Demo

Ok, that’s funny.

And it’s really easy to lose sight of the fact that they may be insanely physically mature, they’re still mostly kids. Ballo may look like Goliath, but he’s 21. When I was 21 I was literally dancing into bars because my ID was no longer fake.

Barely played as a freshman and then redshirted last year. Had brief cursory IU interest ages ago. From the Chicago area, I believe. Maybe Northwestern?

Hoosier fans doing what Hoosier fans do.

Great draft and stash. She’ll play in the League a long time.

In a shocking twist Woody tries to sell Ballo on following in the rich IU point guard tradition of a Isiah and Yogi. Did not see that one coming.

It’s not a slap in the face. You currently have 5 scholarship guards plus a visit lined up for later in the week with a highly regarded kid who has no other visits scheduled. It’s entirely possible the kid wanted a sense of his role and upon getting that feedback calculated that he wanted more certainty for his last year in college. In that case the process worked exactly as it should and I wish him well.

That was quick.

Mitchell’s the quintessential YouTube all-American. Remember listening to Biancardi gushing over him at Montverde and thinking, “You do know the kid can’t play, right?”

So, 3 years ago he was at LSU, 2 years ago he was at Georgetown and last year he was at SLU. How’d it go for those coaches? For those foaming at the mouth to move on from Woody, here’s your solution. Get him interested in this kid. Dude’s like a black cat.

If you know, you know. Welcome to the family, Mr Ballo.

Well, that's interesting move with a junior Okpara there.

If he’s 100% he won’t just compete for minutes, he’ll get’em. But, speaking as probably the #1 Newton fan who’s not a family member, it’s tough to roster build based on that assumption.

Next weekend. Not sure if he even has any others scheduled.

Easy one to see. He’s a Gates kind of player.

Cupps, man. That kid is on the Rushmore of culture pieces.

Ivisic should absolutely stay. That’s a great system fit for him.

If they plan to do that with Mgbako, then there’s probably an argument there. And what the roster looks like when they get to maybe 11 filled scholarships will probably tip that off. Maybe it’s just because Woody was so hellbent on not matching up that way last year, I just have trouble seeing it.

You’re currently on 5 scholarship guards. I just can’t imagine that Carlyle/Conwell/Hickman isn’t a 1 of situation. Some systems would justify 7 guards. What Woody’s doing with Mgbako on the wing and Tucker getting wing minutes doesn’t.

Ah, travel ball season.

Underwood might be the perfect HC for this era, which is pretty wild for a guy pushing 60. But he’s so freaking adaptive. Used to be the ultimate spread offense coach but now he just re-schemes every year based on the roster. That is really not easy.

That sounds right. Went to 1 of the basketball factories, maybe Prolific or Compass, and then classed up to go to Zona. So he’s got 2 years of college experience but he might be 19.

Arizona’s Kylan Boswell commits to Illinois. The former PAC 12 schools continue having their young guards plundered by the B1G.

Bossi on Brown’s weekend: Last weekend at USA Basketball's Final Four event, junior point guard Mikel Brown Jr.showed a new level of aggression in his game. He looked bigger – which he is, having grown to 6-foot-3 – and a little stronger and there were no lulls in his game. This weekend at the 3SSB event, he's taking things to an entirely new level. Currently ranked No. 15 overall in the 2025 class, Brown is on the fringe of five-star status and ranks as the No. 2 overall point guard and he's making a case for a bump up. His aggression driving to the rim is what really stands out. He's always been a skilled handler, passer and shooter but his lack of strength (and he still needs to get stronger) has been a detriment on drives. Now, seemingly out of nowhere, he's become a force attacking the rim and is a threat to dunk on anybody at just about any time.