those were, those were kids from the state. Those are game changers. And Kayden is a big strong guy and they really see him competing as a freshman. And Brett, when they, to tell you how important he is, I'm glad you mentioned his name, every coach on that staff, it didn't matter if he was offensive lineman, cornerback coach, specialty coach, every coach on that staff recruited that kid.
00:33:45
Speaker
Well, it, it, it lists him as an athlete. That's why I was going to say, what, what, uh, what position do you think he's there looking at him to fill? He'll be in the backfield. Okay. Yeah, I think that's what they.
00:33:57
Speaker
you know, they recruited him to play. And, you know, I know he's an athlete. Yeah. Cause he got the size to kind of play almost all over the place. Oh yeah. I mean, without a doubt, I mean, the kids six, three, 221 pounds and you know, he's a big strong and he's quick and quick Twitch. I just, you know, and I'll tell you another thing, you know, when you look at some of these star rankings and stuff, you know, you look at the draft, which
00:34:21
Speaker
Illinois had guys that drafted in the first, you know, top 10. Those are three star recruits. And that's kind of the thing that I was telling you about earlier with that beat them up. Even though those were Lovey Smith's players, they developed talent. That's what makes Brett special. And when they talk to these recruits and their parents, they can sell that. They can sell it at Wisconsin. They can sell the, hey, we don't care what your kid's ranked. We see talent. We think your kid can help us. We can develop him.
00:34:47
Speaker
And they do a good job of it. So those are kids. And like we mentioned, you asked earlier, what makes Brett so special? You know, Malik Elzi, the kid that, he's a four-star kid out of Chicago. And I'm going to tell you, he can own anywhere in the country. This kid has SEC talent and he has SEC offers. This kid
00:35:04
Speaker
probably could have been a five-star recruit. So that's what's a game changer. When was the last time Illinois was able to keep kids like that at home? Because let's face it, those kids, they left. Yeah, kids like that never stayed around. I mean, yeah, for sure. I mean, every coach that's come in, I mean, going all the way back to Zook, like you said, we want to recruit Illinois, we want to recruit Illinois.
00:35:31
Speaker
you hardly ever saw a kid show up at the home. And if he did, he wasn't, he was just because Illinois was desperate and grabbed him. You know, that was pretty, I hate to say it about some of those kids, but that's exactly what it was. Another kid that I'm kind of interested in, and they, right now they just have him, or he's a transfer coming in. So I shouldn't say kid, but he's a transfer coming in is Demetrius Hill from Florida national.
00:36:00
Speaker
Yes, you know what? When they recruited him, I mean, getting him on campus was big because, you know, getting kids out of Florida is tough. I mean, I'm not going to lie to you. Illinois had a tough sell. Their assistant coach, Ann Henry, he did a really good job of recruiting those kids because he's from that area. And my thing with him is,
00:36:24
Speaker
He is able to sell those kids down there and he's able to get kids from the from the southern parts of the state because the way Illinois.
00:36:33
Speaker
They've, they've had a tough time doing it. I'm gonna be honest with you. And so getting a safety like that or cornerback from Florida, um, he's quick, he's athletic, um, six foot two. I really think he's going to be able to help them and stuff. So the way I look at it, um, getting kids like that, you know, is, is, is big because you don't get them to go to Illinois. I mean, why would you go to Illinois? Right. Right.
Impactful Illinois Football Recruits
00:36:58
Speaker
How big was the get when, uh, Luke Altmeyer decided to pick Illinois as transfer school? Oh, gosh. You know, going bread Bilema now, and I hate to keep using his name.
00:37:12
Speaker
But here's a guy, they throw the ball. I mean, I mentioned I wasn't a fan of them, you know, their style. But when you go back and you look at the game film of DeVito and what he did at Syracuse and how well he played Illinois, you're going to get to throw the ball, the lineman, because Illinois does a good job of protecting you.
00:37:33
Speaker
It's a no-brainer. You're going to walk in and he's young. He's going to get three years to come in and to run an offense. I mean, there's, you know, the Leary brothers back there, you know, who I heard had a really good spring as well, but let's look at this. You know, as you listen, when was the last time Illinois had a quarterback that they know was coming back for two or three years? I think I don't remember who it was. I can't, maybe Johnny, I don't know who, Juice Williams or
00:37:57
Speaker
I don't remember who it was the last time they had stability, and not a transfer guy or one year guy or whatever. So getting a guy like that, again, from the south, you know, is from Tennessee from Mississippi is big. And also,
00:38:12
Speaker
You know, he's not vocal, but he has a good arm. And, you know, reports that I was told that he really throws a deep ball really, really well. He has a strong arm. And I don't know how missed in playing. They just, I mean, you know, and I know, I know they regret regret it. But if you don't play kids now in the transfer court on the market, they can leave. They have an opportunity to get out and leave. And I think
00:38:37
Speaker
It's Illinois game because now you're going to have a guy back to who's confident. And, you know, I mean, grand, you can look at rankings, whatever, and be one of those star guys, but he's a four star recruit with good talent. Right. Yeah. Well, and you know, I, when I first heard that he was one of the first, uh, Trent first transfers at Beelam, I got this year and I first heard like, okay, I, I really, I mean, I thought I had heard the name.
00:39:04
Speaker
And so I looked him up. I'm like, hell, you know, this, this kid, he just never got his shot is what the problem is. No, he never got a shot. And they were, they looked at other guys, but at least that's what the rumor was. But I think they had Luke, you know, penciled in the whole time. And Brett uses his contacts. I mean, he's had contacts and you know, some of these kids when, you know, when he was in Arkansas before that he met some of these schools and he was on there. So being in the South,
00:39:33
Speaker
Maybe that was a big thing, but I mean, I knew they wanted him right away. And he came up and he saw what was there. And one of the things he mentioned too was they trust him. I mean, if you ever get a chance to talk to him, to a coach, it's awesome. Two years ago, when he first got there, we went to a media day and he went to, it was like 50 of us. He was in the room with us and he broke down game film with us.
00:39:59
Speaker
he's smart man he is smart and he will tell you most coaches will tell you that the game of loss in the fourth quarter he showed us three or four games where Illinois lost the game one of them was in the first quarter that mistakes that they made they left points on the board or didn't do little things right and he
00:40:18
Speaker
His team knows that, and he lets them know that. And he's professional. I like him because he doesn't belittle his players. And Luke's a quiet guy. And I think that was a part of it, too. I think they kind of hit it off because Brett deals with every kid differently. And your quarterback, you and the co-head coach have to be on the same page, and they're off as a coordinator.
00:40:38
Speaker
Well, I guess Luke's also a good recruiter on his own, right? Cuz I guess the kid was a kid for not this in this class, but next class from Altmaier's hometown that said if Illinois was good enough for Luke, it was good enough for him. So-
00:40:57
Speaker
I can't remember the kid's name off the top of my head right now, but he's a 24 recruited quarterback. Trey Petty. Yeah. Trey Petty. That's it. Yeah. I saw that quote and I went, what? So like you said, I think, you know, Bealam is the one he's going to recruit guys, bring in guys that are character based. They're not.
00:41:23
Speaker
They may not be the high, the bright flashy penny, but they're going to give you just as much effort as anybody else. And they're going to fit his system. He has a system. I mean, I think it's 60% run, 40% pass. And it's to take care of the trenches. He's going to pound the ball, the offensive line, and he wants guys to attack the run, defend the pass. And I like him. His system. And that's another thing.
00:41:51
Speaker
I should have mentioned, he has a really good system and that's what made him successful at Wisconsin. It didn't matter. You had to go in and try to take those things away from him. And when you did, he countered that. And the thing that I really liked, I haven't seen this in Illinois sports in a long time. If they were losing a game at halftime, they made adjustments in half. That's huge because, you know, a lot of fans talk about, Oh, you didn't do this. They do that.
00:42:18
Speaker
Yeah. Speaking of the, uh, as far as like defending and, um, how big is it? How big is it to have a law firm back? Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. You know what? I've seen a couple of publications and like, you know, people will tell you, I mean that they.
00:42:33
Speaker
potentially both of them, I mean both of those guys, all those guys could be first round draft picks again then. But you know what though, that's the name of the NIL money. The NIL money is a game changer because that is huge to be able to get guys like that back because if you can you know throw money out there and say hey come back for another year of school
Role of NIL Deals in Team Consistency
00:42:53
Speaker
and
00:42:53
Speaker
you know, and it's sales and, and Bill was able to use that with other kids. So that was big. I mean, and I'll be, and let's be honest, most of us will worry. And if I know I was worried, the fact that they were going to lose a lot of the defensive end and they'd be how one of the defense in the country again. Yeah. Uh, yeah. And I'll tell you one kid coming in that may have an impact on that, uh, Desmond Schuster, uh, the kid from, uh, Hutchinson, Kansas.
00:43:21
Speaker
Inside inside linebacker or is it inside outside linebacker play both on my yes. Yes Yeah, you know, I've never seen a lot of film on him, you know For some reason I don't know. I just never I was not able to get a lot of him. I know I
00:43:38
Speaker
I remember the name I remember talking to. I never got a lot of film on him, so my information about him is really, really limited with him. Well, I just I just the only thing it clicks with me on him is I'm looking at the of course the rankings or what they are, but he's like he's ranked like 51 nationally second for his position of 14th in his state. But what's getting me is 65311 and he's a linebacker.
00:44:07
Speaker
I know that's, and that's huge. I don't, I mean, yes, that's big for linebacker. I mean, you know, I, I think he may, I think he may, he may find a switch to a defensive defensive tackle in his future.
00:44:23
Speaker
At some point in time, probably, because I'm going to tell you right now, at that size, you'd have a hard time trying to be linebacker. But some of these kids, too, though, they're really, you know, I know they can say, hey, you know, we bring you in, but then they change. And some kids are cool with it. Some aren't, you know,
00:44:42
Speaker
But but a lot of the kids are there. There's no way that he'll be. I don't think you'd stay in the position. No, I don't know. Yeah, probably not. OK, well, what's the what with with what we've got coming in? I mean, what is your take on the football team now? I mean, I kind of ask you about basketball. I'll ask you about what's your take on the football team with what we've got coming in, what we've lost. You know who's going to step up? I mean, I know we I know love should be.
00:45:11
Speaker
Probably the odds on favorite take Chase's place. But who replaces Devon Witherspoon? Well, that's why they're recruiting a lot of cornerbacks. I mean, and they really are. They are in that transfer portal looking for kids trying to replace guys that are back there.
00:45:31
Speaker
as far as trying to replace them. I know they got a kid named Prince Ford, who's the kid that they just got out of the JUCO ranks because they walked in back there. But the running back position, you know what you I love was good, but another guy I really liked is the McRae kid. I think he's all far for back. Yes.
00:45:49
Speaker
I forgot about Josh. How did I forget about Josh? Gosh. He was hurt. Remember he was hurt for a while last year. When Illinois, I think Chase got hurt at the Northwestern game and Chase came in. Sorry. Love came in and he gave people got a good glimpse of
00:46:05
Speaker
what he can bring to the table. And it's going to be different because, you know, Chase was great. He was just a workhorse. And I know they're going to run the football. I mean, at least I know they're going to hand it off. So somebody is going to have an opportunity. And we talked about, you know, Kane Fagan, you know, he's going to play that kid. That kid is going to be on the field. But I don't know
00:46:28
Speaker
I can, you know, we always talk, you know, at a lot of guys, you know, you know, you know, what do you think? I mean, wins. I think a lot of it depends on two, what other teams do versus, you know, against each other. Illinois is going to be in the game. I think last year, I don't think they lost one game. If I could be wrong, maybe the bowl game, but every game they lost, it was by a touchdown or less. And that tells you that they're going to be in games and that they should clean a few things up.
00:46:56
Speaker
I'm not going to lie and contradict myself. I'm going to see seven or eight wins again. I do. You know, they take care of the non conference schedule with the, you know, you, you, everybody has to win those games. Those are three games, you know, whether the cupcakes or, you know, mediocre teams or one, two, and then one good power five school, you got to win those. And then you got to win your home games. And then there's always a game in my mind, you beat somebody you're not supposed to. If you remember a couple of years ago and they went to Penn state and won.
00:47:24
Speaker
You know, I personally thought they beat Michigan until, you know, that's for another show. But yeah, we could do a whole show on that game. You know, and they're in the game, you know, they're in the game. So yeah, I mean, so you can't count them out. And here's what I really like when I do podcasts for other schools and universities.
00:47:46
Speaker
Illinois used to be the school that everybody talked about. There was a homecoming game, and it was a guaranteed win. Now that Brett Beaton was there, you don't hear that anymore. And that tells you where they are. OK, sounds good. Hey, Kendrick, it has been fantastic. I'm going to have to have you on again before the season starts. I don't know. This has been fantastic. Thank you. Yes, really great insight. I really appreciate you coming on.
00:48:14
Speaker
Um, and, uh, you know, definitely we'll, we'll, we'll be, I'll be back in touch with you again for sure. I mean, cause, uh, like I said, this is what I, what I've kind of played with the Illinois, the Illinois side of the Missouri river, so to speak. So for Mississippi river, I mean, uh, so, uh, you know, this is, uh, getting insight like this is, is fantastic. And, um, tell people where they can find you, my friend.
00:48:41
Speaker
I'm on Twitter at careprince4. I'm on it 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I even turned up at nighttime to make sure I don't miss anything. So at careprince4. And then you can also join us at Illiniye Guys. We do a really good job of recruiting over everything. Me and one of my good friends were Brad Sturdy. We do a good job. And Matt Stephens does a good job with our football program. So I mean, we really try to stay on top of it. If you want to know the inside information, join Illiniye Guys.
00:49:09
Speaker
Again, follow me on Twitter. And I mean, I'm, I'm one of those guys. If you talk to me, I'm nine times, I'll tell you, I'm not going to know you. I don't, I don't want to be that guy. So I'm real sociable and trying to help people out and give a little bit information out if they have, if they have questions. All right. Well, fantastic. Thank you again for coming on and I'll be back with some final thoughts right after this message from fifth street motors.
00:49:37
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:50:29
Speaker
Tell him Don Glenn from Talking Sports on the bleachers sent you. All right, my final thoughts. I will agree with Kedrick on basically what he was saying about the basketball team for sure. I do not want to be Brad Underwood, don't want his job. He's going to have a heck of a time trying to find enough minutes
00:50:53
Speaker
for all those those players that he's got i mean he's he brought in some very good shooters with the mosque and and uh... uh... harman guillier and if you've got improvement from harris if he can get his game up ty rogers can get uh... get a shot going and you're looking at a team that's going to have a lot of of
00:51:18
Speaker
very good athletes Hawkins and Shannon coming back is huge I don't think Kedrick was kidding a bit when he said it's a game-changer it is because if you look at that lineup without Coleman Hawkins and Terence Shannon Jr. you're almost
00:51:42
Speaker
back to what they were last year. A lot of new faces that don't really know what's going on. The only difference being is going to be a lot of older faces. Last year you really didn't have any older faces. You had Matt Meyer and you had Taron Shannon Jr. That was pretty much it. In terms of guys that have that had a lot of experience or
00:52:08
Speaker
or older players. So this year now, with Hawkins coming back being a senior, with Shannon being a fifth year senior, or sixth year senior, if you will, give or take the COVID situation. And then you've got Damask and Harmon and Gugier. All those guys are fifth year seniors. So now you've got a little bit of age. Now you've got a little bit of experience on that team.
00:52:31
Speaker
So the need, if they have to go out and get another guard because if Williams can't play, then I think you're gonna see he's gonna do the same thing. He's gonna go for somebody that's got experience, somebody that's gonna fit what they need to have done, and how they work it out, scholarship-wise, and money, well, it could be NIL money, but how they work it out scholarship-wise, that'll remain to be seen.
00:52:57
Speaker
On the football side, I think I'm going to agree that keeping Newton and Randolph, the defensive law firm intact
00:53:12
Speaker
is it's huge it is it is that in itself is a game changer for the football team they had to replay it because they got our place a lot of stuff a lot of guys on defense I mean where the spoons gone Martin's gone Brown's gone so they've you know that's why he said they're looking at that defensive backfield getting
00:53:32
Speaker
more players in for those positions and not having to fill the interior line where where Newton and Randolph junior played I mean that's that's big now you got those guys from other year now you then you can develop what's on that team their backups you can develop the backups into taking over and stepping in where they need to next year or if they can find a couple another guy in the transfer portal if they need to
Positive Outlook for Illinois Football's Future
00:54:00
Speaker
The options are wide open for Beelam and that football team. I think Luke Meyer, or Luke Altmeyer, excuse me, I think he was a big get. They needed a quarterback.
00:54:16
Speaker
the who was going to be able to come in and who had some experience, who had some years available to play. You know, I think like Kendrick said, they were kind of getting tired of the one year, two year guys. I mean, and I'm having the same problem finding a guy that has been this quarterback.
00:54:39
Speaker
more than two years. Might be Juice Williams. I can't remember to tell you the honest truth. I know Brandon Peters is only here two years. Maybe Sheilhouse. Maybe Sheilhouse might. I don't know. I'd have to look that up. I'll get that answer for you next time.
00:54:58
Speaker
But anyway, so I think it's definitely within the realm. I mean, I see what Kedric's talking about. The backfield, I think, is going to be fine. You've got Love. You've got McCray. And if this kid, Fegen, is the athlete they say he is, I think the backfield's going to be in good shape.
00:55:24
Speaker
It's just going to be, it's going to be another good year football, I think at Illinois. And I think you're going to see, I think seven, I don't see seven wins being an impossibility. I don't see eight wins being impossible. Matter of fact, could they win nine next year? Highly likely.
00:55:45
Speaker
I know they don't have Michigan on the schedule, so I think that helps, if anything. But yeah, I think the football team's gonna do very well under Brett Beelerma, and he's just gonna have more options even after next year available to him. I mean, as the program, just like basketball, as the program grows,
00:56:08
Speaker
bigger and stronger you get noticed more you get more people saying hey what about Illinois is an option and I think you're seeing that with a lot of these guys that are coming in the transfer portal wise and even
00:56:25
Speaker
the recruits from the high school recruits coming in. He's getting a lot of guys from the South. He's recruited Illinois very well, getting top targets in Illinois. So I think there's a good future ahead here in the next few years, at least, for both.
00:56:43
Speaker
Basketball football and I have to get him back and we'll have to talk about women's basketball I know a lot of people interested in that and Shawna Green did a heck of a job this last season and I've seen I just saw where she's brought in four four people her own self a couple portal players and
00:57:04
Speaker
I look for the women's basketball team to build on what they did last year. I mean, last year was the first time they'd won 20 games, I think, since 2009 or something of that nature. I'd have to look it up again. But yeah, I'm going to keep my eye on the women's team. And I said, we'll probably have Kedrick back on to talk women's basketball. And we can go from there. So hey.
00:57:33
Speaker
That'll do it for me. Uh, I want you to make sure you check out gateway city sports.com. Check out the other podcast, the team of rivals with Ron Nuttle, Pete Gettys and Elliott Dewey, the two for three with Moose Mike Stevenson. Then there's the that's all winter podcast with Ryan Jenkins and Josh Brown and back by popular demand.
00:57:58
Speaker
the Derek King Sports Show with the legend himself, Derek King. So for my partner, Russ Robinson, who couldn't be here for my guest, Kendrick Prince, this is Don Glenn saying thanks for listening and we'll see you next time when we do another NCAA report from Talking Sports on the bleachers.