Increasing talk among insiders that NBA scouts that Yogi Ferrell might leave early after this season for professional for the professional hoop opportunity. Should soon have his degree and along with Frank Kaminsky and D'Angelo Russell is probably one of the top three players in the Big Ten over the first half of league play.
Draft Express has moved Yogi up to No. 35 on its draft board. An interesting side note is his hometown Pacers could very well pick around there. ESPN hasn't been as high on him but haven't updated their mock drafts of late.
The good news for Indiana is Robert Johnson has had a solid freshman season and has improved his ball handling and decision making it seems to making him a viable candidate to take on point duties full-time. James Blackmon Jr. does not look like he has the handling skill for the job yet so it's not surprising that Indiana is having its name mentioned with other point guards still available in that 2015 class --- in case Yogi does not return.
Those names include:
Traci Carter - 6'0, 165 (Life Center Academy, NJ) - offers from Florida State, Memphis, Pitt, Providence, St. Johns. Hearing weekly from Indiana assistant Chuck Martin. We featured him here recently.
Juwan Anderson - 6'0, 160 (Suffield Academy, CT) - originally from Oakland, CA - Anderson is a bit off the national recruiting radar but has long been a target of mid-major West coach schools and seems to be playing himself into high major interest now that he's getting seen at Suffield. Tom Crean has scouted him and Tim Buckley has as well on multiple occasions. Has interest from Tennessee, Maryland, Creighton and St. Mary's among others.
K.J. Walton - 6'3, 185 (Brownsburg, Ind.) - more familiar name since he's been getting IU interest since before his high school days. Walton is ranked No. 101 nationally and bigger programs are just making sure he's set academically. Indiana coach Tim Buckley stays in regular touch with Xavier, Butler, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech and Illinois State monitoring him closely as well right now.
Probably more names out there we don't know about. Evansville native JaQuan Lyle was on the radar this fall but that interest faded the last couple months and he committed yesterday to Ohio State (see front page story). Buckeyes appear to be losing both Shannon Scott and D'Angelo Russell, so they made him a real priority.
Note that there are no reported offers out for 2015 point guards.
On the big man front not a lot of news this week on Thomas Bryant other than he was named to the McDonald's All-American game this week. Pretty big honor and testament to how well his senior year at Huntington Prep is going. Has played very well when national scouts have been courtside.
Indiana is working hard to ensure there are other big man options if Bryant doesn't choose the Hoosiers. Junior college is one avenue to fill the need and a couple possibilities there might include:
Cullen Russo - 6'9, 225 (New Mexico J.C.) originally from the Minneapolis area, he conformed with a colleague at our Minnesota site this past week that he's hearing from IU along with Minnesota, Houston, Fresno State and others. Currently averaging 11.1 points on 55.7 percent shooting and grabbing 5.6 rebounds
Johnny Hamilton - 7'0 (Jacksonville College, Tex.) - more of a defensive and rebounding presence as his stats suggest -- 8.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.4 blocks and shooting 58 percent from the floor.
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I know people have asked about the video clips of the Juwan Morgan vs O.G. Anunoby game that Jeff and I watched this week. The long drive and Purdue game have us behind on that but plan is to have that up on Monday morning. We may actually have the entire game up to watch along with the highlights.
A few scouting type thoughts:
Juwan Morgan - he seems to usually shoot a very high percentage and Tuesday night was no different. What surprised me was how much and how well he handled the ball. He's also clearly thicker than he was over the summer.
Morgan shot is reasonably effective but he does have a lower release with it and Anunoby blocked him a couple times. Working on getting a higher release will likely be a point of emphasis for him at Indiana.
Had a tremendous dunk in traffic. Juwan told me afterward he had no idea he was going to dunk that ball until the very last second. Looking forward to putting that one into slow-mo this weekend.
Very mature kid on and off the court. Ranks No. 9 in his class. Versatile player that you could throw him outside or inside.
O.G. Anunoby - first thought was that he was thicker in the legs that I ever thought he was -- has a real solid base. Considering his older brother Chigbo is a an NFL defensive tackle (see story) that probably shouldn't be a surprise.
O.G. did not have the stat line of Morgan and may not be as good of a player today but honestly do think he has more long term potential. Maybe a better way to put it was if I was an NBA scout, he would be of more interest. He's a tremendous athlete with growing strength and a jumper that has range well behind the 3-point line. He can put the ball on the floor some as well.
He wasn't casual by any means but realizing that potential will require him to learn to play with a higher motor and just better overall intensity. That's where Morgan is a bit more mature. A bit like Peter Jok of Iowa but not as stiff in his movement and a tad taller.
Speaking of height, Juwan was about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch taller it appeared as this photo suggests:
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Here is our weekly football report:
This is the last weekend for official visitors before signing day next Wednesday and IU has four visitors making their way to Bloomington. Those four are Texas safety Jameel Cook, junior college cornerback Thadd Daniels, junior college wideout Camion Patrick, and Maryland running back Devonte Williams. Cook is committed to Maryland and has been for quite a while, but Peegs.com is hearing there is a good chance he flips this weekend to Indiana. Williams is committed to Marshall, but like Cook we are hearing that he could be a Hoosier by the end of his visit. Patrick has visited Louisville and Auburn and has an offer from the Cardinals but not one from the Tigers. He is leaning towards Louisville but IU would really like to land him and they are going to do what they can this weekend to show him IU is the best place for him. Patrick has three years of eligibility remaining. Daniels does not have an IU offer at this time. The Los Angeles native missed the 2014 season at Cerritos C.C. with a shoulder injury after playing the 2013 season. He got a medical redshirt for this past season and has three years f eligibility remaining. The IU staff wanted more length and size at DB and Daniels definitely provides that at 6'2 and around 195. You can check out our visitor preview here.
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IU had 15 players on campus last weekend with 14 of them current commits. We have done a number of stories on some of the visitors which you can check out below:
Leon Thornton
Austin Dorris
Joe Belden
Jacob Robinson
We will have more stories on the official visitors from last weekend over the next few days leading up to signing day.
----
With four spots left in the class it seems like a safe bet that IU will finish with a full class of 25. Besides the four visitors talked about above the other most realistic options to join the IU class are:
Georgia LB Terez Hall
Illinois DL Jamal Milan
Juco CB Marnez Ogletree
Oklahoma WR Dahu Green
Hall and Green are going to be tough because the competition for both is pretty fierce. Green just got offered by Oklahoma which is a big one for someone who played high school football just 30 or 40 miles away from Norman. Green is currently committed to Washington State but is visiting Oklahoma this weekend.
Hall has visited IU, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin and he is visiting Nebraska this weekend. The Cornhuskers could be the team to beat here.
Milan is down to IU, Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa State. This one is probably too close to call. Minnesota has been mentioned as the favorite, but Peegs.com has heard that this is a pretty wide open recruitment.
Ogletree is visiting Kansas this weekend so it looks like it could come down to IU and Kansas. Ogletree told Peegs.com that IU is his top school so it will be interesting to see if this visit to Kansas changes anything.
This post was edited on 1/30 4:17 PM by MattWeaver
Draft Express has moved Yogi up to No. 35 on its draft board. An interesting side note is his hometown Pacers could very well pick around there. ESPN hasn't been as high on him but haven't updated their mock drafts of late.
The good news for Indiana is Robert Johnson has had a solid freshman season and has improved his ball handling and decision making it seems to making him a viable candidate to take on point duties full-time. James Blackmon Jr. does not look like he has the handling skill for the job yet so it's not surprising that Indiana is having its name mentioned with other point guards still available in that 2015 class --- in case Yogi does not return.
Those names include:
Traci Carter - 6'0, 165 (Life Center Academy, NJ) - offers from Florida State, Memphis, Pitt, Providence, St. Johns. Hearing weekly from Indiana assistant Chuck Martin. We featured him here recently.
Juwan Anderson - 6'0, 160 (Suffield Academy, CT) - originally from Oakland, CA - Anderson is a bit off the national recruiting radar but has long been a target of mid-major West coach schools and seems to be playing himself into high major interest now that he's getting seen at Suffield. Tom Crean has scouted him and Tim Buckley has as well on multiple occasions. Has interest from Tennessee, Maryland, Creighton and St. Mary's among others.
K.J. Walton - 6'3, 185 (Brownsburg, Ind.) - more familiar name since he's been getting IU interest since before his high school days. Walton is ranked No. 101 nationally and bigger programs are just making sure he's set academically. Indiana coach Tim Buckley stays in regular touch with Xavier, Butler, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech and Illinois State monitoring him closely as well right now.
Probably more names out there we don't know about. Evansville native JaQuan Lyle was on the radar this fall but that interest faded the last couple months and he committed yesterday to Ohio State (see front page story). Buckeyes appear to be losing both Shannon Scott and D'Angelo Russell, so they made him a real priority.
Note that there are no reported offers out for 2015 point guards.
On the big man front not a lot of news this week on Thomas Bryant other than he was named to the McDonald's All-American game this week. Pretty big honor and testament to how well his senior year at Huntington Prep is going. Has played very well when national scouts have been courtside.
Indiana is working hard to ensure there are other big man options if Bryant doesn't choose the Hoosiers. Junior college is one avenue to fill the need and a couple possibilities there might include:
Cullen Russo - 6'9, 225 (New Mexico J.C.) originally from the Minneapolis area, he conformed with a colleague at our Minnesota site this past week that he's hearing from IU along with Minnesota, Houston, Fresno State and others. Currently averaging 11.1 points on 55.7 percent shooting and grabbing 5.6 rebounds
Johnny Hamilton - 7'0 (Jacksonville College, Tex.) - more of a defensive and rebounding presence as his stats suggest -- 8.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.4 blocks and shooting 58 percent from the floor.
----------
I know people have asked about the video clips of the Juwan Morgan vs O.G. Anunoby game that Jeff and I watched this week. The long drive and Purdue game have us behind on that but plan is to have that up on Monday morning. We may actually have the entire game up to watch along with the highlights.
A few scouting type thoughts:
Juwan Morgan - he seems to usually shoot a very high percentage and Tuesday night was no different. What surprised me was how much and how well he handled the ball. He's also clearly thicker than he was over the summer.
Morgan shot is reasonably effective but he does have a lower release with it and Anunoby blocked him a couple times. Working on getting a higher release will likely be a point of emphasis for him at Indiana.
Had a tremendous dunk in traffic. Juwan told me afterward he had no idea he was going to dunk that ball until the very last second. Looking forward to putting that one into slow-mo this weekend.
Very mature kid on and off the court. Ranks No. 9 in his class. Versatile player that you could throw him outside or inside.
O.G. Anunoby - first thought was that he was thicker in the legs that I ever thought he was -- has a real solid base. Considering his older brother Chigbo is a an NFL defensive tackle (see story) that probably shouldn't be a surprise.
O.G. did not have the stat line of Morgan and may not be as good of a player today but honestly do think he has more long term potential. Maybe a better way to put it was if I was an NBA scout, he would be of more interest. He's a tremendous athlete with growing strength and a jumper that has range well behind the 3-point line. He can put the ball on the floor some as well.
He wasn't casual by any means but realizing that potential will require him to learn to play with a higher motor and just better overall intensity. That's where Morgan is a bit more mature. A bit like Peter Jok of Iowa but not as stiff in his movement and a tad taller.
Speaking of height, Juwan was about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch taller it appeared as this photo suggests:
----------
Here is our weekly football report:
This is the last weekend for official visitors before signing day next Wednesday and IU has four visitors making their way to Bloomington. Those four are Texas safety Jameel Cook, junior college cornerback Thadd Daniels, junior college wideout Camion Patrick, and Maryland running back Devonte Williams. Cook is committed to Maryland and has been for quite a while, but Peegs.com is hearing there is a good chance he flips this weekend to Indiana. Williams is committed to Marshall, but like Cook we are hearing that he could be a Hoosier by the end of his visit. Patrick has visited Louisville and Auburn and has an offer from the Cardinals but not one from the Tigers. He is leaning towards Louisville but IU would really like to land him and they are going to do what they can this weekend to show him IU is the best place for him. Patrick has three years of eligibility remaining. Daniels does not have an IU offer at this time. The Los Angeles native missed the 2014 season at Cerritos C.C. with a shoulder injury after playing the 2013 season. He got a medical redshirt for this past season and has three years f eligibility remaining. The IU staff wanted more length and size at DB and Daniels definitely provides that at 6'2 and around 195. You can check out our visitor preview here.
----
IU had 15 players on campus last weekend with 14 of them current commits. We have done a number of stories on some of the visitors which you can check out below:
Leon Thornton
Austin Dorris
Joe Belden
Jacob Robinson
We will have more stories on the official visitors from last weekend over the next few days leading up to signing day.
----
With four spots left in the class it seems like a safe bet that IU will finish with a full class of 25. Besides the four visitors talked about above the other most realistic options to join the IU class are:
Georgia LB Terez Hall
Illinois DL Jamal Milan
Juco CB Marnez Ogletree
Oklahoma WR Dahu Green
Hall and Green are going to be tough because the competition for both is pretty fierce. Green just got offered by Oklahoma which is a big one for someone who played high school football just 30 or 40 miles away from Norman. Green is currently committed to Washington State but is visiting Oklahoma this weekend.
Hall has visited IU, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin and he is visiting Nebraska this weekend. The Cornhuskers could be the team to beat here.
Milan is down to IU, Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa State. This one is probably too close to call. Minnesota has been mentioned as the favorite, but Peegs.com has heard that this is a pretty wide open recruitment.
Ogletree is visiting Kansas this weekend so it looks like it could come down to IU and Kansas. Ogletree told Peegs.com that IU is his top school so it will be interesting to see if this visit to Kansas changes anything.
This post was edited on 1/30 4:17 PM by MattWeaver
