2017 IN class has 6 four and five star players, but only 1 is leaning towards IU
- Thread starter Grotto_22
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I do think he is a must as we move forward. Doesn't mean I think he will be better than Wilkes. Wilkes and Scruggs are only two we have a chance with. Williams isn't coming
Scruggs style - a player who takes the ball to the rack aggressively - fits exactly the way Crean likes to play. Xavier is looking more and more like his destination, though.
If that is true, and I imagine it is, then do we think IU is playing the game too? If not, how does that effect our recruiting? Is it possible that one of the things that some recruits don't like about Crean is the fact that they won't get a payday from IU? I have no idea. IU could be the dirtiest in the Big Ten and I wouldn't know.
Fans of yesteryear factored in the widespread cheating that Knight was up against in evaluating his recruiting, but at some point we just decided that it didn't matter any more.
I think the playing field is far more level, even among the elite schools, than you imagine it to be. Compliance functions within athletic departments are well staffed and incredibly detailed in their oversight of just about everything under the sun.
I truly doubt that he will start over a fifth year senior Newkirk who is a true point guard. If Scrugs is more of a SG than a PG, because he will in my opinion look for himself first and others second. If he was a Pg then he would have done that this year with Joey Brunk, which would have lead them to winning NGOs state. New Albany had absolutely nobody for Brunk. He should have touched the ball almost every possession against them.
You may well be right, but did you read the "Meet the Bag Man" article that I linked a few posts back? The article makes it sound like paying money to players, that you know you aren't even going to get, is just a normal, everyday part of recruiting.
So a fifth year senior automatically means he starts? You have no idea if Newkirk is any good. He was a very average player at Pitt. Scruggs will play from day 1 at IU. Not sure how you argue against that.
He is much better than Marshall stronger, quicker more athletic he will play in the NBA Marshall had no hope to play in the league....................
Marshall Strickland was my definition of a combo guard, i was not comparing him to Scruggs.
As you know, the pg position is the quarterback of the team who initiates sets and directs others to their correct places. Newkirk already said that is the most important thing that he learned from playing against Yogi. Next year will be going on his third season in Coach Crean's offense compared to Scruggs with ZERO years of experience in his offense. Who do you think will be more confident in directing the offense?
Plus I do not see Scruggs as elite talent like Gordon, Yogi, or Langford. I see him as being a baby step better than Jones based upon his strength but that migh be negated by time Jones goes through a year of Stength training at IU. Therefore, I do not see him as a lock at starting his freshman year at IU if he chooses to go there.
I guess we will see. To me Scruggs is an elite talent..he will play a lot whether it's at the 1,2, or 3
If that is true then Romeo is lock to be a NBA all star, because there is a nice gap between their level of play.
Huh?
Newkirk hasn't even been at IU for a year. How will this coming season be his THIRD in Crean's offense?
There is not a guard we have on the roster who is better at taking the ball to the basket and attacking than PS. There just isn't. And considering Crean's offense focuses on that (and transition), Scruggs would see plenty of time if not start his freshman year.
That's wishful thinking, though. Likely he ends up in Cincinnati.
I am surprised at the number of folks that think Scruggs won't play as a Freshman where ever he goes he will play significant minutes
Sorry, I meant Newkirk will be going into his third season running Coach's offense.
Paul Scrugs has not played a single game in college yet, so how do you really know how good he will be in college?
well he is ranked number 35 in the country. Which usually is a good indicator of them being successful. Also you don't know if Newkirk will be very good either. If he is the same player he was at Pitt then he will be a role player
Maybe it's me. Maybe it's just the two games I saw him play in. I don't see Elite in Scruggs at all. Very nice player. Would love to get him but he isn't Elite to the point where you guarantee playing time for. Plus if he's Elite...I guess Romeo hanging 40+ on him was because Romeo was having a bad day?
Did Scruggs guard him all game did thy switch in picks? Also Romeo was 8-12 from 3. Also Romeo is possibly going to be the best player to come out if Indiana in a long long time
Romeo is extremely talented but his game against Southport was as good as he can shoot it the next week in the finals he missed shots (quite a few) that he had made the previous week. Doubt anyone could have stopped him in Richmond. Southport used several defenders on him plus some zone Scruggs is a good defender and will play a bunch as a Freshman....................
Newkirk hasn't played a single game at IU for Crean so how do you really know how good he will be?
I am not arguing that he will not be successfull next year, but I am arguing that I do not think that he is an elite recruit. There are five players ranked ahead of him at his position, so it is hard to call him elite for me.
I am one who thinks that the system constricted Newkirk's success at Pittsburgh. What can Scruggs do that Newkirk can't?
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Bigger will be stronger, large wing span just physically more gifted. How many players were ranked ahead of Newkirk ????
Well if number 35 player in the country isn't elite then our recruiting has gone to crap because we are not landing many top 50 players.
I doubt that Scruggs will be much stronger than fifth year Newkirk. He looks huge in the pics that I have seen this summer. Scruggs is not much more athletic than Newkirk as well. Newkirk seems to have a more explosive first step than Scruggs from what I have seen.
I never said Newkirk was elite but some say Scruggs is.
I do not see how he would be considered elite pick up, but he is really nice pick up on the same level of Scruggs if he does chose to play at IU. Nobody here is saying De'ron is a lock to start, but he will find his way in the line up significantly. Scruggs is a nice player, but I do not even think he is even being talked about being an one and done player. I am not saying that you have to be an one and done player, but they should be some kind of discussion about it. I think that Blackmon JR would be considered more of an elite recruit than Paul Scruggs. JMHO
So basically we are getting zero elite talent lately then. Also Scruggs all day long over Jbj. Jbj doesn't have an all around game. I would take RJ over jbj
I can see that but we are landing the top 10 level players. So a top 50 commit for us is an elite talent in my opinion.
If that is true then what others say that Coach Crean cannot recruit elite talent to be successful is complete bunk. But recruiting rankings are completely subjective and should be seen with a grain of salt.
To me elite recruits are usually a top 10 to 15 player in class and a possible one and done player.
They are subjective but the teams getting the top talent are typically in the national title hunt every year.
As for Crean recruiting...it has taken a step back recently. Just look at the makeup of our current roster. Only 5 of the entire 13 players were 4 or 5 star recruits with only JBJ being the 5 star.
JBJ-5 star
Davis, Cujo, RJ, Bryant-4 stars
Hartman, Newkirk, Morgan, OG, Green, MCSwain-3 stars
2 stars, Gelon, Priller
