Last week, Illinois got a commitment from its number one recruit, scoring PG Ayo Dosemnu out of Morgan Park High School in Chicago. I've seen Ayo play several times. He's very quick, has a great handle, and is terrific at getting to the hoop and finishing or drawing fouls. If/when his outside shot and court vision improve, he could be an exceptional college player.
Illinois has also been recruiting Talen Horton-Tucker, a wing out of Simeon in Chicago who visited Michigan unofficially late in the summer. Horton-Tucker played alongside Ayo on the Mac Irvin Fire AAU team until there was a falling out mid/summer between Horton-Tucker and the Irvins (the power brokers at Mac Irvin Fire). Nick Irvin and Robert Smith, the head coach at Simeon have also feuded.
Horton-Tucker is announcing tonight. It's not going to be Illinois. The reason it's not going to be Illinois is that Illinois, which had the kid on campus last weekend and offered him, withdrew the offer despite the fact that the kid was, per folks who would know, ready to commit. The reason Illinois withdrew the offer is NOT because the kid isn't good enough (he's a top 100 kid), or NOT because he's a bad kid (he's anything but); it's because the Irvins (and Ayo, who they control) told the Illinois coaches that if they took a commitment from Horton-Tucker, Ayo would go elsewhere and they had to choose. This is the Irvins teaching Horton-Tucker a lesson for leaving the AAU program, and the Irvins and Ayo showing Illinois (and everyone else) who's the boss.
At Michigan, John Beilein (and Jim Harbaugh if AAU football was a thing) would have told the Irvins and Ayo exactly where to stick it. A lot of Illinois fans think Underwood should have done the same, top recruit or not. To be fair, though, Underwood is in a tough spot; the Irvins control and/or Ayo is very close to a number of top Illinois recruits over the next few years, and as a first year coach at a program which has struggled in recent years, doing the right thing meant kissing off a/the leading source of talent in your state. On the other hand, Brad Underwood has now sold his soul to the irvins and Ayo, and is beholden to them. In addition, he won't ever get a player out of Simeon (or some other spots in the Public League where coaches hate the Irvins). This is unlikely to turn out well.
Can I just say again how happy I am to have the guys at the top of our basketball and football programs in charge.
Illinois has also been recruiting Talen Horton-Tucker, a wing out of Simeon in Chicago who visited Michigan unofficially late in the summer. Horton-Tucker played alongside Ayo on the Mac Irvin Fire AAU team until there was a falling out mid/summer between Horton-Tucker and the Irvins (the power brokers at Mac Irvin Fire). Nick Irvin and Robert Smith, the head coach at Simeon have also feuded.
Horton-Tucker is announcing tonight. It's not going to be Illinois. The reason it's not going to be Illinois is that Illinois, which had the kid on campus last weekend and offered him, withdrew the offer despite the fact that the kid was, per folks who would know, ready to commit. The reason Illinois withdrew the offer is NOT because the kid isn't good enough (he's a top 100 kid), or NOT because he's a bad kid (he's anything but); it's because the Irvins (and Ayo, who they control) told the Illinois coaches that if they took a commitment from Horton-Tucker, Ayo would go elsewhere and they had to choose. This is the Irvins teaching Horton-Tucker a lesson for leaving the AAU program, and the Irvins and Ayo showing Illinois (and everyone else) who's the boss.
At Michigan, John Beilein (and Jim Harbaugh if AAU football was a thing) would have told the Irvins and Ayo exactly where to stick it. A lot of Illinois fans think Underwood should have done the same, top recruit or not. To be fair, though, Underwood is in a tough spot; the Irvins control and/or Ayo is very close to a number of top Illinois recruits over the next few years, and as a first year coach at a program which has struggled in recent years, doing the right thing meant kissing off a/the leading source of talent in your state. On the other hand, Brad Underwood has now sold his soul to the irvins and Ayo, and is beholden to them. In addition, he won't ever get a player out of Simeon (or some other spots in the Public League where coaches hate the Irvins). This is unlikely to turn out well.
Can I just say again how happy I am to have the guys at the top of our basketball and football programs in charge.
