Welcome to The Hoosier Insider, our weekly insider roundup of the latest IU basketball and football news, notes & recruiting. Let's get to it:
Jordan Wells / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
Here are the underclassman prospects I liked most that I’ve seen this winter thus far. I’m basing this list not on current level of play - considering the age differences in some - but longterm potential.
Keep in mind this is also only one viewing of each.
1) Romeo Langford (junior) - Easy call. Romeo did a couple of things in the game against North Central that made your jaw drop, and it was all with at least one guy - usually two - draped on him. As head coach Jim Shannon said after the game, Langford’s surrounding cast isn’t able to help him much at times, and when there’s no good reason to give Langford any space it can make it tough at times for him to get going. He’s going to be so stinking good at the college level. Romeo is still wide open in his recruitment (link), and while it will be a highly contested one - so I’m not betting the house on the Hoosiers - we will continue covering him as a local kid until he says IU is out of it. The 6-4, 185-pound five-star guard from New Albany (Ind.) High is ranked as the No. 3 player nationally in 2018.
2) Keion Brooks (sophomore) - I never got to see Brooks as a freshman so I’m not sure what he looked like then, but he is pretty dang good now. He’s clearly maybe not on the same tier as Langford, but also obviously a tier above all the other underclassmen in the state. He’s already 6-8, around 180 pounds, and he nailed multiple three’s from different spots on the court. Michigan State is all over him at this stage (link), and Purdue is working hard too. It’s obviously still very early in his recruitment, but I think it’s noteworthy he hasn’t made his way down to IU yet when basically all the other top prospects have been through at least once recently. Things can always change but at this point the Hoosiers just don’t seem that involved. The Fort Wayne North Side four-star forward is ranked as the No. 29 player nationally in 2019.
3) Musa Jallow (junior) - I am a big Musa fan. Maybe moreso than others. Not only did he impress me on the court with his athleticism, build and skillset, but he seems like a terrific kid off of it. Bright too. I think he’d be a great all-around get for IU if they can reel him in. When we talked to him about recruiting though (link), he seems pretty wide open about it at this stage. You’ll have to think the Hoosiers will be right in the thick of it, but nothing suggests they are any kind of lock at this stage. The 6-5, 200-pound four-star junior forward from Bloomington North is ranked as the No. 72 player nationally.
4) Damezi Anderson (junior) - Bit of a question mark here with this kid where he’s clearly very talented but recruiting news seems to be nearly non-existent, other than him taking a couple unofficial trips (link). He’s clearly already a solid, confident shooter, and an excellent rebounder for his position, and he continues to work on other aspects of his game. I think he’d be a very good get for IU if that worked out. The 6-5, 180-pound four-star forward is ranked as the No. 93 player nationally.
5) Kevin Easley - It is players in these range where Easley is that give me the toughest time from an evaluation standpoint. There’s a certain level of players that just shouldn’t sign at IU, on the flip side guys that are obviously great gets - and then in the middle, a gray area. Easley falls right into the center of that question area, where he did some things I liked, but I didn’t love him enough to say “yeah, easy take.” I find myself more talking myself into seeing him as a take at IU than a guy that IU should be pushing for in its 2018 class. You can catch up on his recruitment and take a look for yourself here (link). The 6-6, 185-pound three-star junior from Indianapolis Lawrence North is ranked as the No. 115 player nationally in 2018.
6) Zach Gunn - First of all, Zach seemed like an absolutely terrific kid when we talked to him. He’s the kind of kid you follow at the next level no matter where they end up because you just like to see him do well. Having said that, even after watching him in a very productive outing (link), I’m just not sure it makes sense for IU to take him this cycle. If IU was in a cycle where they had already loaded up with top tier talent, and they had an open spot or two, yeah I would take him (see a couple of the guys Kentucky takes like Dominique Hawkins). But with what IU’s forecast right now, no, I don’t think there is room to add Gunn too. But I guess we’ll see. The 6-7, 210-pound Hamilton Southeastern three-star senior is rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals.
Additional notes:
Stu Jackson / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
Sophomore forward OG Anunoby will return Saturday against Butler. Anunoby had been cleared to play against Houston Baptist last week and went through pregame warmups, but ended up sitting out. There's no question he will play against Butler, but whether he starts still remains up in the air. Still, his return should provide a boost for an Indiana team facing its strongest opponent since North Carolina.
I've been asked a few times about the status of IU senior forward Collin Hartman, and right now there's nothing new to report. The program is being fairly tight-lipped about it because of medical privacy, which is understandable. Indiana head coach Tom Crean said on his weekly radio show that Hartman is still in the process of rehabbing. "He's as valuable to us as anybody on the court because of the mentality he helps bring to them while they're on the court, whether it's practice or games." No official word beyond that.
Our National Basketball Analyst Eric Bossi caught up with five-star shooting guard Hamidou Diallo earlier this week. The 6-foot-5, 180-pound Diallo, rated as the No. 10 senior in the country according to Rivals, has had IU among his top six schools for quite some time now and praised Crean's player development. However, Diallo is also weighing going straight to the NBA following prep school this year, and doesn't have a timetable for his decision yet.
Big Ten play is less than two weeks away, but in the meantime, Saturday's Crossroads Classic game should be fun.
----------------------------------
Sam Beishuizen / Football Beat & Recruiting News
This past week marked the opening week of the dead period where coaches can't talk to recruits while they're getting ready for bowl prep or other offseason work in the case of teams that don't reach six wins. But that didn't stop IU football from having a pretty busy week on the trail.
News from Thursday saw IU commits Tyler Knight (three-star offensive lineman) andThomas Allen (two-star linebacker) sign their National Letters of Intent. Australian punter Haydon Whitehead was also expected to have signed, and three-star defensive lineman Juan Harris Tweeted out that he was going to sign either Friday or some time this upcoming week. That'll make four mid-year enrollees. I believe there's room for about five, but there could be a couple of more.
Mike McGinnis, the JUCO linebacker IU has been chasing, picked up an offer this week after visiting Bloomington last weekend. He'll be a guy who could also enroll at semester with two years to play two seasons. He has had a few off-the-field family issues involving his father's health, so he hasn't been available much for interviews. What it sounds like is that IU is in a pretty good spot to land the JUCO All-American.
Speaking of good news, IU is out in front of the race to land three-star linebacker De'Morreal Burnam after his official visit last weekend. The former Tennessee commit raved about his time in Bloomington, and there aren't any other programs that immediately jump out as a favorite to try and snatch him from IU's grasp. The 6-foot-3, 218-pound linebacker would be a great add. The staff is really excited about the possibility of landing him.
The other name IU fans are familiar with by now is Beau Corrales. The three-star receiver visited IU last weekend for an official and seemed to really get along well with the current players. That's a huge part of what he's looking for in whatever school he decides to commit to. Corrales was a late bloomer, but his 6-foot-4, 205-pound frame is legit. He jumped at his Iowa offer early, committing shortly after receiving it, but now it seems that Indiana is in the thick of this race. He'll visit North Carolina and Arizona after the dead period and make his choice in late January. Of those two schools, I'd be most worried about Arizona.
Three-star cornerback Quran Hafiz is set to make his decision early next week. He plans to enroll early and is looking at Indiana, Iowa State, Illinois and Nebraska. The Cornhuskers were leading for a long time, but they've seemingly cooled. IU is in a good spot here, but Iowa State and Illinois are all strong contenders. It's hard to get a read on Hafiz. But that should be a potentially critical piece.
As a few of you have mentioned, IU still doesn't have a quarterback, receiver or running back committed in this class yet. I'm not too worried about the quarterback situation because I thought IU would be okay without landing one. The receiver situation seems to be working itself out with a guy like Corrales, but if you miss on him, ruh oh. Running back got a lot messier when former IU target Trace Christian committed to Eastern Carolina. That leaves IU looking elsewhere for a running back in this upcoming class. The name I like the most is Devin Darrington, a three-star back out of Maryland. The other guy who's kind of a sleeper that I like is Darrian Felix, who sounded like he was really interested in Indiana not long ago. He's a three-star back out of Florida. IU cooled on him when they thought he was committed elsewhere, but he either never actually committed or jumped out right away. I don't know what happened there. North Carolina was apparently in on him hard. But anyway, he's an open book for now.
There's a potential option at 2017 quarterback in Dresser Winn, an under-the-radar passer out of Tennessee. We've got him listed as a two-star prospect, but he had video game numbers over the last two seasons. He was named Mr. Football as a junior and then led his high school to its first state championship as a senior. Shawn Watson went down to see him throw and apparently liked what he saw. Winn is a guy where if IU offered, I'd imagine he would jump at it. But IU is in a pretty good position where they don't have to throw out an offer now knowing that while they still work on flipping a guy like Tyler Lytle (Colorado commit) or Braxton Burmeister (Arizona commit).
Looking a little further down the line, Canadian linebacker Jesse Luketa picked up an IU offer and spoke with me about it a while ago. We posted a story on the site at the beginning of the week that you can read here. I also caught up with 2018 Jalen Norwood to talk about his offer. He honestly didn't seem to know much about Indiana and was more interested in talking about his Louisville offer, but still, it's something. He wants to learn more. Looking even FURTHER down the road, IU hosted freshman running back Michael Drennen last weekend. I caught up with him to talk about the visit. Realistically, he's going to be a kid that gets big time national attention. He'll be a tough one to land.
Next week is probably going to be a pretty slow week in terms of recruiting with coaches really focused in on the bowl game. The same goes for the week after that. Once January hits, things will heat up again. We'll keep posting daily updates over on our football board like we started doing at the end of last week.
Until then, it's all about getting to seven wins.
Jordan Wells / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
Here are the underclassman prospects I liked most that I’ve seen this winter thus far. I’m basing this list not on current level of play - considering the age differences in some - but longterm potential.
Keep in mind this is also only one viewing of each.
1) Romeo Langford (junior) - Easy call. Romeo did a couple of things in the game against North Central that made your jaw drop, and it was all with at least one guy - usually two - draped on him. As head coach Jim Shannon said after the game, Langford’s surrounding cast isn’t able to help him much at times, and when there’s no good reason to give Langford any space it can make it tough at times for him to get going. He’s going to be so stinking good at the college level. Romeo is still wide open in his recruitment (link), and while it will be a highly contested one - so I’m not betting the house on the Hoosiers - we will continue covering him as a local kid until he says IU is out of it. The 6-4, 185-pound five-star guard from New Albany (Ind.) High is ranked as the No. 3 player nationally in 2018.
2) Keion Brooks (sophomore) - I never got to see Brooks as a freshman so I’m not sure what he looked like then, but he is pretty dang good now. He’s clearly maybe not on the same tier as Langford, but also obviously a tier above all the other underclassmen in the state. He’s already 6-8, around 180 pounds, and he nailed multiple three’s from different spots on the court. Michigan State is all over him at this stage (link), and Purdue is working hard too. It’s obviously still very early in his recruitment, but I think it’s noteworthy he hasn’t made his way down to IU yet when basically all the other top prospects have been through at least once recently. Things can always change but at this point the Hoosiers just don’t seem that involved. The Fort Wayne North Side four-star forward is ranked as the No. 29 player nationally in 2019.
3) Musa Jallow (junior) - I am a big Musa fan. Maybe moreso than others. Not only did he impress me on the court with his athleticism, build and skillset, but he seems like a terrific kid off of it. Bright too. I think he’d be a great all-around get for IU if they can reel him in. When we talked to him about recruiting though (link), he seems pretty wide open about it at this stage. You’ll have to think the Hoosiers will be right in the thick of it, but nothing suggests they are any kind of lock at this stage. The 6-5, 200-pound four-star junior forward from Bloomington North is ranked as the No. 72 player nationally.
4) Damezi Anderson (junior) - Bit of a question mark here with this kid where he’s clearly very talented but recruiting news seems to be nearly non-existent, other than him taking a couple unofficial trips (link). He’s clearly already a solid, confident shooter, and an excellent rebounder for his position, and he continues to work on other aspects of his game. I think he’d be a very good get for IU if that worked out. The 6-5, 180-pound four-star forward is ranked as the No. 93 player nationally.
5) Kevin Easley - It is players in these range where Easley is that give me the toughest time from an evaluation standpoint. There’s a certain level of players that just shouldn’t sign at IU, on the flip side guys that are obviously great gets - and then in the middle, a gray area. Easley falls right into the center of that question area, where he did some things I liked, but I didn’t love him enough to say “yeah, easy take.” I find myself more talking myself into seeing him as a take at IU than a guy that IU should be pushing for in its 2018 class. You can catch up on his recruitment and take a look for yourself here (link). The 6-6, 185-pound three-star junior from Indianapolis Lawrence North is ranked as the No. 115 player nationally in 2018.
6) Zach Gunn - First of all, Zach seemed like an absolutely terrific kid when we talked to him. He’s the kind of kid you follow at the next level no matter where they end up because you just like to see him do well. Having said that, even after watching him in a very productive outing (link), I’m just not sure it makes sense for IU to take him this cycle. If IU was in a cycle where they had already loaded up with top tier talent, and they had an open spot or two, yeah I would take him (see a couple of the guys Kentucky takes like Dominique Hawkins). But with what IU’s forecast right now, no, I don’t think there is room to add Gunn too. But I guess we’ll see. The 6-7, 210-pound Hamilton Southeastern three-star senior is rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals.
Additional notes:
- Jordan Tucker - Has completed his official visit to Villanova. As has been the case, this is an Indiana-Villanova battle. A January decision seems most likely. Prior to then, we will reach out to Tucker and get an update on where everything stands. The 6-7, 200-pound four-star senior from Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler is ranked as the No. 42 player nationally in 2017.
Stu Jackson / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
Sophomore forward OG Anunoby will return Saturday against Butler. Anunoby had been cleared to play against Houston Baptist last week and went through pregame warmups, but ended up sitting out. There's no question he will play against Butler, but whether he starts still remains up in the air. Still, his return should provide a boost for an Indiana team facing its strongest opponent since North Carolina.
I've been asked a few times about the status of IU senior forward Collin Hartman, and right now there's nothing new to report. The program is being fairly tight-lipped about it because of medical privacy, which is understandable. Indiana head coach Tom Crean said on his weekly radio show that Hartman is still in the process of rehabbing. "He's as valuable to us as anybody on the court because of the mentality he helps bring to them while they're on the court, whether it's practice or games." No official word beyond that.
Our National Basketball Analyst Eric Bossi caught up with five-star shooting guard Hamidou Diallo earlier this week. The 6-foot-5, 180-pound Diallo, rated as the No. 10 senior in the country according to Rivals, has had IU among his top six schools for quite some time now and praised Crean's player development. However, Diallo is also weighing going straight to the NBA following prep school this year, and doesn't have a timetable for his decision yet.
Big Ten play is less than two weeks away, but in the meantime, Saturday's Crossroads Classic game should be fun.
----------------------------------
Sam Beishuizen / Football Beat & Recruiting News
This past week marked the opening week of the dead period where coaches can't talk to recruits while they're getting ready for bowl prep or other offseason work in the case of teams that don't reach six wins. But that didn't stop IU football from having a pretty busy week on the trail.
News from Thursday saw IU commits Tyler Knight (three-star offensive lineman) andThomas Allen (two-star linebacker) sign their National Letters of Intent. Australian punter Haydon Whitehead was also expected to have signed, and three-star defensive lineman Juan Harris Tweeted out that he was going to sign either Friday or some time this upcoming week. That'll make four mid-year enrollees. I believe there's room for about five, but there could be a couple of more.
Mike McGinnis, the JUCO linebacker IU has been chasing, picked up an offer this week after visiting Bloomington last weekend. He'll be a guy who could also enroll at semester with two years to play two seasons. He has had a few off-the-field family issues involving his father's health, so he hasn't been available much for interviews. What it sounds like is that IU is in a pretty good spot to land the JUCO All-American.
Speaking of good news, IU is out in front of the race to land three-star linebacker De'Morreal Burnam after his official visit last weekend. The former Tennessee commit raved about his time in Bloomington, and there aren't any other programs that immediately jump out as a favorite to try and snatch him from IU's grasp. The 6-foot-3, 218-pound linebacker would be a great add. The staff is really excited about the possibility of landing him.
The other name IU fans are familiar with by now is Beau Corrales. The three-star receiver visited IU last weekend for an official and seemed to really get along well with the current players. That's a huge part of what he's looking for in whatever school he decides to commit to. Corrales was a late bloomer, but his 6-foot-4, 205-pound frame is legit. He jumped at his Iowa offer early, committing shortly after receiving it, but now it seems that Indiana is in the thick of this race. He'll visit North Carolina and Arizona after the dead period and make his choice in late January. Of those two schools, I'd be most worried about Arizona.
Three-star cornerback Quran Hafiz is set to make his decision early next week. He plans to enroll early and is looking at Indiana, Iowa State, Illinois and Nebraska. The Cornhuskers were leading for a long time, but they've seemingly cooled. IU is in a good spot here, but Iowa State and Illinois are all strong contenders. It's hard to get a read on Hafiz. But that should be a potentially critical piece.
As a few of you have mentioned, IU still doesn't have a quarterback, receiver or running back committed in this class yet. I'm not too worried about the quarterback situation because I thought IU would be okay without landing one. The receiver situation seems to be working itself out with a guy like Corrales, but if you miss on him, ruh oh. Running back got a lot messier when former IU target Trace Christian committed to Eastern Carolina. That leaves IU looking elsewhere for a running back in this upcoming class. The name I like the most is Devin Darrington, a three-star back out of Maryland. The other guy who's kind of a sleeper that I like is Darrian Felix, who sounded like he was really interested in Indiana not long ago. He's a three-star back out of Florida. IU cooled on him when they thought he was committed elsewhere, but he either never actually committed or jumped out right away. I don't know what happened there. North Carolina was apparently in on him hard. But anyway, he's an open book for now.
There's a potential option at 2017 quarterback in Dresser Winn, an under-the-radar passer out of Tennessee. We've got him listed as a two-star prospect, but he had video game numbers over the last two seasons. He was named Mr. Football as a junior and then led his high school to its first state championship as a senior. Shawn Watson went down to see him throw and apparently liked what he saw. Winn is a guy where if IU offered, I'd imagine he would jump at it. But IU is in a pretty good position where they don't have to throw out an offer now knowing that while they still work on flipping a guy like Tyler Lytle (Colorado commit) or Braxton Burmeister (Arizona commit).
Looking a little further down the line, Canadian linebacker Jesse Luketa picked up an IU offer and spoke with me about it a while ago. We posted a story on the site at the beginning of the week that you can read here. I also caught up with 2018 Jalen Norwood to talk about his offer. He honestly didn't seem to know much about Indiana and was more interested in talking about his Louisville offer, but still, it's something. He wants to learn more. Looking even FURTHER down the road, IU hosted freshman running back Michael Drennen last weekend. I caught up with him to talk about the visit. Realistically, he's going to be a kid that gets big time national attention. He'll be a tough one to land.
Next week is probably going to be a pretty slow week in terms of recruiting with coaches really focused in on the bowl game. The same goes for the week after that. Once January hits, things will heat up again. We'll keep posting daily updates over on our football board like we started doing at the end of last week.
Until then, it's all about getting to seven wins.
