Indiana took a difficult loss to Rutgers on Wednesday which was essentially a 'play-in' game. Whichever team won that one, would feel pretty confident heading into the last 2ish games of the season that they had left.
With Indiana's loss, it went from being in 96 of 119 brackets in bracketmatrix.com with an average seed of 11.3 to just 55 of the 119 brackets as of this morning. Out of all of the 10-12 seeds in the bracketmatrix.com site, Indiana is one of just three teams to be in less than 100 of the brackets and the only one in less than 75.
Indiana faces Purdue on Saturday and then will play Michigan/Michigan State in its opener in the Big Ten Tournament. After that, a matchup with Wisconsin would take place -- a team IU has narrowly lost to both games this year.
A matchup with MSU/UM is much more difficult in my opinion than that of Wisconsin, so if iU were able to get past that opener, there could be a potential for another big win that would definitely put them in a much better spot come selection Sunday.
Other teams to watch for heading into this weekend are: Memphis, Loyola, SMU, TCU, Virginia Tech, Xavier, Wake Forest, Michigan, Wyoming, San Fransisco.
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Wednesday was a big recruiting night for Indiana. The program had four visitors, none bigger than 2023 four-star forward Coen Carr from Legacy Early College (SC). The top-70 forward had a great visit.
Carr is a 6-foot-7 forward and has an extreme amount of athleticism. Carr is best in transition or in the secondary break when it is difficult for defenders to get a clear stance on him. In the open floor, he shows a really nice burst of quickness and has nice, long strides that allow him to get to the rim at ease.While most of his looks come inside the paint, he is difficult to stop once he gets there. Because of his jumping ability, length and overall versatility, he can score around players, through players or overtop of them. Carr has the ability to bring down the house with a rim-rocking dunk off of one or two feet and has shown the ability multiple times.
Carr has a good relationship with 2022 signee Kaleb Banks and also with 2023 commit Jakai Newton. Carr is originally from the Atlanta area where both Banks and Newton are. He has known Newton since they were 10 years old. Yasir Rosemond has done a really good job here and obviously with all three of those guys.
2023 commit Gabe Cupps wants to play with Carr. He has made that very known to him and to others. He wants him to come to Indiana and that played into his decision to come to Indiana on Wednesday.
We will have more on Carr this weekend after he settles back in from his visit.
More on Carr:
indiana.rivals.com
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On the 2022 front, Centerville (OH) teammate of Gabe Cupps is Rich Rolf. The 6-foot-7 wing was also at the Indiana game on Wednesday for a visit. Rolf was originally committed to Drexel but re-opened his recruitment in the fall.
Rolf is a 6-foot-7 forward who can play on the perimeter and is a terrific shooter. He shot 49.5 percent this season -- so far -- from three on 109 attempts. He averages 17.4 points per game this season, is a 1,000-point scorer and is also Centerville's leading rebounding in program history.
He had 28 points and was 4-of-9 from three against Huntington Prep (WV), 20 points and 10 rebounds against Vertical Academy (NC), 29 points on 7-of-10 from three against SoCal Academy (CA) -- all nationally ranked opponents.
Rolf would be a preferred walk-on and then earn a scholarship as a sophomore. If Indiana can get him as a preferred walk-on for year one, that would be incredible. He is the type of player you would love to have as a 6-foot-7 player who can shoot the ball. A decision likely won't come for a few months as his recruitment is now starting to tick up with more high-major programs taking notice.
We will have more on Rolf later today.
Below are highlights of his big games this season. He is No. 24.
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2024 forward from Peoria Notre Dame (IL) Cooper Koch was also on campus on Wednesday. The 2024 forward has been to Indiana multiple times over the last year and was also at Hoosier Hysteria this past fall.
Koch was on Wisconsin's campus for its win over Purdue earlier in the week. He is planning to visit Purdue, Illinois and Notre Dame over the next week.
Koch's dad, JR Koch, played for Iowa in college and still has very close ties to the Iowa program.
Koch is trying to keep his recruitment as open as possible right now: 'It definitely influences it a little. He knows all of the old managers and people around the program but we are keeping it pretty wide open in terms of my options right now.'
Wisconsin's visit was a big one for him earlier this week and that atmosphere was a big, big moment.
Koch is going to be tough to take out of the midwest. Most of his offers are in the Big Ten and with the amount of visits he can take within driving distance this early on in his recruiting process, it will be difficult for east coast/west coast schools to build that relationship as much as the programs in the midwest.
Still a bit to go in his recruitment but he is looking to make a decision before his junior year.
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2023 Bloomington North (IN) forward JQ Roberts had a monster game in his playoff opener, going for 23 points and 20 rebounds in a win.
Roberts has visited Indiana multiple times this season unofficially. Indiana is still involved but a guy like Coen Carr is a a take before Roberts.
Here is more on Roberts from Rivals national writer Travis Graf.
indiana.rivals.com
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Sectionals continue in Indiana tonight with Lawrence North taking on Warren Central. Kyler will be there for TheHoosier.com in what will be CJ Gunn's return from his one-game suspension following two technical fouls. Cathedral plays Arsenal Tech in the second game.
Below are notes from Kyler for a few of the Indiana targets he got eyes on so far this week.
2023 forward Xavier Booker: Booker and Cathedral played this past Wednesday night in the Sectional 10 opening round where they defeated host North Central 76-68. Overall, Cathedral had some pretty balanced scoring from the majority of their team and with Booker, he finished with a total of 12 points. The first half, he was a lot more dominant scoring at all three levels and even was beating people down the floor so he could get the easy transition score. Also, he continued to impress with his shot blocking and rim protecting skills as he is a true disruptor on that end. Not your typical, traditional big man as he looks more to score from the outside and facing the basket instead of with his back to it. In the second half, the only notable thing he did was an easy two-handed slam. He was pulled with about seven minutes left in the game, something that we have seen happen multiple times this season. His attitude is another thing that we have noticed as it has often been poor at times but I thought this game it was a lot better and he seemed to be playing with more energy. Cathedral advances onto the semi-final round where they will meet a very talented Arsenal Tech team tonight after the Lawrence North/Warren Central game. Big chance we see Indiana signee CJ Gunn vs Xavier Booker in the Sectional 10 finals tomorrow night.
2023 forward Logan Imes: Imes and Zionsville played host of Sectional 8, Noblesville, in the first of two opening round games this past Tuesday where they suffered an upset loss 67-53. Imes was struggling for the majority of the game here and when the first half ended, he had recorded zero points. In fact, he did not score until about the last two minutes of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, he started getting his offensive game going and ended up with a total of 9 points when the final buzzer sounded. This was an incredibly rare type of performance from the very talented lead guard. He usually has a very smooth playing style, but Noblesville did a great job guarding him and forcing him to take uncomfortable shots. If Imes was playing as his normal, high-level scoring self, the outcome of this game could have been much different. However bad performance aside, Imes is still a high-major prospect that should see a big summer as far as recruitment goes.
2025 guard Jalen Haralson: In the second opening round game of Sectional 8 this past Tuesday night, Haralson and Fishers were shockingly defeated by Braden Smith (Purdue signee) and Westfield 62-44. Other than Smith, who dropped a game high 28 points, Haralson was the best player on the floor. He dropped a total of 19 points where the majority of them came around the basket. I felt watching him he was at his best in transition and when he could take his defender one-on-one in iso situations. There were times that I felt he was a little hesitate on some shots he should have taken but once he would go full steam to the basket, there was no stopping him due to his incredible athleticism and explosiveness. He is still only a freshman so there were a few mistakes he made but at 6-foot-6 and playing the lead guard position, you can tell he has all the tools and how special of a player he is already and going to continue to be. At this point in time, he just needs more experience to take his game to the next level.
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Small notes...
2022 signee Jalen Hood-Schifino was named a Naismith Third-Team All-American this week.
2023 commit Gabe Cupps was named Ohio All-Southwest District Player of the Year and to the First-Team. Teammate Rich Rolf joined him on the First-Team.
Centerville (OH) plays its district final game on Sunday night and TheHoosier.com will be there. They are currently 25-0 on the season.
2022 Quaker Valley (PA) guard Adou Thiero led his team to a WPIAL 4A title last night. He had 31 points, 17 rebounds and 7 blocks. Thiero visited Indiana a few weeks ago and is a late bloomer in the class. If Indiana decides to continue pursuing, it would be a tough team to beat. Thiero will look to take some official visits and I wouldn't be surprised to see IU get another visit.
More on Thiero's unofficial visit:
t.co
With Indiana's loss, it went from being in 96 of 119 brackets in bracketmatrix.com with an average seed of 11.3 to just 55 of the 119 brackets as of this morning. Out of all of the 10-12 seeds in the bracketmatrix.com site, Indiana is one of just three teams to be in less than 100 of the brackets and the only one in less than 75.
Indiana faces Purdue on Saturday and then will play Michigan/Michigan State in its opener in the Big Ten Tournament. After that, a matchup with Wisconsin would take place -- a team IU has narrowly lost to both games this year.
A matchup with MSU/UM is much more difficult in my opinion than that of Wisconsin, so if iU were able to get past that opener, there could be a potential for another big win that would definitely put them in a much better spot come selection Sunday.
Other teams to watch for heading into this weekend are: Memphis, Loyola, SMU, TCU, Virginia Tech, Xavier, Wake Forest, Michigan, Wyoming, San Fransisco.
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Wednesday was a big recruiting night for Indiana. The program had four visitors, none bigger than 2023 four-star forward Coen Carr from Legacy Early College (SC). The top-70 forward had a great visit.
Carr is a 6-foot-7 forward and has an extreme amount of athleticism. Carr is best in transition or in the secondary break when it is difficult for defenders to get a clear stance on him. In the open floor, he shows a really nice burst of quickness and has nice, long strides that allow him to get to the rim at ease.While most of his looks come inside the paint, he is difficult to stop once he gets there. Because of his jumping ability, length and overall versatility, he can score around players, through players or overtop of them. Carr has the ability to bring down the house with a rim-rocking dunk off of one or two feet and has shown the ability multiple times.
Carr has a good relationship with 2022 signee Kaleb Banks and also with 2023 commit Jakai Newton. Carr is originally from the Atlanta area where both Banks and Newton are. He has known Newton since they were 10 years old. Yasir Rosemond has done a really good job here and obviously with all three of those guys.
2023 commit Gabe Cupps wants to play with Carr. He has made that very known to him and to others. He wants him to come to Indiana and that played into his decision to come to Indiana on Wednesday.
We will have more on Carr this weekend after he settles back in from his visit.
More on Carr:
TheHoosier - 2023 top-70 forward Coen Carr schedules Indiana official visit
2023 four-star Legacy Early College (SC) forward Coen Carr has set his Indiana official visit.
indiana.rivals.com
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On the 2022 front, Centerville (OH) teammate of Gabe Cupps is Rich Rolf. The 6-foot-7 wing was also at the Indiana game on Wednesday for a visit. Rolf was originally committed to Drexel but re-opened his recruitment in the fall.
Rolf is a 6-foot-7 forward who can play on the perimeter and is a terrific shooter. He shot 49.5 percent this season -- so far -- from three on 109 attempts. He averages 17.4 points per game this season, is a 1,000-point scorer and is also Centerville's leading rebounding in program history.
He had 28 points and was 4-of-9 from three against Huntington Prep (WV), 20 points and 10 rebounds against Vertical Academy (NC), 29 points on 7-of-10 from three against SoCal Academy (CA) -- all nationally ranked opponents.
Rolf would be a preferred walk-on and then earn a scholarship as a sophomore. If Indiana can get him as a preferred walk-on for year one, that would be incredible. He is the type of player you would love to have as a 6-foot-7 player who can shoot the ball. A decision likely won't come for a few months as his recruitment is now starting to tick up with more high-major programs taking notice.
We will have more on Rolf later today.
Below are highlights of his big games this season. He is No. 24.
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2024 forward from Peoria Notre Dame (IL) Cooper Koch was also on campus on Wednesday. The 2024 forward has been to Indiana multiple times over the last year and was also at Hoosier Hysteria this past fall.
Koch was on Wisconsin's campus for its win over Purdue earlier in the week. He is planning to visit Purdue, Illinois and Notre Dame over the next week.
Koch's dad, JR Koch, played for Iowa in college and still has very close ties to the Iowa program.
Koch is trying to keep his recruitment as open as possible right now: 'It definitely influences it a little. He knows all of the old managers and people around the program but we are keeping it pretty wide open in terms of my options right now.'
Wisconsin's visit was a big one for him earlier this week and that atmosphere was a big, big moment.
Koch is going to be tough to take out of the midwest. Most of his offers are in the Big Ten and with the amount of visits he can take within driving distance this early on in his recruiting process, it will be difficult for east coast/west coast schools to build that relationship as much as the programs in the midwest.
Still a bit to go in his recruitment but he is looking to make a decision before his junior year.
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2023 Bloomington North (IN) forward JQ Roberts had a monster game in his playoff opener, going for 23 points and 20 rebounds in a win.
Roberts has visited Indiana multiple times this season unofficially. Indiana is still involved but a guy like Coen Carr is a a take before Roberts.
Here is more on Roberts from Rivals national writer Travis Graf.
TheHoosier - Underrated JQ Roberts rounding into form, starting to get noticed
The Indiana product has visited two in-state schools and continues to explore his options.
indiana.rivals.com
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Sectionals continue in Indiana tonight with Lawrence North taking on Warren Central. Kyler will be there for TheHoosier.com in what will be CJ Gunn's return from his one-game suspension following two technical fouls. Cathedral plays Arsenal Tech in the second game.
Below are notes from Kyler for a few of the Indiana targets he got eyes on so far this week.
2023 forward Xavier Booker: Booker and Cathedral played this past Wednesday night in the Sectional 10 opening round where they defeated host North Central 76-68. Overall, Cathedral had some pretty balanced scoring from the majority of their team and with Booker, he finished with a total of 12 points. The first half, he was a lot more dominant scoring at all three levels and even was beating people down the floor so he could get the easy transition score. Also, he continued to impress with his shot blocking and rim protecting skills as he is a true disruptor on that end. Not your typical, traditional big man as he looks more to score from the outside and facing the basket instead of with his back to it. In the second half, the only notable thing he did was an easy two-handed slam. He was pulled with about seven minutes left in the game, something that we have seen happen multiple times this season. His attitude is another thing that we have noticed as it has often been poor at times but I thought this game it was a lot better and he seemed to be playing with more energy. Cathedral advances onto the semi-final round where they will meet a very talented Arsenal Tech team tonight after the Lawrence North/Warren Central game. Big chance we see Indiana signee CJ Gunn vs Xavier Booker in the Sectional 10 finals tomorrow night.
2023 forward Logan Imes: Imes and Zionsville played host of Sectional 8, Noblesville, in the first of two opening round games this past Tuesday where they suffered an upset loss 67-53. Imes was struggling for the majority of the game here and when the first half ended, he had recorded zero points. In fact, he did not score until about the last two minutes of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, he started getting his offensive game going and ended up with a total of 9 points when the final buzzer sounded. This was an incredibly rare type of performance from the very talented lead guard. He usually has a very smooth playing style, but Noblesville did a great job guarding him and forcing him to take uncomfortable shots. If Imes was playing as his normal, high-level scoring self, the outcome of this game could have been much different. However bad performance aside, Imes is still a high-major prospect that should see a big summer as far as recruitment goes.
2025 guard Jalen Haralson: In the second opening round game of Sectional 8 this past Tuesday night, Haralson and Fishers were shockingly defeated by Braden Smith (Purdue signee) and Westfield 62-44. Other than Smith, who dropped a game high 28 points, Haralson was the best player on the floor. He dropped a total of 19 points where the majority of them came around the basket. I felt watching him he was at his best in transition and when he could take his defender one-on-one in iso situations. There were times that I felt he was a little hesitate on some shots he should have taken but once he would go full steam to the basket, there was no stopping him due to his incredible athleticism and explosiveness. He is still only a freshman so there were a few mistakes he made but at 6-foot-6 and playing the lead guard position, you can tell he has all the tools and how special of a player he is already and going to continue to be. At this point in time, he just needs more experience to take his game to the next level.
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Small notes...
2022 signee Jalen Hood-Schifino was named a Naismith Third-Team All-American this week.
2023 commit Gabe Cupps was named Ohio All-Southwest District Player of the Year and to the First-Team. Teammate Rich Rolf joined him on the First-Team.
Centerville (OH) plays its district final game on Sunday night and TheHoosier.com will be there. They are currently 25-0 on the season.
2022 Quaker Valley (PA) guard Adou Thiero led his team to a WPIAL 4A title last night. He had 31 points, 17 rebounds and 7 blocks. Thiero visited Indiana a few weeks ago and is a late bloomer in the class. If Indiana decides to continue pursuing, it would be a tough team to beat. Thiero will look to take some official visits and I wouldn't be surprised to see IU get another visit.
More on Thiero's unofficial visit:
TheHoosier - Indiana visit 'exceeded expectations' for 2022 guard Adou Thiero
2022 guard Adou Thiero was impressed with Indiana following his visit.
t.co
