Indiana has a few days off before getting back to Bloomington to prepare for its last non-conference game of the season before heading into full Big Ten play.
Right now, Indiana is 1-1 in the conference. It has a legit opportunity to climb into the top 2-3 in the first week of January with games against Penn State and at home against Ohio State. Ohio State hasn't played since Dec 11 and is still TBD for its game on Wednesday against New Orleans due to a COVID pause.
Indiana's next game is Wednesday against UNC-Asheville at home.
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On the recruiting front, Montverde (FL) Academy 2023 five-star Kwame 'KJ' Evans is planning his official visit to Indiana for February. Originally the date(s) of Feb 11-13 were announced, but since Indiana is on the road at Michigan State that weekend, he is figuring out another date. According to his AAU program director, Dwayne Wise, a visit in February is still expected and something he is planning on.
Evans comes off of the bench for Montverde behind five D-I starters going to Indiana, Texas, Duke, USC and Florida.
So far this season, Evans has had some really solid games and provided some nice scoring off of the bench. He isn't a high volume scorer right now... mainly because he doesn't need to be and isn't asked to be. He is a 6-foot-9 forward who plays more on the wing at this stage in terms of his skillset. He has a good ability to get by defenders using his length and long strides. He's a terrific rebounder because of his length and athleticism and very good out in the open floor in transition.
Defensively, Evans is outstanding. He still needs to get better moving horizontally to keep up with some quicker and smaller opponents, but his length makes up for that. He has quick hands and a good sense of where he needs to be on the floor. Multiple times this season he has been great in the passing lanes and as a weak-side rim protector. At just 190-pounds, he needs more muscle and strength but that will come over the next year and a half before he steps on a college campus.
Rivals national analyst Rob Cassidy recently saw more of Evans and offered his thoughts on his game.
"As for his game, I think being at Montverde has helped. He’s not putting up eye-popping numbers every game like he was back home but it seems like the whole iron-sharpening-iron thing is true here," Cassidy said. "Evans has been more efficient in the games I’ve seen so far this season and seems to be cutting down on forced shots. He’s long had the body and athleticism of a top-flight prospect, Montvede is helping polish him while not putting pressure on him to be “the guy” as a junior. He’ll stay around the top. He’s still looking like a top-10 prospect despite going up against the best players in the country."
Kentucky is the only official visit Evans has taken so far. He also visited Maryland unofficially earlier this year. He has offers from UK, Auburn, DePaul, Georgetown, Kansas, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and more.
Time will tell how involved IU will be in this recruitment and obviously getting him on campus will be big. The relationships with Montverde and having Jalen Hood-Schifino coming in doesn't hurt either.
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Memorial (OH) 2023 big man Austin Parks continues to be recruited by Indiana. He was supposed to have a visit a few weeks ago but had to reschedule. As of now the only visit he has taken since announcing his top-5 of Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, Dayton and West Virginia is to Ohio State.
He is trying to get back to IU.
He is your traditional big man with his back-to-the-basket more than not. Parks has a great frame and build for his age. He is a very effective post player who has advanced footwork. He can turn over either shoulder and finish above the rim. He can be effective at the high or low post and uses his size to get very good post position. Parks is a solid rebounder as well and uses his length to his advantage on both ends of the floor. Right now, he remains someone that sees most action in the paint.
So far this season, they are off to a 5-1 start. He says he is 'working on getting better post position and working around double and triple teams' right now to improve his game.
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2022 Indiana signee Jalen Hood-Schifino helped lift Montverde to a City of Palms championship this week. It was an absolutely loaded event where Montverde beat Milton (Ga) with five-star point guard and Ohio State commit Bruce Thornton in the semifinals and then Oak Hill (Va) to win the title.
Hood-Schifino averaged 11.8 points on 42 percent shooting from the field in four games. He also put up 15 assists to 6 turnovers in those four games in 96 minutes of action. He had 8 assists and just 1 turnover in the semifinal and championship games combined.
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Small note...
Coming up next week, TheHoosier.com will get another opportunity to see more game action of Bloomington North 2023 forward JQ Roberts. We will try to get some additional video of his games. He took an unofficial visit to Iowa this week.
Right now, Indiana is 1-1 in the conference. It has a legit opportunity to climb into the top 2-3 in the first week of January with games against Penn State and at home against Ohio State. Ohio State hasn't played since Dec 11 and is still TBD for its game on Wednesday against New Orleans due to a COVID pause.
Indiana's next game is Wednesday against UNC-Asheville at home.
---
On the recruiting front, Montverde (FL) Academy 2023 five-star Kwame 'KJ' Evans is planning his official visit to Indiana for February. Originally the date(s) of Feb 11-13 were announced, but since Indiana is on the road at Michigan State that weekend, he is figuring out another date. According to his AAU program director, Dwayne Wise, a visit in February is still expected and something he is planning on.
Evans comes off of the bench for Montverde behind five D-I starters going to Indiana, Texas, Duke, USC and Florida.
So far this season, Evans has had some really solid games and provided some nice scoring off of the bench. He isn't a high volume scorer right now... mainly because he doesn't need to be and isn't asked to be. He is a 6-foot-9 forward who plays more on the wing at this stage in terms of his skillset. He has a good ability to get by defenders using his length and long strides. He's a terrific rebounder because of his length and athleticism and very good out in the open floor in transition.
Defensively, Evans is outstanding. He still needs to get better moving horizontally to keep up with some quicker and smaller opponents, but his length makes up for that. He has quick hands and a good sense of where he needs to be on the floor. Multiple times this season he has been great in the passing lanes and as a weak-side rim protector. At just 190-pounds, he needs more muscle and strength but that will come over the next year and a half before he steps on a college campus.
Rivals national analyst Rob Cassidy recently saw more of Evans and offered his thoughts on his game.
"As for his game, I think being at Montverde has helped. He’s not putting up eye-popping numbers every game like he was back home but it seems like the whole iron-sharpening-iron thing is true here," Cassidy said. "Evans has been more efficient in the games I’ve seen so far this season and seems to be cutting down on forced shots. He’s long had the body and athleticism of a top-flight prospect, Montvede is helping polish him while not putting pressure on him to be “the guy” as a junior. He’ll stay around the top. He’s still looking like a top-10 prospect despite going up against the best players in the country."
Kentucky is the only official visit Evans has taken so far. He also visited Maryland unofficially earlier this year. He has offers from UK, Auburn, DePaul, Georgetown, Kansas, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and more.
Time will tell how involved IU will be in this recruitment and obviously getting him on campus will be big. The relationships with Montverde and having Jalen Hood-Schifino coming in doesn't hurt either.
---
Memorial (OH) 2023 big man Austin Parks continues to be recruited by Indiana. He was supposed to have a visit a few weeks ago but had to reschedule. As of now the only visit he has taken since announcing his top-5 of Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, Dayton and West Virginia is to Ohio State.
He is trying to get back to IU.
He is your traditional big man with his back-to-the-basket more than not. Parks has a great frame and build for his age. He is a very effective post player who has advanced footwork. He can turn over either shoulder and finish above the rim. He can be effective at the high or low post and uses his size to get very good post position. Parks is a solid rebounder as well and uses his length to his advantage on both ends of the floor. Right now, he remains someone that sees most action in the paint.
So far this season, they are off to a 5-1 start. He says he is 'working on getting better post position and working around double and triple teams' right now to improve his game.
---
2022 Indiana signee Jalen Hood-Schifino helped lift Montverde to a City of Palms championship this week. It was an absolutely loaded event where Montverde beat Milton (Ga) with five-star point guard and Ohio State commit Bruce Thornton in the semifinals and then Oak Hill (Va) to win the title.
Hood-Schifino averaged 11.8 points on 42 percent shooting from the field in four games. He also put up 15 assists to 6 turnovers in those four games in 96 minutes of action. He had 8 assists and just 1 turnover in the semifinal and championship games combined.
---
Small note...
Coming up next week, TheHoosier.com will get another opportunity to see more game action of Bloomington North 2023 forward JQ Roberts. We will try to get some additional video of his games. He took an unofficial visit to Iowa this week.
