Certainly seems like Indiana is casting a wider net than we're used to seeing, especially now with the rising junior class of 2017. The first day that college coaches were allowed to contact those players was Monday, and from what we've gathered the Hoosiers' staff reached out to over 30 of the best prospects in the class.
There was a big concentration toward Indiana (Paul Scruggs, Kris Wilkes, Malik Williams, Jaren Jackson Jr., Zach Gunn and others) and we're still trying to catch up with all the calls to the greater NYC area (Mohamed Bamba, Trevon Duval, Nick Richards, Hamidou Diallo, Jordan Tucker, for sure, maybe Sid Wilson and Isaiah Washington as well.
As far as the in-state group we continue to hear IU is in good shape with that big five but especially so with Scruggs and Williams. Could probably add Zach Gunn to that group but he's maybe not yet as proven as an elite prospect as the other four. Wilkes is a bit more of an early unknown and hasn't made his way down to IU as often as the others. Jackson just picked up an offer from Georgetown, his father's alma mater. Talking to colleagues in D.C., they believe that's understandably a big deal to Jackson Sr. but are unsure how much that means to Jr.
Many new programs have reached out to these Indy area '17 players. For example over the first day or so Malik Williams heard from Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue, Northwestern, Illinois, California,Vanderbilt, Florida, Xavier, Kentucky and a few other mid-major programs.
Some notables this week on those NYC area players:
Duval said to media here at the NBPA Top 100 that Indiana and Oregon were the two schools recruiting him the hardest. He's a five-star level point guard, so that could end up being a big deal.
Bamba is another five-star kid who has been terrific here to the point he could push into the top 10 even though the 2017 class is looking like a better than average group.
We've talked quite a bit about Bamba in our daily video recaps from UVa and who knows where he'll end up but in talking with him this week he said this about his conversation with Tom Crean:
"I sort of connected to him more than just 'coach-athlete.' We talked about his son, talked about going to baseball games and that was a really nice gesture."
No discussion yet of any trip to Indiana but Bamba added "I would love to" in regards to visiting Bloomington down the road.
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Bruce Brown played well last night. He's been saying here that Indiana is among three programs or so that are pursuing him the hardest. This camp has shown he has a bit further to go as a point guard than the EYBL has shown but he could really become an intriguing guy at that position because of his defensive and driving ability. Seems to have a decent command of a team, just has to sharpen his handle over the next year or two.
Curtis Jones has had some big games here but continues to look more like a two guard. That's not necessarily a bad thing because he can certainly shoot it and is in the 6'3 to 6'4 range and this may be the worst class for shooting guards I can ever recall. He's terribly streaky, but if you can beef him up you can have a knock down guy on the wing that can score off the drive as well and help you at point on a part-time basis.
Rawle Alkins and De'Ron Davis aren't here as originally planned but understandable as they're coming off the USA team trip to Italy that we wrote about last Friday.
In speaking to Duwan Huell yesterday it didn't sound like anything has materialized with Indiana. Sounds like in-state programs Florida State, Florida and Miami are in good shape.
Kameron McGusty spoke at great length about Indiana here to the point he sounds awfully serious about the possibility of landing in Bloomington. We'll have more in an upcoming feature. McGusty had a big opening day here but apparently got nicked up and sat out of the games yesterday. The 6-foot-5 wing from Texas is No. 71 in the Rivals150 but a good candidate to shoot up to the top 50 later this summer.
You probably saw the update on Quentin Goodin. Kentucky source seemed to think he may end up at Florida but thought Indiana had a good shot to make his final five cutoff coming next week. He's looked good here as he's clearly moving better versus last year when he looked so sluggish and lost at times with the St. Louis Eagles. Goodin recently moved to play with Matt Moyer, Kyle Guy and others on the top Indiana Elite 17u program.
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As the above photo shows, Matur Maker did a rare interview with us last night. The guy in the background is 5-star center Edrice Adebayo who kept sabotaging the interview but Matur did hint he would like to go to the same college older brother Thon chooses. He spoke to some of the reasons he believes Thon made the right choice to wait and graduate next year with his 2016 class. When asked about colleges he immediately mentioned Indiana and then cut himself off. He appeared to not be ready to talk on the subject. I know he's mentioned Arizona State some with others.
So if Thon Maker is indeed not going to head to college until the 2016-17 season, what does that mean for Indiana? Well there's currently no shortage of scholarships for that class with Ferrell, Zeisloft and Beilfeldt exhausting their eligibility and Troy Williams and James Blackmon possibly declaring early for the NBA. At the same time a normal graduation could make Thon attractive to some other schools and gives time for those other programs to challenge Indiana, Arizona State and Kentucky.
Speaking of Troy Williams, an observer of his workouts in Houston with the John Lucas-run outfit was convinced that Troy has made tremendous progress with his jump shot.
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An interesting week for IU football and Matt Weaver is here with our ITLR update:
What started off as a good week for Indiana football with a commitment ended in a very disappointing fashion with the news of Antonio Allen’s arrest for dealing drugs. From a football standpoint it is a pretty significant loss as Allen was the only returning starter for IU in the secondary, and he was also the leading returning tackler on the team. The Hoosiers were already looking at a season where the defensive backfield was going to have a number of young players playing quite a bit, but with Allen’s dismissal from the team it means that they will have to rely even more on players that have little to no experience at the college level. For Allen it is even sadder because a young man with a world of potential and the ability to possibly play in the NFL is now facing several years in prison. There have been no reports that any other players were involved and the hope is that will remain the case for head coach Kevin Wilson and his staff.
Here is the story on Allen’s arrest: https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1775578
Here is the story on Allen’s dismissal: https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1775832
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The good news of the week was the Hoosiers added a commitment from Alabama running back Tyus Flakes. The three-star prospect was in Bloomington last weekend for an unofficial visit and while he was driving home he called the staff and gave them the news that he was committing. Flakes suffered an ACL injury this spring and will not play this season as a senior at Auburn H.S. It appears the Indiana staff had their medical people examine Flakes when he was in town and they advised him to not play this fall which he will not do. Taking a player with a serious knee injury is a risk, but anymore torn ACL’s are not a big deal and if there was any reason for concern it is doubtful the staff would’ve accepted his commitment. Here (https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1774911&PT=4&PR=2) is the story we did on Flakes after he committed to IU.
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Another player who was on campus last weekend was Memphis defensive lineman Michael Perry. The three-star prospect had IU in his top three before the visit and he told Peegs.com that the trip to Bloomington did nothing to change how he felt about the Hoosiers. Adding a few quality defensive linemen will be important for IU in the 2016 class and Perry would certainly be a good get for the staff. You can read the story we did on him here (https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1775040&PT=4&PR=2).
Indiana also had Illinois lineman Desmond Bland on campus as an unofficial visitor this past weekend. Bland is a three-star offensive lineman from Flossmoor, Illinois that is ranked as the 40th best guard in the nation by Rivals.com. He told us that the staff really likes him as an offensive lineman, but they would be okay with him trying defensive line if that is what he wants to do. You can read the story we did on Bland here (https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1776108&PT=4&PR=2).
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Ohio running back Cole Gest was at Indiana’s Friday Night Lights Camp last Friday and he performed very well. The standout from St. Edward H.S. outside Cleveland is a smaller back at 5’8 and around 180-pounds, but he is very fast and athletic and could project as a slot receiver in college. He told Peegs.com that a couple of the offensive coaches are ready to offer him but they are just waiting for the okay from Coach Wilson. Here (https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1775511&PT=4&PR=2) is the story we did on Gest after his camp visit to IU.
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This fall IU will welcome running back Devonte Williams to the program. The talented back played at Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland and one of his former teammates – Patrick Johnson – is a top target for IU in the 2016 class. The three-star athlete told Peegs.com that he plans on making a trip to Bloomington next month to get a closer look at IU. You can read the story we did on Johnson here (https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1775796&PT=4&PR=2).
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Camp season is a little more than halfway over and we have been updating the names of expected visitors on our thread on the Premium Football Board. This weekend will be a big one as far as visitors go for the Hoosiers as several top targets will be on campus to check out the program. Here (http://indiana.forums.rivals.com/threads/june-visitors.39729/) is the link to our list of confirmed visitors to IU for camp season.
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The IUHoosiers.com site put out a good story on fifth year senior offensive lineman Ralston Evans. The Indianapolis native has been a solid performer for the Hoosiers despite playing with a bun knee that has given him quite a bit of trouble. You can read that story here (https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1776396).
-----
It was a tough week for former IU wide receiver Shane Wynn as he was cut by the Atlanta Falcons. The bright side is there is plenty of time until training camps start in the NFL so hopefully he will be able to catch on with another organization and get an opportunity to play at the next level.
There was a big concentration toward Indiana (Paul Scruggs, Kris Wilkes, Malik Williams, Jaren Jackson Jr., Zach Gunn and others) and we're still trying to catch up with all the calls to the greater NYC area (Mohamed Bamba, Trevon Duval, Nick Richards, Hamidou Diallo, Jordan Tucker, for sure, maybe Sid Wilson and Isaiah Washington as well.
As far as the in-state group we continue to hear IU is in good shape with that big five but especially so with Scruggs and Williams. Could probably add Zach Gunn to that group but he's maybe not yet as proven as an elite prospect as the other four. Wilkes is a bit more of an early unknown and hasn't made his way down to IU as often as the others. Jackson just picked up an offer from Georgetown, his father's alma mater. Talking to colleagues in D.C., they believe that's understandably a big deal to Jackson Sr. but are unsure how much that means to Jr.
Many new programs have reached out to these Indy area '17 players. For example over the first day or so Malik Williams heard from Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue, Northwestern, Illinois, California,Vanderbilt, Florida, Xavier, Kentucky and a few other mid-major programs.
Some notables this week on those NYC area players:
Duval said to media here at the NBPA Top 100 that Indiana and Oregon were the two schools recruiting him the hardest. He's a five-star level point guard, so that could end up being a big deal.
Bamba is another five-star kid who has been terrific here to the point he could push into the top 10 even though the 2017 class is looking like a better than average group.
We've talked quite a bit about Bamba in our daily video recaps from UVa and who knows where he'll end up but in talking with him this week he said this about his conversation with Tom Crean:
"I sort of connected to him more than just 'coach-athlete.' We talked about his son, talked about going to baseball games and that was a really nice gesture."
No discussion yet of any trip to Indiana but Bamba added "I would love to" in regards to visiting Bloomington down the road.
-------
Bruce Brown played well last night. He's been saying here that Indiana is among three programs or so that are pursuing him the hardest. This camp has shown he has a bit further to go as a point guard than the EYBL has shown but he could really become an intriguing guy at that position because of his defensive and driving ability. Seems to have a decent command of a team, just has to sharpen his handle over the next year or two.
Curtis Jones has had some big games here but continues to look more like a two guard. That's not necessarily a bad thing because he can certainly shoot it and is in the 6'3 to 6'4 range and this may be the worst class for shooting guards I can ever recall. He's terribly streaky, but if you can beef him up you can have a knock down guy on the wing that can score off the drive as well and help you at point on a part-time basis.
Rawle Alkins and De'Ron Davis aren't here as originally planned but understandable as they're coming off the USA team trip to Italy that we wrote about last Friday.
In speaking to Duwan Huell yesterday it didn't sound like anything has materialized with Indiana. Sounds like in-state programs Florida State, Florida and Miami are in good shape.
Kameron McGusty spoke at great length about Indiana here to the point he sounds awfully serious about the possibility of landing in Bloomington. We'll have more in an upcoming feature. McGusty had a big opening day here but apparently got nicked up and sat out of the games yesterday. The 6-foot-5 wing from Texas is No. 71 in the Rivals150 but a good candidate to shoot up to the top 50 later this summer.
You probably saw the update on Quentin Goodin. Kentucky source seemed to think he may end up at Florida but thought Indiana had a good shot to make his final five cutoff coming next week. He's looked good here as he's clearly moving better versus last year when he looked so sluggish and lost at times with the St. Louis Eagles. Goodin recently moved to play with Matt Moyer, Kyle Guy and others on the top Indiana Elite 17u program.
--------
As the above photo shows, Matur Maker did a rare interview with us last night. The guy in the background is 5-star center Edrice Adebayo who kept sabotaging the interview but Matur did hint he would like to go to the same college older brother Thon chooses. He spoke to some of the reasons he believes Thon made the right choice to wait and graduate next year with his 2016 class. When asked about colleges he immediately mentioned Indiana and then cut himself off. He appeared to not be ready to talk on the subject. I know he's mentioned Arizona State some with others.
So if Thon Maker is indeed not going to head to college until the 2016-17 season, what does that mean for Indiana? Well there's currently no shortage of scholarships for that class with Ferrell, Zeisloft and Beilfeldt exhausting their eligibility and Troy Williams and James Blackmon possibly declaring early for the NBA. At the same time a normal graduation could make Thon attractive to some other schools and gives time for those other programs to challenge Indiana, Arizona State and Kentucky.
Speaking of Troy Williams, an observer of his workouts in Houston with the John Lucas-run outfit was convinced that Troy has made tremendous progress with his jump shot.
----------
An interesting week for IU football and Matt Weaver is here with our ITLR update:
What started off as a good week for Indiana football with a commitment ended in a very disappointing fashion with the news of Antonio Allen’s arrest for dealing drugs. From a football standpoint it is a pretty significant loss as Allen was the only returning starter for IU in the secondary, and he was also the leading returning tackler on the team. The Hoosiers were already looking at a season where the defensive backfield was going to have a number of young players playing quite a bit, but with Allen’s dismissal from the team it means that they will have to rely even more on players that have little to no experience at the college level. For Allen it is even sadder because a young man with a world of potential and the ability to possibly play in the NFL is now facing several years in prison. There have been no reports that any other players were involved and the hope is that will remain the case for head coach Kevin Wilson and his staff.
Here is the story on Allen’s arrest: https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1775578
Here is the story on Allen’s dismissal: https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1775832
-----
The good news of the week was the Hoosiers added a commitment from Alabama running back Tyus Flakes. The three-star prospect was in Bloomington last weekend for an unofficial visit and while he was driving home he called the staff and gave them the news that he was committing. Flakes suffered an ACL injury this spring and will not play this season as a senior at Auburn H.S. It appears the Indiana staff had their medical people examine Flakes when he was in town and they advised him to not play this fall which he will not do. Taking a player with a serious knee injury is a risk, but anymore torn ACL’s are not a big deal and if there was any reason for concern it is doubtful the staff would’ve accepted his commitment. Here (https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1774911&PT=4&PR=2) is the story we did on Flakes after he committed to IU.
-----
Another player who was on campus last weekend was Memphis defensive lineman Michael Perry. The three-star prospect had IU in his top three before the visit and he told Peegs.com that the trip to Bloomington did nothing to change how he felt about the Hoosiers. Adding a few quality defensive linemen will be important for IU in the 2016 class and Perry would certainly be a good get for the staff. You can read the story we did on him here (https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1775040&PT=4&PR=2).
Indiana also had Illinois lineman Desmond Bland on campus as an unofficial visitor this past weekend. Bland is a three-star offensive lineman from Flossmoor, Illinois that is ranked as the 40th best guard in the nation by Rivals.com. He told us that the staff really likes him as an offensive lineman, but they would be okay with him trying defensive line if that is what he wants to do. You can read the story we did on Bland here (https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1776108&PT=4&PR=2).
-----
Ohio running back Cole Gest was at Indiana’s Friday Night Lights Camp last Friday and he performed very well. The standout from St. Edward H.S. outside Cleveland is a smaller back at 5’8 and around 180-pounds, but he is very fast and athletic and could project as a slot receiver in college. He told Peegs.com that a couple of the offensive coaches are ready to offer him but they are just waiting for the okay from Coach Wilson. Here (https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1775511&PT=4&PR=2) is the story we did on Gest after his camp visit to IU.
-----
This fall IU will welcome running back Devonte Williams to the program. The talented back played at Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland and one of his former teammates – Patrick Johnson – is a top target for IU in the 2016 class. The three-star athlete told Peegs.com that he plans on making a trip to Bloomington next month to get a closer look at IU. You can read the story we did on Johnson here (https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1775796&PT=4&PR=2).
-----
Camp season is a little more than halfway over and we have been updating the names of expected visitors on our thread on the Premium Football Board. This weekend will be a big one as far as visitors go for the Hoosiers as several top targets will be on campus to check out the program. Here (http://indiana.forums.rivals.com/threads/june-visitors.39729/) is the link to our list of confirmed visitors to IU for camp season.
-----
The IUHoosiers.com site put out a good story on fifth year senior offensive lineman Ralston Evans. The Indianapolis native has been a solid performer for the Hoosiers despite playing with a bun knee that has given him quite a bit of trouble. You can read that story here (https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1776396).
-----
It was a tough week for former IU wide receiver Shane Wynn as he was cut by the Atlanta Falcons. The bright side is there is plenty of time until training camps start in the NFL so hopefully he will be able to catch on with another organization and get an opportunity to play at the next level.
