Biggest news of the day is Andrej Stojakovic on campus for a visit at Illinois and hopefully the winds are blowing south and east away from the quad. That’s first and foremost. Worst thing you could ask for is one continuous whiff of manure during the recruiting visit.
Same time I trust Josh Whitman more than anyone to have a workaround should the shit winds become a real problem. Nobody anywhere is more prepared than that guy.
As such I’m overly optimistic that Stojakovic picks Illinois over Duke. All things equal he would be our #1 option and the face of the program overnight. Same one that’s putting two perimeter players in this year’s lottery.
Would he get the same leash at Duke? I don’t think so. Which begs the question – why transfer in the first place? My understanding is to maximize draft value.
A good follow up question – is it more important to be the #1 scoring option on a good team or to show you can play with a number of other NBA talents?
Duke gives you the latter but I think that’s a reach in comparison to scoring 20+ and taking Illinois to a Final 4. That gets you into the top 10 picks guaranteed which is why I think Illinois has a huge advantage all things equal.
And by that I mean the money. It’s not mine so I don’t care how much it costs. People say that’s up to $3M and at that level I’d be surprised if Duke felt compelled to match. That would be our most expensive player compared to their average? Someone with more expertise please respectfully explain in comments below if I’m wrong here. My understanding is Illinois would unload a bag that Duke has already spent on other guys.
If that’s the case then we should be heavy favorites. And if we land this guy + the Ivisic twins, you’re so heavy Eastern Europe that we should change the basketball for home games.
Another nice thing about the Europeans is that the parents are so far away and there’s no AAU bullshit drama. It’s all fundamental basketball at all times and that’s before we even talk pedigree.
Pedja could fill it up from the parking lot. Arguably one of the coolest NBA dads you could want in your European college superstar and I’m sure he’s got a couple pointers for the rest of the team should Underwood tap into that expertise.
Jab step. Shot fake. Jab step. Hesi. Pump. Fires. Corner. Three ball. Yes.
Those were solid memories from my childhood and this would basically be like when Hollywood does a sequel 3 decades later with better technology and special effects. That’s how I see Andrej Stojakovic compared to his dad. He’s Star Wars: Rogue One with a better handle and higher ceiling for creating his own shot.
Hopefully that makes sense because I enjoyed Rogue One very much and would like to feel the same about Andrej Stojakovic in an Illini uniform.
Especially if he’s anything like his old man