Leaderboard

I don't want you guys to think that I'm ignoring you ... but I am.   I have been out of the basketball recruiting realm the last two years at Scout because that was the main job of my colleague Justin Albers. So I've got to do my homework a little more before I answer.   This doesn't mean I'm dodging your questions or anything like that, it just means that when I give you an answer I want it to be accurate. I don't want to just shoot from the hip like a lot of people I know. I could baffle you with b.s. but that's not the course I like to take.   Give me a couple of days (it's freaking August by the way). I'm kind of locked in to getting football going with my stuff and with our contributors and at the same time I'm trying to get my latest book that will be out this fall to the printer. I'll try to have your answers by the end of the week.   Hope that works for you.   Hutch

    Stop.   Hutch clearly stated that he wanted to answer some tough questions accurately.   Just stop.

With the regular season opener against St. John’s less than three weeks away, Indiana men’s soccer is eager to rebound from its one-and-done exit in last year’s NCAA Tournament and prove that it has the makings of a true conference and national title contender in Coach Todd Yeagley’s sixth season. The work is certainly cut out for the Hoosiers to improve on last season’s marks of 12-5-5, runner-up in the Big Ten tournament and a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament – the 28th consecutive appearance and 39th overall. Nine opponents on the 2015 schedule qualified for the 48-team field in 2014, continuing the eight-time national champion’s tradition of facing one of the nation’s toughest. Only three of those nine matches – Notre Dame on Aug. 30, Ohio State on Oct. 10 and Louisville on Oct. 20 – will be played in Bloomington.   The high expectations were confirmed after Indiana won four of five against a high quality stretch of opponents in the spring, defeating Indy Eleven, Notre Dame, Butler and the Mexico U-17 National Team in addition to netting two on professional side Louisville City FC.   The NSCAA’s preseason No. 14 team contains an abundant supply of talented upper and underclassmen led by seven returning regular starters, five of which started all 22 games. That depth hopes to mitigate the departures of defenders Patrick Doody and Kerel Bradford, midfielders Jamie Vollmer and Dylan Lax, and forward Andrew Oliver, a group that scored or assisted on 24 of last season’s 35 goals.   The attack will frequently run through the two members of the 2014 All-Big Ten First Team: senior Femi Hollinger-Janzen and junior Tanner Thompson, who was named to the 30-man MAC Hermann Trophy Watch list on Wednesday after finishing as a semifinalist for college soccer’s top award in 2014. Thompson was selected as an NSCAA All-American after pacing the Hoosiers in points (15) with six goals and three assists, while Hollinger-Janzen contributed five goals and two assists of his own.   Incoming freshman Rees Wedderburn, who last played for English side West Bromwich Albion U-21, is also poised to be a key contributor to an offense that ranked 45th in the country and atop the conference alongside Maryland in goals scored and goals per game (1.59) last season. Expect graduate transfer Ben Maurey from Brown University, senior Kyle Sparks, junior Richard Ballard, sophomores Michael Reidford, Brad Shaw and Michael Gallulo, and freshmen Cory Thomas, Rece Buckmaster and Austin Panchot to see substantial time in the middle and final third.   The defensive side of the pitch is commanded by junior goalkeeper Colin Webb and reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year Grant Lillard, the fifth Indiana player to win the award in the past eight seasons. Lillard is currently training with a select group of top college players at the U.S. U-23 College Identification Training Camp that concludes on Saturday. He also trained with Finnish professional side HJK Helsinki for a week in July, so don’t count on the rising sophomore playing in Bloomington beyond 2015.   Senior Matt Foldesy and juniors Billy McConnell, Derek Creviston and Phil Fives, who sat out 2014, are also expected to be staples in the Hoosier defense that looks to improve on last season’s goals against average of 0.96, which ranked 60th in the country and sixth in the Big Ten. Look for sophomores Jack Griffith and Trevor Swartz as well as freshmen Tim Mehl, Andrew Gutman and Jeremiah Gutjahr to challenge for starts in the holding midfield and backline positions.   Projected starting 11:     Indiana will play three exhibitions – two in Bloomington with Valparaiso and Western Michigan on Aug. 17 and 20, respectively, and the third against Marquette in the ShinDigz National Soccer Festival in Fort Wayne on Aug. 22 – before kicking off the regular season in the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington with St. John’s and Notre Dame beginning on Aug. 28. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/soccer/indiana-men%e2%80%99s-soccer-2015-season-preview-r165]Click here to view the article[/url]

Punch them in the teeth

It seems that Coach K has hit a stride here late in his career. This coming year may not be what last year was but Duke fans will be looking forward to the 2016 season and for good reason. While just looking around on 247, CBSSports abs youtube.. Duke may just be stupidly good and could be the team to go undefeated. We don't know who will be leaving off this year's team early. Best bets are Brandon Ingram and Grayson Allen. But even if those two leave the Dukies will bring back Thornton, Kennard, Jeter and Jones. What could put them over the top you may ask? Quite possibly the best package deal you could see in recruiting. Coach K has already gotten a commitment from half of it in 6-8 SF Jayson Tatum. The other part? 6-10 PF Harry Giles who is one of the best prospects over the past decade. So Duke could put out a starting 5 of Thornton, Kennard, Tatum, Giles and Jeter. That's pretty crazy. Coach K has definitely changed his philosophy on recruiting in recent years and it has worked big time. Coach K could going out with a big bang in his last year's. And we can't do anything but respect it.

I'm excited to see what Wedderburn can do. I spoke with a player currently on the team about a month ago who said he hadn't seen him play and didn't know anything about him until the press release from the team itself. TT can pull the strings from midfield and it will be nice to have an experienced finisher in Maurey up top. For this team to improve Femi will need to become better in front of goal and they'll need a bit of scoring from the bench in Thomas and Sparks. Lillard will likely be the best player on the pitch in the majority of games.

Alright...we got us this fancy pants IU insider with us; it's time to try to extract some value far beyond the price of a free board!    No Jaybob, I am not talking to you, and no, I do not have questions about your all-time St. Louis Cardinal fanboy faves.   It's IU basketball I wanna know about! In the style of The Donald that is Trump, I am about to ask a few questions for Hutch that are what I REALLY want to know (for real, not for you fun-zee-doo, askeerd to ask out loud crowd!)   Here Goes:   1)  Which current IU recruits, in your opinion, are more than 50% likely to eventually sign with IU? (none of this 'recruiting is fluid' bull cookies - we know there are no guarantees and we know there will be new faces that arise). Which ones do you currently believe are more likely than not...name 'em.   2)  Who is the most likely fifth starter on this year's team?   3)  What percentage of players who played for Coach Crean would have made the same commitment in retrospect? Percentage of players who graduated?   4)  What percentage do you put the chance that UK, either directly or indirectly, at times funnels money to incoming recruits or their families?   5)  Was Brad Stevens offered the IU job since the end of last season?   6)  The chances that the following players will ever play more than 15 mpg at IU: Morgan, OG, Priller.

No offense, but this is not someone who's "like everyone else."  It is very true that he loves the stats and money ball side of the NBA, but if you don't think he'd step down from the NBA on his own terms if he wanted to go back to college, you're wrong.   I'm not saying he will or he won't.  I don't know that.  But this is a guy who can write his own ticket in the game of basketball right now, and if he wants to coach in college, he'd step down from the NBA in a New York heartbeat.       I've talked with him, and I'm here to tell you he's not close to the mold of every coach or ANY coach you've got experience with.   The Celtics making the playoffs (more than half the teams do) or having some kind of direction right now means nothing to what might happen down the road.   There are very few NBA coaches who last a bunch of years with the same team.  Popovich is very rare.  Phil Jackson had long tenures with two teams, but also had the luxury of several hall of famers playing for him.   The NBA is a churn and burn business; and it will not allow coaches to teach and mold young players.  At least not for very long.   If any coach would step down on his own terms, this is the guy.

The fact he decommited because his soon to be coach didn't baby him is off putting to me.

"Body of work."   Indiana is not a place where it's okay to be good every now and then; and unless Indiana wins the Big Ten and/or makes a deep NCAA run, there's no reason to keep a coach who's been here 7 years without building a decent resume.   And you'd be surprised if you knew the list of names who would take the job tomorrow if offered.  One I know 100% is Pitino.   Does Glass want to win consistently or stand by his guy and hope?   No matter what happens this season, that'll be a very fair question.    I think we'll be very good this season.  I don't think there's any question.   But like I said, it's not about one season.   It's about being here for 7 years and having just one team even meet expectations.  It's about finishing 8th and 7th in Crean's 6th and 7th seasons at Indiana.   It's about damaged relationships with local high school and a few AAU coaches.   It's about a guy who talks, and talks, and talks some more.  Mostly in platitudes; and hasn't accomplished anything, hasn't built anything, and hasn't won anything.   Body.  Of.  Work.

How could I forget [member='fivestarhtm'] [attachment=2388:ImageUploadedByBtownBanners1439081574.605295.jpg]

  ... and take advantage of the free tuition for children of university employees. Isn't that a nice, tidy little bow on top of that package?

you know i actually agree with you on that....a couple of years ago i wouldnt have but as of late he seems to be more and more irritating

To add to the Stevens conversation, Danny Ainge and Wyc Groubeck (owner) are very loyal when it comes to their coaches. They won't let a bad season or fan chatter cause them to overreact and change coaches. The fans wanted Doc Rivers gone for two seasons and Ainge and Wyc stuck with him because they believed in him, and then the rest was history after the Garnett/Allen trades. Ainge loves Stevens, and I'm going to guess that Wyc does too, so I don't think he's getting fired anytime soon. I'd love nothing more than for IU to hire Stevens tomorrow, but after this offseason I've kind of given up on believing that will happen anytime soon. I've always thought he was a college coach at heart, but am beginning to change that opinion. If he does come to IU I'll be ecstatic, but I'm not counting on it anymore. http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4720054/ainge-stevens-will-go-down-as-one-of-coaching-greats

    Agreed.   Stevens has already been a tremendous success in Boston. I think if/when Stevens comes back to college, it will be a family, lifestyle, and teaching decision, not because there's no NBA head coaching job available for him. 

    I have read as a fact that TJ showed up on the day of tryouts from an extended tournament, and was not at his best during tryouts.    Pure speculation? This was also his first time actually being coached by Miller.  Didn't like the way Miller handled himself?   Could be a variety of things, but that weekend probably sealed the de-commit.

I don't think so, or maybe I hope not.   I think the NBA wears coaches out, and I think Brad's a guy who likes to teach, mold, and strategize; and the NBA is such a players' league, I see him coming back to college at some point.   I just hope Duke doesn't get him before we do, and I hope whoever the AD is when he's ready has the checkbook out immediately.

Neither have the ladies

Winning consistently.  That's the most important thing.   And the replacement is still a one man list if there's any chance he would come back to college.  And I think it's a matter of "when," not "if."   I'm with HoosierTrav.

  HoosierTrav is my absolute favorite! (please don't stab me)

[attachment=2376:ImageUploadedByBtownBanners1438916421.511431.jpg]Im still laughing that he said this

I saw the announcement that he has put IU into his top 10. I am so sick of hearing this kind of stuff. It reminds me of a little girl I knew in second grade who used to list of all her boyfriends in order. And the worst part is that this treats these guys like prima donnas --- and then that's exactly what they become. Am I the only one sick of this stuff? This is not a comment on Mr. Atkins per se, but rather, a comment on the process as it exists at this time. New member today, WestCoast Hoosier

So he was Millered?

[attachment=2374:ImageUploadedByBtownBanners1438914402.020525.jpg]

[quote name="Napleshoosier" post="71175" timestamp="1403409237"] [url="https://btownbanners.com/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=969"]IMG_0288.JPG[/url][/quote] You went fishing and caught piss water?!?! Throw it back!!!!!! Sent from the can using BtownBanners