Not a newsy week on the recruiting front with it being a holiday weekend so this ITLR is more team news focused with a look ahead at where the power may lie this coming season in the Big Ten now that draft decisions have been made.
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Big news for Indiana this week with James Blackmon announcing his return. Our Jeff Rabjohns spoke with someone in Marion who has seen him workout very recently. They said you couldn't even tell he wasn't 100 percent from the way he was shooting.
Even in Philadelphis during the East Regionals we thought Blackmon was moving around pretty well in the open practice action.
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Incoming guard Devonte Green has picked a number that has quite a bit of Hoosier history behind it:
Also if you missed it here's a great video feature on Devonte that was posted earlier this month on YouTube:
Jordan Hulls will host his third annual JH1 Skills Academy at bloomington South on June 22-24. Camp info link
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The Hoosier baseball team has a do or die type game tonight at the Big Ten tournament. Indiana staved off elimination yesterday with a win over No. 2 seed Nebraska. IU will face the loser of this morning's game between Maryland and Michigan State in a game currently slated to start at 6 pm ET. That game will be shown on the Big Ten Network.
Big Ten tournament bracket
Speaking of IU baseball, former Hoosier Alex Dickerson making a strong case for a call up as he's hitting .411 with a 24-game hitting streak in AAA for El Paso. Dickerson celebrated his 26th birthday yesterday with first pitch solo home run in an extra inning victory.
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A few scouting thoughts after cutting a lot of video the last couple weeks:
- Jordan Tucker better than I thought. Much more than a good shooting small forward. Has a quick bounce to his play and like how efficient his shot release can be
- Al Durham has a lot of defensive potential and a talented guy but has to learn to stop taking hard shots. His poor EYBL shooting numbers are a function of that and having too much palm/lift on his jumper. But both issues are fixable and he took a big step in the right direction with his play in Hampton.
- Jose Alvarado is a nice point guard who can also shoot but boy, he's small out there (and not terribly quick)
- Mohamed Bamba is as long as they come and will be a terror for opposing defenses. He's very raw offensively but can hit a spot up mid-range shot with relative ease.
- Tyler Herro wasn't as good on tape as he seemed to be in person in Fort Wayne. Still an obvious offer from Big Ten teams that recruit Wisconsin
- Hamidou Diallo may have the best vertical in the class. Specializes in the Sidney Moncrief two-hand behind the back slams at the rim. Not a good shooter right now but shows potential with his shot with the way he catches and releases mid-range shots off the pass.
- Romeo Langford only gets in trouble when he makes soft, indecisive drives that probably worked at New Albany but won't against the size he faces in the shoe circuit games. Having said that it's a quite a statement that he leads the entire adidas Gauntlet series in scoring (23.6 ppg) and is playing up a class.
- Malik Williams didn't play particularly well in his match-up against Jaren Jackson in Fort Wayne but since then he's played pretty good. But don't know that he's faced real good size since that game. Agree with some on the Jeff Newton comparison but he's a bit more perimeter focused that Newton despite being a little taller.
- Speaking of Jackson, could 5-star status be on his horizon? He's been that good this spring. Just remember he has strong family ties to DC area
- Justin Smith has been really good for a bad team this spring. Sometimes that is telling but he sure has been excellent when I've watched courtside or on video. Don't be surprised to see him in contention for the biggest leap up in the next iteration of the Rivals150. He currently sits at No. 123 and could see him him at less than half that number.
- Darius Garland and Robert Phinisee are remarkably similar 2018 points in both body and how they play. Garland, however, has a much more reliable jumper right now. He possesses a bit better wingspan as well, making it easier to finish. What's great about both players is they'll be much, much stronger come college and be able to do so much more on drives to the basket.
- Did not see much of Matt Coleman this spring but Jeff has and look forward to cutting video of Coleman moving forward. He's one of the more interesting recruiting developments this spring, especially since he's a fairly proven point guard. Been warned to look out for Texas with him as Shaka goes back with the Virginia native since his VCU days.
With the dust now settled as far as NBA decisions, the Big Ten outlook now is much clearer now. Despite the loss of Troy Williams, the Hoosiers should join Michigan State and Wisconsin as the preseason favorites to win the league.
Quick rundown in anticipation of bigger piece for next week on the power groups of the league:
Favorites
Wisconsin - My new pick as preseason No. 1 in the league now that Nigel Hayes has announced his return. Add in Bronson Koenig and Ethan Happ and this could be a smart choice to win the league. Saw enough of medical redshirt Brevin Pritzl in AAU to known that he will add a missing dimension to backcourt with his sweet shooting. Grag Gard also was without 6'11 Andy Van Vliet, a Belgian who was academically ineligible. The Badger beat writers tell us he's very good (March story). Adding him to Happ, Vitto Brown, Alex Illikainen and Charlie Thomas should make one of the deepest front lines in the country.
Indiana - the presence of versatile forwards like OG Anunoby, Collin Hartman and Juwan Morgan make the loss of Troy Williams something IU should be able to manage. The key will be to have either Josh Newkirk and/or Robert Johnson to bring solid play at the point spot left by Yogi Ferrell. De'Ron Davis adds a key backup and new shot blocking dimension to frontcourt. Assuming James Blackmon is healthy and brings it more on the defensive end, this team is definitely capable of repeat title.
Michigan State - lose a great backcourt of Valentine and Forbes along with key frontcourt guys Matt Costello and Deyonta Davis (NBA). But Spartans bring in the highest ranked recruiting class and return Eron Harris, Lourawls Nairn, Gavin Schilling, Matt McQuaid and Alvin Ellis. Recruiting class includes five-stars Miles Bridges and Josh Langford, a pair of big 6'6 wings and a pair of upper echelon 4-stars in point Cassius Winston and 6-foot-9, 240-pound Nick Ward.
Potential Contenders
Purdue - Caleb Swanigan is back but Boilers will have be without first teamer AJ Hammons at center. Isaac Haas obviously could fill that void so the real question once again may be the point guard position. Four-star Texan Carsen Edwards could help a lot there and another improvement from PJ Thompson will be needed. Spike Albrecht may as well if he can get healthy. Wings are set with Vince Edwards, Ryan Cline and Dakota Mathias with Basil Smotherman coming off a redshirt season.
Maryland - sure the Terps lost four starters but Mark Turgeon got good news from Melo Trimble and has a huge recruiting class that was bolstered this week by the addition of four-star forward Justin Jackson. He joins three other four-star guys in pure point Anthony Cowan, shooter Kevin Huerter and forward Micah Thomas. This team gets back medical redshirt Dion Wiley along with veterans Jared Nickens and Damonte Dodd. Big man Michal Cekovsky came in with a lot of hype and won't sit behind Diamond Stone and Robert Carter this year. If he develops, this team could contend.
Michigan - even without Caris LeVert this team had enough last year to knock off Indiana in Indianapolis and make the NCAAs. Zak Irvin, Derrick Walton, Duncan Robinson, DJ Wilson, Mark Donnal and Abdur-Rahkman are among a big group back but IU upset hero Kameron Chatman has decided to transfer. Depth inside should be much better with addition of Austin Davis and Jon Teske. Xavier Simpson is a four-star point guard addition from Ohio.
Those six teams all could be very good and kind of seperate themselves from the rest of the league.
Best of the rest
Ohio State - The Buckeyes have been disappointing and not nearly as mentally tough as past Thad Matta teams of late. Despite four transfers will return experienced guys in Marc Loving, Keita Bates-Diop, JaQuan Lyle, Kam Williams, Jae'Sean Tate and Trevor Thompson. Four-star big man Derek Funderburke highlights recruiting class. This team has a lot of talent but how bad does it want to win?
Nebraska - get back Andrew White and add UL transfer Anton Gill but lose Shavon Shields. Four star forward Isaiah Roby and center Jordy Tshimanga will help the frontcourt. Tai Webster and Glynn Watson should make the Husker backcourt a good one.
Northwestern - lose Alex Olah and Tre Demps but get back Vic Law off medical redshirt and return Bryant McIntosh and some promising younger guys like Aaron Falzon and Dererk Pardon. Barret Benson helps the frontcourt and Rapolas Ivanauskas is a very skilled 6-foot-8 guy who could play either forward spot.
Illinois - do or die time for John Groce and goes without saying Illini need Tracy Abrams to finally be healthy and a stabilizing force at point. And can't absorb any more off the court problems that most recently included the loss of Kendrick Nunn. Wings are set with Malcolm Hill and Jalen Coleman-Lands returning and big man Mike Thorne was granted another year. Aaron Jordan and/or DJ Williams need to step up as sophomores.
Iowa - Peter Jok decided to return but almost everyone else of note isn't back, save for promising forward Dom Uhl. Four-star recruit Tyler Cook will have to be thrown into the fire right away. A lot of sophs on this roster who had a moment here or there but are pretty unproven right now.
Penn State - Pat Chambers adds his best recruiting class led by former IU targets Lamar Stevens and Tony Carr. Just may need a year of seasoning. Shep Garner and Payton Banks headline some good young talent.
Minnesota - Richard Pitino bringing in three new transfers and a one time five star recruit in Amir Coffey. Jordan Murphy is one of the best young talents in the league. Bunch of question marks both on and off the court after him.
Rutgers - not much to say here except it would be great for the league if Steve Pikiell can quickly turn this program around.
Bottom line is I may be higher on Wisconsin and less so on Michigan State than some experts out there. Probably higher on Illinois than others but acknowledge they'll need Abrams near his old self to be really improved and can't have any more roster hits.
Like to look for teams that are "addition by subtraction" candidates and see that possibility with Ohio State and maybe Illinois as well. Seemed like that happened to some degree with Indiana last season.
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The offers from the IU staff to prospects in the 2017 and 2018 classes have slowed down a little, but they still have extended scholarship offers to a number of recruits in the last week and Peegs.com has put together a list of those players that got offered by IU:
2017 Texas LB Marquez Bimage
2017 Florida DB Naytron Culpepper
2017 Florida WR/DB Dorian Hall
2017 Louisiana DL Troy James
2017 Oklahoma TE Reese Leitao
2017 Texas DL Toby Ndukwe
2017 Michigan athlete Scott Nelson
2017 Florida DB Michael Nesbitt
2017 Texas DL Dayo Odeyingbo
2017 Arkansas QB Taylor Powell
2017 Florida DE/TE Michael Ziemba
2018 California DB Brendan Radley-Hiles
2018 New Jersey QB Allan Walters
Peegs.com spoke to Dorian Hall about his recruiting and his interest in Indiana and you can check out that story here. Hall is an interesting prospect because he played QB last year for his team at South Broward H.S., but he is listed as a safety by Rivals.com and Indiana and other schools are recruiting him to play wideout.
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The IU staff is hard at work trying to land a QB commit for the 2017 class and the top target on their board appears to be Tyler Lytle. The California QB recently told Peegs.com that he plans on visiting IU early in June before making a decision around the middle of June. We have heard that Lytle could be in Bloomington the first weekend in June which would be around June 4th. Here is the story we did on Lytle earlier this month.
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It is always hard to predict who the next commit might be and when it might happen, but a good guess might be Florida LB Thomas Allen. Allen is the son of IU defensive coordinator Tom Allen and he spoke to Peegs.com a few days ago about his recruiting and where things stand with that. He said that he could decide as soon as a few weeks from now, and if he does the smart money is on IU because of the obvious connection to the Indiana program. Here is the story we did on Allen after talking to him this week.
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We have done several recruiting updates in the last week on a number of top IU targets. The defensive side of the ball is going to be a priority in the 2017 class, especially the defensive line and linebacker spots. One defensive lineman that is high on IU is Georgia prospect Ellison Hubbard. The three-star recruit told Peegs.com in this story that the Hoosiers are one of his top three schools.
Another defensive lineman in the 2017 class that is very interested in IU is Florida prospect Antwan Owens. The standout from Godby H.S. in Tallahassee recently released his top schools and the Hoosiers made the cut. Current IU safety Tony Fields played at Godby and Owens told Peegs.com that Fields already being on the roster at Indiana makes him feel more comfortable about possibly choosing the Hoosiers. Here is the story we did this week on Owens.
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Indiana has done a good job recruiting the area around Washington, D.C. and Baltimore the last few years, and one player from that area they are after in the 2017 class is Victor Dimukeje. The talented defensive end spoke to Peegs.com earlier this week about his recruiting and his interest in the Hoosiers and you can check out that story here.
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In the 2016 signing class IU landed wideout Phil Benker from Sandalwood H.S. in Jacksonville, Florida, and they are hoping to land a couple more Sandalwood players in the 2017 class. One is cornerback Quran Hafiz. The three-star recruit told Peegs.com this week that he will be at IU for an unofficial visit next month. He will either be up the weekend of June 11th or the weekend of June 18th. Here is the story we did on Hafiz this week.
The other Sandalwood standout that IU is after is lineman Sincere David. He is listed as an offensive lineman by Rivals.com, but it appears that the Hoosiers like him on the defensive side of the ball. He recently released his top five and IU was on the list along with Louisville, Memphis, Appalachian State and Toledo.
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Another Florida product in the 2017 class that IU is in good shape with is Florida DB Tavyn Jackson. The three-star recruit announced his top eight schools this week and IU was one the eight listed along with Auburn, Mississippi State, Central Florida, South Carolina, Oregon State, South Florida and Memphis.
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We have also done an update on 2018 target Trace Oldner from Katy, Texas. Oldner is a four-star recruit that picked up his first offer recently from IU. He spoke to Peegs.com about his recruiting and how special it was to get that offer from the Hoosiers. You can check out that story here.
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Indiana offensive lineman Dan Feeney is getting some pre-season recognition. The Illinois native was named recently a pre-season All-American by Athlon Sports. Here is the release from IUHoosiers.com talking about it.
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Another start time has been announced for one of Indiana’s games this fall. It was announced this week that IU’s season opener at Florida International on Thursday, September 1st will kick-off at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU. Here is the release from IUHoosiers.com talking about the start time for the game at FIU.
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Last week we showed you pictures of the new turf being installed at Memorial Stadium. The job has been completed and there are new images of what it looks like. It is a major upgrade over the old turf as you can see in the photo below:
There is a video from the Indiana Football twitter account that shows the turf being installed from start to finish.
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Big news for Indiana this week with James Blackmon announcing his return. Our Jeff Rabjohns spoke with someone in Marion who has seen him workout very recently. They said you couldn't even tell he wasn't 100 percent from the way he was shooting.
Even in Philadelphis during the East Regionals we thought Blackmon was moving around pretty well in the open practice action.
-----
Incoming guard Devonte Green has picked a number that has quite a bit of Hoosier history behind it:
Also if you missed it here's a great video feature on Devonte that was posted earlier this month on YouTube:
Jordan Hulls will host his third annual JH1 Skills Academy at bloomington South on June 22-24. Camp info link
-----
The Hoosier baseball team has a do or die type game tonight at the Big Ten tournament. Indiana staved off elimination yesterday with a win over No. 2 seed Nebraska. IU will face the loser of this morning's game between Maryland and Michigan State in a game currently slated to start at 6 pm ET. That game will be shown on the Big Ten Network.
Big Ten tournament bracket
Speaking of IU baseball, former Hoosier Alex Dickerson making a strong case for a call up as he's hitting .411 with a 24-game hitting streak in AAA for El Paso. Dickerson celebrated his 26th birthday yesterday with first pitch solo home run in an extra inning victory.
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A few scouting thoughts after cutting a lot of video the last couple weeks:
- Jordan Tucker better than I thought. Much more than a good shooting small forward. Has a quick bounce to his play and like how efficient his shot release can be
- Al Durham has a lot of defensive potential and a talented guy but has to learn to stop taking hard shots. His poor EYBL shooting numbers are a function of that and having too much palm/lift on his jumper. But both issues are fixable and he took a big step in the right direction with his play in Hampton.
- Jose Alvarado is a nice point guard who can also shoot but boy, he's small out there (and not terribly quick)
- Mohamed Bamba is as long as they come and will be a terror for opposing defenses. He's very raw offensively but can hit a spot up mid-range shot with relative ease.
- Tyler Herro wasn't as good on tape as he seemed to be in person in Fort Wayne. Still an obvious offer from Big Ten teams that recruit Wisconsin
- Hamidou Diallo may have the best vertical in the class. Specializes in the Sidney Moncrief two-hand behind the back slams at the rim. Not a good shooter right now but shows potential with his shot with the way he catches and releases mid-range shots off the pass.
- Romeo Langford only gets in trouble when he makes soft, indecisive drives that probably worked at New Albany but won't against the size he faces in the shoe circuit games. Having said that it's a quite a statement that he leads the entire adidas Gauntlet series in scoring (23.6 ppg) and is playing up a class.
- Malik Williams didn't play particularly well in his match-up against Jaren Jackson in Fort Wayne but since then he's played pretty good. But don't know that he's faced real good size since that game. Agree with some on the Jeff Newton comparison but he's a bit more perimeter focused that Newton despite being a little taller.
- Speaking of Jackson, could 5-star status be on his horizon? He's been that good this spring. Just remember he has strong family ties to DC area
- Justin Smith has been really good for a bad team this spring. Sometimes that is telling but he sure has been excellent when I've watched courtside or on video. Don't be surprised to see him in contention for the biggest leap up in the next iteration of the Rivals150. He currently sits at No. 123 and could see him him at less than half that number.
- Darius Garland and Robert Phinisee are remarkably similar 2018 points in both body and how they play. Garland, however, has a much more reliable jumper right now. He possesses a bit better wingspan as well, making it easier to finish. What's great about both players is they'll be much, much stronger come college and be able to do so much more on drives to the basket.
- Did not see much of Matt Coleman this spring but Jeff has and look forward to cutting video of Coleman moving forward. He's one of the more interesting recruiting developments this spring, especially since he's a fairly proven point guard. Been warned to look out for Texas with him as Shaka goes back with the Virginia native since his VCU days.
With the dust now settled as far as NBA decisions, the Big Ten outlook now is much clearer now. Despite the loss of Troy Williams, the Hoosiers should join Michigan State and Wisconsin as the preseason favorites to win the league.
Quick rundown in anticipation of bigger piece for next week on the power groups of the league:
Favorites
Wisconsin - My new pick as preseason No. 1 in the league now that Nigel Hayes has announced his return. Add in Bronson Koenig and Ethan Happ and this could be a smart choice to win the league. Saw enough of medical redshirt Brevin Pritzl in AAU to known that he will add a missing dimension to backcourt with his sweet shooting. Grag Gard also was without 6'11 Andy Van Vliet, a Belgian who was academically ineligible. The Badger beat writers tell us he's very good (March story). Adding him to Happ, Vitto Brown, Alex Illikainen and Charlie Thomas should make one of the deepest front lines in the country.
Indiana - the presence of versatile forwards like OG Anunoby, Collin Hartman and Juwan Morgan make the loss of Troy Williams something IU should be able to manage. The key will be to have either Josh Newkirk and/or Robert Johnson to bring solid play at the point spot left by Yogi Ferrell. De'Ron Davis adds a key backup and new shot blocking dimension to frontcourt. Assuming James Blackmon is healthy and brings it more on the defensive end, this team is definitely capable of repeat title.
Michigan State - lose a great backcourt of Valentine and Forbes along with key frontcourt guys Matt Costello and Deyonta Davis (NBA). But Spartans bring in the highest ranked recruiting class and return Eron Harris, Lourawls Nairn, Gavin Schilling, Matt McQuaid and Alvin Ellis. Recruiting class includes five-stars Miles Bridges and Josh Langford, a pair of big 6'6 wings and a pair of upper echelon 4-stars in point Cassius Winston and 6-foot-9, 240-pound Nick Ward.
Potential Contenders
Purdue - Caleb Swanigan is back but Boilers will have be without first teamer AJ Hammons at center. Isaac Haas obviously could fill that void so the real question once again may be the point guard position. Four-star Texan Carsen Edwards could help a lot there and another improvement from PJ Thompson will be needed. Spike Albrecht may as well if he can get healthy. Wings are set with Vince Edwards, Ryan Cline and Dakota Mathias with Basil Smotherman coming off a redshirt season.
Maryland - sure the Terps lost four starters but Mark Turgeon got good news from Melo Trimble and has a huge recruiting class that was bolstered this week by the addition of four-star forward Justin Jackson. He joins three other four-star guys in pure point Anthony Cowan, shooter Kevin Huerter and forward Micah Thomas. This team gets back medical redshirt Dion Wiley along with veterans Jared Nickens and Damonte Dodd. Big man Michal Cekovsky came in with a lot of hype and won't sit behind Diamond Stone and Robert Carter this year. If he develops, this team could contend.
Michigan - even without Caris LeVert this team had enough last year to knock off Indiana in Indianapolis and make the NCAAs. Zak Irvin, Derrick Walton, Duncan Robinson, DJ Wilson, Mark Donnal and Abdur-Rahkman are among a big group back but IU upset hero Kameron Chatman has decided to transfer. Depth inside should be much better with addition of Austin Davis and Jon Teske. Xavier Simpson is a four-star point guard addition from Ohio.
Those six teams all could be very good and kind of seperate themselves from the rest of the league.
Best of the rest
Ohio State - The Buckeyes have been disappointing and not nearly as mentally tough as past Thad Matta teams of late. Despite four transfers will return experienced guys in Marc Loving, Keita Bates-Diop, JaQuan Lyle, Kam Williams, Jae'Sean Tate and Trevor Thompson. Four-star big man Derek Funderburke highlights recruiting class. This team has a lot of talent but how bad does it want to win?
Nebraska - get back Andrew White and add UL transfer Anton Gill but lose Shavon Shields. Four star forward Isaiah Roby and center Jordy Tshimanga will help the frontcourt. Tai Webster and Glynn Watson should make the Husker backcourt a good one.
Northwestern - lose Alex Olah and Tre Demps but get back Vic Law off medical redshirt and return Bryant McIntosh and some promising younger guys like Aaron Falzon and Dererk Pardon. Barret Benson helps the frontcourt and Rapolas Ivanauskas is a very skilled 6-foot-8 guy who could play either forward spot.
Illinois - do or die time for John Groce and goes without saying Illini need Tracy Abrams to finally be healthy and a stabilizing force at point. And can't absorb any more off the court problems that most recently included the loss of Kendrick Nunn. Wings are set with Malcolm Hill and Jalen Coleman-Lands returning and big man Mike Thorne was granted another year. Aaron Jordan and/or DJ Williams need to step up as sophomores.
Iowa - Peter Jok decided to return but almost everyone else of note isn't back, save for promising forward Dom Uhl. Four-star recruit Tyler Cook will have to be thrown into the fire right away. A lot of sophs on this roster who had a moment here or there but are pretty unproven right now.
Penn State - Pat Chambers adds his best recruiting class led by former IU targets Lamar Stevens and Tony Carr. Just may need a year of seasoning. Shep Garner and Payton Banks headline some good young talent.
Minnesota - Richard Pitino bringing in three new transfers and a one time five star recruit in Amir Coffey. Jordan Murphy is one of the best young talents in the league. Bunch of question marks both on and off the court after him.
Rutgers - not much to say here except it would be great for the league if Steve Pikiell can quickly turn this program around.
Bottom line is I may be higher on Wisconsin and less so on Michigan State than some experts out there. Probably higher on Illinois than others but acknowledge they'll need Abrams near his old self to be really improved and can't have any more roster hits.
Like to look for teams that are "addition by subtraction" candidates and see that possibility with Ohio State and maybe Illinois as well. Seemed like that happened to some degree with Indiana last season.
--------------------
The offers from the IU staff to prospects in the 2017 and 2018 classes have slowed down a little, but they still have extended scholarship offers to a number of recruits in the last week and Peegs.com has put together a list of those players that got offered by IU:
2017 Texas LB Marquez Bimage
2017 Florida DB Naytron Culpepper
2017 Florida WR/DB Dorian Hall
2017 Louisiana DL Troy James
2017 Oklahoma TE Reese Leitao
2017 Texas DL Toby Ndukwe
2017 Michigan athlete Scott Nelson
2017 Florida DB Michael Nesbitt
2017 Texas DL Dayo Odeyingbo
2017 Arkansas QB Taylor Powell
2017 Florida DE/TE Michael Ziemba
2018 California DB Brendan Radley-Hiles
2018 New Jersey QB Allan Walters
Peegs.com spoke to Dorian Hall about his recruiting and his interest in Indiana and you can check out that story here. Hall is an interesting prospect because he played QB last year for his team at South Broward H.S., but he is listed as a safety by Rivals.com and Indiana and other schools are recruiting him to play wideout.
-----
The IU staff is hard at work trying to land a QB commit for the 2017 class and the top target on their board appears to be Tyler Lytle. The California QB recently told Peegs.com that he plans on visiting IU early in June before making a decision around the middle of June. We have heard that Lytle could be in Bloomington the first weekend in June which would be around June 4th. Here is the story we did on Lytle earlier this month.
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It is always hard to predict who the next commit might be and when it might happen, but a good guess might be Florida LB Thomas Allen. Allen is the son of IU defensive coordinator Tom Allen and he spoke to Peegs.com a few days ago about his recruiting and where things stand with that. He said that he could decide as soon as a few weeks from now, and if he does the smart money is on IU because of the obvious connection to the Indiana program. Here is the story we did on Allen after talking to him this week.
-----
We have done several recruiting updates in the last week on a number of top IU targets. The defensive side of the ball is going to be a priority in the 2017 class, especially the defensive line and linebacker spots. One defensive lineman that is high on IU is Georgia prospect Ellison Hubbard. The three-star recruit told Peegs.com in this story that the Hoosiers are one of his top three schools.
Another defensive lineman in the 2017 class that is very interested in IU is Florida prospect Antwan Owens. The standout from Godby H.S. in Tallahassee recently released his top schools and the Hoosiers made the cut. Current IU safety Tony Fields played at Godby and Owens told Peegs.com that Fields already being on the roster at Indiana makes him feel more comfortable about possibly choosing the Hoosiers. Here is the story we did this week on Owens.
-----
Indiana has done a good job recruiting the area around Washington, D.C. and Baltimore the last few years, and one player from that area they are after in the 2017 class is Victor Dimukeje. The talented defensive end spoke to Peegs.com earlier this week about his recruiting and his interest in the Hoosiers and you can check out that story here.
-----
In the 2016 signing class IU landed wideout Phil Benker from Sandalwood H.S. in Jacksonville, Florida, and they are hoping to land a couple more Sandalwood players in the 2017 class. One is cornerback Quran Hafiz. The three-star recruit told Peegs.com this week that he will be at IU for an unofficial visit next month. He will either be up the weekend of June 11th or the weekend of June 18th. Here is the story we did on Hafiz this week.
The other Sandalwood standout that IU is after is lineman Sincere David. He is listed as an offensive lineman by Rivals.com, but it appears that the Hoosiers like him on the defensive side of the ball. He recently released his top five and IU was on the list along with Louisville, Memphis, Appalachian State and Toledo.
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Another Florida product in the 2017 class that IU is in good shape with is Florida DB Tavyn Jackson. The three-star recruit announced his top eight schools this week and IU was one the eight listed along with Auburn, Mississippi State, Central Florida, South Carolina, Oregon State, South Florida and Memphis.
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We have also done an update on 2018 target Trace Oldner from Katy, Texas. Oldner is a four-star recruit that picked up his first offer recently from IU. He spoke to Peegs.com about his recruiting and how special it was to get that offer from the Hoosiers. You can check out that story here.
-----
Indiana offensive lineman Dan Feeney is getting some pre-season recognition. The Illinois native was named recently a pre-season All-American by Athlon Sports. Here is the release from IUHoosiers.com talking about it.
-----
Another start time has been announced for one of Indiana’s games this fall. It was announced this week that IU’s season opener at Florida International on Thursday, September 1st will kick-off at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU. Here is the release from IUHoosiers.com talking about the start time for the game at FIU.
-----
Last week we showed you pictures of the new turf being installed at Memorial Stadium. The job has been completed and there are new images of what it looks like. It is a major upgrade over the old turf as you can see in the photo below:
There is a video from the Indiana Football twitter account that shows the turf being installed from start to finish.
