The Hoosiers seem to be intentional about finding players who are diamonds in the rough and who can be developed. Offensive Lineman Luke Haggard is a Junior College transfer from California who is looking to prove he has what it takes to succeed at a Power 5 school. Virginia Running Back Tim Baldwin and Texas Defensive Back Bryson Bonds are both players who may be better than their player ratings indicate. And Indiana was the only Power 5 school to offer scholarships to Brady Feeney, Cameron Knight, Dexter Williams and Ty Wise.
Detractors will view these player development projects as a negative and say it reflects Indiana’s ability to land top talent. And to be fair there is indeed some risk involved with this approach. However programs like Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan State have made hay out of developing 3-star players into excellent Big Ten football players. These schools have been able to do more with less (in terms of 4 and 5-star prospects) and this is a great model to follow for a school like Indiana that is fighting to move up the proverbial food chain.
Flipped
The Indiana staff was able to flip several players who had verbally committed to other schools. Tim Baldwin had committed to Michigan, AJ Barner to Ohio, Brady Feeney to Rice and Damarjhe Lewis to Auburn. I’m never going to be a big fan of players verbally committing and then changing their minds but this is reality in 2019 (soon to be 2020).
HFB's Complete Signing Day Coverage:
Part I - https://bit.ly/2Se0tBm
Part II - https://bit.ly/35KNbjY
Part III - https://bit.ly/2PF7A4e
Detractors will view these player development projects as a negative and say it reflects Indiana’s ability to land top talent. And to be fair there is indeed some risk involved with this approach. However programs like Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan State have made hay out of developing 3-star players into excellent Big Ten football players. These schools have been able to do more with less (in terms of 4 and 5-star prospects) and this is a great model to follow for a school like Indiana that is fighting to move up the proverbial food chain.
Flipped
The Indiana staff was able to flip several players who had verbally committed to other schools. Tim Baldwin had committed to Michigan, AJ Barner to Ohio, Brady Feeney to Rice and Damarjhe Lewis to Auburn. I’m never going to be a big fan of players verbally committing and then changing their minds but this is reality in 2019 (soon to be 2020).
HFB's Complete Signing Day Coverage:
Part I - https://bit.ly/2Se0tBm
Part II - https://bit.ly/35KNbjY
Part III - https://bit.ly/2PF7A4e