Offseason meetings began this week and already you have seen the result of them.
IU assistant coach Dane Fife is out after one season and while a lot of people were blindsided by this, it wasn't out of left field. Did I think it would happen, ehh, not sure I did. But was I surprised, no. There was a lot of clashing between the two behind the scenes and it was not one thing that stuck out that made Mike Woodson make this move. There were multiple things that piled up that made Woodson look in the mirror and make a 'difficult' decision to move on from Fife.
As far as potential assistant coaches, the three I would look at are Brian Walsh, Drew Adams and Randy Wittman. Walsh has been on staff for the past five years and is one of the biggest up-and-coming coaches in the game -- especially the midwest. Walsh has been instrumental in multiple recruitments and has made himself a force in that area. He came to Indiana from Dayton where he was on staff with Archie Miller.
As for Adams, the Bradley assistant has been with that program for seven years and emerged as a very talented recruiter in the Midwest as well. Overall, Adams has worked directly with and helped recruit four eventual All-MVC honorees – 8x time winners – and six MVC All-Freshman honorees. Adams is from Bloomington North and spent two years on Tom Crean’s staff at Indiana, first as Coordinator of Basketball Systems and then Director of Operations for the 2010-11 season. He also spend time previously involved with the Indiana Elite AAU program.
Wittman is another IU guys who is currently on staff as a consultant to Woodson. If he is brought on, he would bring nearly 25 years of experience as an NBA head or assistant coach. I would only be a bit hesitant with this selection due to the lack of college involvement and on the recruiting side. You already heard Woodson talk this season about his adjustment to the college game and even if it sounds small, the details of how many timeouts you have per game etc. That cost IU a few times. On the flip side, Woodson is trying to modernize the Indiana program and continuing to add NBA experience to the program and the staff is something that will not hurt.
I wouldn't expect this to drag on, however. I would go after Walsh or Adams. Either would be terrific additions.
Four players have left so far: Khristian Lander, Michael Durr, Parker Stewart and Rob Phinisee. That puts Indiana back to 12 scholarships for next season, one under the limit.
I still expect one to two more to leave, but at a minimum one (portal, professionally, etc). That will give Indiana at least two spots to go out and get another player for its 2022 class.
I would expect with Rob Phinisee's move, that Xavier Johnson will stay at Indiana next year.
As of now, I wouldn't say any of those four players who left were unexpected. Obviously, all eyes turn to Race Thompson and Trayce Jackson-Davis. I would be very surprised to see both back. I tend to lean on the side of Race Thompson staying more than I do Jackson-Davis.
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On the recruiting front, 2022 five-star forward Malik Reneau re-opened his recruitment this week after Florida coach Mike White left for Georgia. The top-20 forward is teammates with IU signee Jalen Hood-Schifino at Montverde (FL) Academy. Indiana was involved before he committed to Florida.
As mentioned earlier this week, the main schools to watch are Miami (FL), Indiana, Florida State and Georgia.
Reneau is from Miami and with Miami's run to the Sweet 16 and losing some key pieces on the wing and front court, that is an appealing option to play a large role and play at home. There are some sources that tell me Miami was a very, very close second in the first recruitment.
Indiana has room at his position and his versatility is exactly what Mike Woodson wants out of his forwards. Indiana will have space as well and a lot of production and minutes available at that position regardless of what happens with Race/Trayce.
Biggest thing negatively impacting Indiana is the weather. I am told Reneau 'hates' the cold weather and getting him out of the southeast will take a lot.
In the end, it's not a done deal to Miami like some thought originally but Miami is definitely the lead team and the team to beat. Mike White has some repairing to do in terms of relationships with the Reneau family after leaving Florida but UGA is not out. Florida State is involved but only to a certain extent. Maryland is another program I was told that will try to get in the race. Head coach Kevin Willard was recruiting Reneau at Seton Hall.
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One transfer that has emerged is former Ball State forward Payton Sparks. The 6-foot-9 forward is from Winchester, Indiana and averaged 13.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in 28 minutes per game this season. He was an All-MAC performer this season and the MAC Rookie of the Year.
Indiana obviously needs size and the minutes are available. Biggest thing with Sparks is if he is able to compete at the Big Ten level consistently enough to get 13-15 minutes as a backup. If Race or Trayce come back, Sparks would be a good rotational piece but has to be able to be consistent.
One source told me if Indiana offers, it will be hard to beat that. He also said Michael Lewis getting the head coaching spot at Ball State could potentially help, but at the end of the day the pull of Indiana is too much and 'I think it'll be hard to pass up IU if they offer,' the source said.
How he's improved since high school, the source said: 'His energy level mainly because of condition has went up. He's always played with energy, but now it's on another level. His IQ has increased to where now he really understands positioning defensively and offensively.'
Brian Walsh has been the one involved here.
Pittsburgh, Virginia, Oklahoma, Illinois, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Loyola Chicago, West Virginia, Arizona State are some of the other programs who have reached out.
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One side note is the hiring of former IU guard Michael Lewis to Ball State... as noted above. He is currently on staff at UCLA and will play North Carolina tonight in the Sweet 16.
Story:
indiana.rivals.com
Former IU guard Keith Smart is on staff at Arkansas as they move on to the Elite Eight after last night's win over No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga.
IU 2023 target Xavier Booker and Cathedral play for the Class 4A title this Saturday. @KylerStaley was able to get some good video of him throughout sectionals this postseason.
Video:
indiana.rivals.com
IU assistant coach Dane Fife is out after one season and while a lot of people were blindsided by this, it wasn't out of left field. Did I think it would happen, ehh, not sure I did. But was I surprised, no. There was a lot of clashing between the two behind the scenes and it was not one thing that stuck out that made Mike Woodson make this move. There were multiple things that piled up that made Woodson look in the mirror and make a 'difficult' decision to move on from Fife.
As far as potential assistant coaches, the three I would look at are Brian Walsh, Drew Adams and Randy Wittman. Walsh has been on staff for the past five years and is one of the biggest up-and-coming coaches in the game -- especially the midwest. Walsh has been instrumental in multiple recruitments and has made himself a force in that area. He came to Indiana from Dayton where he was on staff with Archie Miller.
As for Adams, the Bradley assistant has been with that program for seven years and emerged as a very talented recruiter in the Midwest as well. Overall, Adams has worked directly with and helped recruit four eventual All-MVC honorees – 8x time winners – and six MVC All-Freshman honorees. Adams is from Bloomington North and spent two years on Tom Crean’s staff at Indiana, first as Coordinator of Basketball Systems and then Director of Operations for the 2010-11 season. He also spend time previously involved with the Indiana Elite AAU program.
Wittman is another IU guys who is currently on staff as a consultant to Woodson. If he is brought on, he would bring nearly 25 years of experience as an NBA head or assistant coach. I would only be a bit hesitant with this selection due to the lack of college involvement and on the recruiting side. You already heard Woodson talk this season about his adjustment to the college game and even if it sounds small, the details of how many timeouts you have per game etc. That cost IU a few times. On the flip side, Woodson is trying to modernize the Indiana program and continuing to add NBA experience to the program and the staff is something that will not hurt.
I wouldn't expect this to drag on, however. I would go after Walsh or Adams. Either would be terrific additions.
Four players have left so far: Khristian Lander, Michael Durr, Parker Stewart and Rob Phinisee. That puts Indiana back to 12 scholarships for next season, one under the limit.
I still expect one to two more to leave, but at a minimum one (portal, professionally, etc). That will give Indiana at least two spots to go out and get another player for its 2022 class.
I would expect with Rob Phinisee's move, that Xavier Johnson will stay at Indiana next year.
As of now, I wouldn't say any of those four players who left were unexpected. Obviously, all eyes turn to Race Thompson and Trayce Jackson-Davis. I would be very surprised to see both back. I tend to lean on the side of Race Thompson staying more than I do Jackson-Davis.
---
On the recruiting front, 2022 five-star forward Malik Reneau re-opened his recruitment this week after Florida coach Mike White left for Georgia. The top-20 forward is teammates with IU signee Jalen Hood-Schifino at Montverde (FL) Academy. Indiana was involved before he committed to Florida.
As mentioned earlier this week, the main schools to watch are Miami (FL), Indiana, Florida State and Georgia.
Reneau is from Miami and with Miami's run to the Sweet 16 and losing some key pieces on the wing and front court, that is an appealing option to play a large role and play at home. There are some sources that tell me Miami was a very, very close second in the first recruitment.
Indiana has room at his position and his versatility is exactly what Mike Woodson wants out of his forwards. Indiana will have space as well and a lot of production and minutes available at that position regardless of what happens with Race/Trayce.
Biggest thing negatively impacting Indiana is the weather. I am told Reneau 'hates' the cold weather and getting him out of the southeast will take a lot.
In the end, it's not a done deal to Miami like some thought originally but Miami is definitely the lead team and the team to beat. Mike White has some repairing to do in terms of relationships with the Reneau family after leaving Florida but UGA is not out. Florida State is involved but only to a certain extent. Maryland is another program I was told that will try to get in the race. Head coach Kevin Willard was recruiting Reneau at Seton Hall.
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One transfer that has emerged is former Ball State forward Payton Sparks. The 6-foot-9 forward is from Winchester, Indiana and averaged 13.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in 28 minutes per game this season. He was an All-MAC performer this season and the MAC Rookie of the Year.
Indiana obviously needs size and the minutes are available. Biggest thing with Sparks is if he is able to compete at the Big Ten level consistently enough to get 13-15 minutes as a backup. If Race or Trayce come back, Sparks would be a good rotational piece but has to be able to be consistent.
One source told me if Indiana offers, it will be hard to beat that. He also said Michael Lewis getting the head coaching spot at Ball State could potentially help, but at the end of the day the pull of Indiana is too much and 'I think it'll be hard to pass up IU if they offer,' the source said.
How he's improved since high school, the source said: 'His energy level mainly because of condition has went up. He's always played with energy, but now it's on another level. His IQ has increased to where now he really understands positioning defensively and offensively.'
Brian Walsh has been the one involved here.
Pittsburgh, Virginia, Oklahoma, Illinois, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Loyola Chicago, West Virginia, Arizona State are some of the other programs who have reached out.
---
One side note is the hiring of former IU guard Michael Lewis to Ball State... as noted above. He is currently on staff at UCLA and will play North Carolina tonight in the Sweet 16.
Story:
Former Indiana guard Michael Lewis named new Ball State Head Coach
Former Indiana guard and current UCLA assistant coach Michael Lewis named new Ball State Head Coach
Former IU guard Keith Smart is on staff at Arkansas as they move on to the Elite Eight after last night's win over No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga.
IU 2023 target Xavier Booker and Cathedral play for the Class 4A title this Saturday. @KylerStaley was able to get some good video of him throughout sectionals this postseason.
Video:
Video Scouting: 2023 Cathedral forward Xavier Booker
TheHoosier.com got another extended look at 2023 Indiana target Xavier Booker
