ESPN: Lowery on hot seat, Sammy "could be one of the best guards around"

[tornado]

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/colleges/post/_/id/321/a-lot-to-look-forward-to-for-illinois-teams

Scott Powers, long time high school & college basketball expert & writer has a blog entry about college hops next season inside Illinois...

-He puts BOTH Chris Lowery and Bruce Weber on the hot seat!!
-He predicts Northwestern will get it's first ever NCAA bid in the 70+ years they've been playing the NCAA Tourney!
-he predicts Illinois returns to dominance..but at the same time says if not Bruce Weber will face some heat
-McCamey in mix for National Player of the Year??
-Jershon Cobb will be an impact freshman at Northwestern
-he predicts senior Mike Stovall at DePaul is a player to watch next year...
despite terrible inconsistency (scoreless one game then 30 pts the next), a 30% shooting pct, and sub-30% 3pt shooting, and only 2.6 rebs/gm for a 6-5 fwd!

[peoriaspitfire]

NOT "could be one of the best guards around", he IS!

[PTownHawkeye]

They predict Threloff as an impact freshman?!?

I have seen him play and let me tell you, he is not ready yet. He seemed to have good bball instincts, but the only time he scored was when he was being guarded by an opposing center who was about 6'4, or from an offensive rebound. He did seem like a decent defender though and I wouldn't be surprised to see him develop into a 10/8 type of guy by the time he's done.

I bet he is well behind JP as far as ability to contribute this year. I would be SHOCKED if he has a bigger impact on ISU than JP has on BU.

[Da Coach]

I have seen him play, too, and I agree with you PTH. He has some bulk, but is very slow and I don't see him being able to guard at the college level next year. I have predicted he will be a very good player eventually, but I wouldn't be surprised if he redshirts.

Recall that several preseason publications last year picked Creighton's Andrew Bock as the likely Freshman of the Year. One magazine even labelled him as the most likely MVC player to play in the NBA, even before he had ever played a game for Creighton. Now we know how accurate thjose predictions were. Bock was a big disappintment and played very little in his freshman season at Creighton. He has announced he will leave and transfer.

And 2 years ago, the freshmen that were touted by the preseason experts were Kevin Dillard and Anthony Booker of SIU. Dillard had a good freshman year, and declined last year. Booker has been a big disappointment, and has never gotten much playing time under Coach Lowery. Both are reportedly leaving SIU and transferring this spring.

[BUfan14]

No mention of JL on the hot seat, isn't that amazing for all those that think he should be.

Some will probably be disappointed with that not being on there.

Good for Sammy! Good for Northwestern, but I still think chemistry could be an issue for Illinois and they better hope McCamey doesn't leave for the NBA.

[Future Walk-On]

McCamey won't leave.

[BUfan14]

McCamey won't leave.

I don't believe he will either, but they still better hope he doesn't.

[SFP]

McCamey won't leave.

He has a better chance of landing in the NBA then OE and you never know what will happen at those camps with so many slime ball agents whispering in their ear. In reality I'd be surprised being that this year is a pretty deep year of good guards leaving. He waits a year and he could be one of the top guards picked, leave this year and he may fall to 2nd round.

[Future Walk-On]

He has a better chance of landing in the NBA then OE and you never know what will happen at those camps with so many slime ball agents whispering in their ear. In reality I'd be surprised being that this year is a pretty deep year of good guards leaving. He waits a year and he could be one of the top guards picked, leave this year and he may fall to 2nd round.

I think he said he would only consider if he was guaranteed first round too.

[Bravesfan]

No mention of JL on the hot seat, isn't that amazing for all those that think he should be.

Some will probably be disappointed with that not being on there.

Good for Sammy! Good for Northwestern, but I still think chemistry could be an issue for Illinois and they better hope McCamey doesn't leave for the NBA.

Yeah, I'm surprised too with all the JL comments on here! Also have to agree with a poster there regarding Jimmy Collins not being on that list too.

As far as Weber is concerned, he's on the hot seat, but I don't think that will be a big problem next year as I believe Illinois will finish in the top 3.

Agreed about Northwestern as well. They will be very dangerous next year!