With the boss on vacation, there is no Inside The Locker Room this week, but we do have an extended notebook on recruiting news and more ...
Obviously, it has been a big week at Indiana with two players involved in an off-court incident, a point guard transferring in and a big visit weekend getting ready to start.
We’ll start with the two official visits that begin this evening.
Five-star forward Miles Bridges and four-star Curtis Jones are scheduled to arrive this evening to begin their official visits. Official visits can be 48 hours so the players will be on campus through Sunday.
There are some soft whispers on the East Coast that it’s worth keeping an eye on Jones to see if he may pull the trigger and commit. Nothing is certain, and he does have other official visits planned, so it’s not as if a commitment is expected.
Jones has made a previous unofficial visit to Indiana, and his father had a glowing review of that visit. (Read more on that here: https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1777907.)
Jones’ uncle is Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton, and Jones is close with IU sophomore Robert Johnson and knows IU freshman center Thomas Bryant, a Huntington Prep teammate last year.
Bridges has four other official visits scheduled. After Indiana he will be at Kentucky (Oct. 17), Michigan (Oct. 10), Michigan State (Sept. 12) and North Carolina (Oct. 24).
As far as Indiana recruiting options at point guard, there has been some news this week in addition to Josh Newkirk arriving on campus.
Class of 2016 point guard Xavier Simpson of Lima, Ohio, is off the radar for Indiana, according to his dad.
After IU landed Newkirk, the Simpsons consider the position filled at IU.
"We've moved on," his father, Quincey Simpson, told peegs.com.
Bruce Brown, on the other hand, remains seriously interested in IU.
The four-star 2016 point guard from Vermont Academy plans to take an official visit to Indiana at some point.
“He’s not going to take any visits until October or November,” Vermont Academy coach Alex Popp told peegs.com.
Brown’s most recent offer came from Oregon.
“It’s been crazy. Anytime you’re the 30th best player in the country, you’re going to have quite a few schools,” Popp said, referring tot he ESPN rankings which came out this week. “Indiana is very attractive. They’ve done a great job recruiting him. There’s no doubt they’re in the mix.”
Brown wants to get settled in school before making any trips. School starts Sept. 7 at Vermont Academy, and its first open gym in Sept. 9. Quite a few coaches are expected in the gym for a loaded team that includes Brown, Rice commit Josh Hall, Xavier commit Tyrique Jones and other prospects such as 2017 6-foot-6 wing Christian David and 2017 6-foot-7 forward Kendrick Gray as well as others.
Don’t be shocked if Vermont Academy’s game against Brewster in the Hoop Hall Classic over Martin Luther King holiday weekend ends up on TV. Both of those teams are loaded.
Vermont Academy, 25-7 last year, also is playing in the Huntington Prep tournament over the Christmas holidays, which would mean a possible head-to-head battle between Brown and Jones.
JOSH NEWKIRK ADDITION
Indiana coach Tom Crean on Thursday night had a chance to talk about Newkirk, the 6-foot-1 point guard who transferred from Pittsburgh.
Newkirk is IU’s second transfer, joining forward Max Bielfeldt, who as a graduate transfer is immediately eligible.
Newkirk must sit out the 2015-16 season. He will have two years of eligibility after that. Newkirk is recovering from microfracture surgery on his left knee and is likely off the court until around December, his father said.
You’ve probably already read our conversation with Newkirk (story here: https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1795136) and his father (story here: https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1794945).
Newkirk committed to Indiana on Sunday, moved in on Sunday and was at team functions on Monday.
“That was a whirlwind, really,” Crean said. “We were actively trying to recruit somebody else for this season. We had the scholarship because of the removal of Hanner (Mosquera-Perea) and Devin (Davis). We were fortunate to get Max, but we were active.
“My first priority, and I said this to the coaches constantly, was to get a player who could come in and help us, and, to be honest with you, as crazy as it sounds, I wanted another guard that can play this year as much as I wanted anybody else, because I think we needed it.
“I don’t think we’re as strong there as we appear on paper, and we’re going to play a little differently. The lineups you saw last year with three guards and things like that, they’re going to become a little more situational at times, if I have my druthers.
“With that being said, we were actively trying to find somebody who can fit. Then when the Josh Newkirk information became available that he was available — I’d had a lot of interest in him early on. We ended up taking Stan Robinson when we hired Kenny (Johnson) and shortly after that we got Stan.
“There were a couple guards we had been recruiting up to that point that we weren’t recruiting any more, and Josh was one of them.
“We prepared hard for him when Pitt came this (past) year, but we didn’t have anybody who could stay in front of him. We didn’t have one guy on our team who could stay in front of him that first half. …
“We felt once we got to that point with what we’re going to need potentially guard-wise moving forward, this would be really good, and again, it just came about.
“How about this guy, he gets in there Sunday night. By Monday afternoon, he’s right in the mix of everything we’re doing. He’s not doing it to the same level because he’s coming off surgery, but he’s right in there. I’ve been very impressed with him this week.”
Crean also referenced Newkirk in relation to last weekend’s off-court issues and the overall need for player leadership.
“It’s almost like you see this and it’s ‘I don’t want to be a part of this. I don’t what this to happen to me.’ Right now, if you’re going to be in the program, you’ve got to have a real thirst for leadership because we need it,” Crean said.
“We need it internally on that team. We need people to take more responsibility for one another because when you get real concerned with what you’re doing, it’s real easy to lose sight of what everybody else is doing. And that doesn’t win.
“We’ve got to defend at a much higher level. If you can’t defend your position, you’re not going to play nearly as much. If you can’t move the ball at a high level, you’re not going to be on the court when it’s time to win the game. You’ll play, but you’re not going to be where you thought you were going to be.
“I’ve know all summer long we’ve been building toward that. Saying all that, Josh will hopefully help us when we get into it and he gets healthier.
“But I’ve already been impressed with the moxie that he has. He looks like a completely different young man than he was during the season with his body. We feel good about him.”
LEADERSHIP
As you’ve already read in our front-page story (https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1796538), Crean hammered on player leadership in his Q&A Thursday night at IU’s annual Tailgate Tour stop at Lucas Oil Stadium.
That came after Thomas Bryant and Emmitt Holt were cited for illegal possession of alcohol. IU has had 11 off-court incidents, counting each one for players with multiple, involving either alcohol or drugs that led to suspensions or legal issues.
Here are some more of Crean’s comments on that:
“We’ve got guys who have been there who have to pick it up in a hurry.”
“You need to take responsibility, sometimes in a hard way. You need to reiterate what the coaches are saying.”
“There are high expectations for them. There are high expectations for this team. There are high expectations to participate at Indiana. There are very high expectations, and there should be.”
“Last year, we got a lot better after we had our issues, but it wasn’t in the form of having great leadership. And that’s obvious.”
COACHING STAFF CHANGES
As we reported a couple weeks back, Rob Judson has moved into a full-time assistant coaching role and Brett Burman is Indiana’s new director of basketball operations.
(More on Burman’s background can be found in our earlier story: https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1791307&PT=4&PR=2).
Crean discussed what Judson and Burman bring to their new roles.
Judson has been a head coach at Northern Illinois, winning the Mid-American Conference West in 2006. He played at Illinois and was an Illinois assistant from 1996-2001.
“Rob Judson is one of the finest coaches I’ve been around,” Crean said. “I had great respect for him long before I got to know him. He’s been a successful head coach in the Mid-American, coaching against guys like Jim Christian, Tim Buckley, Keith Dambrot … very successful guys. He did a good job in that league. He took over a rough situation and kept trying to build it up.
“He’s been very successful in the Big Ten. He was a successful player in the Big Ten. He’s an excellent man, and he’s meant a lot to our program the last couple years.”
Burman has experience at the NBA level with video work and has done quite a lot with advance video and analytical breakdowns.
“I always like to have somebody that can bring a little different perspective to it, whether it’s a former player or somebody that’s been at the NBA level,” Crean said.
“He’s got a great mind for such a young coach. He’s got tremendous background in scouting, in video and in the inner workings of an office and what goes on in a program.
“I think he’s going to be a fantastic coach as time goes on, and I think he’s going to bring a lot to our office as far as helping our coaches this year.”
2015-16 SCHEDULE
Indiana unveiled its 2015-16 schedule Thursday, the same day the Big Ten schedule was announced on the Big Ten Network. (Printable IU schedule here: http://sidearm.sites.s3.amazonaws.com/iuhoosiers.com/documents/2015/8/27/15_16_mbb_sked.pdf?id=19840.)
In conference action, Indiana’s one-play home games are against Maryland, Ohio State, Purdue and Northwestern.
The Hoosiers will have one-play road games at Rutgers, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State.
IU plays home and road against Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
IU opens conference play with the two Big Ten schools with the most distance between them, Rutgers and Nebraska, separated by 1,288 miles.
After those two, IU has four of its next five at home. IU has four home games in January and four home games in February.
The only Indiana-Purdue game is Saturday, Feb. 20, at Assembly Hall.
IU’s Big Ten home opener is against Wisconsin. It could be Bo Ryan’s last game at Assembly Hall. He announced he was retiring at the end of the year before softening his stance a little in recent interviews.
Overall, its a schedule that is favorable when looking at the teams considered Big Ten title contenders. (More on that here: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab...ewly-released-big-ten-schedule-170237673.html).
IU’s season begins on Friday, Nov. 13, against Eastern Illinois.
Indiana’s main non-conference opponents are Creighton (Thursday, Nov. 19, at home), Wake Forest, Vanderbilt or St. John’s and possibly Kansas (Nov. 23-25 in the Maui Invitational), Duke (Wednesday, Dec. 2 on the road in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge) and Notre Dame (Saturday, Dec. 19 in the Crossroads Classic at Bankers Life in Indianapolis).
FORMER STARS BACK IN STATE IN NBA ACTION
Indiana fans have a chance to see former IU stars during NBA preseason games against the Pacers.
The Pacers open the preseason at home against the New Orleans Pelicans (Eric Gordon) on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m.
They host Orlando (Victor Oladipo) on Friday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m.,
The Pacers will play in Fort Wayne for the first time since 2008 when they face the Charlotte Hornets (Cody Zeller) on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
Obviously, it has been a big week at Indiana with two players involved in an off-court incident, a point guard transferring in and a big visit weekend getting ready to start.
We’ll start with the two official visits that begin this evening.
Five-star forward Miles Bridges and four-star Curtis Jones are scheduled to arrive this evening to begin their official visits. Official visits can be 48 hours so the players will be on campus through Sunday.
There are some soft whispers on the East Coast that it’s worth keeping an eye on Jones to see if he may pull the trigger and commit. Nothing is certain, and he does have other official visits planned, so it’s not as if a commitment is expected.
Jones has made a previous unofficial visit to Indiana, and his father had a glowing review of that visit. (Read more on that here: https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1777907.)
Jones’ uncle is Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton, and Jones is close with IU sophomore Robert Johnson and knows IU freshman center Thomas Bryant, a Huntington Prep teammate last year.
Bridges has four other official visits scheduled. After Indiana he will be at Kentucky (Oct. 17), Michigan (Oct. 10), Michigan State (Sept. 12) and North Carolina (Oct. 24).
As far as Indiana recruiting options at point guard, there has been some news this week in addition to Josh Newkirk arriving on campus.
Class of 2016 point guard Xavier Simpson of Lima, Ohio, is off the radar for Indiana, according to his dad.
After IU landed Newkirk, the Simpsons consider the position filled at IU.
"We've moved on," his father, Quincey Simpson, told peegs.com.
Bruce Brown, on the other hand, remains seriously interested in IU.
The four-star 2016 point guard from Vermont Academy plans to take an official visit to Indiana at some point.
“He’s not going to take any visits until October or November,” Vermont Academy coach Alex Popp told peegs.com.
Brown’s most recent offer came from Oregon.
“It’s been crazy. Anytime you’re the 30th best player in the country, you’re going to have quite a few schools,” Popp said, referring tot he ESPN rankings which came out this week. “Indiana is very attractive. They’ve done a great job recruiting him. There’s no doubt they’re in the mix.”
Brown wants to get settled in school before making any trips. School starts Sept. 7 at Vermont Academy, and its first open gym in Sept. 9. Quite a few coaches are expected in the gym for a loaded team that includes Brown, Rice commit Josh Hall, Xavier commit Tyrique Jones and other prospects such as 2017 6-foot-6 wing Christian David and 2017 6-foot-7 forward Kendrick Gray as well as others.
Don’t be shocked if Vermont Academy’s game against Brewster in the Hoop Hall Classic over Martin Luther King holiday weekend ends up on TV. Both of those teams are loaded.
Vermont Academy, 25-7 last year, also is playing in the Huntington Prep tournament over the Christmas holidays, which would mean a possible head-to-head battle between Brown and Jones.
JOSH NEWKIRK ADDITION
Indiana coach Tom Crean on Thursday night had a chance to talk about Newkirk, the 6-foot-1 point guard who transferred from Pittsburgh.
Newkirk is IU’s second transfer, joining forward Max Bielfeldt, who as a graduate transfer is immediately eligible.
Newkirk must sit out the 2015-16 season. He will have two years of eligibility after that. Newkirk is recovering from microfracture surgery on his left knee and is likely off the court until around December, his father said.
You’ve probably already read our conversation with Newkirk (story here: https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1795136) and his father (story here: https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1794945).
Newkirk committed to Indiana on Sunday, moved in on Sunday and was at team functions on Monday.
“That was a whirlwind, really,” Crean said. “We were actively trying to recruit somebody else for this season. We had the scholarship because of the removal of Hanner (Mosquera-Perea) and Devin (Davis). We were fortunate to get Max, but we were active.
“My first priority, and I said this to the coaches constantly, was to get a player who could come in and help us, and, to be honest with you, as crazy as it sounds, I wanted another guard that can play this year as much as I wanted anybody else, because I think we needed it.
“I don’t think we’re as strong there as we appear on paper, and we’re going to play a little differently. The lineups you saw last year with three guards and things like that, they’re going to become a little more situational at times, if I have my druthers.
“With that being said, we were actively trying to find somebody who can fit. Then when the Josh Newkirk information became available that he was available — I’d had a lot of interest in him early on. We ended up taking Stan Robinson when we hired Kenny (Johnson) and shortly after that we got Stan.
“There were a couple guards we had been recruiting up to that point that we weren’t recruiting any more, and Josh was one of them.
“We prepared hard for him when Pitt came this (past) year, but we didn’t have anybody who could stay in front of him. We didn’t have one guy on our team who could stay in front of him that first half. …
“We felt once we got to that point with what we’re going to need potentially guard-wise moving forward, this would be really good, and again, it just came about.
“How about this guy, he gets in there Sunday night. By Monday afternoon, he’s right in the mix of everything we’re doing. He’s not doing it to the same level because he’s coming off surgery, but he’s right in there. I’ve been very impressed with him this week.”
Crean also referenced Newkirk in relation to last weekend’s off-court issues and the overall need for player leadership.
“It’s almost like you see this and it’s ‘I don’t want to be a part of this. I don’t what this to happen to me.’ Right now, if you’re going to be in the program, you’ve got to have a real thirst for leadership because we need it,” Crean said.
“We need it internally on that team. We need people to take more responsibility for one another because when you get real concerned with what you’re doing, it’s real easy to lose sight of what everybody else is doing. And that doesn’t win.
“We’ve got to defend at a much higher level. If you can’t defend your position, you’re not going to play nearly as much. If you can’t move the ball at a high level, you’re not going to be on the court when it’s time to win the game. You’ll play, but you’re not going to be where you thought you were going to be.
“I’ve know all summer long we’ve been building toward that. Saying all that, Josh will hopefully help us when we get into it and he gets healthier.
“But I’ve already been impressed with the moxie that he has. He looks like a completely different young man than he was during the season with his body. We feel good about him.”
LEADERSHIP
As you’ve already read in our front-page story (https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1796538), Crean hammered on player leadership in his Q&A Thursday night at IU’s annual Tailgate Tour stop at Lucas Oil Stadium.
That came after Thomas Bryant and Emmitt Holt were cited for illegal possession of alcohol. IU has had 11 off-court incidents, counting each one for players with multiple, involving either alcohol or drugs that led to suspensions or legal issues.
Here are some more of Crean’s comments on that:
“We’ve got guys who have been there who have to pick it up in a hurry.”
“You need to take responsibility, sometimes in a hard way. You need to reiterate what the coaches are saying.”
“There are high expectations for them. There are high expectations for this team. There are high expectations to participate at Indiana. There are very high expectations, and there should be.”
“Last year, we got a lot better after we had our issues, but it wasn’t in the form of having great leadership. And that’s obvious.”
COACHING STAFF CHANGES
As we reported a couple weeks back, Rob Judson has moved into a full-time assistant coaching role and Brett Burman is Indiana’s new director of basketball operations.
(More on Burman’s background can be found in our earlier story: https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1791307&PT=4&PR=2).
Crean discussed what Judson and Burman bring to their new roles.
Judson has been a head coach at Northern Illinois, winning the Mid-American Conference West in 2006. He played at Illinois and was an Illinois assistant from 1996-2001.
“Rob Judson is one of the finest coaches I’ve been around,” Crean said. “I had great respect for him long before I got to know him. He’s been a successful head coach in the Mid-American, coaching against guys like Jim Christian, Tim Buckley, Keith Dambrot … very successful guys. He did a good job in that league. He took over a rough situation and kept trying to build it up.
“He’s been very successful in the Big Ten. He was a successful player in the Big Ten. He’s an excellent man, and he’s meant a lot to our program the last couple years.”
Burman has experience at the NBA level with video work and has done quite a lot with advance video and analytical breakdowns.
“I always like to have somebody that can bring a little different perspective to it, whether it’s a former player or somebody that’s been at the NBA level,” Crean said.
“He’s got a great mind for such a young coach. He’s got tremendous background in scouting, in video and in the inner workings of an office and what goes on in a program.
“I think he’s going to be a fantastic coach as time goes on, and I think he’s going to bring a lot to our office as far as helping our coaches this year.”
2015-16 SCHEDULE
Indiana unveiled its 2015-16 schedule Thursday, the same day the Big Ten schedule was announced on the Big Ten Network. (Printable IU schedule here: http://sidearm.sites.s3.amazonaws.com/iuhoosiers.com/documents/2015/8/27/15_16_mbb_sked.pdf?id=19840.)
In conference action, Indiana’s one-play home games are against Maryland, Ohio State, Purdue and Northwestern.
The Hoosiers will have one-play road games at Rutgers, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State.
IU plays home and road against Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
IU opens conference play with the two Big Ten schools with the most distance between them, Rutgers and Nebraska, separated by 1,288 miles.
After those two, IU has four of its next five at home. IU has four home games in January and four home games in February.
The only Indiana-Purdue game is Saturday, Feb. 20, at Assembly Hall.
IU’s Big Ten home opener is against Wisconsin. It could be Bo Ryan’s last game at Assembly Hall. He announced he was retiring at the end of the year before softening his stance a little in recent interviews.
Overall, its a schedule that is favorable when looking at the teams considered Big Ten title contenders. (More on that here: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab...ewly-released-big-ten-schedule-170237673.html).
IU’s season begins on Friday, Nov. 13, against Eastern Illinois.
Indiana’s main non-conference opponents are Creighton (Thursday, Nov. 19, at home), Wake Forest, Vanderbilt or St. John’s and possibly Kansas (Nov. 23-25 in the Maui Invitational), Duke (Wednesday, Dec. 2 on the road in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge) and Notre Dame (Saturday, Dec. 19 in the Crossroads Classic at Bankers Life in Indianapolis).
FORMER STARS BACK IN STATE IN NBA ACTION
Indiana fans have a chance to see former IU stars during NBA preseason games against the Pacers.
The Pacers open the preseason at home against the New Orleans Pelicans (Eric Gordon) on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m.
They host Orlando (Victor Oladipo) on Friday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m.,
The Pacers will play in Fort Wayne for the first time since 2008 when they face the Charlotte Hornets (Cody Zeller) on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
