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

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BballJones said:
Outside of UVA, he will be best known for the following: UMBC
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Just among some fans. Other coaches remember all those ACC titles, Guys getting to the NBA, Klay Thompson who praises him always. Even little Ricks dad calls him the best in the business. Gophers would trade in a flash. Yep they lost to a 16, but you have to be a one to be in that game and doubled on the ACC titles and won more games in one year in ACC history. Go to his WIKI page and it is a small note, the victories and coach of the year awards keep piling up. For those that like injury excuses he lost his best player 24 hours before that game and never brought it up. You can not buy class.Keep ripping if that makes you feel better. His accomplishments dwarf anything we have seen here by the coaches we have had.
 


jovs said:
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.
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Illikainen shot plenty from the outside. See what Gard did with Vitto Brown. Whenever I watched illikainen he looked like he was terrified to be on the court. That was the problem.
 

builtbadgers said:
Just among some fans. Other coaches remember all those ACC titles, Guys getting to the NBA, Klay Thompson who praises him always. Even little Ricks dad calls him the best in the business. Gophers would trade in a flash. Yep they lost to a 16, but you have to be a one to be in that game and doubled on the ACC titles and won more games in one year in ACC history. Go to his WIKI page and it is a small note, the victories and coach of the year awards keep piling up. For those that like injury excuses he lost his best player 24 hours before that game and never brought it up. You can not buy class.Keep ripping if that makes you feel better. His accomplishments dwarf anything we have seen here by the coaches we have had.
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I never once have said he's a bad coach, but the reality is that he lost to a 16 seed. The reason people are taking shots at him is because your need to bring his name up every other post. Yes, he's an excellent coach but who cares on this board besides you? Of course I'd take him over Pitino.

And just to make this relevant to AI again, I'm glad he picked Becky.
 

RickDornsby said:
Illikainen shot plenty from the outside. See what Gard did with Vitto Brown. Whenever I watched illikainen he looked like he was terrified to be on the court. That was the problem.
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I just think part of Ryans magic was that he could tweek a kids shot when they got in a slump or started a bad habit and make them productive again, very few people can do that, Kundla had that talent.
 


WDIO: Grand Rapids Native, Ex-Badgers Hoops Player Alex Illikainen Transfers To UMD

A former high school standout is returning to the Northland to wrap up his college basketball career as UMD announced the signing of Grand Rapids native Alex Illikainen. He joins as a graduate transfer.

"I'm honored to have this opportunity to study and compete at the University of Minnesota Duluth," said Illikainen in a statement on UMD's website. "I'm excited to be close to my family and proud to follow my parents' footsteps as a Bulldog student-athlete. I'm glad to be home! Go Dogs!"

The 6-foot-9 forward played three seasons with NCAA Division I University of Wisconsin. In his three seasons with the Badgers, Illikainen helped Wisconsin to 64 wins and a pair of Sweet 16 appearances in the NCAA Tournament. His had a career-best 10 points vs Purdue University and a career-best seven rebounds vs Penn State during the 2015-16 season. In November of 2018, he announced he was leaving the Wisconsin program and would finish his career elsewhere.

https://www.wdio.com/sports/alex-illikainen-transfers-to-umd-mens-basketball/5320377/

Go Gophers!!
 







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