Bruce Weber offers Donivine Stewart

[Da Coach]

http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/stewartui.html

[tornado]

If he decides to go to UIUC, he will be behind a whole bunch of similar guards
who have already committed to Illinois, and may not play much until he's a senior.

Joseph Bertrand
DJ Richardson
Brandon Paul
Crandall Head

[BradleyBrave]

Bruce Weber is now having to recruit like a mid-major school and offer kids before anyone else gets on them. We'll see how many kids end up there, and if BW is even still the coach.

[IlliBraves]

Illinois is behind Bruce Weber. He's only had one losing season, and he'll rebound.

[wily coyote]

Not trying to deny your point that offering to freshmen is risky business, but Donivine Stewart is not your typical freshman.

Couldn't agree with you more. Donivine IS NOT your typocal freshmen. If fact, I can't understand why we haven't offered. I know JL has seen him several times. Its going to be harder to get this kid then MR was and we all know how that turned out for us. Donivine will have offers from everyone b-4 hes done. Best Freshmen I've ever seen in this area.

[Lakeview Brave]

Couldn't agree with you more. Donivine IS NOT your typocal freshmen. If fact, I can't understand why we haven't offered. I know JL has seen him several times. Its going to be harder to get this kid then MR was and we all know how that turned out for us. Donivine will have offers from everyone b-4 hes done. Best Freshmen I've ever seen in this area.

We could have another Coach K visit to Peoria for this kid.

[mportsch]

If he decides to go to UIUC, he will be behind a whole bunch of similar guards
who have already committed to Illinois, and may not play much until he's a senior.

Joseph Bertrand
DJ Richardson
Brandon Paul
Crandall Head

I don't think playing time at Illinois would be a huge issue for Stewart if he continues to develop. Bertrand, Richardson, and Paul would all be gone at the end of Stewart's sophomore year.

Head is obviously a two-guard, so the PG spot would be wide open for Stewart during his junior and senior years. I'd expect that he'd be the 5th guard his freshman and sophomore years, getting a few minutes per game, then he would play starters minutes the rest of his career if he's good enough.

There really isn't the logjam you think there is.

[OrangeandBlack74]

I understand the offer to Stewart was made with the intention of him being the first to commit from his class. Weber wants him to lead the way for others from the class of 2011 to join the Illini.

However, Stewart doesn't intend to commit early because apparently the Limestone team has been invited to attend a UNC team camp sometime this summer.

[edmondo15]

The sky is the limit for Stewart, it'd be in his best interest to keep his options open. I can't say I blame Weber though, the earlier he hops on this bandwagon the better.

[mportsch]

The sky is the limit for Stewart, it'd be in his best interest to keep his options open. I can't say I blame Weber though, the earlier he hops on this bandwagon the better.

Exactly. Weber has tons of scholarships for the 2011 class, so there's no real downside to offering Stewart early. Here's what Stewart had to say when asked about the offer from Illinois:

"The school's good and we're kind of leaning that way, me and my dad, but we haven't quite made a decision yet. I just want to think it over, talk to my family about it. We'll see how they feel and go from there."

[tornado]

Donivine Stewart interview:

"The 5-10 guard, along with an entourage of family and friends were visitors at Illinois??™ win over Minnesota on senior day before receiving his offer.
...???Illinois is really a place that I feel comfortable at,??? he added."

More......

http://illinoishsbasketball.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=644&Itemid=93

[tornado]

Donivine Stewart now has a profile page on scout/Insider....
but the site administrator made an error, then sent this URGENT MESSAGE out to all the subscribers!!!

"MAJOR MISTAKE
Folks,
I made a mistake. When I was creating and putting information in Stewart's profile I accidentally listed him as committed which likely sent out an email to subscribers. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time I've made an error like that.

Spending as much time as I do in the database, I've made mindless errors like this before. There is no other reason for this error than my error in the database. It is completely and 100% my fault. Because I hit the wrong button I've caused a major uproar and am the source of an incorrect rumor.

I apologize for the inconvenience.
DT"

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=169&f=2616&t=2170065&p=1&sto=MS_25561562#s=169&f=2616&t=2178026

---by the way, I know it's early, but Telep has Stewart listed as 1-STAR

http://illinois.scout.com/a.z?s=169&p=8&c=1&nid=3644541

while Rivals has him as ZERO-Stars

http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=80427&sport=2

Rivals also has a NEW, nice, in depth article:

http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/content.asp?cid=784669

Here is an excerpt--

"March 11, 2008
With six quality prospects already committed in the 2009 and 2010 class, Illinois continues its pursuit of underclassmen. Coach Weber and his staff offered freshman Donivine Stewart of Bartonville (ill.) Limestone Community High School over the weekend.

Stewart received his Illinois offer during his unofficial visit for the Minnesota game. According to Team Illinois coach Antwan Tillman, North Carolina, Ohio State and Wisconsin are in the mix with Stewart, who is expected to play both for Team Illinois 17-under team and Peoria Carver 15-under team.

During his freshman season, Stewart averaged 24.7 points, 4.8 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game. Two of his biggest scoring outbursts were against Illinois recruit D.J. Richardson's Peoria Central team where he scored 35 points and against Indiana recruit Matt Roth's Washington team where he scored 41 points."

[mportsch]

---by the way, I know it's early, but Telep has Stewart listed as 1-STAR

http://illinois.scout.com/a.z?s=169&p=8&c=1&nid=3644541

while Rivals has him as ZERO-Stars

http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=80427&sport=2

I wouldn't pay much attention to the ratings at this point - I believe both sites won't put up ratings on Stewart until they feel they've seen enough of him to make a call. It's clear that Stewart is among the top players in the state for his class - I'd be surprised to see him lower than a 4-star once he is rated.

[BradleyBrave]

I wouldn't pay much attention to the ratings at this point - I believe both sites won't put up ratings on Stewart until they feel they've seen enough of him to make a call. It's clear that Stewart is among the top players in the state for his class - I'd be surprised to see him lower than a 4-star once he is rated.

Unless for some reason he committed to a mid-major, in which case his rating would immediately drop!

[Braveman]

Couldn't agree with you more. Donivine IS NOT your typocal freshmen. If fact, I can't understand why we haven't offered. I know JL has seen him several times. Its going to be harder to get this kid then MR was and we all know how that turned out for us. Donivine will have offers from everyone b-4 hes done. Best Freshmen I've ever seen in this area.

Donivine is a very gifted offensive player- but cherry picks on defense and pouts when hi steam isn't winning...

He has a way to go IMO