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
Stu Jackson / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
We've reached Day 9 (if you include the day Tom Crean was dismissed) of Indiana's coaching search, and it's difficult to get a read on where things stand.
Parker Executive Search, the search firm hired by IU athletics director Fred Glass to aid the process, prides itself on a sealed process for candidates by flying them into Atlanta where the company is headquartered.
Michigan State assistant coach Dane Fife, a former IU player, made news late this week when he appeared to be targeted by and then ended talks with Duquesne for its head coaching job. His IU ties make him an intriguing possible candidate, and he did publicly express interest in the Indiana job. However, he's not as qualified as other potential candidates listed on our hot board given his lack of head coaching experience at the Power Five level.
Jordan posted a note yesterday regarding some buzz around Xavier head coach Chris Mack, who led the Musketeers to an Elite Eight birth last night with a win over a very talented Arizona team. To be clear, it's not anything he's making a report about. But he'll likely get a bump in the next version of our hot board.
Back in April 2015, Mack signed a one-year extension through the 2020-2021 season with Xavier. As his contract currently stands, he will be able to coach the Musketeers' 2017 signees through their entire college careers. However, he can't promise the same at the moment with 2018 recruits he's targeting, so I would guess he'd ask for an extension to be able to do that. Based on that and Xavier's run in the NCAA tournament this spring, his situation will be one to watch.
That's all for now. Until then, the coaching search rolls on.
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Sam Beishuizen / Football Beat & Recruiting News
Indiana football got back onto the practice field Tuesday to kick off the second week of spring ball. As a friendly reminder, the Hoosiers will continue to practice all the way up to the spring game scheduled for April 13.
I noted this in the forums but believe it's worth saying again. I keep on hearing fantastic things about IU senior linebacker Chris Covington at practice. He's part of a pretty busy group of players fighting for that MIKE linebacker spot, and as of right now I'd consider him the favorite to land it alongside senior All-American Tegray Scales.
It appears IU's edit staff has been out in full force the last couple of days because I've seen a handful of pictures roll out that players have been tweeting. TJ Ivy, a three-star tight end out of Chicago, was one of those players. He said the Hoosiers are high on his list.
Three-star running back Henry Geil,said he has a "really good" relationship with new IU running backs coach Mike Hart and is planning a visit soon. A 6-foot, 205-pound running back, Geil accounted for over 1,000 yards of offense and 14 touchdowns as a junior. He also holds offers from Syracuse, Western Michigan and Bowling Green.
IU safety commit Jordan Jusevitch, the lone 2018 commitment so far, visited Bloomington Tuesday to watch practice. He's been to campus almost 10 times by now but was able to bring a few members of his family in this time and check out a practice.
Speaking of visits, TheHoosier.com has also confirmed that three-star safety Israel Mukuamu will be visiting this weekend. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound prospect is ranked No. 29 among safeties nationally. He's a Bossier City, Louisiana native with offers from Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, South Carolina, Texas-San Antonio, Tulane and Wake Forest. As of now, he doesn't have an IU offer.
Likewise, unranked wide receiver Cam Jones is also expected to visit, which he said previously was the plan. He's already got offers from Indiana, Memphis, Tennessee and Wake Forest. Jones measures in at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds. He plays at Saint Benedict in Cordova, Tennessee.
Hamilton Southeastern defensive end Madison Norris will be visiting Bloomington April 8 to check out the Hoosiers again. Head coach Tom Allen has done a nice job in recruiting Norris thus far, but he's got some steady competition from the likes of Louisville, Tennessee and Minnesota, among others, right now.
Randy Charlton, a three-star defensive end from Miami, reported a Hoosier offer earlier in the week.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound prospect is ranked No. 22 among strongside defensive ends and No. 66 overall in the state of Florida, where IU now recruits very hard. He's got offers from the likes of Baylor, Illinois, Nebraska, Rutgers, Temple, UCF and Western Kentucky, among others.
Another notable offer went to James Head, also a three-star defensive end out of Miami. He's 6-foot-5 and weighs 211 pounds, ranking No. 24 among strongside defensive ends nationally and No. 71 overall in the state of Florida. He's got offers from Kansas State, Nebraska, South Carolina, UCF and Baylor, among others.
I'm sort of on the edge of my seat waiting for a second commitment. I don't have anyone I'd say is willing to pull the trigger now or anything, but I can't imagine that being the case for too much longer. It would certainly be nice to see the Hoosiers strike in adding another player or two sometime in the next few weeks before spring ball comes to a close.
Jordan Wells / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
- IU Junior All-Stars - Some in-state players who previously held offers from IU and would be expected to be targets under a new staff were named Junior All-Stars. For more info on that, you can read here - LINK.
- Offers this week - South Bend (Ind.) Riley four-star junior Damezi Anderson reported an offer from Purdue. Clearly a high-major talent that has been lacking offers, sounds like things are finally picking up for him. The 6-5, 180-pound junior is ranked as the No. 97 prospect nationally in 2017. Additionally, Nashville (Tenn.) Brentwood Academy junior Darius Garland added an offer from Kansas. The 6-0, 150-pound Garland is rated as a five-star prospect and ranked as the No. 10 player nationally in 2018.
- IU Signees - Al Durham and Clifton Moore asked for their releases from IU. The Hoosiers have ~30 days to respond to the request, and can grant the release, not grant the release, or remove the recruiting ban in the NLI to allow Durham/Moore to be recruited again while they wait to see who the new IU head coach is. Most of the time in these circumstances the school grants the release or removes recruiting ban. I could see both Moore and Durham following Crean if he ends up with a job, but we’ll see. Justin Smith might stick around.
Stu Jackson / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
We've reached Day 9 (if you include the day Tom Crean was dismissed) of Indiana's coaching search, and it's difficult to get a read on where things stand.
Parker Executive Search, the search firm hired by IU athletics director Fred Glass to aid the process, prides itself on a sealed process for candidates by flying them into Atlanta where the company is headquartered.
Michigan State assistant coach Dane Fife, a former IU player, made news late this week when he appeared to be targeted by and then ended talks with Duquesne for its head coaching job. His IU ties make him an intriguing possible candidate, and he did publicly express interest in the Indiana job. However, he's not as qualified as other potential candidates listed on our hot board given his lack of head coaching experience at the Power Five level.
Jordan posted a note yesterday regarding some buzz around Xavier head coach Chris Mack, who led the Musketeers to an Elite Eight birth last night with a win over a very talented Arizona team. To be clear, it's not anything he's making a report about. But he'll likely get a bump in the next version of our hot board.
Back in April 2015, Mack signed a one-year extension through the 2020-2021 season with Xavier. As his contract currently stands, he will be able to coach the Musketeers' 2017 signees through their entire college careers. However, he can't promise the same at the moment with 2018 recruits he's targeting, so I would guess he'd ask for an extension to be able to do that. Based on that and Xavier's run in the NCAA tournament this spring, his situation will be one to watch.
That's all for now. Until then, the coaching search rolls on.
---------
Sam Beishuizen / Football Beat & Recruiting News
Indiana football got back onto the practice field Tuesday to kick off the second week of spring ball. As a friendly reminder, the Hoosiers will continue to practice all the way up to the spring game scheduled for April 13.
I noted this in the forums but believe it's worth saying again. I keep on hearing fantastic things about IU senior linebacker Chris Covington at practice. He's part of a pretty busy group of players fighting for that MIKE linebacker spot, and as of right now I'd consider him the favorite to land it alongside senior All-American Tegray Scales.
It appears IU's edit staff has been out in full force the last couple of days because I've seen a handful of pictures roll out that players have been tweeting. TJ Ivy, a three-star tight end out of Chicago, was one of those players. He said the Hoosiers are high on his list.
Three-star running back Henry Geil,said he has a "really good" relationship with new IU running backs coach Mike Hart and is planning a visit soon. A 6-foot, 205-pound running back, Geil accounted for over 1,000 yards of offense and 14 touchdowns as a junior. He also holds offers from Syracuse, Western Michigan and Bowling Green.
IU safety commit Jordan Jusevitch, the lone 2018 commitment so far, visited Bloomington Tuesday to watch practice. He's been to campus almost 10 times by now but was able to bring a few members of his family in this time and check out a practice.
Speaking of visits, TheHoosier.com has also confirmed that three-star safety Israel Mukuamu will be visiting this weekend. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound prospect is ranked No. 29 among safeties nationally. He's a Bossier City, Louisiana native with offers from Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, South Carolina, Texas-San Antonio, Tulane and Wake Forest. As of now, he doesn't have an IU offer.
Likewise, unranked wide receiver Cam Jones is also expected to visit, which he said previously was the plan. He's already got offers from Indiana, Memphis, Tennessee and Wake Forest. Jones measures in at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds. He plays at Saint Benedict in Cordova, Tennessee.
Hamilton Southeastern defensive end Madison Norris will be visiting Bloomington April 8 to check out the Hoosiers again. Head coach Tom Allen has done a nice job in recruiting Norris thus far, but he's got some steady competition from the likes of Louisville, Tennessee and Minnesota, among others, right now.
Randy Charlton, a three-star defensive end from Miami, reported a Hoosier offer earlier in the week.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound prospect is ranked No. 22 among strongside defensive ends and No. 66 overall in the state of Florida, where IU now recruits very hard. He's got offers from the likes of Baylor, Illinois, Nebraska, Rutgers, Temple, UCF and Western Kentucky, among others.
Another notable offer went to James Head, also a three-star defensive end out of Miami. He's 6-foot-5 and weighs 211 pounds, ranking No. 24 among strongside defensive ends nationally and No. 71 overall in the state of Florida. He's got offers from Kansas State, Nebraska, South Carolina, UCF and Baylor, among others.
I'm sort of on the edge of my seat waiting for a second commitment. I don't have anyone I'd say is willing to pull the trigger now or anything, but I can't imagine that being the case for too much longer. It would certainly be nice to see the Hoosiers strike in adding another player or two sometime in the next few weeks before spring ball comes to a close.
