Demo

The revisionism on Sampson will never not be funny. 1) They hired a coach from a program he’d put on probation, 2) He got busted for the same $hit in YEAR 2, 3) The NCAA was gonna lay the absolute wood to you for hiring a guy you knew in real time was dirty, 3) You had no choice at all but fire him, and 4) He was then given a show-cause, hence the reason he ended up in the NBA. Whether they fired him or not he was never coaching another game at IU once it came to light. ”What would IU have been under Sampson” is the wrong hypothetical to ask. The right hypothetical and the one that will always grind on me is, “What would IUBB have been if they’d hired John Beilein instead of Sampson?” I will go to my grave convinced that Beilein would have won a Natty here, maybe more than 1, and would have also put a giant dent in Purdue’s program by virtue of his record of relationship building at the high school level combined with IU’s cache that would have effectively locked down the state. Sampson was not the one who got away, Beilein was.

If we had an appreciation spectrum for every player on the roster, and I’d love to figure out a way to do that in a thread, by the way, I’d be on the high, high end of Reneau’s. Love him. At the college level he’s a borderline elite post scorer. And both here and particularly at Montverde he’s demonstrated facilitation skills. But there are 2 things they gotta fix to maximize this year: 1) There’s a fine line between playing at your own pace and being indecisive and he crosses it a couple of times a game and that’s got to stop. Make your read and make a decision. And with the offensive options they’ve added I expect that’ll happen. 2) A guy with great offensive footwork can’t have defensive footwork that bad. His weight gets high, he crosses his feet and commits hand fouls. Jesus. He can’t hold up as a waist bender. If he has to walk around campus all day with his knees bent and his weight back, then do that. He’s also clearly gonna be Ballo’s backup minutes, it’s not gonna be Hatton, and he has to get much better at denying post position earlier. He’s big and strong enough to hold up against 90% of post guys if he engages and denies early enough. He can’t engage at 8’, he’s got to do his work at 15’. If he becomes competent at that stuff he’s an all conference player.

100%. If I had to bet the house on it, I’d guess when the NBA expands to 32 teams Stevens will take over 1 of those organizations for a significant ownership stake.

https://x.com/crimsonquarry/status/1798902220940779565 Not sure that’s completely true……

God, that sounds so strange. Side note: watched Yates play in a holiday tournament final his junior year against Newton(GA) HS. Pretty impressive kid. Also played with Terrance Arceneaux(Houston) and Newton , of course, had Stephon Castle(UConn) and the best player on the floor by a mile and the MVP of the event with multiple nationally ranked schools was…..Jakai Newton. Just sayin’

https://hoosierillustrated.com/key-2025-indiana-basketball-targets-set-official-visit-dates/ All 3 Indy Elite kids OV together 9/20-21, per Staley.

https://hoosierillustrated.com/key-2025-indiana-basketball-targets-set-official-visit-dates/ All 3 Indy Elite kids OV together 9/20-21, per Staley.

https://hoosierillustrated.com/key-2025-indiana-basketball-targets-set-official-visit-dates/ Official, all 3 Indy Elite kids’ OV together 9/20-21. If you’re not buying what Rick’s selling at this point I’ve got nothing for you.

Dude, I can barely find my way around English.

He wants the ball and wants to play early. Perfectly reasonable. But, since he’s talking about a fall commit I can’t envision any remotely realistic scenario in which IU is his best fit. If he decides to wait until spring circumstances could change and maybe the fit comes together, but that’s not the timeline he’s laid out.

Dallas, for Cuban.

https://247sports.com/college/indiana/article/hoosier-hysterics-podcast-eric-bossi-232575480/ Interesting Hysterics podcast with Eric Bossi from 24/7. For my money the best media guy doing HS evals. Talks about the rating process at 24/7. Talks about IU’s new additions, who he’s very high on. Then dives into Haralson, Mullins and Sisley from a national perspective. It’s a long one but really enjoyed it.

Talented kid but he seems a touch flaky and I can’t imagine he’s not looking for immediate minutes, which I’m confident someone will be able to promise. Not sure I’d be interested even if he is.

I get why Hurley would make the jump, but I just think at this point the Lakers is a $hitty job. Lebron and Davis count something like 100 mil against your cap. Lebron and, I think, Russell come off after next year, but Davis just signed that huge deal, so you’re building around a brittle 30+ guy with no draft capital and marginal tradeable assets. And I don’t buy the notion that seems permanently baked into the Lakers narrative that every free agent would sell his mother to play there. And it’s not nothin’ that their ownership sucks. If they had OKC’s roster, sure, but, man, I don’t think that gig would be any fun at all.

KU signs former Miss St CG Shakeel Moore less than 24 hours after losing Elmarko Jackson for the season. Moore’s a talent downgrade but he’s played a ton of HM ball and he’s a pretty good get this late.

https://x.com/jeffborzello/status/1798405024877298076 Elmarko Jackson out for the ‘24-‘25 season. Such a shame for the kid and a giant loss for KU.

Chronister had a hug weekend at NXT a couple of weeks ago and now his name’s everywhere. Not like he wasn’t already a big deal, but, man, has he taken off.

When I saw that pic my first thought was what the hell is Rob Phinisee doing at a June workout?

https://x.com/IndianaMBB/status/1798122197493703156 really looking forward to video clips

What’s up with the guitar? I’ve seen that in several of the pics from his visit.

Now you’ve done it. I’m at home with an uncooperative back so I have nothing better to do than think about this. It could go on for a minute. Off the top of my head and in order of when they played: 1) McGinnis- the anti-Perea. Not a great vertical athlete, but everything else was positively ahead of his time. Upper and lower body strength, 1st step quickness, long speed, change of direction, body control and 1 of the best sets of hands I’ve seen in basketball. If a basketball generation is 15 years, Mac may not have been a generation ahead, he might have been 2. At his peak he was Barkley at 6’8” instead of 6’4”. 2) Wilkerson- In the mid-70’s 6’7” guys who were probably plus-6 or so with effortless change of direction and body control and legit 40 inch verts basically didn’t exist. As a defensive toolkit he was rare to the point of maybe unique for his time. In the F4 against UCLA he took Raymond Townsend, who was a really good college PG, and smothered that guy. 3) Smart- probably some upper body stiffness and not great hands from being #1 on an IU list. Length, strength at his size, 1 and 2 foot explosiveness, speed end to end, 1st step, change of direction, all elite. 4) Oladipo- that a 6’4” 205lb dude could beat literally any defender at all with his 1st step, I’ll never get over how easily he could do it. And then he just had the whole toolkit past that. His body breaking down was such a shame.

https://x.com/GeneralChadwick/status/1797804100979200271 Well, this is sort of promising.

The really stunning one is Georgia which doesn’t have any basketball factories like Lalumiere, just an insane number of kids who can play.

2 things: 1) Before Newton got hurt I would 100% agree. Hopefully X has seen enough and isn’t just talking. 2) In no universe was Hanner the most athletic player to play at IU unless change of direction, body control, hands and short area quickness are suddenly not part of an athletic profile.

Can’t imagine why any NBA HC with real long term prospects would seriously consider the move. As much as everyone likes to throw around the “IU is Woody’s dream job” thing like it’s gospel, if IU had approached Woody after Sampson when the program was a smoking crater and he was in solidly with the Hawks that guy would’ve laughed out loud. What might be interesting to watch is what happens with a guy like Kevin Young at BYU. Going after a young Asst before they’re established might be an interesting tack. Suppose IU has a good enough year next year that Woody can rationalize riding into the sunset. Would they consider a guy like Ron Nored? He’s something like 35 and he’s gonna be an NBA HC in the not too distant future. Carlisle gushed about him and you watch video of him, dude’s got it. Probably not, though I think it’s a thought, but now that you can win anywhere getting a youngish longterm guy who’s already having college success is no gimme.