Here's our roundup of IU basketball, football and recruiting news and notes:
Jordan Wells / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
As the recruiting period has begun, IU has hit the road to see pretty much every 2018 target in-home and 2019 targets in open gyms.
Among uncommitted 2018 names, IU saw both New Albany five-star Romeo Langford (6-4, 185 pounds, No. 6 player nationally) and Nashville (Tenn.) Brentwood Academy five-star point guard Darius Garland (6-0, 150 pounds, No. 15 player nationally.)
There’s been speculation the Garland recruitment is down to IU and Vanderbilt. I’ve always said I’ll be honest with you guys, and the truth is I can’t independently confirm that to be 100 percent done as of writing this early this morning.
However, I do have information that SUGGESTS that’s the case. I wrote on Tuesday that it was important to keep an eye on how things play out with RJ Barrett and Duke. Darius really liked Duke, but they took five-star point guard Tre Jones, and so there was an idea about one playing offball or it would work out somehow.
But if Duke is gunning for Barrett that changes that. I don’t know for a fact they are getting Barrett, but, it seems they are confident enough about it that an in-home with Duke and Garland didn’t happen.
John Calipari just visited Barrett recently, too. And UK is expected to add five-star point guard Immanuel Quickley today.
So here’s the situation: Duke and UK both have PG’s. And now they’re both going for Barrett. UK is also pursuing other guys.
It just doesn’t sound like it’s going to workout for Darius with either school.
With Langford, obviously IU is a legit contender. UNC head coach Roy Williams visited this week, and Louisville brought its whole staff for a short trip to New Albany recently.
I do wonder if there’s a chance Romeo’s recruitment gets sped up a bit. I don’t know if it does or not, it’s trended towards a spring decision and it might still take that long. But there’s been a shakeup in the way they’ve been handling media this whole time, so if they're starting to tire out of the process, maybe they just try to get it over with.
Garland has been trending toward a fall decision for a while, based on how his visits were lined up.
So we wait and see. IU gets both on campus for Hoosier Hysteria and they’re both visiting Vanderbilt this weekend.
Other than that, IU has also made rounds to see pretty much every serious 2019 target at open gyms and even getting into 2020. Just not much to report on that front.
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Taylor Lehman / Football Beat & Recruiting News
Football recruiting:
For the Class of 2018, we’re still in a dead period. Not a lot of guys changing and looking at IU. Not a lot of guys committing to other schools either.
The status remains the same for guys to watch for, like 3-star DT Allen Love, 3-star DT Randy Charlton and 3-star safety Dallas Craddieth. No new visits, and no changes in interest.
It is worth noting that the competitors IU faces for each recruit are Michigan State for Love, Tennessee and Miami (FL) for Charlton and any of the other five on Craddieth’s list — Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and Vanderbilt.
Michigan State really emerged for Love after he re-opened his recruitment, and I have a hunch that IU is just behind the Spartans. He has a visit to East Lansing in October, so that could determine where he will be committing. IU could use a guy like him in the center of the defensive line.
Charlton is all but committed to IU, and Craddieth is still up in the air on where he will commit.
Another thing to note, is that Tom Allen visited the Pike-Lawrence Central game last weekend. The only recruit I could imagine he was visiting at the game is 4-star linebacker Cameron McGrone out of Lawrence Central. That’s interesting because McGrone is committed to Michigan and has not really wavered from that commitment.
Class of 2019:
On Thursday night, IU offered Arizona athlete Jake Smith. Looking at his tape, the first thing you will notice is his incredible speed at the high school level. Yeah, yeah, so what, right? Well, the big deal about Smith’s speed is that his primary position is running back, but he can split outside and catch passes. That’s the opposite of some of the dynamic guys IU has picked up recently, like Whop Philyor, who play outside but can come into the backfield if need be. That could be a huge tool down the road when IU has a solidified offensive line. Smith currently has a handful of offers with his most prestigious one being Vanderbilt.
4-star Ohio cornerback Moses Douglass, who holds a lot of interest in the Hoosier, was unable to make his scheduled visit last weekend against FIU for obvious reasons. He has rescheduled for the Wisconsin weekend. Douglass is a crucial recruit for this class as a do-it-all defensive back with a little bit of size.
IU also made several offers over the last weekend, including 4-star Kentucky offensive tackle Bryan Hudson, 3-star Tennessee offensive tackle Chris Akporoghene, 3-star Tennessee running back Eric Gray, 4-star Louisiana wide receiver Devonta Lee, 3-star Pennsylvania offensive tackle Andrew Kristofic, 3-star Ohio offensive guard Zach Carpenter and 3-star Georgia defensive end Rodricus Fitten (who is currently committed to South Carolina).
Team news:
Expect Brandon Knight back on the offensive line Saturday against Georgia Southern. As one of the most athletic linemen on the team, Knight will certainly be welcomed with plenty of snaps, most likely at the right tackle position, in order to increase the depth that Allen and Mike DeBord have been longing for.
Just to reiterate, DeBord and Allen are going with the dual-quarterback system, as was the plan after the Virginia game. With how weak Georgia Southern is, this may not be the best gauge as to how that system will work at Penn State, but there will be success nonetheless.
Jordan Wells / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
As the recruiting period has begun, IU has hit the road to see pretty much every 2018 target in-home and 2019 targets in open gyms.
Among uncommitted 2018 names, IU saw both New Albany five-star Romeo Langford (6-4, 185 pounds, No. 6 player nationally) and Nashville (Tenn.) Brentwood Academy five-star point guard Darius Garland (6-0, 150 pounds, No. 15 player nationally.)
There’s been speculation the Garland recruitment is down to IU and Vanderbilt. I’ve always said I’ll be honest with you guys, and the truth is I can’t independently confirm that to be 100 percent done as of writing this early this morning.
However, I do have information that SUGGESTS that’s the case. I wrote on Tuesday that it was important to keep an eye on how things play out with RJ Barrett and Duke. Darius really liked Duke, but they took five-star point guard Tre Jones, and so there was an idea about one playing offball or it would work out somehow.
But if Duke is gunning for Barrett that changes that. I don’t know for a fact they are getting Barrett, but, it seems they are confident enough about it that an in-home with Duke and Garland didn’t happen.
John Calipari just visited Barrett recently, too. And UK is expected to add five-star point guard Immanuel Quickley today.
So here’s the situation: Duke and UK both have PG’s. And now they’re both going for Barrett. UK is also pursuing other guys.
It just doesn’t sound like it’s going to workout for Darius with either school.
With Langford, obviously IU is a legit contender. UNC head coach Roy Williams visited this week, and Louisville brought its whole staff for a short trip to New Albany recently.
I do wonder if there’s a chance Romeo’s recruitment gets sped up a bit. I don’t know if it does or not, it’s trended towards a spring decision and it might still take that long. But there’s been a shakeup in the way they’ve been handling media this whole time, so if they're starting to tire out of the process, maybe they just try to get it over with.
Garland has been trending toward a fall decision for a while, based on how his visits were lined up.
So we wait and see. IU gets both on campus for Hoosier Hysteria and they’re both visiting Vanderbilt this weekend.
Other than that, IU has also made rounds to see pretty much every serious 2019 target at open gyms and even getting into 2020. Just not much to report on that front.
----------
Taylor Lehman / Football Beat & Recruiting News
Football recruiting:
For the Class of 2018, we’re still in a dead period. Not a lot of guys changing and looking at IU. Not a lot of guys committing to other schools either.
The status remains the same for guys to watch for, like 3-star DT Allen Love, 3-star DT Randy Charlton and 3-star safety Dallas Craddieth. No new visits, and no changes in interest.
It is worth noting that the competitors IU faces for each recruit are Michigan State for Love, Tennessee and Miami (FL) for Charlton and any of the other five on Craddieth’s list — Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and Vanderbilt.
Michigan State really emerged for Love after he re-opened his recruitment, and I have a hunch that IU is just behind the Spartans. He has a visit to East Lansing in October, so that could determine where he will be committing. IU could use a guy like him in the center of the defensive line.
Charlton is all but committed to IU, and Craddieth is still up in the air on where he will commit.
Another thing to note, is that Tom Allen visited the Pike-Lawrence Central game last weekend. The only recruit I could imagine he was visiting at the game is 4-star linebacker Cameron McGrone out of Lawrence Central. That’s interesting because McGrone is committed to Michigan and has not really wavered from that commitment.
Class of 2019:
On Thursday night, IU offered Arizona athlete Jake Smith. Looking at his tape, the first thing you will notice is his incredible speed at the high school level. Yeah, yeah, so what, right? Well, the big deal about Smith’s speed is that his primary position is running back, but he can split outside and catch passes. That’s the opposite of some of the dynamic guys IU has picked up recently, like Whop Philyor, who play outside but can come into the backfield if need be. That could be a huge tool down the road when IU has a solidified offensive line. Smith currently has a handful of offers with his most prestigious one being Vanderbilt.
4-star Ohio cornerback Moses Douglass, who holds a lot of interest in the Hoosier, was unable to make his scheduled visit last weekend against FIU for obvious reasons. He has rescheduled for the Wisconsin weekend. Douglass is a crucial recruit for this class as a do-it-all defensive back with a little bit of size.
IU also made several offers over the last weekend, including 4-star Kentucky offensive tackle Bryan Hudson, 3-star Tennessee offensive tackle Chris Akporoghene, 3-star Tennessee running back Eric Gray, 4-star Louisiana wide receiver Devonta Lee, 3-star Pennsylvania offensive tackle Andrew Kristofic, 3-star Ohio offensive guard Zach Carpenter and 3-star Georgia defensive end Rodricus Fitten (who is currently committed to South Carolina).
Team news:
Expect Brandon Knight back on the offensive line Saturday against Georgia Southern. As one of the most athletic linemen on the team, Knight will certainly be welcomed with plenty of snaps, most likely at the right tackle position, in order to increase the depth that Allen and Mike DeBord have been longing for.
Just to reiterate, DeBord and Allen are going with the dual-quarterback system, as was the plan after the Virginia game. With how weak Georgia Southern is, this may not be the best gauge as to how that system will work at Penn State, but there will be success nonetheless.
