Here's our roundup of IU basketball, football and recruiting news and notes:
Jordan Wells / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
Another pretty slow week in recruiting as the 2018 class is on hold for two targets, and no 2019 targets are near decision-making mode.
We’ll start with Nashville (Tenn.) Brentwood Academy five-star point guard Darius Garland (6-0, 150 pounds, No. 15 player nationally.) The Vandy guys reached out last weekend to let me know they heard from a source that IU was out of the recruitment. Garland is scheduled to visit UK this weekend, IU over the Oct. 21 weekend and UCLA over the Oct. 28 weekend.
I wasn’t told what IU is “out” means. That could mean Garland will take all his visits but has already decided not to pick IU, or it could mean he’s going to take his UK trip this weekend then go ahead and announce a decision. I’m not sure.
I’m inclined to say he will go on and take his IU visit. And if that does happen, then I guess we’ll see how things play out. I’d be surprised if the visit had that big of a sway on him, but, this is recruiting after all - never a perfect science.
Garland has a couple close friends committed to Vandy for football, and he’s visited the in-town school a number of times - in fact, he was just there earlier this week. Bryce Drew is selling them on running a NBA offense, and Garland would be a feature. There’s an awful lot about Vandy that’s a fit for him.
I don’t want to say it’s over, but in my eyes, considering all the evidence - it seems like Vandy’s the favorite.
The other 2018 target is New Albany (Ind.) five-star guard Romeo Langford (6-4, 185 pounds, No. 6 player nationally). He’s taking an official visit to UNC this weekend - should be interesting as they have their midnight madness event and they’re raising a banner.
Some minor news this week that Langford will trim his list to a final three in November. My initial prediction was IU, Kansas and UNC - I’ve also heard IU, UNC and Vanderbilt. Either way, the important thing is IU largely expected to make the cut.
Reminder that Langford is supposed to visit for Hoosier Hysteria, so, him and Garland will be on-campus together. They’ve talked about playing together, but aren’t a package deal.
Other than those two guys, I know folks want to know who else will be in the house for Hoosier Hysteria. Since that’s still a week away, I plan to start reaching out to folks about that early next week. We will certainly have full coverage on the site of the visitors.
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Stu Jackson / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
The buildup continues for Hoosier Hysteria, and this week IU associate athletic director for strategic communication and fan experience Jeremy Gray announced some additional details on the event during an appearance on Podcast on the Brink.
For those who can't make it to the event, Gray said the event will be viewable on BTN Plus, the conference's subscription-based streaming service.
Additionally, there will be "an emphasis on brevity" in order to get through the program quickly and get to the scrimmage in a timely manner. He estimates the scrimmage will start by 7:45 p.m. There will still be video elements, but fewer in quantity and shorter in length compared to previous years. There won't be student contests but there will be a dunk contest. The scrimmage is expected to go 40 minutes, so you'll likely get a pretty good idea of what the team looks like early on.
Other than that, the countdown continues until the event itself, which takes place Saturday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. ET with doors opening at 5:30 p.m.
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Taylor Lehman / Football Beat & Recruiting News
Recruiting insider:
The top 2018 prospect IU has its eyes on right now is 3-star Ohio defensive back Kevin Brewer, who is being recruited as a cornerback and safety. He has IU and Kentucky in his top two schools and is expected to make his commitment any day now. He’d be the fourth IU commit that would be expected to play in the secondary.
Also, IU offered Kansas JUCO quarterback Terry Wilson this past week. Wilson has some size at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds and signed with Oregon in 2016. Wilson plays at Garden City Community College in Kansas. With IU head coach Tom Allen telling Ben Davis quarterback Reese Taylor that he’d like to see him at quarterback at the next level, it appears the coaching staff would like to add a couple talented quarterbacks in this class, with Lagow leaving and not a very solid option at the position right now.
Georgia offensive tackle Hamilton Hall tweeted out his final five schools, and IU made the cut, along with Florida International, Mississippi State, Maryland and Central Florida.
I mentioned this last week too, but Arizona ATH Jake Smith has been raking in offers. You may remember him as the speedy slot/running back who emailed IU and got an offer. He was at four offers then, and now he has 12, including an offer from UCLA and Penn State. He told Rivals though that he is still interested in IU, even though offers are beginning to fill his mailbox.
The Hoosiers also offered Austin, Texas, 3-star wide receiver Garrett Wilson, who is up to 16 offers already, including offers from Wisconsin, Arkansas, Florida State, TCU and Oklahoma State. At 6-feet, 180 pounds, he’d be not only a talented receiver in the class but also a moderately sized guy after IU has Miles MArshall and Jacolby Hewitt committed in the 2018 class, who are both well over six feet tall.
Team news:
IU has just one interception this year, and it came from Jonathan Crawford against Penn State when IU was down by 21 points. Against Charleston Southern, the Hoosiers dropped two, maybe even three, interceptions, so Tom Allen had them working with the JUGS machines all week this week, hoping that it’ll result in more picks. That’s how IU is going to have to force turnovers this week, by the interception, as backup-turned-starting quarterback John O’Korn has not looked comfortable all season.
Left guard Wes Martin was recognized as the offensive player of the week for IU last week by Allen. That’s huge because it’s tangible proof that the coaching staff believes the offensive line is growing. That unit has looked very solid lately with the return of Brandon Knight at right tackle. Michigan is ranked third in the nation in defense, so if there’s a week to call on the offensive line, it’s this one.
While running backs coach Mike Hart said Mike Majette is the starting running back, it’s hard to believe that’s the case when Morgan Ellison continues to not only out-carry Majette, but actually started against Charleston Southern. While Majette is the starter on the depth chart, I’d be comfortable labeling Ellison as the No. 1 running back.
Jordan Wells / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
Another pretty slow week in recruiting as the 2018 class is on hold for two targets, and no 2019 targets are near decision-making mode.
We’ll start with Nashville (Tenn.) Brentwood Academy five-star point guard Darius Garland (6-0, 150 pounds, No. 15 player nationally.) The Vandy guys reached out last weekend to let me know they heard from a source that IU was out of the recruitment. Garland is scheduled to visit UK this weekend, IU over the Oct. 21 weekend and UCLA over the Oct. 28 weekend.
I wasn’t told what IU is “out” means. That could mean Garland will take all his visits but has already decided not to pick IU, or it could mean he’s going to take his UK trip this weekend then go ahead and announce a decision. I’m not sure.
I’m inclined to say he will go on and take his IU visit. And if that does happen, then I guess we’ll see how things play out. I’d be surprised if the visit had that big of a sway on him, but, this is recruiting after all - never a perfect science.
Garland has a couple close friends committed to Vandy for football, and he’s visited the in-town school a number of times - in fact, he was just there earlier this week. Bryce Drew is selling them on running a NBA offense, and Garland would be a feature. There’s an awful lot about Vandy that’s a fit for him.
I don’t want to say it’s over, but in my eyes, considering all the evidence - it seems like Vandy’s the favorite.
The other 2018 target is New Albany (Ind.) five-star guard Romeo Langford (6-4, 185 pounds, No. 6 player nationally). He’s taking an official visit to UNC this weekend - should be interesting as they have their midnight madness event and they’re raising a banner.
Some minor news this week that Langford will trim his list to a final three in November. My initial prediction was IU, Kansas and UNC - I’ve also heard IU, UNC and Vanderbilt. Either way, the important thing is IU largely expected to make the cut.
Reminder that Langford is supposed to visit for Hoosier Hysteria, so, him and Garland will be on-campus together. They’ve talked about playing together, but aren’t a package deal.
Other than those two guys, I know folks want to know who else will be in the house for Hoosier Hysteria. Since that’s still a week away, I plan to start reaching out to folks about that early next week. We will certainly have full coverage on the site of the visitors.
-------------
Stu Jackson / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
The buildup continues for Hoosier Hysteria, and this week IU associate athletic director for strategic communication and fan experience Jeremy Gray announced some additional details on the event during an appearance on Podcast on the Brink.
For those who can't make it to the event, Gray said the event will be viewable on BTN Plus, the conference's subscription-based streaming service.
Additionally, there will be "an emphasis on brevity" in order to get through the program quickly and get to the scrimmage in a timely manner. He estimates the scrimmage will start by 7:45 p.m. There will still be video elements, but fewer in quantity and shorter in length compared to previous years. There won't be student contests but there will be a dunk contest. The scrimmage is expected to go 40 minutes, so you'll likely get a pretty good idea of what the team looks like early on.
Other than that, the countdown continues until the event itself, which takes place Saturday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. ET with doors opening at 5:30 p.m.
------------
Taylor Lehman / Football Beat & Recruiting News
Recruiting insider:
The top 2018 prospect IU has its eyes on right now is 3-star Ohio defensive back Kevin Brewer, who is being recruited as a cornerback and safety. He has IU and Kentucky in his top two schools and is expected to make his commitment any day now. He’d be the fourth IU commit that would be expected to play in the secondary.
Also, IU offered Kansas JUCO quarterback Terry Wilson this past week. Wilson has some size at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds and signed with Oregon in 2016. Wilson plays at Garden City Community College in Kansas. With IU head coach Tom Allen telling Ben Davis quarterback Reese Taylor that he’d like to see him at quarterback at the next level, it appears the coaching staff would like to add a couple talented quarterbacks in this class, with Lagow leaving and not a very solid option at the position right now.
Georgia offensive tackle Hamilton Hall tweeted out his final five schools, and IU made the cut, along with Florida International, Mississippi State, Maryland and Central Florida.
I mentioned this last week too, but Arizona ATH Jake Smith has been raking in offers. You may remember him as the speedy slot/running back who emailed IU and got an offer. He was at four offers then, and now he has 12, including an offer from UCLA and Penn State. He told Rivals though that he is still interested in IU, even though offers are beginning to fill his mailbox.
The Hoosiers also offered Austin, Texas, 3-star wide receiver Garrett Wilson, who is up to 16 offers already, including offers from Wisconsin, Arkansas, Florida State, TCU and Oklahoma State. At 6-feet, 180 pounds, he’d be not only a talented receiver in the class but also a moderately sized guy after IU has Miles MArshall and Jacolby Hewitt committed in the 2018 class, who are both well over six feet tall.
Team news:
IU has just one interception this year, and it came from Jonathan Crawford against Penn State when IU was down by 21 points. Against Charleston Southern, the Hoosiers dropped two, maybe even three, interceptions, so Tom Allen had them working with the JUGS machines all week this week, hoping that it’ll result in more picks. That’s how IU is going to have to force turnovers this week, by the interception, as backup-turned-starting quarterback John O’Korn has not looked comfortable all season.
Left guard Wes Martin was recognized as the offensive player of the week for IU last week by Allen. That’s huge because it’s tangible proof that the coaching staff believes the offensive line is growing. That unit has looked very solid lately with the return of Brandon Knight at right tackle. Michigan is ranked third in the nation in defense, so if there’s a week to call on the offensive line, it’s this one.
While running backs coach Mike Hart said Mike Majette is the starting running back, it’s hard to believe that’s the case when Morgan Ellison continues to not only out-carry Majette, but actually started against Charleston Southern. While Majette is the starter on the depth chart, I’d be comfortable labeling Ellison as the No. 1 running back.
