Purdue or Illinois
- Thread starter Nerdberts
- Start date
If he wants to play the 4 in the NBA and have a superior education, Purdue is a no-brainer.
If that were the case, I would think he would favor Oregon before Illinois. Guess we'll find out sooner or later.
I'm not sure I agree with whatever the perception is of Painters' style of play.
I think he's shown that when you have talent, like Carsen or Biggie or Vince or whomever, that you have a ton of freedom to use those talents. That might mean pulling up for a 3 on the break or running isolation and going 1 on 1 or dumping the ball down on the block or shooting a 3 whenever you get a good look regardless of where you are in the shot clock.
It's not like we run a Wisconsin or Virginia style offense and score in the 50s.
I think Okoro would be very similar to JaJuan Johnson in terms of being in an inside/outside threat, running the floor, etc.
I think he's shown that when you have talent, like Carsen or Biggie or Vince or whomever, that you have a ton of freedom to use those talents. That might mean pulling up for a 3 on the break or running isolation and going 1 on 1 or dumping the ball down on the block or shooting a 3 whenever you get a good look regardless of where you are in the shot clock.
It's not like we run a Wisconsin or Virginia style offense and score in the 50s.
I think Okoro would be very similar to JaJuan Johnson in terms of being in an inside/outside threat, running the floor, etc.
I agree with your assessment on the style of play. Wondering why Purdue is such a hard sell? It burns me that little Archie can come in and out recruit us in so little time.
OK, as an Alum I will defend Purdue and certainly say that he can get a top notch education here, the "superior education" part is up to debate. I glanced through about 6 college rankings and Purdue and Illinois are actually fairly similar in ranking. In the six I checked, Purdue has higher rankings in 3, and usually not by more than 5 spots (ie. ranked 65th with Illinois at #70th). To know for sure we'd have to know his area of study.
We definitely have a better record of getting big men into the NBA lately, and that should be the bigger selling point.
From an education standpoint, I don't think you can go wrong going to any B10 school. It's not like we're talking about the difference between Purdue and say....Alabama or Arkansas or some other SEC school.
I thought Johnson was a great comparison as well. How many fast breaks did he start with a blocked shot and then finished with a dunk as the guard lobbed it to him? I remember many.
you act like Illinois isn't even on the same level as Purdue, academically. think they're pretty comparable, no?
One major selling point Illinois has is the big men Orlando Antigua was in charge of at Kentucky and the development they had.
Alabama is pretty hard to get into to if you are not a top notch football player.
Can we PLEASE stop saying Purdue is superior academically to Illinois? They are very similar and I've seen them ranked higher. It makes us look dumb and foolish when fans say that.
I don't know why people say things like this. In most lists, Illinois is the higher ranked school. At the very least, they provide similar educations.
Yeah but this isn't factoring the list in my head which is far superior to any list created by some magazine or industry group.
An area which I believe will eventually make a difference with respect to academic ratings with U of I involves state fiscal policy and junk bond level credit rating in the state of IL. IL may become the first state to ever file for bankruptcy.State spending and taxing policy is a legislative trainwreck.However, PU and U of I have similar endowment levels $ 2.44 billion(PU) vs 2.55 billion (IL) which as far as I know are federally protected if actual bankruptcy is filed....but the fact secured endowments existed didn't save St Joe College??
While I have no doubt he could be a great computer scientist (esp considering his ACT score), those classes demand so much time and the nature of all or nothing in a lot of computer programming (it either does what it's suppose to , so you get and A or it doesn't do what it's supposed to so F), it is probably one of the most difficult and least lenient majors to juggle with a Div 1 bball practice and game schedule. The time required in the lab can be intense (often needing late night or weekend) and if you procrastinate at all, you are doomed. In all seriousness, they really need a time flexible version of CS for D1 athletes so that they are penalized not making deadlines due to practices/schedules. That is not a Purdue or Illinois issue, but a nationwide collegiate issue. Kudos if he can pull it off though.
Honestly, if his final 2 are Purdue or Illinois, both are good CS schools (whereas Oregon I'm guessing is not). So, no doubt it's seems to be a big part of his decision.
As for playing style, one thing Purdue has going for it is that any big that has been worth a damn has had the offense flow through them and the big development at Purdue is undeniably successful ... especially if you compare us to Illinois. Who is the last good big they've produced or put in the NBA? I honestly can't remember. Last good collegiate bigs were probably Augustine and before that Deon Thomas? Seriously testing my long term memory skills... no snarko.
Remember when Egwu was down to Purdue and Illinois? I wonder if he regrets his decision at all now.
I don't know enough or care enough about the University of Illinois to say one way or another whether it is better, comparable, or worse academically than Purdue. I'm sure it's a great institution as are the other Big Ten universities.
As for Francis Okoro, the guy seems tailor-made for Purdue and Painter -- an academic and basketball star in the making who would flourish and develop professional credentials in the classroom and on the court.
I hope he selects Purdue and we can all invest in even stronger sunglasses to confront the future of Boilermaker basketball. If not, best of luck to him until his interests conflict with Purdue's.
As for Francis Okoro, the guy seems tailor-made for Purdue and Painter -- an academic and basketball star in the making who would flourish and develop professional credentials in the classroom and on the court.
I hope he selects Purdue and we can all invest in even stronger sunglasses to confront the future of Boilermaker basketball. If not, best of luck to him until his interests conflict with Purdue's.
Purdue had Gene Keady for 20+ years of hard nosed defense and scrappy offenses...that's a great foundation for a program but hard to diverge from when the program goes with a direct tie to Keady in a former player who was known exactly as that type of player. Players can understand the style of play that Purdue uses and seeing Boogie explode during the course of the conference season I think opened the eyes of some players that CMP isn't against allowing the best to shine....even if it's roster is built with 4 seniors.
I know he's not setting the NBA on fire, but Meyers Leonard has stuck around the league for a good number of years.
I personally think he will pick ILL because of his connection to the incoming 2018 recruits like Ayo, the wealth of open playing time / lack of tough competition, and the concerns about Purdue's style being too slow.
If picks Purdue that would be fantastic. Purdue has good evidence they can develop and feature many styles of big men. I feel they are one of the best programs at doing so. Also as with Biggie, Okoro wouldn't have to exclusively play the 5. He could play the 4 and play different spots on the court. I guess ILL would have a similar argument with Kane coming in, but I have a feeling Okoro would be stuck at the 5 there.
Either way, I think Purdue will be fine. If not Okoro, we could still have a chance at a 2019 F like Drew Timme, etc who are very versatile. Plus we have Evan Boudreax who produced good numbers in the Ivy League.
The only people saying this are Illini fans. Weird how someone on a message board or social media can say something like this and then others attribute the statement to the player and it runs like wildfire.
Yes, Meyers Leonard. Forgot about him. Thanks and concur with the entirety of your post.
As for playing style, Painter has always wanted guards to opportunistically push the ball. So, if we had a running big like Okoro, I think our style of play would adapt to push the ball for easy buckets with a big diving to the rim.
Painter wants to the push the ball, but with discipline and efficiency. Our offensive numbers over the years back this up (consistently scoring near the top of the league). Of course, if we don't get that opportunity after the initial push, we set up the offense to get the best team shot (vs rush a quick shot). Painter just doesn't want reckless and careless play pushing the ball.
There will be plenty of moving as a Boiler. Move, Francis! MOVE!
Both sound engineering schools and probably better than many non-engineering schools, but has there ever been an academic comparison that actually measures the transmission of knowledge rather than some input that may or may not be meaningful?
Look, this is simple.
If he chooses Purdue, he's a high IQ player that also understands the value of an education.
If he chooses Illinois, he must have received some payments under the table.
If he chooses Purdue, he's a high IQ player that also understands the value of an education.
If he chooses Illinois, he must have received some payments under the table.
Don't forget if he chooses PU, he'll be attending a superior school academically........and have chicks up the wazoo
The big difference is Illinois sucks at basketball. Again, this is a program that has not had a winning conference season since 2009-10. A winning season. Think about that for a second.
If Okoro chooses Purdue, I hope he shows out big time. I was dissapointed when Izzo swooped in late on Jackson. It was clear that Izzo sold lies and Jackson didn't appear to be happy with how he was used. Jackson didn't have a great year and wasn't the focal point he thought he would be. That MSU team hilariously underachieved with the talent they had.
Okoro would be a 4 which is where he will be in the NBA. Look at the freedom Vince had. Even when Biggie was at the 4. Purdue had one of the most efficient and best offenses in the country. Somehow still have a bad rep just because they play defense maybe? I have no idea, but nobody will prepare Okoro better for the NBA. Those are facts. Doesn't mean he won't get where he wants by going Oregon or Illinois, but nobody develops bigs better.
Also, Okoro makes Purdue incredibly scary. So much athleticism. Man they will be fun to watch. Think Okoro gives them a shot at a Big title, which would be impressive with all they lost.
Okoro would be a 4 which is where he will be in the NBA. Look at the freedom Vince had. Even when Biggie was at the 4. Purdue had one of the most efficient and best offenses in the country. Somehow still have a bad rep just because they play defense maybe? I have no idea, but nobody will prepare Okoro better for the NBA. Those are facts. Doesn't mean he won't get where he wants by going Oregon or Illinois, but nobody develops bigs better.
Also, Okoro makes Purdue incredibly scary. So much athleticism. Man they will be fun to watch. Think Okoro gives them a shot at a Big title, which would be impressive with all they lost.
Hum? Purdue and Painter runs one of the highest scoring offenses in the country, scores lots of points off turnovers, but we “ play slow”? ...Something seems off.
All we do is pass it into the center... yet we ran one of the highest 3-point shooting offenses in the country. Again, impressions expressed here seem odd to me.
All we do is pass it into the center... yet we ran one of the highest 3-point shooting offenses in the country. Again, impressions expressed here seem odd to me.
We certainly can’t be talking smack to anyone or anything, but recruits commit to programs who have been sucking all the time ... several coaches have won at Illinois, and if he thinks Underwood can have a winning Illini team again during his time in Champaign, the failures of Coach Weber and Coach Groce probably won’t seem overly relevant to him. Of course, I have no idea if he’s sold on that message or not, but it’s not as black and white as, “they’re bad (which we are), and we’re good (which you are).”
Similar threads
