Demo

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. 

6 minutes ago, LamarCheeks said:

Mack is headed to the Pacific Northwest! 

(Seattle Storm, BTW -- not sure why their logo is so minimized in this graphic). 

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

38 minutes ago, iubb said:

 

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. 

3 minutes ago, 94Bulldog said:

And once again it’s proven that cryptic tweets and sources aren’t always correct.  Why do I let myself get caught up in this every year.  Can’t imagine they offered more NIL so that’s a big time slap in the face.  

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.

2 minutes ago, iubb said:

 

 

 

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That was quick.

30 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

Portal is wild.   Texas got 3 kids committed from it yesterday and then today lost Mitchell and Hunter 

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.

9 minutes ago, IH8PU said:

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

5 minutes ago, steubenhoosier said:

All this talk about rosters, minutes, etc.

Is Newton an afterthought, or just being written off?

If he is recovered, I see him competing for guard minutes 

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. 

1 minute ago, ebridges24 said:

when was/is Carlyle's visit?

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

1 minute ago, Home Jersey said:

Tony Perkins commits to Missouri per Rabby

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

19 minutes ago, dwtaylor1055 said:

Myles Rice now following Payne via Instagram.  Only Cupps were following him prior to yesterday

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

1 minute ago, RaceToTheTop said:

Their incoming freshman are currently on their new NIL tours.  Bradshaw is thought to be a North Carolina lean which in part IMO is Ballo being thought of being an IU lean.

The 7'2" Crotation big man from Kentucky is intriguing but he is going to be meeting with Mark Pope before decided if he wants to go back to Kentucky or stay in the portal.

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

1 minute ago, btownqb said:

I think the way things stand now/along with who we've contacted--- it seems like they expect MM to play a fair amount of 4. 

I think you can add 2 of the 3. Leal and Cupps shouldn't be looked at as "in the rotation", IMO, anyways. They are great 9th-11th guys ish, IMO. 

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.

8 minutes ago, RaceToTheTop said:

Your thoughts on what that would do with Carlyle?  That is, is the trio of Rice/Hickman/Carlyle coming in a possibliity?

I know that many on here really want Conwell (i do as well) but I don't think realistically from Conwell's viewpoint that it makes sense to come into a situation that already has two guards coming in plus another who led the time in minutes the previous year.

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.

51 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

As long as Underwood is at Illinois they are going to be a player. He gets players. He finds ways to win. I don’t like him. I think he’s corny and maybe a prick but he’s a competitor.


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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. 

6 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

I think he’s from southern Illinois 

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.

29 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Payne for $600k instead?

Since there are no salary cap implications I’d rather have Ballo, though I imagine a cap in some form or fashion will be tossed around. But I suppose now that programs are establishing a GM role, being able to trade kids is the next logical step. “Hey, I’ll trade you Ballo for Payne and a 90% free throw shooter. We can make the numbers work.” 

10 minutes ago, btownqb said:

I guess I could maybe see that buuuuut... our in ability to get a Dreb and GO, consistently, was as detrimental as about anytbing offensively last year. 

Rice, Ballo, and Kanaan would rectify that issue QUICK. Off of that, I think MM gets more good shots, if we're functioning how we're suppose to. 

Oh, don’t get me wrong, that kid addresses a lot of needs and makes you better and I’m down. But I just know there’ll be some game where there up 1 under 30secs and they can’t get him subbed and all 5 kids on the other team are fouling him simultaneously and I’m going to be sitting chanting 1.2 mil over and over.