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Hoosier Intel: Football recruiting news for 10/25

Taylor Lehman

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Aug 16, 2017
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Deshawn Jones De-commits from Cincinnati

Top-20 Ohio prospect and speedy athlete Deshawn Jones announced Tuesday that he has de-committed from Cincinnati, where he had been committed since June and where he was planning on signing. He was told that he will not be able to be taken by the Bearcats in the 2020 class, so his recruitment has been re-opened.

The reason this affects Indiana is because he told Josh Helmholdt that he is currently talking to Indiana and Michigan. Jones told TheHoosier.com that he has been in contact with Nick Sheridan and that Indiana likes him as a cornerback, which is where he was expected to play at Cincinnati as well.


Jones is viewed as one of the fastest recruits in the class nationally, and he plays in all three phases of the game for Akron East – wide receiver, cornerback and kick returner. He excels at all three.

Several Power Five schools – Penn State, Michigan, Rutgers and Minnesota – have already taken notice of Jones and offered, but more are sure to come, as Wake Forest has already reached out to him after the de-commitment. He’s already taken official visits to Toledo and Pittsburgh, the two schools that were in competition for his original commitment.

He hasn’t scheduled anymore visits yet because of the suddenness of the news from Cincinnati.



Justin Hodges includes Indiana in his top-five

After being extended an offer from Miami in May after being evaluated by the Hurricane staff, three-star 2020 cornerback Justin Hodges committed to the Miami program. But he was recently part of several de-commitments from Miami, as he announced the re-opening of his commitment on Oct. 13.

Now, he’s released a new top-five, a list that includes Indiana, Miami, Washington State, UCF and Minnesota.

“A lot of Florida boys up there,” Hodges told TheHoosier.com about Indiana. “I love the atmosphere and the energy they bring to the table.”


Hodges said he has been in contact with freshman cornerback Tiawan Mullen, which has played a part in his perception of the program.

There are concerns about Hodges’ speed, which has translated to a 4.89 40-yard dash, but he is dominant on the field. In seven games as a senior for Western High School near Fort Lauderdale, he has recorded three interceptions – one returned for a score – eight pass deflections, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.

Mullen knows a thing or two about doubts in measurements too. Now, Tom Allen is calling him the “best cover guy” in the Indiana program.



Connor Tollison receives an Indiana offer

Missouri 2021 offensive tackle Connor Tollison visited Bloomington for Indiana’s game against Eastern Illinois, and he finally received his Hoosier offer Wednesday.



Tollison was originally invited to Indiana’s summer camp, but he couldn’t make it and contact was minimal until the September 1 mark, when teams were able to reach out to 2021 prospects freely. Talks between Tollison and William Inge heated up, and Wednesday, it was Inge that made the call to offer Tollison.

“I’m super pumped,” Tollison told TheHoosier.com on Wednesday. “He just said with my continuous improvement, they offered me.”

Tollison also has offers from Iowa State and Louisville, with Missouri, Kansas State and Oklahoma showing interest.

While in Bloomington, Tollison had a chance to meet Indiana offensive line coach Darren Hiller, who said Tollison is one of the more athletic offensive linemen Indiana is looking at in the 2021 class and that he feels Tollison will be able to transition well into Indiana’s offense, because the blocking schemes ran at Jackson High School are similar to those ran at Indiana.

At 6-foot-5, 285 pounds, Tollison anticipates that he will move to guard in college.



Andrew Petersen did not visit for Rutgers

Arizona 2022 defensive tackle Andrew Petersen has been in contact with Indiana and is very interested in the Hoosiers at this point. He told TheHoosier.com a couple weeks ago that he might visit Bloomington for the Rutgers game, but it depended on travel plans with his father and whether his game finished early enough that Friday.


Those plans did not work out, but Petersen still wants to get to Bloomington soon, he told TheHoosier.com this week. He said if he were to receive an Indiana offer, the Hoosiers “would be high” on his list.

So far, he’s received offers from Jacksonville, Connecticut and UAB, but former NFL defensive back Paul Magloire, who runs a camp that Petersen trains through, told TheHoosier.com that Petersen has hands “like an NFL defensive tackle.”

Cayden Baker developing relationship with Michigan

Some not-so-great news came out of a Coman Publishing interview with Florida offensive tackle Cayden Baker over at TheWolverine.com. Baker, a 6-foot-7 tackle that has been a top target for Indiana as the 2020 class nears its signing periods, recently received an offer from Michigan, and his reaction was telling.

“It’s cool to get offered by a program with a history of success like Michigan,” Baker said to TheWolverine.com. “I was shocked because it came out of nowhere. My coach reached out to them, and then they offered me that night.”

Baker is a prospect who has flown under the radar for the most part, and that bodes well for Indiana because he is more of a talent than some of his ratings might show. But he caught Michigan’s eye, and now he wants to schedule a visit to Ann Arbor.

Baker told TheHoosier.com last week that his relationship with Indiana was “good,” and he told TheWolverine.com that three other schools outside of Michigan that he is interested in are Indiana, Pittsburgh and North Carolina.

Alante Brown gets new offer, set for another visit

Prep school wideout Alante Brown continues to develop into the top target for Indiana in the 2020 class. As discussed in last week’s Hoosier Intel, Brown is being recruited to serve as the role that David Ellis and Whop Philyor have served so far in 2019.

TheHoosier.com talked with a source in the St. Thomas More camp, and the source called Brown a future pro and “the best player on the field at all times.”

Teams are beginning to take notice of Brown, though, after Brown named Indiana into his tentative top-three and said that his recruitment is still open. Virginia Tech extended him an offer before this week, but he has received others since, including one from Southern Methodist.

He is also taking his official visit to Michigan State, which is crucial because he moved his Indiana visit date from December to shortly before his official to Michigan State earlier this month. A good visit could swing Brown, but an underwhelming visit could be good for the Hoosiers.

Daeh McCullough receives Indiana offer

Indiana had already offered Dasan McCullough, one of the rising 2022 athletes and the son of former Indiana running backs coach Deland McCullough, and earlier this week, it extended an offer to another McCullough. Daeh McCullough, a 2023 athlete out of Kansas, announced his Indiana offer on Twitter.

Deland McCullough is now the running backs coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, which is why his sons are based in Kansas, and both McCulloughs are being sought after by top programs in the country. Dasan already has offers from Florida, Florida State, Georgia,Penn State, Michigan and others, and Daeh, as a high school freshman, has seven offers – Michigan, Maryland, Rutgers, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Western Illinois and Indiana.

The Hoosiers will need to fight an uphill battle for both prospects in the future, even with the connection to their father.



Joe Moore commits

Four-star St. Louis defensive end Joe Moore committed to Arizona State last week. He was once a top target for Indiana in the 2020 class, but he had recently moved on to other schools. He’s one of the best talents in the Arizona State 2020 class now.

 
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