Recruiting Wrap

Signing Day Preview: Q&A with Scout.com's Evan Daniels

Posted by: Jeremy Werner

Tuesday, November 11, 2008 12:30 PM

I caught up with IlliniHQ.com friend Evan Daniels, basketball recruiting analyst from Scout.com, to discuss Illini basketball on the eve of the start of the early signing period (Nov. 12 – Nov. 19). We discussed Illinois’ 2009 class, what has caused the Illini’s recent recruiting success and uncommitted Chicago guard Chris Colvin.

 

Jeremy Werner: Illinois is expected to have four seniors sign tomorrow. A lot of people say this is one of the better classes Illinois has put together since Bruce Weber has been here. How do they compare to his other classes coming out of high school?

Evan Daniels: “This is one of the better classes he’s put together. He’s got a guy in D.J. Richardson who can really score. He’s definitely the leader of this class, a guy we have in our top-70. Along with him, they also have Brandon Paul and Tyler Griffey who we also have in our top-100, and Joseph Bertrand to close it out. I just think that they really are filling some pieces of the puzzle in this class. They’re getting some positions they needed to, and I think they did a really good job overall hitting the state of Illinois especially.”

 

Werner: Did something change to make Illinois legitimate again with recruits and those in recruiting circles?

Daniels: “I think (Illinois assistant coach) Jerrance Howard has done a terrific job at Illinois. He had some relationships with some of these Illinois kids. He played at the same high school that D.J. Richardson was at (Peoria Central) before he transferred to Findlay Prep. I think that they made a strong effort to keep kids in the state, and a state like Illinois that has so much basketball talent, you got to keep some of those guys home. And I think that’s been the biggest difference.”

 

Werner: What about going after kids when they’re younger? Has that made a big difference too?

Daniels: “I think part of it is that you can’t spend a lot of time on underclassmen until you wrap up your current recruiting classes, and they wrapped up their 2009 recruiting class relatively early. They’ve done very well in 2010. They might take another in 2010; they might not. So now you’re looking at them spending a lot of time in 2011, and that gives them a head start versus other schools so they can get in there and develop relationships and be in the mix more.”

 

Werner: Where do you rank Illinois’ 2009 class among Big Ten schools?

Daniels: “I imagine they’ll probably come in third in the Big Ten. I think Indiana and Minnesota have both done terrific jobs with their classes as well. Minnesota actually signed the top two guys the Big Ten is going to get in Royce White and Rodney Williams. And then Indiana has got a five-man class, consisting of four top-100 kids. But Illinois will probably come in third.”

 

Werner: You recently wrote about Chicago Whitney Young point guard Chris Colvin making a decision soon. Is there any indication of where’s he leaning?

Daniels: “Based on my conversations with him, I would think he’s an Iowa State lean. He had a terrific visit when he went down there, and they were the last ones to have him on campus. But with the Colvin situation, you never seem to know. Stuff seems to change every day. He’s going to make his decision and commit on Wednesday then sign a week later on the 19^th. At this point, I would say Iowa State’s in the mix pretty strong, as well as Providence and a few of those other schools.”

 

Werner: He mentioned Illinois in his top-five, which I found interesting because Illinois’ class appears full. Is there anything to look into with him putting the Illini in his top-five?

Daniels: “I’m not even sure Illinois is still recruiting him to be honest. That’s not something I looked into a bunch, but I don’t think (Illinois) spent too much time with him. I’m not even sure they offered him a scholarship, so I think that was just him putting them on his list.”

 

Werner: Champaign Central guard Verdell Jones waited to commit until long into the process before heading to Indiana. Do you think Colvin should maybe wait to see what opens up as the process plays itself out?

Daniels: “That’s more of a personal thing, as far as if he feels like he can do better than the schools that are recruiting him. But at the same time, he’s getting offers from Big Ten and Big East schools and Big 12 schools, so it’s not like he’s not getting some pretty solid offers. He’s a kid that I think, if he did wait it out, would get a lot of looks because there’s not many point guards in this class, and he’s one of the best available. But at the same time, I’m sure he’s ready to get it over. The recruiting process has just been long, and it always is for a lot of these kids. That’s what happens is these kids like to get over before the high school season so they don’t have to worry about it anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

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