Per CBS.

36. Dain Dainja
Old school: Illinois

As a burly big man, Dainja wasn't a great fit in Illinois' five-out offensive system. He played just 10.8 minutes per game during the 2023-24 season but was productive when on the floor. The 6-foot-9 bruiser is an effective scorer in the paint, and he's a good rebounder and rim protector. He will be a difference-maker in the right scheme.

Familiar name. We signed him in a past life?

He was on our team as a freshman, but I don't think ever played any minutes before transferring out. Some others on here probably remember him with any game time. I know he was hurt for most if not all his freshman year. For some reason I feel like I saw him play in limited minutes, but might be confusing with his highlights pre Baylor.

He was not prepared physically or mentally for college basketball.

No way he comes back.

bear2be2 said:

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IvanBear said:

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He left Baylor middle of the season in 2021, I don't think he's coming back. You gotta think he was part of the reason Mayer ended up at Illinois. Him leaving is a good example of a hole that was created out of the portal that wasn't filled properly.

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For a player to leave a hole, they have to have actually done something for you. Dainja was a recruiting miss for us, but he wasn't a massive loss. He barely played while here and was gone too quickly to miss him. His leaving just accelerated Josh Ojianwuna's timeline.

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Dainja plays the 4, he could have been a backup to Bridges it's been 2 years without an answer for that spot on the roster. I'm not saying he would have been a stud, but his timeline had nothing to do with Josh O playing more. We needed to replace him with someone to develop at the 4 and we did not do that.

I remember him as a 5. He was way too slow even as a 5 for our system.

IvanBear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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IvanBear said:

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He left Baylor middle of the season in 2021, I don't think he's coming back. You gotta think he was part of the reason Mayer ended up at Illinois. Him leaving is a good example of a hole that was created out of the portal that wasn't filled properly.

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For a player to leave a hole, they have to have actually done something for you. Dainja was a recruiting miss for us, but he wasn't a massive loss. He barely played while here and was gone too quickly to miss him. His leaving just accelerated Josh Ojianwuna's timeline.

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Dainja plays the 4, he could have been a backup to Bridges it's been 2 years without an answer for that spot on the roster. I'm not saying he would have been a stud, but his timeline had nothing to do with Josh O playing more. We needed to replace him with someone to develop at the 4 and we did not do that.

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Dainja's not a four. He's a five in the college game.

If he was a four, and was capable of replacing Bridges' skill set, he wouldn't need to leave Illinois. He'd just adjust his game to their new perimeter-based offense.

Crawfoso1973 said:

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I remember him as a 5. He was way too slow even as a 5 for our system.

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I've always seen him listed as a power forward, at 6' 9" I'm not sure he's doing a lot of effective play in the middle of a Drew defense. My recollection was during his short stint at Baylor he was always extremely overweight, which was his knock coming out of high school too, has the body and the skillset but terrible conditioning.

IvanBear said:

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Crawfoso1973 said:

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I remember him as a 5. He was way too slow even as a 5 for our system.

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I've always seen him listed as a power forward, at 6' 9" I'm not sure he's doing a lot of effective play in the middle of a Drew defense. My recollection was during his short stint at Baylor he was always extremely overweight, which was his knock coming out of high school too, has the body and the skillset but terrible conditioning.

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Illinois lists all of its bigs as forwards, but he was their backup post this season and lost roughly half his minutes from last year with their switch to a more wide-open offense. He still had his moments because he's a talented kid, but he did almost all his scoring from the paint.

Honestly, he was never a great fit for Drew's system. He's a good athlete for his size, but he's not the type of athlete we've had success with at the four or five.

bear2be2 said:

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IvanBear said:

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Crawfoso1973 said:

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I remember him as a 5. He was way too slow even as a 5 for our system.

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I've always seen him listed as a power forward, at 6' 9" I'm not sure he's doing a lot of effective play in the middle of a Drew defense. My recollection was during his short stint at Baylor he was always extremely overweight, which was his knock coming out of high school too, has the body and the skillset but terrible conditioning.

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Illinois lists all of its bigs as forwards, but he was their backup post this season and lost roughly half his minutes from last year with their switch to a more wide-open offense. He still had his moments because he's a talented kid, but he did almost all his scoring from the paint.

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I was looking at his high school recruiting not college. Most power forwards traditionally do all their scoring from the paint, the 3 point shooting 4 is not the traditional norm even if it's trending that way. I get Illinois doesn't really run a true 5 with their offense, seems like he should prioritize going somewhere that'll help him develop a mid range shot and he can try and be a knock of Burns or Eddy.

IvanBear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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IvanBear said:

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Crawfoso1973 said:

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I remember him as a 5. He was way too slow even as a 5 for our system.

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I've always seen him listed as a power forward, at 6' 9" I'm not sure he's doing a lot of effective play in the middle of a Drew defense. My recollection was during his short stint at Baylor he was always extremely overweight, which was his knock coming out of high school too, has the body and the skillset but terrible conditioning.

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Illinois lists all of its bigs as forwards, but he was their backup post this season and lost roughly half his minutes from last year with their switch to a more wide-open offense. He still had his moments because he's a talented kid, but he did almost all his scoring from the paint.

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I was looking at his high school recruiting not college. Most power forwards traditionally do all their scoring from the paint, the 3 point shooting 4 is not the traditional norm even if it's trending that way. I get Illinois doesn't really run a true 5 with their offense, seems like he should prioritize going somewhere that'll help him develop a mid range shot and he can try and be a knock of Burns or Eddy.

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Power forward/post is often a meaningless distinction in college men's basketball because the terms are often interchangeable. But in our system specifically, Dainja was never going to be able to do the things we ask our forward(s) to do. Playing three guards almost exclusively and utilizing raw, often defense-minded posts, we need our forward to be really athletic, really versatile and preferably skilled on the offensive end. Dainja has never checked enough of those boxes to be an option for us at anything but the five IMO.

Dain disliked the coaching staff felt like he had been misled and disliked the school. He ain't coming back and the coaching staff doesn't want him back.

Big12Fan2024 said:

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Dain disliked the coaching staff felt like he had been misled and disliked the school. He ain't coming back and the coaching staff doesn't want him back.

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He's going to keep running into this problem wherever he goes. He's clearly got enough talent to be promised a shot at play time, but not enough work ethic to improve his conditioning to play that play time.

IvanBear said:

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Big12Fan2024 said:

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Dain disliked the coaching staff felt like he had been misled and disliked the school. He ain't coming back and the coaching staff doesn't want him back.

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He's going to keep running into this problem wherever he goes. He's clearly got enough talent to be promised a shot at play time, but not enough work ethic to improve his conditioning to play that play time.

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Dainja is leaving Illinois on good terms. He's set to earn his degree and virtually everyone there had good things to say about him.

By all accounts, he's only leaving because he no longer fits the program's style of play and was going to be limited to a bit role. I don't think anyone can really blame him for wanting to find a situation that fits him a little better.

He fit underwood's pre-2024 system really well. But their philosophical shift to a more wide-open, perimeter-oriented style made him a weird fit and left him with limited minutes.

https://writingillini.com/posts/illinois-basketball-fans-players-and-coaches-send-dain-dainja-off-with-positivity-01htfcbq04nk

He will end up someplace. Maybe a mid major, maybe TT. We'll see.

Josh has been pretty good for us. I'm glad he's returning and hope his development continues as it has been doing the last couple months.

Agreed. The improvement from November - March was fairly dramatic with Josh O. Another offseason of development will work wonders.

Would love Josh to go to one of those big man camps and get some more defensive off ball strategy work. I think he has really improved on ball, but still has a hard time with pick and role defense.
Agree about his overall improvement. There were half a dozen times he took his man off the dribble at the FT line and I was blown away with his speed and finish.

TWD 1974 said:

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bear2be2 said:

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IvanBear said:

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He left Baylor middle of the season in 2021, I don't think he's coming back. You gotta think he was part of the reason Mayer ended up at Illinois. Him leaving is a good example of a hole that was created out of the portal that wasn't filled properly.

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For a player to leave a hole, they have to have actually done something for you. Dainja was a recruiting miss for us, but he wasn't a massive loss. He barely played while here and was gone too quickly to miss him. His leaving just accelerated Josh Ojianwuna's timeline.

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Dainja left early in the season prior to Ojianwuna. His leaving, followed a month or so later with the injury to Jonathan, did in fact put us in a hole. Whatever the case, someone who walks out on the job is not someone I would ever consider for rehire.

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My point was if Dainja had stayed, he'd have likely been our second big last year, allowing Ojianwuna to potentially redshirt. His leaving forced us to get Josh O on the court in a relatively prominent role in his first year on campus.

But Dainja barely played at all the half season he was in Waco and wouldn't have likely been more than a garbage time player even after the injury to EJ in 2022. And Ojianwuna was our backup big the very next season. We didn't really miss him at all.

I watched Dain numerous times this year- he played well down the stretch - blocked a lot of shots, rebounded well and shot about 80% on fg's- definitely slimmed down- to around 250

toughbear said:

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I watched Dain numerous times this year- he played well down the stretch - blocked a lot of shots, rebounded well and shot about 80% on fg's- definitely slimmed down- to around 250

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Dainja's a good player. He just needs to find a program that will utilize his skill set. Illinois was that in 2023, but he lost a lot of his playing time this past season.

I assume you mean FT's, free throws. 80% on field goals would be amazing! A few years ago, Tristan Clark was close to that & he was the best in the country. Then he had a terrible injury right before the Kansas game. Drew had to reinvent some things, he elevated Gillespie into a more prominent role, and the rest is history.

bear2be2 said:

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TWD 1974 said:

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bear2be2 said:

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IvanBear said:

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He left Baylor middle of the season in 2021, I don't think he's coming back. You gotta think he was part of the reason Mayer ended up at Illinois. Him leaving is a good example of a hole that was created out of the portal that wasn't filled properly.

---

For a player to leave a hole, they have to have actually done something for you. Dainja was a recruiting miss for us, but he wasn't a massive loss. He barely played while here and was gone too quickly to miss him. His leaving just accelerated Josh Ojianwuna's timeline.

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Dainja left early in the season prior to Ojianwuna. His leaving, followed a month or so later with the injury to Jonathan, did in fact put us in a hole. Whatever the case, someone who walks out on the job is not someone I would ever consider for rehire.

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My point was if Dainja had stayed, he'd have likely been our second big last year, allowing Ojianwuna to potentially redshirt. His leaving forced us to get Josh O on the court in a relatively prominent role in his first year on campus.

But Dainja barely played at all the half season he was in Waco and wouldn't have likely been more than a garbage time player even after the injury to EJ in 2022. And Ojianwuna was our backup big the very next season. We didn't really miss him at all.

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I have no problem with Dainja leaving--it ultimately worked out for everyone. It is when he left that is the problem. Leaving early left us down a player, and he didn't play for Illinois till the following season. If Illinois pressured him to leave early, that's on them. But leaving a team like that is not a class act.

TWD 1974 said:

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bear2be2 said:

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TWD 1974 said:

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bear2be2 said:

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IvanBear said:

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He left Baylor middle of the season in 2021, I don't think he's coming back. You gotta think he was part of the reason Mayer ended up at Illinois. Him leaving is a good example of a hole that was created out of the portal that wasn't filled properly.

---

For a player to leave a hole, they have to have actually done something for you. Dainja was a recruiting miss for us, but he wasn't a massive loss. He barely played while here and was gone too quickly to miss him. His leaving just accelerated Josh Ojianwuna's timeline.

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Dainja left early in the season prior to Ojianwuna. His leaving, followed a month or so later with the injury to Jonathan, did in fact put us in a hole. Whatever the case, someone who walks out on the job is not someone I would ever consider for rehire.

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My point was if Dainja had stayed, he'd have likely been our second big last year, allowing Ojianwuna to potentially redshirt. His leaving forced us to get Josh O on the court in a relatively prominent role in his first year on campus.

But Dainja barely played at all the half season he was in Waco and wouldn't have likely been more than a garbage time player even after the injury to EJ in 2022. And Ojianwuna was our backup big the very next season. We didn't really miss him at all.

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I have no problem with Dainja leaving--it ultimately worked out for everyone. It is when he left that is the problem. Leaving early left us down a player, and he didn't play for Illinois till the following season. If Illinois pressured him to leave early, that's on them. But leaving a team like that is not a class act.

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I don't necessarily disagree. But he was in no physical condition to help us that first year. He was really out of shape. I don't think he'd have played much if he had stayed through the end of the season.

Ultimately, I think his transferring worked out for everyone.

🚨BREAKING🚨

Illinois transfer big man Dain Dainja has committed to Memphis, he tells @On3sports. pic.twitter.com/qdXOScLEOU

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) April 5, 2024