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

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MadtownGopher said:
This was what I was saying earlier in this thread. Pitino and Co. went out of their way to see AI when they already knew they had 4 kids locked up.
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Let me get this straight, Coach Pitino. You had a verbal from Jarvis on Monday, but you went to visit Alex on Wednesday?

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Richard said:
I'm not actually sure if Pitino visited Alex on Wednesday based on his blog today. Isn't Alex's prep school in New Hampshire?

From the blog:
"September 9th marked the beginning of the recruiting period. The first three days I was in Minnesota, Kansas, and several different locations in Florida."
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Multiple sources have reported that Pitino and/or the asst coaches visited AI as soon as the recruiting period started (Tuesday), so we know it was after they had a commit from Jarvis.
 

MadtownGopher said:
Multiple sources have reported that Pitino and/or the asst coaches visited AI as soon as the recruiting period started (Tuesday), so we know it was after they had a commit from Jarvis.
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I know, I read all of those reports, but they all seemed to state at that time that Minnesota "would be" meeting with Alex this week if I remember correctly. I don't ever remember seeing anything saying they actually met with him. The only reason I thought of it was due to Pitino's blog today made me skeptical they actually did meet based on where he said he was the first three days. I sure hope they did though!
 


Richard said:
I know, I read all of those reports, but they all seemed to state at that time that Minnesota "would be" meeting with Alex this week if I remember correctly. I don't ever remember seeing anything saying they actually met with him. The only reason I thought of it was due to Pitino's blog today made me skeptical they actually did meet based on where he said he was the first three days. I sure hope they did though!
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Just did some quick twitter searching...

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So it sounds like they met with him on the 10th (Wednesday).
 



Buggs is a red shirt sophomore. This will be his third yr in the program.

IIRC Buggs attended a prep school after high school for a year. This will be his 4th year 'out of high school'.
 

Hey Charles:

If you are reading some of the comments that have others dismissing your future with the Gophers, I hope you are ignoring them. While I'm as excited as anyone about your new teammates for 2015/16 season, I'm solidly in your corner as a fan of the Gophers no matter who we recruit. (The same goes for anyone who has accepted a scholarship offer from the U of M and stays out of trouble while representing the University.) From my standpoint, all team members deserve our support and we should not be minimalizing them as basketball players and human beings . I'm looking forward to your contributions as a Golden Gopher for the 14/15 season and beyond.

Go CB and Go Gophers!
 







If one of our top prized recruits(especially home grown), decided to go elsewhere, what two schools would you least like to see them attend?
 




If the Grand Rapids kid verbals to the U, rest assured he was given assurances there will be a scholarship available next fall. That wouldn't be good news for Diedhiou, or maybe a guy or two on the current roster.
 

pregameatblarneys said:
According to Zagsblog, it's down Iowa and Wisky:

http://zagsblog.com/brewster-academy/brewster-power-forward-illikainen-down-to-iowa-wisconsin/
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After reading the article it seems like the coach says he is down to those 2 just because the other schools are at the scholarship limit and less from actually talking to Alex about where he is at in the process. He may very well be right and probably is but I will still hold out the small bit of hope of Alex being a Gopher until he commits elsewhere.
 




Dude needs to be more decisive; Pitino is driving the train. Either jump on or be left behind to find your ride!
 

If he chooses the pig farmers or cheesedicks over the Gophers, I'll have no issues booing his a$$. Immature? Sure...but honest. :)
 


The Brain Trust said:
Alex is not going verbal to the U and hope a spot opens up...get real people!
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Considering your doom and gloom Jarvis predictions since the Dorsey commitment. I'll take your opinion with a grain of salt. For those who choose to live in the real world. Pitino will make room for a four star in state stretch 4
 

bemidjigopher said:
Considering your doom and gloom Jarvis predictions since the Dorsey commitment. I'll take your opinion with a grain of salt. For those who choose to live in the real world. Pitino will make room for a four star in state stretch 4
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That sounds nice and all, but how will he "make room" for him? The fact is there is no scholarship open right now. You think a recruit that has the offers that AI has is going to wait for something to open up later?
 

I trust Pitino to make correct decisions with the roster. He has given us no reason not to. Good luck Alex wherever you end up.


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gopherlaney said:
I trust Pitino to make correct decisions with the roster. He has given us no reason not to. Good luck Alex wherever you end up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Just no. If he ends up at Bucky, I hope he has a terrible career! How I see it, there's nothing wrong with rooting against him in college.
 

AI will never say he is considering the U as long as we have no scholarships available. We hope that he will say he will not announce/sign till spring.

I have to believe Pitino, AI and jarvis all know what's happening.
 

I'll keep my thoughts mostly specifically to Alex here and address the scholarship question in more detail in another thread. To make a quick point on scholarships, I don't really get all the hand wringing about "available" scholarships. If the coaches are recruiting like the have 5 (or 6?) scholarships to fill for 2015, then it's pretty safe to assume they will have 5 (or 6, etc) scholarships available. I think it's a much better use of time to talk about the players the coaches are after as opposed to how they will fit.

As for Alex Illikainen, I've had a bad vibe about him and the Gophers for a long time now. When Creighton stopped recruiting him due to another commitment, his only real "local" known offer was from Minnesota. Then he starts showing a little interest in Nebraska, then Iowa offers and he schedules an official visit there quickly (still no official to the "U") and finally Wisconsin offers and he quickly schedules an official visit there. It has seemed to me that he's been interested in just about every school that is fairly close to Minnesota, but not actually in Minnesota. It's too bad because he'd be a great fit in this offense at the four, and the Gophers really need a player like him who can hit the corner 3 and also play that pick and pop game. It's also too bad because, by all accounts, Pitino and Co. have put a lot of work in on Alex and were the (rumored) heavy favorite for a long time. Hopefully, Alex ends up a Gopher and not a Badger.
 

John Galt said:
That sounds nice and all, but how will he "make room" for him? The fact is there is no scholarship open right now. You think a recruit that has the offers that AI has is going to wait for something to open up later?
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There are plenty of ways to make room in 09 tubby took advantage of the grad student rule to kindly bump buesch and Kevin Payton off the team. In this scenario you can go to the bench warmer and tell them if they want playing time its not going to happen here and he'll them find a schools. Or since diedrou isn't admitted yet you can fill his spot and help him find a place where admissions will be kinder. This all assumes all wants to be here of course. IG pitino wants another recruit they will find away. You don't have to like it but schollys are only good for a year
 

GameDay said:
Just no. If he ends up at Bucky, I hope he has a terrible career! How I see it, there's nothing wrong with rooting against him in college.
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Yep. If he goes elsewhere, I hope he has an injury-free career and gets his degree. That's where the well-wishing stops.
 

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