Stuhoo

Y'all understand that this will be by far the most talented collection of players that Archie will have ever worked with, yes?

Now, it feels less like a "collection of talent" and more like a team.

Saturday/Monday or Sunday/Tuesday conference games on an early December island three weeks before we re-engage with the rest of the conference schedule? I get it that they did so to get the conference tourney into Madison Square Garden, but it's kinda lame and I hope that this is just a "one year only" occurrence. If it's only for this one year, then I guess I am fine with it.

After 4 years away, Zeller ready to graduate from IU May 3, 2017 Mike Miller Men's Basketball Leave a comment For the past four years, Cody Zeller has been determined to make this weekend a reality. By Saturday, he’ll be an Indiana University graduate. Zeller, who left IU after his sophomore season to begin his NBA career, will return to Bloomington this weekend to accept his bachelor’s degree in management from the Kelley School of Business. For the Charlotte Hornets forward, it’s time to finish what he started when he first arrived on IU’s campus in 2011. “I’m a competitive person and academics have always been important to me, so it was important to finish up, whether it took four extra years or after my career was over,” said Zeller, who was an Academic All-American in addition to earning All-American honors on the court. “I was determined to finish.” Doing so was manageable, though it required patience. Zeller estimates he left Indiana 35 credits shy of graduating in 2013, when he opted to declare for the NBA Draft after his sophomore year. After Charlotte drafted him with the fourth overall pick, Zeller enrolled in online courses, but only took one class per quarter while juggling the daily duties of professional basketball. During the NBA season, Zeller would plan ahead and often try complete as much work as possible while the Hornets were on the road. “The one night of the week I’d spend in a hotel room, if I didn’t know anybody in that city, I’d just open up my laptop and knock out the work for that week. It really wasn’t too bad, just one or two nights a week. I’m definitely glad I made it through and I’ll be able to call myself a Kelley grad.” The completion of Zeller’s studies is consistent with the lifetime degree guarantee outlined in IU’s Student-Athlete Bill of Rights, which was introduced in 2014. Under the athletic department’s “Hoosiers for Life” program, IU commits to covering undergraduate tuition for any former athlete who left school early to pursue a professional career, tend to a family emergency or for another compelling reason. The athlete must have played at least two seasons at IU and left the school in good standing, among other requirements. While completing his coursework remotely, Zeller said he appreciated the cooperation of those back in Bloomington, especially during last year’s first-round playoff series with the Miami Heat. His business studies also provided a welcome distraction from the pressures of a seven-game series. “It was kind of a relief for me to work on my schoolwork throughout the playoff series because basketball was on my mind so much that it kind of gave me a chance to step back and get my mind on something else,” Zeller said. “I emailed one of the professors before Game 5 and said, ‘Hey, I have a game tonight and a paper due. Would you mind giving me a day or two extension?’ “He just wrote me back a long message saying, ‘Yeah, I’ll be watching you tonight on TNT. Don’t worry about the coursework. Finish it after the series if you want.’ It’s been cool to get to know some of the professors. They’ve all been great about understanding the circumstances.” Zeller also credits the additional assistance of Marni Meunier, IU’s assistant athletic director for retention and learning services, who works as an academic advisor for the men’s basketball program. “She was my point person back in Bloomington, so if I ever needed anything, help scheduling a class or whatever, she was always quick to help,” Zeller said. “Marni is huge for the basketball program with all that she does for the academic side of things, but even when I left she was a huge part in helping me finish this.” Zeller isn’t sure how he’ll put his degree to use once his basketball career is over. He is sure, however, that participating in the business school ceremony on Friday evening will be a point of pride on par with committing to IU to play basketball in 2010 and taking the stage on draft night in 2013. To Zeller, this weekend might be even sweeter. “It’s something that I’ve worked hard for,” he said. “I’m not a big fan of receiving all the recognition for all my athletic accolades or anything else, but I told someone that I’m actually pretty proud of this one. It’s been pretty inconvenient and it’s been a lot of hard work to get to this point, but I’m glad that I finally made it. I’m excited to be back for graduation and be able to walk and enjoy the experience.”

Oh... no offense taken at all! I just think that while we have a shot with five star kids currently, to have that shot we need to show a special kind of love (and the resources that follow) at this point (unlike UNC, Duke, UK, Kansas). Not seeing indications that Trendon is where those resources should be devoted.

I absolutely don't see a strict in-state/out of state distinction, but proximity is important. Especially for kids that have an excellent family life and want their folks to attend games wherever they end up. Papa Watford made a very, very long drive to almost every IU home game. I'm pretty sure he's not all that hot-fired on doing that again with Trendon. Garland is expressing real interest in a way that Trendon is not - ie; "I grew up a Hoosier", Papa Garland a lifelong Hoosier fan, Nashville Tn is a 30 min propjet flight. FWIW, currently we are not UNC for recruits (or for potential of NCAA sanctions, thank goodness) and cannot stop by now and then for 5* kids with any real impact.

Dunno. How good is JBj's NBA feedback gonna be?

There is a difference between: "We are recruiting him" - ie; texts, a phone call per week, an invitation to campus, and "We are prioritizing him as a recruit" - ie; constant contact and never missing national AAU events, usually with attendance by Archie and not an assistant, and at the expense of doing that for other recruits like Brooks, Langford, and Garland. Because of the factors I cited, we should be doing option 1 (and we are) unless, of course, we get LOTS lots of warm fuzzies from the Watfords. We should NOT be doing option 2, because we only have the resources for that option with a few recruits. Treat out-of-state recruits as the highest priorities? We end up finishing second or third on our highest priority kids waaaay too often.

My preferred guard rotation for this year (in order of on-court minutes) would be: JBj, RoJo, DeVonte, Josh, Al D.

Avery Johnson is very likeable, and had an extensive stint as an NBA head coach The Watfords are from Alabama; it's his home state school If I was Trendon Watford and a big, big time national recruit, I would NOT want to go to a school where I was widely known as "Christian's little brother." Not saying we shouldn't give it a try here, but I can see why, absent a real expression of interest by the Watford family, our resources could be better spent elsewhere. We can only give high priority to so many per year, and I'd rather have Archie courtside for Keion Brooks' games than for Trendon Watford's. For those of us (myself included) who believe that Crean was too spread out and too 'out-of-state oriented', I give Crean a pass here, especially if Crean and Christian haven't remained close post-IU. Alabama should be dominating this one.

99.5%

CuJo is gonna be a break-out star in an IU uniform, and Grant Gelon will be right by his side enjoying it?

I think that TB going is extremely likely. I think that CuJo leaving is as likely as JBj leaving.

https://mobile.twitter.com/JoelBuzzard/status/857279108715343879/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidethehall.com%2Fiubb%2F

No. None.

Oh... you can be certain he is Hurt all of the time.

Draft Express (by most accounts, the most consistently accurate draft projection service) update: OG - #14 (1st round) TB - #42 (2nd round) James, RoJo: Unranked in the top 100 draft prospects. NBA pre-draft combine invites come out this Friday. The pre-draft combine will be on about May 10th. The early entrants who have not signed with an agent have until May 24 to pull their names from the draft pool.

MOD WARNING FOR DERAILING THE THREAD!! ;)

A direct, key quote from the presser, which is now on-line, regarding the four declarants efforts to seek out NBA feedback: Archie: "I know OG's on his way. I think Thomas has continued to really push toward, you know, finding answers out. And I know James and Rob, once they finish out the semester here, so to speak, ya know, with some finals, I think those guys are also gonna get their opportunity as well. Later, about DeRon: "He's gonna be a major, major player for us next year. The opportunity is there." Speculative takeaway? Rob and James are in Bloomington as student-athletes, and it seems as though TB is in the process of preparing to move on.

I'll try to pump a little sunshine for you: Let's compare apples to apples and go off of listed heights (even if they're not always accurate) because other schools do the same thing: Behind DeRon (6'10") we have Clifton (6'10"), Juwan (6'7"), Collin (6'7"), Justin (6'7"), and MSB (6'9") The height we have is plenty big enough to guard all backup centers and almost all starters. Period. For the teams with true bigs in the middle (like Haas) if DeRon was in foul trouble, it is usually not a huge deal because bigs that size usually play only 20-25 minutes per game. Haap? He's really tough to guard with DeRon, Juwan, or anyone else. When you're up against the top big in the conference, it's time to double-team and collapse on him no matter who is the primary defender. There's a primary defensive reason we hired Archie; the D!ck Bennett 'pack-line' style of defense that CAM favors is very, very good at denying inside touches. We darn well better be improved in our help defense awareness. It is what Archie's Dayton teams were good at, and they often accomplished this without much height at all.

In the entire article on ITH there is no mention of TB. It's notable that there's no mention of Curtis, but TB is such a major player that the lack of mention of him, to me is far, far more notable. On the other hand, if our front line is: DeRon, Juwan, Collin, Freddie, Justin, Clifton, MSB, and Zach, we are more than well covered. A healthy Juwan and an in-shape DeRon will be big-time pieces, Collin will be Collin, and Justin and Freddie should be key defensive pieces from the get-go this year.

Apparently Alex Bozich from Inside the Hall had a sit-down with Archie and the assistants today. No article yet, but kudos to Alex for some serious meat in his tweets: Alex Bozich @insidethehall Miller: "I think taking care of the basketball is a huge thing. Not just by your point guard or perimeter, everyone has to value the ball." Alex Bozich @insidethehall Miller also said that Collin Hartman will be in Bloomington all summer: "Everything I was told about Collin is true." #iubb Alex Bozich @insidethehall More from Archie Miller on Juwan Morgan: "He fits how we play." #iubb Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall One of the main reasons Flint wanted to get back into coaching: "The kids give you energy. I missed that last year." #iubb Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 2m2 minutes ago One thing Flint and John Calipari agree on when it comes to building a team: "Without a post presence, you're a little bit of a fraud." Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 2m2 minutes ago Keys to winning, according to Flint: Defense, rebounding and taking care of the ball. #iubb Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 3m3 minutes ago Bruiser Flint says he came to Indiana because of Archie Miller and his belief that Miller will get things done in Bloomington. #iubb Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 4m4 minutes ago Schilling on John Calipari, who he worked for at UMass and Memphis as well as New Jersey: "Not a more loyal guy in the business." #iubb Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 5m5 minutes ago Schilling said Arizona coach Sean Miller reached out to him to gauge interest in coming to work with Archie and things went from there. Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 5m5 minutes ago Ed Schilling on the chance to come back to the state: "It's been terrific. This is home for me." #iubb Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 6m6 minutes ago Miller said that if all of IU's perimeter guys are back, the backcourt should be talented and deep. #iubb Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 7m7 minutes ago Tom Ostrom said one takeaway from visiting coaches around the state is that most of them want IU to do well. #iubb Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 8m8 minutes ago In terms of future scheduling, Miller mentioned finding "perfect fits" the key. Also said IU needs to be on marquee stage. #iubb Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 9m9 minutes ago Miller said he doesn't anticipate Indiana's scholarship situation being a big challenge. Expects situation to sort itself out. #iubb Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 11m11 minutes ago Miller said one of the keys with De'Ron Davis is getting his body and motor right. "He has great hands and feet." #iubb Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 13m13 minutes ago Miller said Juwan Morgan "has a chance to be a special player" and is a "breakout candidate." #iubb Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 13m13 minutes ago Miller called James Blackmon Jr. "the best shooter I've been around." Also said Robert Johnson has shot it well this spring. #iubb Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 14m14 minutes ago Miller said Devonte Green reminds him of some guys he coached at Dayton in that he's physical and can get the ball to the rim. #iubb Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 14m14 minutes ago Miller said De'Ron Davis should be one of the most improved players in college basketball next season. Will stay in Bloomington all summer. Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 15m15 minutes ago Archie Miller said Collin Hartman has been available for workouts this spring, but they've kept him away from contact. #iubb Alex Bozich‏ @insidethehall 16m16 minutes ago Had a chance to meet with Archie Miller, Tom Ostrom, Ed Schilling and Brusier Flint today. A few takeaways to come ...

FWIW; Middle School Bob just posted a picture with the team at Showalter Fountain titled "Squad." All walk-ons and eleven of the current scholarship players in the picture. The only two missing? OG and Thomas

One of my all-time favorite Rupp Rafters/UK fan exchanges is below. Let me set the stage: 5 star "student athlete" Hamidou Diallo commits to UK and joins their team last December Diallo works out with the team, but apparently, even when offered by Calipari, says "no thank you" when asked to play in games Yesterday, "student athlete" Diallo, after four months with a jersey but not one second of playing time, declares for the NBA draft, and is unlikely to return to UK in the fall. And now, for the best part: the two UK fans with a point - counterpoint that only Kentucky logic could devise: _____________________________________________________________________________ Wildcat-in-STL said: Cal has stated he wanted to let Diallo play but Diallo said he didn't want to play this year. Whats Cal going to do??? Kick him off the team for not going in when asked? Dreklie Not even sign him. Lol. Now dude will get a completely free education anytime in his life he needs it, and for what?

There's a saying that I'll paraphrase: "When you feel like one other person is being an @$$ to you, it might be them, but when everyone thinks you're an @$$? It's you. (of course)