A Top247 wide receiver who has been committed to Tennessee since June held a signing ceremony Friday and says he plans to stick with the Vols
Braylon Staley is still almost two weeks away from making his college decision official on Early Signing Day. But the signing ceremony he held Friday made it clear that he has no intentions of backing out on his longstanding commitment to Tennessee.
The four-star Class of 2024 wide receiver from Strom Thurmond High School in Johnston, S.C., confirmed to GoVols247 on Friday that he’s shutting down his recruitment, and he plans to stick with Tennessee despite a push from home-state school South Carolina. Gamecocks wide receivers coach Justin Stepp made an in-home visit with Staley on Wednesday, but the Top247 prospect said he’s still firmly committed to the Vols and planning to join them as an early enrollee.
No. 17 Tennessee basketball hosts No. 20 Illinois on Saturday afternoon inside of a sold out Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET on CBS with Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Bill Raftery (analyst), Jay Wright (analyst) and Jon Rothstein (sideline) on the call.
The Vols enter Saturday’s game on a 24-game nonconference home winning streak. It’ll be the fourth time in program history Tennessee is playing four AP-ranked teams in a five-game span. This is the first time the Vols are doing so exclusively in non-conference play and their first time doing so while ranked as well.
GoVols247’s basketball writer Ben McKee connected with Derek Piper of IlliniInquirer.com to preview the Fighting Illini. Here’s what Piper had to say about Illinois basketball heading into Saturday afternoon’s matchup.
McKee: Illinois is off to a great start this season. Why are they playing so well right now?
Piper: For starters, Terrence Shannon Jr. has been one of the best players in all of college basketball up to this point. He could have been an early-to-mid second-round pick in the NBA Draft if he decided to stay in this past summer, but he came back and he’s been dominant. Shannon has averaged 22 points per game, while shooting 54 percent from the field and a career-best 45 percent from three. He’s a high-level athlete at 6-foot-6, 225 pounds. His improved three-point shooting has been huge. He’s also been much more assertive this season, while last year was his first experience in an alpha role in college basketball. He’s been really locked in at the defensive end as well.
On that note, Illinois has been very stout defensively as a team. The Illini have quite a bit of positional size, especially 1-4, with some very good individual defenders and plenty of physicality. Ty Rodgers (6’6”, 200 lbs.) can make life tough on the ball. Quincy Guerrier (6’8”, 220 lbs.) mixes it up well at the four. Meanwhile, Coleman Hawkins (6’10”, 225 lbs.) brings length and versatility as a stretch five. Illinois did just give up 89 points to Florida Atlantic in a high-scoring affair at Madison Square Garden, and while there are certainly some things to clean up from that, the Illini mostly tipped their cap to the Owls for making shots.
The emergence of Marcus Domask as Illinois’ No. 2 scoring option has been huge as well. The Southern Illinois transfer struggled with his shot through the bulk of November and he also was trying to find his role. Domask broke out on the Illini’s recent East Coast swing, though, with 15 points at Rutgers and a career-high 33 points against FAU. The 6-foot-6 forward really has the mid-post game going, as he can back guys down and he has a sweet turnaround J.
McKee: What are the biggest questions you still have after eight games?
Piper: Can the offense establish consistency? Heading into their road trip out East, the Illini were 62nd in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency on KenPom. Turnover issues, lackluster three-point shooting and a horrendous free throw percentage were all plaguing this team. After averaging 87 points per game in their last two contests, the numbers on paper look better (now 29th in offensive efficiency). We’ll see if that can continue to trend in a positive direction. Giving Shannon enough help on a nightly basis is key, particularly in a matchup like this one when a really good Tennessee defense will try to make his life difficult.
The point guard position is probably going to be a big question all year long. To put it simply, the Illini don’t really have one. Redshirt freshman Niccolo Moretti is the only pure point guard on the roster and he’s out with a foot injury. Even if he was healthy, he’s very unproven. The Illini are using a combination of Rodgers, Shannon and Domask on the ball. Rodgers has been very good at defending point guards, but he’s very limited as a scorer and he’s struggled at times against intense ball pressure. How much will missing out on an impact floor general in the transfer portal come back to bite Illinois?
McKee: Who would you consider the x-factors for Illinois?
Piper: Coleman Hawkins is the biggest one. He’s very good at the defensive end with the ground that he can cover at his size and he has great instincts. Offensively, he’s been very inconsistent over the course of his career. He was a primary four-man when All-American center Kofi Cockburn was in town, but now, he’s fully converted to a stretch five. In an ideal world, he’s someone who stresses defenses with his ability to space the floor, play pick ‘n pop and also distribute from outside the paint. Hawkins has had some tremendous moments. His four threes against Hunter Dickinson was a big reason the Illini took down Kansas in their exhibition game. He hit six of ‘em in a win over Wisconsin last year as well.
That said, Hawkins has had plenty of games when he’s not provided much of a scoring punch. He’s shot just 27 percent from beyond the arc throughout his four years. His decision making is suspect at times as well. He’s the type of guy who has the fan base pulling its hair out, but he’s also super important defensively and he can take Illinois to another level when he’s good offensively.
McKee: What will be key for Illinois on Saturday at Tennessee?
Piper: Winning the Terrence Shannon-Dalton Knecht matchup is a good place to start. Obviously, that’s not going to be an easy thing to do. The Vols made one of the biggest splashes in the portal by bringing him in. I knew he had the ability to really shoot it and that he was a good athlete, but his ability to create off the bounce has been very impressive. That’s going to be a high-level battle.
Even if Shannon wins out there, he’s going to need some help. Can Domask keep it going? Can the Illini make some timely threes to try to free up the lane as much as possible? Also, they have to be ‘ball tough’ against the Vols’ physical defense and perform well enough at the free throw line against a team that’s fouled quite a bit thus far.
I also just think Illinois needs to be ready for a war. I’d expect Tennessee to be very hungry after dropping its previous three high-major games.
McKee: Marcus Domask and Terrence Shannon Jr. are both coming off career games. What makes them so difficult to defend?
Piper: Shannon is a freak athlete and a grown man, who is extremely tough to stop when he has a head of steam going downhill. He’s also shooting the ball pretty darn well right now. I think another difference between this year and last year is that Shannon has done a better job of reading the floor and hitting teammates when teams wall up on him in the paint.
Domask is very skilled, he has size to him and he just plays with great composure. He scored more than 1,600 career points at Southern Illinois, and now, he has a better understanding of what his role needs to be with the Illini. They’ve been giving him more and more mid-post touches. He also has the ability to shoot from the outside.
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