Bryan Medema

Alex Bozich reported that Tom Izzo's name is being mentioned as a possible coach for the Timberwolves. Regardless of validity, this is a good chance for the board to do what it does best and rampantly speculate. If Izzo left, who replaces him and how does it affect recruitment?

^The greatest hopes for my post have been fulfilled.

I was just making a really bad joke about intel. But I know what you mean, my friend follows Mizzou pretty closely (his brother is on the football team) and he hasn't heard anything useful.

Spoke with a buddy at Fort Leonardwood...He asked what the hell I was talking about.

It hurts because you're right...

I've read a few articles and his motor and athleticism as a big have specifically been mentioned. Given Crean's success with a high-motor big (some dude named Zeller?) I think he'll be a proper fit for our offense. 

I tweeted at him to take history and culture of IU. It's an online class to boot! 

“He’s athletic, runs the floor, has a high motor and high basketball IQ. He should be ready to go.” I like this kid

Jeremiah April Fools?

Congrats everyone, we broke the story!

I'm mostly disappointed that Crean allowed the University of Indiana to steal a recruit from us.

What's that? I can't hear over the sound of my own confusion over Jeremiah April.

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/173/576/Wat8.jpg

You shut your mouth this instant (*sticks fingers in ears and begins loudly humming "Indiana, our Indiana")

Profile: http://247sports.com/Player/JaKeenan-Gant-19864

Article on the situation: http://www.columbiamissourian.com/a/173713/kevin-punter-jakeenan-gant-mull-decisions-in-wake-of-frank-haith-news/

I was in the middle of posting this...Anyone else have further information?

For all of the people dismissing this thread and the very idea without further consideration, I urge you too look a little more closely at why this idea isn't pure insanity. By looking at IU's (under Crean) style of basketball, the way the NCAA tournament works, and the expectations of student athletes at IU, this actually makes a lot of sense.    Stylistically, the foundation of Tom Crean's offense comes from the ability of at minimum 1 player to be a consistent threat to penetrate the lane and either finish at the basket (drawing fouls in the process) or kick the ball out to an open shooter on the perimeter. The current makeup of the team (Yogi/Stan/Troy as penetrating forces, JB2/RJ/Maximus as catch and shoot perimeter threats) seems fit to maximize the effectiveness of this style of play. What good does a stud center do in this offense? He may provide occasional post plays, P&Rs, and offense rebounds, but more often than not he'll find himself in the way or disrupting the offenses ability to get in rhythm. Therefore, avoiding premier big men who will demand the ball and be unhappy when they don't get it (Noah) should be the priority while looking for lower rated, athletic centers capable of working the transition game (much like Cody did) should be prime targets. These players don't have to be exceptionally tall, just athletic and capable of running the floor at a high rate (what we all hope HP becomes). The main purpose of the "5" in Tom Crean's system is to provide an extra target in transition and stay out of the way when the offense is being run. On defense, he would just need to put up a fight and hunt for rebounds; two easier things to teach than offense.   In the tournament, guards have an inherent advantage. The influence of mid-major referees, who typically only work games featuring smaller players, one of whom is a relative man among boys in terms of talent, in the tournament makes it far easier to succeed as a team built around guards and wings due to the higher rate of fouls called on 4/5s (there's an article on this somewhere). This actually explains why the B1G, a league who's very reputation revolves around being a grind-it-out, punch-for-punch in the paint, hasn't tasted glory in more than a decade. The tournament favors guards, the B1G doesn't. So long as we can find our way to the tournament, we can find a way to win.    The final point is that talented big men who can do little more than walk and chew gum coming out of HS are almost guaranteed to be one and done type players. Unlike guards who are competing with a significantly larger pool, bigs only have to show potential to be draft able. For the sake of maintaining a reputation for graduating players and developing young men, we shouldn't look at the big men who we know will only use IU as a temporary home.   Focusing on less prized centers can allow us to have our cake and eat it too; success on the court while allowing us to ultimately fulfill the more important goal of preparing young men for the rest of their lives in the greatest possible environment. 

So, we start calling him the "Big Bieb" then?

Based on the way the NCAA tournament rewards teams that play with smaller (or more guard oriented) line-ups, it's not that crazy of a thought. Emphasising recruitment and development of 2-3 star post players that will stay for 4 years should ultimately benefit the team both in terms of stability and the ability to play Coach Crean's preffered style. We've seen that Crean is in his element when he routes his offense through guard and wing play, not the post. Competent big men who have the opportunity to develop, grow, and mature for 4-years would be an invaluable asset. Yes, players like Noah and Randle have the ability to immensly impact the court, however we've seen players like Kominsky prove the ability of a tenured big men, albeit less touted, to influence the game immensly. Target the low-mid range bigs and continue to bring in the immensly talented guards/wings that Crean has proven he can work with. It may hurt us a bit in the B1G, but ultimately it will help us in the tournament.

Just figured it was a good point. 2-3 solid Hoosiers a year would make us a consistently competitive team. 

http://regressing.deadspin.com/map-where-do-college-basketball-recruits-come-from-1507395145   http://deadspin.com/infographics-where-do-high-school-basketball-stars-com-5984694   We should probably still to Indiana...

Can I like this more than once?

The issue I saw was that his AAU coach is obviously cognizent of the ability to develop big men for at least one coach. Regardless of your thoughts on Crean, he's not a proven product with big men. Given that the kid seems to have a strong relationship with his AAU coach, this could definitely impact our ability to recruit him.

It's a shame Eric Gordon isn't still in LA, I'm sure he could tell him all about his wonderful experiences at IU...