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Inside the Locker Room

peegs

Hall of Famer
May 29, 2001
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Columbus, Indiana
You think you have somewhat of a handle on things and then you get what's happened in the last week — topped off by the news last night from T.J. Leaf.

Speaking of Leaf, Indiana reached out to him last night soon after news broke out that he had decommitted from Arizona. It's too early to say if the Hoosiers can become a major player for the top-12 ranked forward from San Diego, but the Hoosiers were heavily involved until last summer and have hosted Leaf in Bloomington. And most of you probably remember his family ties to Indianapolis and Evansville.

Interesting side note on Leaf is Arizona coach Sean Miller coached the U19 World Championship Team this year and ended up cutting Leaf in mid-June (see: Tucson news story)

First off it has always surprised me that there was a loophole there that allows college coaches to coach unsigned high school players. Second off, makes you wonder whether a future coach in Miller's position will be afraid to cut a player committed to them. But to be clear, that whole episode may have nothing to do with the decommitment.

Duke, UCLA and Florida were considered pretty strong with Leaf in the months before he committed to Arizona last year. Since then Florida lost Billy Donovan. So watch out for Duke and UCLA here. The Bruins are near home and have two commits from his AAU team. And biggies like Kentucky and Kansas are already reaching out.

Of course that's just one story in what has been a busy week that has included a few surprises:

- Indiana made the cut down to 10 by Rawle Alkins this weekend. That's not a surprise but since we've labeled Alkins more of a wild card than some of the other targets, that might be welcome news. He came out with these 10: IU, UK, St. John's, Louisville, Kansas, UNC, NC State, Maryland, Texas and UNLV. Last night, Alkins added Arizona after the Wildcats offered a scholarship.

- A surprise did come when Indiana made the final six for Memphis area point guard Jaylen Fisher. He didn't mention the Hoosiers in early July or much prior to that, so that's why it was a surprise. Other finalists include Memphis, Arkansas, UNLV, LSU and Baylor. The scuttlebutt is he's going to be tough to get away from hometown Memphis and LSU might sit second best, but once IU gets him on campus, that could change.

Fisher is a powerful 6-foot-2 point guard. He can tend to dominate the ball too much but he showed real strides with that in July. Has always made things happen off the drive and plays more in fifth gear than most top 100 prospects. Might classify him as an average shooter. Had about a 2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio in UAA.

- The biggest surprise of the week was that Indiana is heavily involved now with Mario Kegler and his summer AAU (MBA Hoops) teammate Tyson Carter. Both are from the state of Mississippi. Kegler has always been ranked pretty high and the 6-foot-7 forward sits No. 29 right now. Arizona State is the rumored leader but that's a long way from home and an unproven situation. UConn, Mississippi State and Maryland strong with him and expected to get visits. Kegler is not quite as quick as some but he can do everything pretty well. Fun guy to watch.

Carter isn't ranked but will be after a big July that brought him a ton of offers and new interest. Arizona State is strong him too as well as Ohio State and Miami. Indiana is going to really push for good shooters in this class and Carter fits that role with 6-foot-4 height and ability to help at point some as well.

As we reported, Kegler and Carter are expected to visit Indiana sometime this fall but don't consider themselves a package deal. The Hoosiers have now offered both players.

- Curtis Jones teased on twitter earlier this than he would be coming out with a final five but have yet to see him come out with such a short list. Five-star power forward Jarrett Allen should have a cut down coming out any day as well and Indiana scouted the Texas prospect many times in July.

- Speaking of big men from Texas, Indiana made the cut into the final 10 for Schnider Herard, a 6-foot-10 center and Haiti native we've featured before. Purdue made the cut as well. Since he's not from Texas originally, he's probably more open to Midwest programs.

- Hoosiers are in final 10 for four-star small forward De'Riante Jenkins, a South Carolina native that will move to Hargrave Military in Virginia for his final prep season. Hoosiers may be in top two there with home state Clemson. Tigers did pick up another small forward commitment this week but South Carolina source says Clemson still considers Jenkins their top priority and the move to Hargrave will be helpful to Tiger chances since players on the roster come from that powerful prep program that Maurice Creek once played at.

- We discussed the De'Ron Davis final three last week but worth noting that Arizona may be in now for the long haul with him with the TJ Leaf decommit. They may have been in anyway as we hear they really like De'Ron. Indiana has been more consistent with Davis and that could payoff in the end. Texas is the other school in his final three but haven't heard anything yet to believe they sit as strong as the other two.

- Penn State picked up their highest ranked commit in at least eight years with former IU target Tony Carr committed this week. That could help the Nittany Lions with Lamar Stevens but remember Stevens told our Jeff Rabjohns that Indiana, Marquette and Pittsburgh were his only definite officials. A player gets five officials, so he can add two more. Last week, Stevens cut his list to a final eight of Temple, Maryland, Villanova, SMU, Pittsburg, Penn State and Indiana.

- Indiana offered Lima, Ohio point guard Xavier Simpson earlier this week. He's had a big summer and turned into a hot Big Ten target. Nearly committed to Xavier in the spring but now appears to be wide open, especially since Xavier picked up a commit recently from Quentin Goodin. Illinois and Purdue are among those mentioned with him the most with Michigan State also looming. The Spartans may be hesitant to offer because along with Michigan, they might be the co-favorites for a higher-ranked point guard in Detroit native Cassius Winston.

- Another recent 2016 Indiana offer went to Georgia power forward Robert Baker. He's a skinny 6'8/6'9 guy that only sits No. 149 in the current rankings but college coaches see a lot of upside with him as Indiana, Florida and others are jumping in with him now. Before that the talk had mostly been local Georgia, Stanford and Ivy League programs. Excellent student.

- We mentioned finding shooters is a high priority in this class and one of the best to come out of Indiana recently is Grant Gelon from Crown Point. While he doesn't possess an IU offer, Gelon is set for an unofficial to Bloomington next Wednesday. He had a nice July for Indiana Elite. Not a great athlete but had a big July and non-athletic shooters can thrive at this level.

- Late August brings official visits for Curtis Jones and five-star teammate Miles Bridges. They are the first official visits for IU from the Class of 2016 and still think there is a decent chance Jones could be the first to pop for Indiana. Don't sleep on Bridges here too, getting him in this early could change what has been more of a MSU/UK outlook for the Flint, Michigan native.

- Florida has been mentioned some with Jones but now appears be focusing on another IU target, shooting guard Eli Wright from Owensboro, KY. He's on the Gainesville campus today.

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Finally on a non-recruiting note-- Jeff passed along a few minutes ago that Devin Davis tells Peegs.com all of his criminal charges have been dropped.

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Here is Matt Weaver's weekly IU football update below:

Fall camp started this week for the Indiana football program as the Hoosiers hit the practice field for the first time yesterday afternoon. Peegs.com was there and we have video of Coach Kevin Wilson meeting with the media before the Hoosiers first practice of the 2015 season. You can watch that video here.

You can also check out this photo gallery from the IUHoosiers.com site.

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Peegs.com has also started out position previews for the 2015 season and you can check out the ones we have done so far on quarterback and defensive line.

You can also check out this podcast from us where we talk about the 2015 season for the Hoosiers.

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It has also been a big week for the program in recruiting as they landed their 10th commit in the 2016 class when Chris Henderson gave the staff his verbal pledge. The 6-foot-4, 232-pound standout is from Lovejoy H.S. in Hampton and he gives the Hoosiers another athletic, rangy defensive lineman that fits well in the 3-4 scheme that IU runs. Here is the short commit story we put up on Henderson after he made his decision. You can also check out his highlights on Hudl here.

Peegs.com exchanged messages with Atlanta defensive back Antonio Oliver and he told us that Wisconsin is no longer his top school as they have been replaced by IU. Finding cornerbacks is a priority for IU in the 2016 class and Oliver would be a nice get if they are able to add him as a commitment.

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The Hoosiers did get some disappointing news this week when junior college defensive back Quinn Tiggs decided to turn down the opportunity to play for IU starting this fall. Even though he had only been at Itawamba C.C. for one season he was eligible to transfer for the upcoming season because he was a full qualifier out of high school. The Tupelo, Mississippi native told Peegs.com yesterday that he has decided to stay at his juco for the 2015 season and will be a member of the 2016 recruiting class.

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Indiana QB Nate Sudfeld has been nominated for two more prestigious awards. He is on the watch list for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award® and he is also a candidate for the 2015 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. You can read more about Sudfeld and these awards here.

Sudfeld also delivered a speech during last week’s Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon in Chicago and he did a great job. He talked about his time volunteering in the East African country of Uganda and how it has impacted him as a person. You can watch that speech and read the transcript of what he said here.
 
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