Welcome to The Hoosier Insider, our weekly staff roundup of IU basketball & football news, notes and recruiting. Let's get to it:
Jordan Wells / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
Not as busy as last week and we covered some stuff in our chat last night, but here are some notes on where things stand with some popular targets.
Stu Jackson / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
Undoubtedly the biggest news of the week was senior forward Collin Hartman sustaining a left knee injury in a non-contact drill during practice Tuesday. In a statement, the program said Hartman “will continue to be evaluated and his condition will be updated at an appropriate time.” So far, we haven’t received any new updates but will do so when that information becomes available.
In other team news, it was announced on Wednesday that Indiana will get 14 games on the ESPN family of networks and 3 on CBS. For those keeping track at home, 17 of Indiana’s 31 games this season will appear on national television.
We also learned this week that the Big Ten Network will carry six of IU’s games this upcoming season.
One recruiting note to add: 2018 four-star guard Eric Hunter Jr. of Indianapolis Tindley Prep is taking an unofficial visit to IU today [Friday]. He was watched by the IU coaching staff during the final July evaluation period in Las Vegas when he was competing in the Bigfoot Hoops Las Vegas Classic with Team Harris Elite. Most recently, he was watched by both IU and Michigan at a Tindley Prep open gym on Sept. 15, with assistant coach Rob Judson there to represent IU. Michigan State, Nebraska and Purdue also stopped by to see Hunter over the last week.
We’ll have a recap of his visit up by Monday at the latest, or sooner than that if he lands an offer from the Hoosiers. The 6-foot-3, 170-pound combo guard currently has offers from Ball State, Xavier, Toledo, IPFW and East Carolina.
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Sam Beishuizen / Football Beat & Recruiting News
Weeks from now, we're all going to look back at the Wake Forest weekend and say, "Man, that was the game that did it."
By that I mean Saturday's result is either going to set the Hoosiers up for a bowl run (three wins in the Big Ten is doable) or put their backs against the wall (four wins in the Big Ten seems awful hard no matter the year).
So what I'm saying is you might want to tune in on Saturday.
We've got game coverage stuff all throughout the site this week, but I wanted to reiterate that this will be a game for both Indiana and Wake Forest to prove themselves. In terms of Wake Forest, the Demon Deacons talked openly about how Indiana's offense will prove whether or not their own defense is legit. Likewise, I'm under the impression that we'll get a better idea of just how good Indiana's offense is this week against one of the better defenses in the country.
Let's shift gears a little bit to the off-the-field stuff because we've got to go there.
Indiana freshman wide receiver Kiante Enis, 19, was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts of child molestation, Randolph County chief deputy Doug Fritz confirmed. Not long after the news broke out, Enis was dismissed from the program. IU will want to completely separate itself from Enis as quickly as possible while national media outlets picked up the story. Kevin Wilson said earlier this week that Enis had a concussion.
A few people have asked what this means for on the field impact and even recruiting, but that doesn't matter in this situation. What matters is that Enis needed to go away immediately. We'll let the legal system carry out the rest of this.
Indiana backup kicker and redshirt junior Aaron Del Grosso was arrested early Wednesday morning on preliminary charges of public intoxication and criminal trespassing. There appears to have been a dispute with a girlfriend over a dog here.
Del Grosso's situation isn't even close to the same as what is going on with Enis. And neither is Jerome Johnson's from earlier. But is this becoming a problem? Fred Glass told the IndyStar that it isn't.
“Does a serious situation like that necessarily reflect on the culture of the program or the university? I think it can, but I don’t think it necessarily does,” Glass said in that story. “And I certainly don’t think it reflects on all we try to do to ensure student-athletes' proper conduct at Indiana.”
Wilson can't control everything in his locker room. I don't think he deserves too much blame unless this keeps happening. It isn't quite like a basketball team where there's only 15 players, for example, where the coach sees everything. He's managing 100+ guys. Hopefully, this is the end of all of that. Because it isn't fun to talk about. It isn't fun to write about. And it CERTAINLY isn't fun for the players who find out this news.
Now that that part is over with, Wilson began the week hot by calling on Indiana's fan base to show up and stay in their seats the whole game. Players on Twitter seemed to love reference to the team falling apart in the fourth quarter because they left early like the fans. It was vintage Wilson on a Monday morning.
Fans will either go one of two ways: 1) They'll show up to prove Wilson wrong. 2) They'll take it as a shot and be upset. Does it actually impact the attendance? Probably not. But it was nice of Wilson to address the issue that we all kind of see and talk about but never do much about it.
Next weekend is supposed to be a big one in terms of recruits coming to town, but there's a few names worth keeping tabs on this weekend as well.
Three-star running back Devin Darrington told me earlier this week that he'd be on a visit. You may recall him popping up on the radar back in July during the earlier days of TheHoosier, but I really like this kid. He's a smart dude with Ivy League interest and a dynamic rusher out of Maryland. I'd consider him the top running back target right now, from what I've heard. And if there's one thing I've learned about Deland McCullough is if he likes a kid, the kid is legit.
Current IU commit Caleb Jones is expected to be in Bloomington as well. His family runs a restaurant, so it's a little harder for him to get down south on the weekends, but he sounded excited about it when Jordan and I talked with him and his dad a week ago up at Lawrence North. Don't be surprised if you see Bryant Fitzgerald at the game as well. He seems to want to come to every one of them.
Whiteland, Indiana, defensive lineman Camden Lilly is also expected to visit. Andrew McCormick, a class of 2018 QB out of Kendallville, is also expected to be at the game. It seems like Coach Wilson is casting a wider and wider net in that 2018 QB race. I wouldn't put McCormick near the top of the wish list per se, but Wilson wouldn't invite him over if he didn't like him.
When more names come in, we'll keep adding them.
Donte Burton, a 5-foot-11, 178-pound Georgia defensive back, is committed to North Carolina but picked up an Indiana offer this week. He seemed pretty excited about that, but I'm not banking on the Hoosiers prying him away quite yet.
Anyway, this went long. We did the chat on the forum last night. I enjoyed it. Hope to see more folks in it next time.
If anyone wants to say hey before Saturday's game, I'll be around. Shoot me a message on here and we'll talk IU or whatever. Should be another good weekend.
Jordan Wells / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
Not as busy as last week and we covered some stuff in our chat last night, but here are some notes on where things stand with some popular targets.
- Justin Smith - Told ESPN he’s officially down to IU and Villanova, which is just a formality for something that’s seemed coming for a while. Indiana is a great fit with the business school and it’s closer to home, but Nova’s Jalen Brunson is an old teammate of Smith and Brunson's dad has advised them some on their recruitment. I will try to touch base with his camp and see what’s next, but they’ve gone dark on me. As far as my pick on IU or Nova? As of today I’ll take IU. They’re just the better fit for him and the Hoosiers make the most sense. It doesn’t always work out that way - sometimes kids pick schools that aren’t the best fit - but I think we’ll see that here. The 6-6, 200-pound four-star forward from Lincolnshire (Ill.) Stevenson is ranked as the No. 105 player nationally.
- Kris Wilkes - Visiting UCLA on his official this weekend. I think UCLA is a “wildcard” in this, meaning they could be dangerous (or not) pending how the trip goes. It would make sense a lot rides for the Bruins on this trip. The other legit options are much closer to home, and have been recruiting him for a very long time (although UCLA has also been on him for a good amount of time.) UCLA is the one that sticks out from the rest of the group, so nail that visit and suddenly who knows. The 6-7, 185-pound forward from Indianapolis North Central is ranked as the No. 18 player nationally.
- Tremont Waters - I’ll post an official visitor primer later today. Posted some of my thoughts in the chat last night, which is pinned to the top of our board. The 5-11, 160-pound four-star guard from West Haven (Conn.) Notre Dame is ranked as the No. 36 player nationally.
- Brandon Randolph - Indiana has apparently jumped back into the mix here after an in-home visit with Randolph’s parents this week. As I said in the chat, I am personally a bit skeptical here because if there were a second place in recruiting, that’d be great. But there’s only first, and I have a tough time believing IU will go from out of a top four to vaulting to the top. But we’ll see. Let’s get him on campus and see how it goes. The 6-6, 165-pound four-star guard from Westtown (Pa.) Westtown School is ranked as the No. 52 player nationally.
Stu Jackson / Basketball Beat & Recruiting News
Undoubtedly the biggest news of the week was senior forward Collin Hartman sustaining a left knee injury in a non-contact drill during practice Tuesday. In a statement, the program said Hartman “will continue to be evaluated and his condition will be updated at an appropriate time.” So far, we haven’t received any new updates but will do so when that information becomes available.
In other team news, it was announced on Wednesday that Indiana will get 14 games on the ESPN family of networks and 3 on CBS. For those keeping track at home, 17 of Indiana’s 31 games this season will appear on national television.
We also learned this week that the Big Ten Network will carry six of IU’s games this upcoming season.
One recruiting note to add: 2018 four-star guard Eric Hunter Jr. of Indianapolis Tindley Prep is taking an unofficial visit to IU today [Friday]. He was watched by the IU coaching staff during the final July evaluation period in Las Vegas when he was competing in the Bigfoot Hoops Las Vegas Classic with Team Harris Elite. Most recently, he was watched by both IU and Michigan at a Tindley Prep open gym on Sept. 15, with assistant coach Rob Judson there to represent IU. Michigan State, Nebraska and Purdue also stopped by to see Hunter over the last week.
We’ll have a recap of his visit up by Monday at the latest, or sooner than that if he lands an offer from the Hoosiers. The 6-foot-3, 170-pound combo guard currently has offers from Ball State, Xavier, Toledo, IPFW and East Carolina.
--------------------
Sam Beishuizen / Football Beat & Recruiting News
Weeks from now, we're all going to look back at the Wake Forest weekend and say, "Man, that was the game that did it."
By that I mean Saturday's result is either going to set the Hoosiers up for a bowl run (three wins in the Big Ten is doable) or put their backs against the wall (four wins in the Big Ten seems awful hard no matter the year).
So what I'm saying is you might want to tune in on Saturday.
We've got game coverage stuff all throughout the site this week, but I wanted to reiterate that this will be a game for both Indiana and Wake Forest to prove themselves. In terms of Wake Forest, the Demon Deacons talked openly about how Indiana's offense will prove whether or not their own defense is legit. Likewise, I'm under the impression that we'll get a better idea of just how good Indiana's offense is this week against one of the better defenses in the country.
Let's shift gears a little bit to the off-the-field stuff because we've got to go there.
Indiana freshman wide receiver Kiante Enis, 19, was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts of child molestation, Randolph County chief deputy Doug Fritz confirmed. Not long after the news broke out, Enis was dismissed from the program. IU will want to completely separate itself from Enis as quickly as possible while national media outlets picked up the story. Kevin Wilson said earlier this week that Enis had a concussion.
A few people have asked what this means for on the field impact and even recruiting, but that doesn't matter in this situation. What matters is that Enis needed to go away immediately. We'll let the legal system carry out the rest of this.
Indiana backup kicker and redshirt junior Aaron Del Grosso was arrested early Wednesday morning on preliminary charges of public intoxication and criminal trespassing. There appears to have been a dispute with a girlfriend over a dog here.
Del Grosso's situation isn't even close to the same as what is going on with Enis. And neither is Jerome Johnson's from earlier. But is this becoming a problem? Fred Glass told the IndyStar that it isn't.
“Does a serious situation like that necessarily reflect on the culture of the program or the university? I think it can, but I don’t think it necessarily does,” Glass said in that story. “And I certainly don’t think it reflects on all we try to do to ensure student-athletes' proper conduct at Indiana.”
Wilson can't control everything in his locker room. I don't think he deserves too much blame unless this keeps happening. It isn't quite like a basketball team where there's only 15 players, for example, where the coach sees everything. He's managing 100+ guys. Hopefully, this is the end of all of that. Because it isn't fun to talk about. It isn't fun to write about. And it CERTAINLY isn't fun for the players who find out this news.
Now that that part is over with, Wilson began the week hot by calling on Indiana's fan base to show up and stay in their seats the whole game. Players on Twitter seemed to love reference to the team falling apart in the fourth quarter because they left early like the fans. It was vintage Wilson on a Monday morning.
Fans will either go one of two ways: 1) They'll show up to prove Wilson wrong. 2) They'll take it as a shot and be upset. Does it actually impact the attendance? Probably not. But it was nice of Wilson to address the issue that we all kind of see and talk about but never do much about it.
Next weekend is supposed to be a big one in terms of recruits coming to town, but there's a few names worth keeping tabs on this weekend as well.
Three-star running back Devin Darrington told me earlier this week that he'd be on a visit. You may recall him popping up on the radar back in July during the earlier days of TheHoosier, but I really like this kid. He's a smart dude with Ivy League interest and a dynamic rusher out of Maryland. I'd consider him the top running back target right now, from what I've heard. And if there's one thing I've learned about Deland McCullough is if he likes a kid, the kid is legit.
Current IU commit Caleb Jones is expected to be in Bloomington as well. His family runs a restaurant, so it's a little harder for him to get down south on the weekends, but he sounded excited about it when Jordan and I talked with him and his dad a week ago up at Lawrence North. Don't be surprised if you see Bryant Fitzgerald at the game as well. He seems to want to come to every one of them.
Whiteland, Indiana, defensive lineman Camden Lilly is also expected to visit. Andrew McCormick, a class of 2018 QB out of Kendallville, is also expected to be at the game. It seems like Coach Wilson is casting a wider and wider net in that 2018 QB race. I wouldn't put McCormick near the top of the wish list per se, but Wilson wouldn't invite him over if he didn't like him.
When more names come in, we'll keep adding them.
Donte Burton, a 5-foot-11, 178-pound Georgia defensive back, is committed to North Carolina but picked up an Indiana offer this week. He seemed pretty excited about that, but I'm not banking on the Hoosiers prying him away quite yet.
Anyway, this went long. We did the chat on the forum last night. I enjoyed it. Hope to see more folks in it next time.
If anyone wants to say hey before Saturday's game, I'll be around. Shoot me a message on here and we'll talk IU or whatever. Should be another good weekend.
