A piece of advice to basketball recruits, their parents and coaches: If you hope to attract attention and scholarship offers, don’t leave before the camera and microphone brigade gets a chance to exploit your visit for all its worth.
Saturday’s basketball recruits may have had a long day of driving, tailgating, hooping with the Illini team etc. But what’s an extra twenty minutes? Recruits are unavailable to the media, per NCAA rules when they’re playing pick-up games at the Ubben. But at football games, they are simply spectators.
Except for JaQuan Lyle, everyone left at halftime. So guess who got a monopoly on the coverage? The wing from Evansville Bosse.
Both Larry Austins were there. The younger sat next to St. Mel’s Tevin King. Yogi Farrell’s Park Tudor teammate Trevon Bluiett joined JaQuan in all the festivities, but I couldn’t find him at the break.
The Illini famously haven’t inked an Indiana hoopster since Scott Hafner. No one understands why Bruce Weber and Jay Price continue combing the state, apart from a combined 28 year habit.
But that’s immaterial to the 16 year-old. It doesn’t matter to parents hoping for a full ride.
So stick around at halftime, lads. It’ll work out better in the long run.
