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Inside the Locker Room

peegs

Hall of Famer
May 29, 2001
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Columbus, Indiana
Big win for De'Ron Davis and Overland this week as his No. ranked Trailblazer team knocked off previously unbeaten and No. 2 ranked team in the state decidedly, 63-41.

Davis had only 10 points but don't tell that to Eaglecrest coach John Olander.

“The thing with De’Ron is he’s a really good basketball player and he doesn’t need to score for his team to be successful,” Olander said . “You’re not going to get very many rebounds when he’s in there, but they're a really good basketball team and when you have De’Ron sitting underneath the basket, every single shot is contested. With him in there, you have to play a perfect game."

More on the game from the official CHSAA site.

While I don't anticipate that Davis will be as efficient in converting in the post as Thomas Bryant, he has apparently grown to around that size and should be more of a shot blocker or intimidating force defensively. And he may be a more consistent rebounder.

To get a better feel how much progress Davis has made this season, Peegs.com will head out to Denver at the end up the month to catch his early state playoff action.

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Had the chance to catch a couple exciting high school games yesterday in a doubleheader at the redone Indiana Farmers Coliseum at the State Fairgrounds in Indy. IUPUI's new home was a great host as Lawrence North knocked off Carmel, 45-41, and in the finale, Lawrence Central shocked North Central, 69-68.

Shocked is the word there because North Central led by 11 points with just over two minutes to play. But some late threes by Mekhi Biffle (21 pts) and Kyle Guy (23 pts) combined with seven straight missed free throws by North Central turned things around quickly.

Junior five-star Kris Wilkes (22 pts) did play well and I think along with Romeo Langford of New Albany is one of the two best prospects in the state regardless of class.

Langford has been on a tear of late, twice scoring 44 points in a game. He's become a real monster on offense. Last night he hit 10-for-14 from beyond the arc. He has tremendous spring on this jumper and can just lift up and shoot over defenders. Game story

People ask all the time about the in-state player leanings and there's not a lot to report on that but will go into some thoughts:

With 2017 you really have four guys above the rest in Wilkes, 6'4 Paul Scruggs (Southport), 6'11 Malik Wiliiams (Ft Wayne Snider) and 6'10 Jaren Jackson (Park Tudor). Then you have a group of borderline high majors in 6'9 Jack Nunge (Castle), 6'6 Zach Gunn (Hamilton SE), 5'10 Justin Roberts and maybe 6'6 Jalen Adaway (Logansport). Not including the La Lumiere prep guys and Butler commit Cooper Neese in that grouping.

That group of four surefire high majors is taking their time. Vibe here is they'll be influenced by the product that they see Indiana put on the court during what is now their junior season. Because it's been pretty good of late, suspect Indiana has a great shot now to land a couple of those guys. Wilkes is the hardest read there, as he'll have all the elites as well as academic powerhouses after him since he's such a bright (and talented) kid.

Scruggs and Williams the best bets still but Jackson is not the Georgetown lock it appears that many thought last summer. Speaking of Scruggs, he has worked in a lot of visits of late including trips to Louisville, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan State. The Cards offered him during his UL unofficial for the UNC game on Monday night. Kentucky lurking there too and UK assistant Tony Barbee in an Indy guy who saw first hand last month how Scruggs has improved his jumper, the one real weakness in his game.

Would guess that Williams would choose between Indiana, Purdue and Michigan State but Iowa and maybe Vanderbilt are in the hunt strongly as well. Matt Painter scouted him yesterday and Fran McCaffery has made at least one trip to catch him live this winter. Indiana as well of course has scouted him often and hosted Williams for a recent home game.

The good news about that 2017 group is they don't overlap much. Scruggs is a 2/1, Wilkes a 3/2, Williams and Jackson are maybe 4/3 types. In today's game those 4/3 types almost always play the four or five spots.

In the 2018 class the IU staff deserves a lot of credit for figuring out Robert Phinisee of McCutcheon is a big time prospect before other in-state programs did. Whether that overcomes geographical edges, we shall see.

Speaking of 2018, Kevin Easley Jr. of Lawrence North did not do much last night, scoring in single figures. He was played more as a four but he may be more of a three for the college level. Morehead State signee Djimon Henson kind of takes that wing role for his team. Easley has Indiana, Purdue, Xavier and Butler offers but would have to put him behind Langford and Phinisee right now in that in-state class.

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The top point guard prospect on our 2017 hot board may be Jose Alvarado of Christ the King in Queens, NY. Had the chance to watch some of him via the SNY TV channel and he certainly fits the hard nosed, fifth-gear, confident NYC point guard stereotype.

Alvarado is generously listed at 6-foot-0 but has beefed up since the offseason and getting more done in traffic. Has tremendous vision that helps him find teammates and combined with a flair for theatrics leads to some difficult crowd pleasing pass attempts. His jumper doesn't get a lot of lift and has a lot of right hand push with it but it works very well for him. That form does make him lethal with short pull ups and floaters. Very much a pure point as he really controls a game.

St. John's is strong with him but Miami-FL and Indiana offered last summer and may be right there. IU has been out to see him this season as well.

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Some older scouting report video of 2016 center prospect Kalif Young. The big Canadian was scouted recently by Indiana. Old video and Young has prospered after being Thon Maker's backup last season.

Lots of schools needed inside help making a push for Young. Providence sent their entire staff to a game yesterday. Syracuse was there as well.

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Continue to hear both publicly and privately that Indiana has backed off how physically demanding practices are as the season has gone along, at least as compared to a few seasons ago. Will it lead to fresh legs in March?


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Wednesday was a huge day for Indiana Football as the Hoosiers wrapped up the 2016 recruiting class by adding 21 players on Signing Day. It is a class that should go a long way towards replenishing some positions on the offensive side as players graduate the next few years, and it also added a good deal of talent in the defensive backfield. There are only two two defensive linemen in the class and no linebackers so those two positions will be priorities for 2017. Linebacker is a group where IU loses no one from the past season, and with the switch to a 4-2-5 defense under new coordinator Tom Allen it is not a huge deal that they didn't land any. Two defensive linemen is probably one or two less than the staff would've liked, but they still appear to have one more opening in the class to work with so it is still possible that they could pick someone up late.

Here are a few stories from Peegs.com from Signing Day and in the days since:

Bonner excited to be a Hoosier

IU getting a pass rush specialist in Stallings

Hoosiers keep Kiante Enis at home

Hoosiers make a big impression on Enis and his coach

Georgia DB signs with IU

Hoosiers land New York WR

Wilson's Words: Signing Day

Indiana signees: Six early impact candidates

You can also check out this podcast of us talking about Signing Day for the Hoosiers.

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The Indiana staff has wasted no time getting new offers out in the 2017 class. There have been a number of prospects in that class that have picked up offers from IU in the last few days, including in-state teammates Pompey Coleman and LeShaun Minor from Indianapolis Ben Davis H.S. Coleman is an offensive tackle and Minor is a defensive tackle and both will be highly recruited players in the 2017 class. Peegs.com spoke to both last night and they are very high on the Indiana program.

Other players who were recently offered are:

Mississippi QB Myles Brennan
Florida WR Mike Harley
Ohio DL James Hudson
Illinois DL Jacub Panasiuk
Indiana TE Kurt Rafdal
Michigan CB Ambry Thomas
Pennsylvania WR/DB Mark Webb
 
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