BGleas

Agree, I couldn’t figure out how that wasn’t over the back either. The ref was standing right there. The other call that I thought was awful was the travel they called on Davis with a minute or two left. Gafford completely flopped, and then Davis didn’t travel he was tripped by Gafford who had flopped onto the ground.

Agree completely. I love what Phinisee did there, he and Davis just didn’t make the shot. I love that as a freshmen, playing in his 3rd game in an environment like that and alongside ‘headliners’ like Morgan and Langford, that Phinisee had the stones to be aggressive and make a play. That’s going to pay dividends for several years.

Kind of BS that De Sousa has to sit out but Bill Self doesn't?!?! So we punish the kid until a review is done, but the multimillion-dollar coach who is on record having known about paying players gets to keep coaching?

Remember Moses Abraham? He came to IU on an official and all the word leaking was that he wanted to commit on his visit, but his parents convinced him to wait until a couple days after he got home. Georgetown was the main competition, and the story went that John Thompson, Sr. (long retired at that point) was waiting at the airport when Abraham got back from IU. Seems crazy that a coach’s father can recruit for him.

This can all cut both ways. I was reading on message boards a couple weeks before Franklin's visit that a commit (not a specific name, but a commit would be soon) from someone was close to happening. So might sound crazy, but maybe the staff knew some things before we did on or after Franklin's visit on the 25th. Then as Franklin's visit approached chatter started coming in that he would likely commit after the visit. That chatter started before his visit, not after. As far as a guy like Shedrick, he was said to have interest in IU and then made a quick commitment to Virginia. Who knows why that offer was made and/or why his attention went to Virginia so quickly? Could be Archie really wanted him but he fell in love with Virginia, and could also be he felt TJD was the priority and likely to come to IU, probably a combination. I'm not saying Archie is some recruiting wizard that is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers, nor am I saying that TJD and Brooks are 100% locks, just saying the strong indications are that they are IU leans, TJD probably much bigger than Brooks, and that Archie seems to not have lined up any backup plans, which is not like him. I'm sure the long list of guards IU went after over the summer weren't all cooled on because Archie cooled, a few probably didn't have a ton of interest for a variety of reasons, but I still think over the summer Archie narrowed on TJD, Brooks and a guard, and as the summer winded down things came into focus that Franklin would likely commit and IU was really close on TJD and Brooks, close enough to warrant basically going 'all-in'.

Not trying to "in Archie we trust" you, but the timeline is telling. Brooks and TJD were always the main priorities, while Archie has also kept varying degrees of touch with Stewart, Hurt and Watford. Then this summer he did hand out the guard schollies a little bit like candy with Franklin, Newman, Bouknight, Harris, Ramsey, Leque, etc. But, once it began coming clear that Franklin was going to commit, almost all connection with IU and those other guards died down. I might be giving the staff too much confidence, but seems to me they always wanted TJD, Brooks, and a guard in the Fall, and then the Watford, Hurt, Steward group is Spring gravy is there's room. It's telling to me that there really are no backup plans (kids in the 50-150 range) for TJD and Brooks right now for the Fall period.

This why I’m confident all the message board chatter on TJD and Brooks will come to fruition, because it appears that Archie has backed off of any sort of back-up plans.

To this point out of the blue bloods, looks like Bill Self is getting outed the most. I hope the Nike stuff hits soon, no way UNC, Duke and UK aren't doing this and maybe even more.

I could be wrong, but I think in many of these cases it’s Archie who has turned his attention elsewhere. I think Archie is expecting 3 in the Fall and is all in on TJD and Brooks to finish the class. I don’t want to sound like a homer, but I really don’t think all these guys IU showed interest to in the Spring and early summer weren’t interested, I think things narrowed for IU’s staff coming out of the summer, especially as TJD and Brooks became much more possible.

Absolutely! I meant that to be included in the all-encompassing "entire Sampson debacle". Self-reporting and working with the NCAA against yourself is the dumbest thing you can do, and of course, IU did it.

It's like Indiana has set the blueprint for how to horribly screw these things up. First, the Knight firing and then subsequently letting the players hire the next coach instead of going out and getting the best coach for the job, and then the entire Sampson debacle from start to finish.

Love this show. Finished season 2 a few days ago.

To be fair and accurate, Crean landed two top 100 recruits (Watford was top 50, Creek was very close to 50) and 4 total top 150 recruits in the 2009 class (the equivalent to the 2018 class for Mack in terms of timing of his hire/first class).

Read this yesterday, just unbelievable story. Definitely worth the read!

I’d argue we have a greater need for a scoring/shooting guard in this class, which is why I’d rather have Bouknight or Newman. Assuming Romeo leaves, we’ll need another shooter. Between Phinisee, Green and Durham, the ball handling/pg duties will be covered.

Great article, really interesting look on what it takes to make it in the NBA. Great example with Nigel Williams-Goss as a guy who is probably a better pure basketball than maybe 10% of the NBA, if not more, but the issue isn’t talent, it’s role. There’s no role for him on a team. The article doesn’t mention him, but Jimmer Ferdette recently talked about not making it in the NBA. Fredette is certainly an extremely talented basketball player. He’s probably better than say Yogi, but Yogi has learned/can play off the ball in an offense. Jimmer couldn’t adjust to playing off the ball, and while he’s a heck of an offensive player with the ball in his hands, you’re not handing your offense to him, so he’s not in the league. All of the guys mentioned above (Williams-Goss, Fredette, Yogi, and more) are probably way more talented than Andre Roberson. The difference is Roberson has prototypical NBA wing size and is perfectly happy playing defense and rebounding, and hardly ever shooting, so he’s a starter on a play-off team and two of the three guys mentioned above aren’t even in the league. Really interesting stuff IMO.

Wait, they’ve been offered? Hadn’t heard.

TJD, Brooks and Newman are I’m sure welcome to commit now if they want.

That's a good one too!

Saw that too, wanted to get it in before he officially declared (hopefully).

Absolutely, you have to be able to shoot and handle. My post was more just a general comment, not advocating for Morgan being ready for the NBA.

Without putting much thought to it, I’d say the Huerter kid from Maryland. Imagine he and Langford on the wings with Smith and Morgan at the forward spots, we’d be unguardable.

I think there are a lot of guys playing PF (if that’s even really thing anymore) at that size. I’m watching the WCF right now and the tallest guy on the court for either team is Kevin Durant. I really he’s about 6’11” but he’s basically a shooting guard. Houston’s tallest guy the last 7-8 minutes of the half was Trevor Ariza.

I’m not sure. Like I said, the rules probably changed from 20 years ago, but when I played the coaches were not allowed in the gym if the team was playing pickup in the Fall/Spring. They were “voluntary” sessions technically, but the coach could not be in the gym with us playing. His office was right down the hall and he’d make up reasons to walk through each day and take a quasi attendance, but otherwise he couldn’t be in there or film them. We were allowed to have small group sessions in the Spring and Fall with the coach, but not team workouts. He would ask various players who was playing well, who wasn’t, etc. every day, but he couldn’t watch Again, the rules may have, and probably most likely have, changed.

Absolutely appreciate the info, and not trying to give you a hard time. Yes, these open gyms do happen all time, probably almost daily, and I’m doubting the info at all that many of the freshmen have been there for some runs with the team. I do doubt that there was any time of “walk through” that involved an actual lineup or the coaching staff. If there was, it was probably player driven just to teach some of the newer guys a set or two for the open gym. Unless the rules have changed, which is entirely possible as it’s been 20 years since I played, the coaches are not allowed in the gym for these open gym/pick up game sessions.