Stuhoo

  So tell me, GC; make a stand:   OG Anunoby is a straight A student, has great athleticism, apparently is a very willing defender, and is a low rated recruit; not just out of the top 100, but out of the top 200 on most services. He will likely need at least one year to earn any substantial minutes in the rotation.   He is also from (shudder) Jefferson City, Missouri.   I am glad the staff identified him and convinced him to come on board. Are you on record stating that offering and signing him was a flat out bad decision?

  Absolutely, and I believe the staff tries to do exactly that; fill in the 3 star recruits with kids from the three/four state area. They don't always succeed, but they try. That's why we got Etherington, Hartman, Devin Davis, Dumes, Abel, Zeisloft, VJones, Pritch, Capo, many, many walk-ons (some of whom were offered D1 schollys elswhere) and others.   The staff thought that April had potential, more so than a kid like Zach McRoberts or Derek Smits, and had a wide open scholly very late in the game. Complete miss. They also thought that Hoetzel and Bawa had more potential. Nope - wrong and wrong, and you pissed off a local high school coach of kids like Bryson and Brenton Scott who didn't get a chance to be recruited by IU. MSB? Nice kid and a wide open scholly. Ooops - missed again.   They also thought that Emmitt Holt, Will Sheehey, and Victor Oladipo had more potential than similarly rated in-state kids. Winners! This year they feel the same way about OG (who, by the way, is a zero star recruit). Where's the GoColts outrage about bringing him in? Oh right, he hasn't failed yet.     I don't care for the strawman arguments; pre-supposing an untrue negative conclusion and then riffing off of it.

Stan was a pretty high level recruit. There was no reason to bring in April without knowing whether he had the requisite work ethic. April was a flat out miss. It happens.

  I think you are missing the point many here are making: the reason that IU has not had the success of Wisky and MSU is NOT largely because of recruiting, talent level, or whether the current players "get" what makes Indiana tick.   It is largely because Izzo and Ryan (and Stevens, and Knight) are superb instructors of basketball, and superb in-game basketball coaches. Can Tom Crean coach up a group of players to the highest level of success? I hope so.

1.  Watch out world; here comes a lean, mean grown up Emmitt Holt.   2.  Max Bielfeldt sighting!!!

    Are you kidding me?   If MSB stomped the sand like that, it'd turn into "The Glass Pit".

He should have magically absorbed the "Indiana basketball fairy dust" during his one year of high school ball at LaLu!

I guess because I forgot to put "tic" next to MSB's birthplace that is grounds for criticism of all of the counters to extensive rambling. Oooh...Knight got lazy. there's a solid defense of why he did things the right way and Crean doesn't! Are you really criticizing Bryant, Rojo, and Sheehey! Holy crap. Hanner played his high school ball in Indiana. Does he count as an Indiana kid?

  I'm gonna take a guess that Judson is the new Assistant Coach and that we're filling the DoB job instead.

Keith Richards is like the Tim Duncan of rock guitar:   Backstage he looks like he shouldn't be able to get the job done anymore, but effortlessly lets the game come to him and gets the best results.

  Geez, GoColts...I mean, Old Friend...if ADD was contagious, I might have caught it from your post.   The strawman argument that you made was when you riffed off of your supposition that Purdue and Painter somehow "get it" by caring more about in-state recruiting. The answers that have followed absolutely refute that.   You slingshot off of that into..SQUIRREL!!!        Into how our roster has too much dead weight, citing players like Stan, Max H, Bawa, (out of state guys from different Crean squads), Priller (born in Indiana), and Fischer (not dead weight!). Do you think that Purdue, MSU, etc are without dead weight? Have we had any in-state dead weight?   Then you get to how Bob Knight had it much more squared away; even though AAU was not a national game back then and guys like Mandeville, Lindemann, and Haris Mujzevinovich (sp) were in the Knight mix too. Uhhmmm, as hard as it is to believe, Coach Knight went out of state on a hit and miss basis too.   Just when you get started on Coach Knight...SQUIRREL!!!     Off we go to Butler; after all they beat TEXAS (gasp) last year before losing!  Bo Ryan and Tom Izzo's success, in part determined by how many in-state kids they have? Could it be also because Ryan, Izzo, Knight, and Stevens are a cut above as coaches?...   Anyway, just when we are into a discussion of how Bo and Izzo win with in-state we ...SQUIRREL!!!     Start in on how our out of state players are "mediocre" (with a special shout out to east coast prioritization).  Hell, our west coast recruits (Hoetzel, Story and April) kinda sucked, but our east coast guys!!!???!!! I'm probably missing a couple, but our east coast recruits under Crean have been: Thomas Bryant, Victor Oladipo, Emmitt Holt, Rob Johnson, Jeremiah Rivers, Troy Williams, Noah Vonleh, Will Sheehey, and Stan Robinson. That's a freakin' Tom Crean all-star team!    Our biggest 'problem recruits'? Hollowell (Indiana), Patterson (Indiana), DevDavis (Indiana), Robinson (east), Dumes (Indiana), and Danny Moore (just kidding!!).   In summary GC, welcome to board (it's the slow season, and you are hugely welcome as a guy that can stir the pot w/provacative stuff). However, this ain't the Scout board where there's no one to knock down nonsense.  Crean may not be the answer, but at least we should be honest about why; he just might not be a good enough basketball mind.   Oh, and ... and SQUIRREL!!! (I can't help, it, it's too much fun to 'squirrel people')    

  After this year we will have put two good seasons together. Not necessarily great seasons, but at a minimum good.

  Strawman argument. Posit a falsity like "Purdue DOES have in-state success...(and) The reason we're not having in-state success", and run with it!   CTC has had some real success in-state. Hulls, Zeller, Blackmon, Yogi, etc, etc, etc. Please don't cite Swanigan. His handler is a pro agent and a Purdue alum. Purdue's top six last year? Hammons (mostly in-state), Davis (in-state) Octeus (nope) Stephens (nope) Mathias (nope) Haas (nope). 1 and 3/4 out of six...Wow - Painter must not care about in-state kids that care!   Our top six last year? Yogi (in-state), Blackmon (yup), Rojo (nope), Troy (nope), Hanner (mostly no), Collinn (yup). Three + out of six (three + out of seven if you include Nick Z).    CTC doesn't get them all, and he doesn't get all the ones you wish he did; I get it. He gets some in-staters that were abject failures (Patterson, Hollowell, Etherington) and misses on some good ones.     The talent level at IU is high, the chemistry appears to be good for now. The bottom line for me? Can CTC coach 'em up well enough.

Video is awesome.   Juwan Morgan is a kid who got really good in high school apparently w/o ever working hard on strength and conditioning. He's also a really smart kid who will keep his head on straight, be an academic achiever, and develop like crazy. Great to see him fully in the mix watching guys like Rojo and Nick Z killing it!   PS: Where's Max?

    Oooh, oooh...I forgot to tell you:   Casual Gamer Reed is likely on there awaitin' yer' womanness!   Does that help you change your mind?

Emmitt is already a fan favorite, and for me, a personal favorite. Last year he saved his breakout performance for March with 12 rebounds and three blocks against Maryland, and has tremendous potential for growth as he is underway with his first off-season of development as a Hoosier.   His intuitive feel for the game and ability to alter shots defensively is so very valuable, especially with Big Tom and Max now available to lean against true fives.   And now...this:     Ty Rogers @_TyRogers_ Emmitt Holt has added a nice 3-PT shot. Whew. Real nice. 1:35 PM - 30 Jun 2015

Kassoum Yakwe Wins Nike EYBL Defensive Player of the Year Award, Targeting Summer Decision on Next Step July 2nd, 201511:13 am Kassoum Yakwe has been named the the Nike EYBL Defensive Player of the Year and is targeting a July decision on his future plans. The 6-foot-7, 205-pound forward from the PSA Cardinals and Our Savior New American averaged 3.1 blocks and 6.3 rebounds per game en route to the award. He is the second straight player from the PSA Cardinals program to win Defensive Player of the Year honors, following incoming Kansas freshman Cheick Diallo. “Last year I didn’t have the chance to play a lot because there we had older players, and that was their last go in the EYBL. I understood all of that. I got to learn a lot from those players and my coaches.”   Terrance “Munch” Williams of the PSA Cardinals praised Yakwe’s importance to the program. “Many times people overlook the importance of the defensive side of the ball,” he told SNY.tv. “Kassoum has made it respectable for the next generation of high school/ AAU guys to enjoy specializing on the defensive side of the ball as well as being a formidable offensive player. Needless to say, he’s one of the better players in the country.”   Meantime, a source close to Yakwe said he is targeting a decision by the end of July on what he will do next year. Yakwe could end up on a college campus in 2015 or attend prep school for one season. The source said they are “leaning toward prep” for 2015-16, with Yakwe going to college beginning in 2016. St. John’s, Oregon, Indiana, Washington and Kansas are working “hard to get him,” and Maryland is “getting involved as well,” the source said.   Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com was at the Our Savior New American-Linden game in February and came away impressed by Yakwe’s athleticism. “He’s a freak athlete,” Givony said. “He guards, he rebounds, he blocks shots. He has an amazing body with a long wingspan. There are not many guys in college with those physical attributes. If he develops a reliable corner 3, he is going to be an NBA player.”

We need a signed-up mole!   Who's gonna volunteer to infiltrate (Olivia)?

From the top of the heap down:   IU Hoosier41+ccgeneral+hoosierpap>Rabjohns>Osterman>Hutchens>Albers>McCarthy.   JMO

Thank you, new Kentucky recruit Jamal Murray, for revealing yourself.   Jamal's already got his exit visa from UK stamped for ten months from now. Quoteth Jamal: "But in the end, with Kentucky, coach (John) Calipari has a history of getting players to the next level, quick. We just have to focus on one year of hard work and dedication."   Hey Jamal...what's your major gonna be?

I'll tell you all what's impressive about this young man...this is:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0U-u_U9244

"Got plans or..."   "Splat r no go"

That was great.

Coach I most want at IU:   Brad Stevens   JILL ELLIS!

  That's a VERY high-end list of players.   Troy Williams is good enough to be added to that list. The only question is whether he will get enough chances with all the other scorers we will have in the lineup. Don't think he will.