Baltimore Hoosier

When you try to be snarky then post incorrect data... Another wise cracking jokester.. I'm talking about budget within the state. The entire argument is that Indiana is not landing in state talent. And compared to the other teams in the state, my guess was, that indiana has the largest budget. I know some folks may not have jobs but posting in between client appointments makes it difficult to do a ton of fact checking and detective work before every post.

The point is, Indiana University, the school synonymous with college hoops, multiple National Championships, and the largest budget (I'm guessing), should be better at recruiting the state of Indiana.

Good try.. I said INDIANA has failed to do anything about recruiting in-state talent over the last 10 years. It's bigger than Crean. Before you waste your time with bold print and underlining sentences that include snarky comments, you may want actually read the post. So let's see.. Most of YOUR points are invalid. I'll also point out that you mention Teague, and Blueitt and use your opinion on why they may or may not have been IU caliber as if it were fact. ONCE AGAIN. Bahaha.

I encourage people to do some research to find out how high school coaches in the state feel about Indiana and Crean as opposed to Painter or Holtmann. There are several articles floating around about how the connection isn't there and Crean hasn't developed the relationships.. When you have names like Hummel, Teague, Robinson, Harris, Dawson, Lyles, Blueitt, Swainigan, J Johnson, D Thomas, Guy, Irvin, (I could keep going) being recruited in the state where you should be dominating recruiting, and try to tell me that those aren't the "right players," I'm wondering what folks mean by that phrase. The "right player." The fact is, Indiana hasn't been able to land the top players from the state with any consistency over the last decade. If a guy is playing high school basketball in the state of Indiana, and perhaps from the state of Indiana, and is one of the top 50 players in the country coming out of high school, and the kid works hard, plays basketball at a high level, and is a good kid, why would you not put a large portion of your resources into that? And if those dominoes start to fall, then you've got a residual well to drink from (so-to-speak). You can't rely on Boo Williams to supply you with all of your recruits year after year.

I like Chuck Martin, but he or someone on the staff NEEDS to figure out how to land the 2017/2018 Indiana HS recruits. 2017 has to be one of the better classes to come out of the state in a long time, at least on the top end, and it seems IU has already completely missed the boat on Bowen and Jackson. They simply cannot afford to let guys like Wilkes, Scruggs, and Langford, go somewhere else. To me, that would send a horrible message to the next few classes.

That's what I'm getting at.. I'm not sure what it will take. I guess a lot of guys now want to try something different, get a fresh start and experience college life by being away from home. But if it's the best player in the state and they are down to IU and Purdue and the recruit picks Purdue, something is wrong with that.

I guess it's all speculation at this point. It's impossible to get in the mind of Wilkes or Scruggs. I've said this before, but for whatever reason, the top in-state players all seem to feel no love with Indiana over the last decade. I went back to 2007, when IU landed Gordon, which really was kind of a weird win. But since then, Indiana has missed out a ton of top in-state players year after year. That's not to say guys like Hulls, Yogi, and Zeller weren't big wins, but when you look at the other guys going to Purdue, Michigan State, Xavier, etc from Indiana's own back yard, it's so frustrating. Names like Deshaun Thomas, Gary Harris, Glen Robinson, Zak Irvin, Trey Lyles, Blueitt, Swanigan, Hummel, Teague, etc. And 2016 is no different. IU settled for Grant Galeon, who might fill a need, but man I would have rather had Guy who does everything Galeon does, only much better. But instead he's taking his talents to Virginia??? I get that Crean likes these Boo Williams guys, and does a pretty good job of recruiting DMV, but you NEED to be all-in when you have a player like Guy or Langford in your own back yard. Crean needs someone who can recruit the mid-west and in particular, the state of Indiana, and do a much better job IMO because it doesn't seem like he has a grip on it.

Your guess is as good as mine as to why some one-off's choose the schools they do. I think I understand why UCLA attracts top talent, Washington is a bit of a mystery although Fultz has been quoted as saying he wants to play for Washington because of his relationship with the head coach and of course Porter's father is an assistant.. You mention NC State... I live in ACC country so I understand the allure of playing for a school on tobacco road, I also think Gottfried is a really good, well respected coach. If you take a look at Indiana's recruiting over the last 5 years, as well as their tournament finishes, they are VERY similar to NC State (other than Indiana's success in the B1G). My point in all of this is that Romeo is by all consensus, the #1 or #2 high school player in the country. I do not think Indiana has a real chance in this battle because Duke, Kentucky, Kansas (who have gotten 60% of the top 3 recruits over the last 5 years) are involved along with the other schools I mentioned.

Ummm huh? Not sure where the confusion is. I think you missed the part where Michael Porter's father is an assistant at Washington, which is why he picked them over other top schools. And who said anything about UCLA or Washington being in a better position to win a championship? I mentioned, Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State, Kansas, and UNC specifically, because those schools seem to be landing a majority of the best players every year. Whether it's coaching or the fact that they are all consistently in a position to win a championship, or a combination of both that lures top talent, I really couldn't say. As far as UCLA is concerned, they do have a history/tradition that no other school can match, and some recent success in the tourney, as well as some recent NBA Superstars to point to. I think that's why they continue to be fighting for the upper tier recruits year after year. If you go back and take a look at 247sports.com 's recruit rankings over the last 5 years, and just look at the top three players, 9 out of 15 went to either Duke, Kentucky, or Kansas..

That's pretty much exactly what I was saying.. Don't see a top 3 high school player picking IU over Kentucky, Michigan State, Duke, Kansas, UNC, etc. Coach being one of the reasons. Winning championships or at least being in the position to win one is another big one.

These random schools have landed top tier talent for several reasons, and I can tell you why.. Washington landed Michael Porter because his father is an assistant coach. Shammond Williams, the former UNC standout, is now an assistant coach at WKU and uncle of Mitchell Robinson who is the top 10 center who signed there. Those kind of relationships are the "more to it" part you mentioned. And as far as Alford is concerned.. Maybe he just isn't a very good coach? I stand by my argument that Indiana won't win the recruiting battle for the reasons I already mentioned.

Generalizing? Again? More like playing the percentages. For the most part, these one and done guys want to win championships and are going to the schools that will help them do that and get the most exposure in one year in hopes of becoming a lottery pick. That's not even my biggest point though.. Indiana has not won a recruiting battle like this in decades and does not have the recent Championship/Final Four banners or NBA Superstars to point to, to show a recruit what they can expect. Duke, Kentucky, UCLA, Michigan State, Kansas, etc. all do. So AGAIN, I believe IU is in the mix, but I really don't believe they will get the signed LOI at the end of the day.

I think IU is in the mix, but Crean just doesn't have the track record to use in his favor.. Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan State, all of these schools can point to either recent championship banners, Final Four banners, or their current and past NBA Superstars as evidence of what could be.

I'm an enormous fan but also a realist when it comes to IU Basketball. I feel like this program can win a championship in the next couple years, but its going to be because of a really solid group of upperclassmen who have developed over several years in the program. I'm sorry, but Langford is a pipe-dream at this point in my opinion. Can Crean recruit 5-star players? Yes. Can he recruit the best player in the country when the competition is so high? I don't think so.

The difference here is that literally EVERY high major program in the country is offering Langford.

Exactly.. Indiana doesn't play in that space regularly, because one and done's generally want to go to a place where a Championship is a realistic goal in year one.

Yep. That was 10-11 years ago and a completely different situation and a completely different coaching/recruiting staff. He had already committed to Illinois, so most other schools had backed off.

I'd love to elaborate. Thanks for asking! When is the last time Indiana won a recruiting battle with the likes of Kentucky, Duke, UNC, Michigan State, Kansas, UCLA, etc., for a top three player in the country? All of these schools are all in the mix for Langford. Just don't see him staying in state and playing for the home town school. If he's one and done, he's going to be looking for the best chance to win a Championship, which won't be at Indiana.

I can see De'Ron Davis battling for time and being in the mix on your "Role players" line. There really isn't any other legitimate big man on the roster.

No way Langford comes to Indiana unfortunately...

Would like to hear some of the Indiana in-state guys saying things like that....

Way too early starting 5's? Let's see em. Mine looks like this: G - Rob Johnson G - Blackmon F - OG F - Hartman F/C - Bryant I think there is a chance Davis/Newkirk/Morgan start some games. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if Davis develops into an every game starter. But I think this is the best 5 to start the season.

Let me get this straight... Indiana gets damn near the death penalty in college sports because of an idiot coach who made too many recruiting phone calls. Meanwhile, in "Tar Heel Country," 20 years of academic fraud by student athletes and institutional cover-ups by the powers-that-be, do not warrant a blanket sanction? You mean to tell me that women's basketball and men's soccer are going to be the scapegoats here?!? Men's Basketball and Football, the REAL money-makers for UNC, had nothing to do with the blatant cheating going on?!?! This confirms that this is a completely bogus system. The NCAA is a corrupt organization where cash rules. If you didn't know before, you do now. What a crock of ****.

There are a couple things about this IU team that give me hope in the region..   - Every player on the floor is dangerous from 3 - Senior All-American PG (and guards win championships) - Serviceable big man who can hit shots - Above average bench (8-9 deep) - This team plays defense

Gotta beat Chattanooga and Kentucky then see how things play out. Maybe even pray for a huge upset with Stony Brook.   Beyond that, Providence is a dangerous team and could give UNC some major problems. They have the size and athleticism to match up and start a couple 1st round draft picks in Dunn and Bentil.   All that said.. Gotta at least be in the Sweet 16 or Crean needs to move on. Anything past that wouldn't surprise me due to the fact that guards win in the tournament, and this IU team has great guard play. Everyone on the floor is dangerous from 3. Wish there was another legit big man on this team but I really feel like something special could happen.. That's my two cents.