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

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RT @isurecruitlists: 2015 Alex Illikainen had 31 points and 17 rebounds last night for Grand Rapids (MN) in a 70-39 win over Deer River (MN).

Go Gophers!!
 

Reid Travis

sunnyday2 said:
I don't think of Reid Travis as a "big." He's a classic wing. A bigger Joe Coleman.
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From what I have read and seen most everyone considers Reid an undersized power forward, similar in size and athleticism to Royce White. I think 6'7" and listed anywhere between 220 and 235.

Coleman is 6'4" and probably close to 200 lbs. Basically sg size with enough strength to play sf in a 3 guard offense.

Reid is a big man. He dominates inside. He has some offensive ability to shoot outside but I bet he would have trouble guarding sf way more than pf's in college.
 

not as quick as Joe. Alex is primarily NCAA 4 prospect sans another growth spurt. At the highschool level they can both be considered Big Men in the sense they are taller get their production in the paint and play the 5 Travis is A NCAA 4 as he is extremely effective in the paint and not much outside of 12 feet. Alex is more of a big than Travis as he is 6'9" and is a possible NCAA 5.
 

Alex moves very well. It would not suprise me to see him at power forward on a team with a big effective 5. He runs like zeller, now if he can become have the player, and if he signs with the gophers.

NOt as quick as joe, well I hope not, he's 3 inches taller and has 20+ lbs on him as a high schooler and plays a totally different position.
 

30 points, 11 boards, and a few blocks in a 64-58 loss to Thief River Falls for Illikainen today. I was able to listen to the game and the announcer kept talking about how impressed he was with Illikainen's ability to run the floor and commented on how he lead the break a couple times and went coast to coast for a dunk.
 


Goldy Gopher said:
30 points, 11 boards, and a few blocks in a 64-58 loss to Thief River Falls for Illikanen today. I was able to listen to the game and the announcer kept talking about how impressed he was with Illikanen's ability to run the floor and commented on how he lead the break a couple times and went coast to coast for a dunk.
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Look out for the prowlers! Young coach doing some good things up north, great job coach Wasfaret
 

@ISURecruitLists: Via @grhrsports, 2015 Alex Illikainen of Grand Rapids (MN) will miss at least 3 weeks with a broken hand.

Go Gophers!!
 


Alex Illikainen out at least three weeks with broken hand

Per Grand Rapids Herald Review (local newspaper):

Thunderhawks sophomore Alex Illikainen suffered a broken metacarpal in his left hand during practice late last week and will be out for at least the next few weeks. Illikainen, the team's leading scorer and rebounder, said he was reaching for a ball during last Friday's practice and heard something pop. His first thought was that it was just his knuckle, but after the pain didn't go away he got it checked out. Illikainen had it examined at TRIA Orthopedic Center in Minneapolis, and said he will not need surgery. He has another appointment with TRIA in a few weeks, he said, where the hand will be evaluated. He is hoping to be out "three-to-four weeks," he said, but isn't setting a firm timetable; he will just take it as it comes. The injury is the same one Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love suffered before the NBA season started. The Thunderhawks are 16-5 going into Tuesday night's game against the Duluth Denfeld, and have five regular season games remaining, including the match tonight against the Hunters. "It sucks," Illikainen said before the Duluth Denfeld game of having to sit out during the stretch run. "I'm just hoping for the best for the team though. And I know they can do it too. They're a great team and even with me sitting out, I know they can work hard and get wins."
 



@aillikainen_25: Great win for the gophers! And what a celebration! #stormingthecourt

Go Gophers!!
 



afurry91 said:
Ya, he posted a pic with that tweet. He was in the upper deck.
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Just saw that. Awesome. I feel more confident in our chances of landing him with every visit he makes to the Barn. He always tweets about how he had an awesome time.
 



@aillikainen_25: On my way to KU for an unofficial!!

Go Gophers!!
 

Found my way to GR home 7AAA quarter final basketball game tonight against North Branch and was pleasantly surprised to see Alex in the starting lineup with a brace/glove on his fractured non shooting hand. Looked a little rusty and still was able to put up a 22 point 10+ board effort. Grand Rapids pulled off a 74-68 win in OT and would not have had a prayer if Alex didn't play. Hopefully they can pull off a run to state again so he can put his talents on display again for the city folk, it will be tough sledding for the boys, but they have a chance with Alex now playing.
 

Wasn't able to make my way to Duluth tonight for the 7AAA semis(daughters BB practice), but listened on radio. Sounded like a great game.
GR won 59-57 in OT. Alex Illikainen ended with 29 (ten plus boards again) and advances to Saturday's section AAA final against Cloquet who defeated Hermantown in 2 OTs. Grand Rapids is going for its sixth straight 7AAA title. WOW. They pull this year off, they easily could go for 2 more in Alex's final to years of HS.
 

upnortgopherfan said:
Wasn't able to make my way to Duluth tonight for the 7AAA semis(daughters BB practice), but listened on radio. Sounded like a great game.
GR won 59-57 in OT. Alex Illikainen ended with 29 (ten plus boards again) and advances to Saturday's section AAA final against Cloquet who defeated Hermantown in 2 OTs. Grand Rapids is going for its sixth straight 7AAA title. WOW. They pull this year off, they easily could go for 2 more in Alex's final to years of HS.
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Thanks for the updates!! It seems like Alex has recovered nicely from his injury.

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
Thanks for the updates!! It seems like Alex has recovered nicely from his injury.

Go Gophers!!
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No problem! Yes it does appear he has recovered, but sounds like the coach says he still has soreness but playing through it. I seen this guy play for the last three years and really hope the gophers can lock him up. I think our odds are good!
 

Grand Rapids beats Cloquet
FINAL- 64-58 and Grand Rapids completes the 6 peat of Section 7AAA. Alex Illikainen had 23 points and 16 rebounds, with one impressive dunk. Great game. Time to put his skills on center stage at state.
 

Per Ryan James ‏@RyanJamesMN

In getting to state for the third time in his 3 year high school career, sophomore Alex Illikainen went over 1,000 career boards tonight.
 

His coach, Dan Elhard, is the best in the state of Minnesota. He has taken a program imbedded in a hockey-crazy small town and turned it into a machine that competes on par with the best big schools in Minnesota. Very underrated coach. Also, he does this strictly with Grand Rapids kids, not with one of these "all star" high school teams with players from all over the place.
 


CP Gopher said:
His coach, Dan Elhard, is the best in the state of Minnesota. He has taken a program imbedded in a hockey-crazy small town and turned it into a machine that competes on par with the best big schools in Minnesota. Very underrated coach. Also, he does this strictly with Grand Rapids kids, not with one of these "all star" high school teams with players from all over the place.
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You may be correct, but in all honesty, Section 7AAA is the easiest section in all of basketball to get to the State Tournament in. The lack of competition for GR is quite striking.

Contrary to most people's imagination, the Range used to have some quality basketball when the mines were running and a lot of people lived between GR and Ely. Kevin McHale and Hibbing was the poster child of that group, but there were other schools as well. The Dahlman's dad (Nate Dahlman) played on a State Tournament team the same year as McHale when a little town called, Orr, made it in 1976. Most of those kids moved to the Twin Cities when they went off to college and couldn't find jobs on the Range.
 

I was at his game against Marshall for the opening round of the State tourney. He is the entire GR team. Marshall could easily double and triple team him without a worry that a GR could hit a kick-out wide open shot down. He still had 32 if I remember of the team's 51. Could bulk up a bit, but has a smooth stroke from long range and some nifty moves down low.
 

I pretty much consider this kid an extension of the Big 3. That's how much I want him.
 


He's going to be good, definately B1G ability, a lineup with Illikainen and Travis in it would be very impressive.
 



GopherHole tweet: #Gophers Richard Pitino will meet with big time sophomore recruit @AIllikainen_25 today.

Go Gophers!!
 

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