Hoosier Intel will be the weekly recruiting update provided every Friday here on TheHoosier.com’s premium football forum.
These will continue to grow as I’ve gotten more time under my belt here in Bloomington.
Tom Allen visits Deontae Craig
Last Friday, Tom Allen flew in his Crimson helicopter and visited Deontae Craig at Culver, Craig told TheHoosier.com. Craig said that he and Allen didn’t talk too much during the visit but that Allen was on the sidelines the entire game.
This is significant because Allen gets one day of evaluation for each athlete during the fall of his senior season. Allen and his staff also get 42 total days of evaluation for the 2020 class through September, October and November. That means Allen has Craig high on his priority list (obviously) but that he also believes Indiana has a chance at potentially flipping Craig from Iowa.
Craig said he and Allen talk “every couple days” but mostly about his Culver team or football in general. Craig tersely said he is not visiting any other schools other than Iowa, though. He’s still steadfast in his commitment.
“(indiana) was one fo the first to recruit me, so to know that they still want me is an honor in itself,” Craig said. “But like I tell everyone else, as it stands currently, I am a Hawkeye!”
Craig is rated as the No. 16 weakside defensive end and the No. 2 recruit in the state of Indiana. He has been committed to Iowa since Aug. 16.
Kyran Montgomery has major mutual interest in IU
I was at Ben Davis High School last Friday to watch Ben Davis No. 5 Indiana prospect Daylan Carnell and Pike No. 4 Indiana prospect Kyran Montgomery. Both are 2021 recruits.
I was able to catch up with Carnell but wasn’t able to connect with Montgomery that night, until this week. Montgomery was a game-changer in his first game at linebacker. He typically plays defensive end and is being recruited as a defensive end, but he needed to fall back and fill in at outside linebacker because of injuries. His performances made it seem like he had played the position all along, and he would have a future there if he wasn’t 6-foot-5, 240 pounds already.
He will draw attention from top Power Five programs soon. He has six offers from schools including Purdue, Iowa, Kansas and Indiana, and he is garnering interest from Notre Dame and Michigan State as well. But as of now, Indiana is close to the top for him.
“I am very interested in IU at this point in my recruitment,” Montgomery told TheHoosier.com. “Definitely top five.”
Montgomery doesn’t have a set top-five but knows that Indiana will be in the conversation when that time comes. Tom Allen is recruiting Montgomery hard. He is a top 2021 target for the Hoosiers.
He doesn’t have any visits scheduled at the moment but plans to visit Indiana this fall.
Montgomery is the No. 221 overall 2021 prospect and is rated as the No. 13 weakside defensive end.
Jontavis Robertson continues to build "strong" relationship with IU
Georgia 2020 wide receiver Jontavis Robertson continues to build a strong relationship with Indiana. As one of the remaining targets with plenty of mutual interest, Robertson is working on scheduling official visits, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Indiana be on the list.
“I like the coaches. It’s all family there,” Robertson told TheHoosier.com “They run a spread offense that’s gonna benefit me. Their fan base is crazy. My boy Dexter Williams tell me good things about it.”
Robertson and 2020 quarterback commit Dexter Williams don’t play each other, but they do now of each other after meeting at a camp at Mercer. They connected over social media and have conversations on occasion.
The Georgia wideout has a very good relationship with IU wide receivers coach Grant Heard and said that IU is “definitely” a top school for him. Don’t look for a commitment anytime soon, though. The receiver said he wants to take his officials before making any kind of decision.
I’d expect Indiana to be involved in that decision down the road, though.
Robertson has offers from Indiana, Baylor, Duke, Kansas State, Nebraska, Tennessee and others, but duke seems to be the other school competing with IU.
Buddy Mack not visiting IU, committing Sunday
South Carolina 2020 safety Buddy Mack had told TheHoosier.com that he would make an official visit to Indiana for the Connecticut game, but that visit will not be happening, and Mack will be looking in other places, he told TheHoosier.com this week.
The decision was not his. It was Indiana’s, as the Hoosiers look in another direction at the position. Brian Balom is a safety in the 2020 class to keep an eye on moving forward.
He tweeted that he will be committing Sunday.
Mack has 10 offers but only two from Power Five schools – Indiana and West Virginia. He had drawn interest from schools like Clemson, Florida, Notre Dame, Tennessee and others, but they never offered.
JeJuan Sparks is shedding pounds
Indiana defensive tackle commit JeJuan Sparks tweeted before and after photos Wednesday that showed how much weight he’s lost in the last nine months. His weight has dropped from 367 pounds to 292 pounds. I will have an individual story written about Sparks’ weight loss efforts in the coming days.
No scholarships to offer Indiana all-time leading rusher
You couldn’t replicate New Palestine running back Charlie Spegal’s numbers in a video game. The 2020 bulldozer broke the Indiana high school career rushing record last week against Yorktown and reached a new career mark of 8,283 yards. Yes, that's a real number.
Looking at his junior year numbers is baffling. He ran the ball 318 times for 3,356 yards and 68 touchdowns.
One would assume that he would have a slew of offers with numbers like that, but Spegal only has two offers – Army and Indiana State. This is largely because, even though New Palestine is in Class 5A, it’s schedule doesn’t feature some of the top competition in the state.
That doesn’t mean no one is recruiting him, though. Indiana is in the mix with him but doesn’t have anymore room to add a running back. He received a preferred walk-on offer from the Hoosiers but that is all.
“I’m not sure yet,” Spegal told TheHoosier.com when asked if he’d be interested in walking on. “Mike Hart said he would offer me and that I was in line to get a scholarship, but they don’t have any to give.”
Nate Valcarcel Reacts to IU visit
Wisconsin 2020 athlete Nate Valcarcel visited Indiana the weekend of the Eastern Illinois. Indiana has been recruiting him since the beginning of the summer, mainly via safeties coach Kasey Teegardin. They’re obviously recruiting him as a safety.
Valcarcel told TheHoosier.com that he can feel the relationship getting tighter each week. He will likely be offered a preferred walk-on offer if Indiana elects to pull the trigger.
“They just said that they wanted to see more out of me and come out to see one of my games, and they feel really great about me and want to build a stronger relationship,” Valcarcel said.
The Wisconsin native plays safety and running back for Whitnall High School. In 2018, he averaged 9,1 yards per carry at running back in five games and recorded 28 tackles (3.0 TFL).
In case you missed it: Zion Rucker and Aaron Steinfeldt
Tennessee 2021 defensive tackle Zion Rucker will likely be a top-500 prospect in the country, which would align him with the top-five of IU's 2019 class, which was the highest-rated class in program history. In other words, his visit for the Eastern Illinois game was a big deal, especially since he had just started speaking with IU a few days before. I caught up with him to talk about the visit earlier this week. That story can be found here.
Bloomington North tight end Aaron Steinfeldt has a very good relationship with Washington, since he lived there for a year and was named the MVP of the Huskies' prospect camp this summer. He was hoping for the same connection with Indiana during his visit for the Hoosiers' home opener, and he feels like he made that connection, he told TheHoosier.com afterwards.
"It made me a lot more excited about the program Tom Allen is building here," Steinfeldt said. "Seeing all the new facilities and the excitement from all the coaches and players really showed that they care and want change to the program and that they hopefully want me to be a part of it."
These will continue to grow as I’ve gotten more time under my belt here in Bloomington.
Tom Allen visits Deontae Craig
Last Friday, Tom Allen flew in his Crimson helicopter and visited Deontae Craig at Culver, Craig told TheHoosier.com. Craig said that he and Allen didn’t talk too much during the visit but that Allen was on the sidelines the entire game.
This is significant because Allen gets one day of evaluation for each athlete during the fall of his senior season. Allen and his staff also get 42 total days of evaluation for the 2020 class through September, October and November. That means Allen has Craig high on his priority list (obviously) but that he also believes Indiana has a chance at potentially flipping Craig from Iowa.
Craig said he and Allen talk “every couple days” but mostly about his Culver team or football in general. Craig tersely said he is not visiting any other schools other than Iowa, though. He’s still steadfast in his commitment.
“(indiana) was one fo the first to recruit me, so to know that they still want me is an honor in itself,” Craig said. “But like I tell everyone else, as it stands currently, I am a Hawkeye!”
Craig is rated as the No. 16 weakside defensive end and the No. 2 recruit in the state of Indiana. He has been committed to Iowa since Aug. 16.
Kyran Montgomery has major mutual interest in IU
I was at Ben Davis High School last Friday to watch Ben Davis No. 5 Indiana prospect Daylan Carnell and Pike No. 4 Indiana prospect Kyran Montgomery. Both are 2021 recruits.
I was able to catch up with Carnell but wasn’t able to connect with Montgomery that night, until this week. Montgomery was a game-changer in his first game at linebacker. He typically plays defensive end and is being recruited as a defensive end, but he needed to fall back and fill in at outside linebacker because of injuries. His performances made it seem like he had played the position all along, and he would have a future there if he wasn’t 6-foot-5, 240 pounds already.
He will draw attention from top Power Five programs soon. He has six offers from schools including Purdue, Iowa, Kansas and Indiana, and he is garnering interest from Notre Dame and Michigan State as well. But as of now, Indiana is close to the top for him.
“I am very interested in IU at this point in my recruitment,” Montgomery told TheHoosier.com. “Definitely top five.”
Montgomery doesn’t have a set top-five but knows that Indiana will be in the conversation when that time comes. Tom Allen is recruiting Montgomery hard. He is a top 2021 target for the Hoosiers.
He doesn’t have any visits scheduled at the moment but plans to visit Indiana this fall.
Montgomery is the No. 221 overall 2021 prospect and is rated as the No. 13 weakside defensive end.
Jontavis Robertson continues to build "strong" relationship with IU
Georgia 2020 wide receiver Jontavis Robertson continues to build a strong relationship with Indiana. As one of the remaining targets with plenty of mutual interest, Robertson is working on scheduling official visits, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Indiana be on the list.
“I like the coaches. It’s all family there,” Robertson told TheHoosier.com “They run a spread offense that’s gonna benefit me. Their fan base is crazy. My boy Dexter Williams tell me good things about it.”
Robertson and 2020 quarterback commit Dexter Williams don’t play each other, but they do now of each other after meeting at a camp at Mercer. They connected over social media and have conversations on occasion.
The Georgia wideout has a very good relationship with IU wide receivers coach Grant Heard and said that IU is “definitely” a top school for him. Don’t look for a commitment anytime soon, though. The receiver said he wants to take his officials before making any kind of decision.
I’d expect Indiana to be involved in that decision down the road, though.
Robertson has offers from Indiana, Baylor, Duke, Kansas State, Nebraska, Tennessee and others, but duke seems to be the other school competing with IU.
Buddy Mack not visiting IU, committing Sunday
South Carolina 2020 safety Buddy Mack had told TheHoosier.com that he would make an official visit to Indiana for the Connecticut game, but that visit will not be happening, and Mack will be looking in other places, he told TheHoosier.com this week.
The decision was not his. It was Indiana’s, as the Hoosiers look in another direction at the position. Brian Balom is a safety in the 2020 class to keep an eye on moving forward.
He tweeted that he will be committing Sunday.
Mack has 10 offers but only two from Power Five schools – Indiana and West Virginia. He had drawn interest from schools like Clemson, Florida, Notre Dame, Tennessee and others, but they never offered.
JeJuan Sparks is shedding pounds
Indiana defensive tackle commit JeJuan Sparks tweeted before and after photos Wednesday that showed how much weight he’s lost in the last nine months. His weight has dropped from 367 pounds to 292 pounds. I will have an individual story written about Sparks’ weight loss efforts in the coming days.
No scholarships to offer Indiana all-time leading rusher
You couldn’t replicate New Palestine running back Charlie Spegal’s numbers in a video game. The 2020 bulldozer broke the Indiana high school career rushing record last week against Yorktown and reached a new career mark of 8,283 yards. Yes, that's a real number.
Looking at his junior year numbers is baffling. He ran the ball 318 times for 3,356 yards and 68 touchdowns.
One would assume that he would have a slew of offers with numbers like that, but Spegal only has two offers – Army and Indiana State. This is largely because, even though New Palestine is in Class 5A, it’s schedule doesn’t feature some of the top competition in the state.
That doesn’t mean no one is recruiting him, though. Indiana is in the mix with him but doesn’t have anymore room to add a running back. He received a preferred walk-on offer from the Hoosiers but that is all.
“I’m not sure yet,” Spegal told TheHoosier.com when asked if he’d be interested in walking on. “Mike Hart said he would offer me and that I was in line to get a scholarship, but they don’t have any to give.”
Nate Valcarcel Reacts to IU visit
Wisconsin 2020 athlete Nate Valcarcel visited Indiana the weekend of the Eastern Illinois. Indiana has been recruiting him since the beginning of the summer, mainly via safeties coach Kasey Teegardin. They’re obviously recruiting him as a safety.
Valcarcel told TheHoosier.com that he can feel the relationship getting tighter each week. He will likely be offered a preferred walk-on offer if Indiana elects to pull the trigger.
“They just said that they wanted to see more out of me and come out to see one of my games, and they feel really great about me and want to build a stronger relationship,” Valcarcel said.
The Wisconsin native plays safety and running back for Whitnall High School. In 2018, he averaged 9,1 yards per carry at running back in five games and recorded 28 tackles (3.0 TFL).
In case you missed it: Zion Rucker and Aaron Steinfeldt
Tennessee 2021 defensive tackle Zion Rucker will likely be a top-500 prospect in the country, which would align him with the top-five of IU's 2019 class, which was the highest-rated class in program history. In other words, his visit for the Eastern Illinois game was a big deal, especially since he had just started speaking with IU a few days before. I caught up with him to talk about the visit earlier this week. That story can be found here.
Bloomington North tight end Aaron Steinfeldt has a very good relationship with Washington, since he lived there for a year and was named the MVP of the Huskies' prospect camp this summer. He was hoping for the same connection with Indiana during his visit for the Hoosiers' home opener, and he feels like he made that connection, he told TheHoosier.com afterwards.
"It made me a lot more excited about the program Tom Allen is building here," Steinfeldt said. "Seeing all the new facilities and the excitement from all the coaches and players really showed that they care and want change to the program and that they hopefully want me to be a part of it."
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