Lt. John McClaine

Gonna go with my boy, Matt Nover.  He was a very nice 5 year player while at IU, he was red shirted his Freshman year.  He was a pretty athletic guy, tough, and improved as a player during his tenure.  When Alan Henderson went down in 92-93, Nover was pretty much the only Low Post guy we had.  We went with 3 guards, Cheaney and Nover in the Front Court and it worked all the way until we got to Kansas in the Elite 8 and they were just too big, and shot the ball great that game.  I always liked Nover because he played hard, played hurt, and improved over the course of his career.  

I also agree, I think that Nick Z fits in nice with the starters and stretches the floor nicely.  I also see Stan coming in for Nick as a 6th man.  As much as I like Stan, I really see him as a bench player with this group rather than a starter.  With Nick Z in with the starters, we have 3 capable 3 point shooters with Yogi and JBJ alongside him on the perimeter.  

Not to sound like a total fruitcake, but Coach Crean needs a new haircut.

Hopefully Emmitt will be better than former # 25, Pat Knight. Although Vitale acted like was the best passer ever in organized basketball. Regardless he was still dreadful to watch.

LOL i was on Spring Break in Panama City for the game against Iowa in the Big Ten Tourney, then Utah in the first Round, i listened to our second round game on the drive home, then on my first full day back home I watched the Duke Game. Ahhhh good times.

Yep you are correct, I always wonder how much Guy would have helped us in 2010. He was massive, and that year we really had nothing down low, we were having to play Elston and Watford in the post and we just got man handled. At 7'1" 280 Guy would have been a load in the post. It seems that historically IU has never had much luck with big men. Do you remember a guy named Robert Rothbart that Mike Davis recruited in 2004. He verballed to IU only to change his mind and just go pro. he was also huge at 7'1" 240.

I would definitely cheer Coach Davis. While i'm not a Davis apologist, I would cheer him just for the sheer joy of that 2002 team alone. People forget that year we won the Maui Invitational against a good Gonzaga team. We won the Big Ten, not outright, but we still won it. We got to the finals of the Big Ten Championship, and it took a buzzer beater by former Hoosier Luke Recker to beat us, we came back from 17 down to beat Duke at Rupp Arena, we avenged our loss against Kent St. the year before in the tourney with a record amount of 3 pointers made, we beat maybe the best team Kelvin Sampson had at Oklahoma in the Final 4. Oh so many memeories So because of what I mentioned above, I would applaud for Mike Davis. I can understand how some people will feel otherwise. After that magical run, it got worse and worse each year and his teams became painful to watch. The dreaded 4 guard lineups, the lack of movement on offense, the lackluster recruiting classes, the inability to bring in any big man, the question every year by the fanbase if this was his last year, his awful public speaking abilities, the constant changing of assistant coaches, the lack of any Indiana High School talent on the roster because he could not recruit this state. These are all things that make it difficult to look fondly on Mike Davis' tenure while at IU, but for the 2002 run alone, I would give him an applause. He always struck me as a nice Christian man, who was just simply over his head. And like others have mentioned, the IU staff and Athletic Dept could not have made bigger bonehead decisions during the era of 2000-2006.

I finally agree with something you said! The Carrier Dome being that high is absolutely laughable.

Well I'm glad we got Holt and don't have to deal with the drama anymore. I know Izzo is just trying to improve his team, just as we were, but man I'm sick of him cherry picking our recruits. Crean and Izzo have ties that go back years, but their styles seem drastically different. Crean likes to play small ball and push the tempo more, where as Izzo like to play bully ball and out muscle you. It almost seems ironic that we're competing for the same recruits since the styles of play are different.

Haha ok, tough guy

I think Coach Crean has done an above average job of recruiting. He definitely can bring in talent, and talent from all accross the nation. I'd say in looking at his recruiting style, he likes to get guys that our interchangeable and can guard multiple positions. Lots of his recruits can be anything from a 2 all the way to a stretch 4. This class is pretty big, and it's bigger than any other class that he's brought in, but I like it. I always like classes where you have guys that can play immediately, and then you have guys that need time to develop, and there's nothing wrong with that. I think you need guys like that.

Now that our 2014 Recruiting Class has finally come to an end we can take a deep breath and wait a couple months for the season to start. The staff has put together a nice blend of talent, specifically shooters. By all accounts we got two of the best shooters from the Freshman class in Blackmon Jr and R. Johnson. Throw in wings or possibly future stretch 4 prospects Max Hoetzel and Tim Priller and we have two more potential shooters from deep. Also, I'm going to throw in Senior Graduate Transfer, Nick Ziesloft, he showcased in Canada that he can fill it up from 3pt range, also. Finally Front Court prospects Jeremiah April and Emmitt Holt round out the class, and fulfill a need for some size and hopefully defense. So that got me thinking, this is a 7 man recruiting class, that concentrates a lot on shooting and some help on the glass, potentially. My question to you guys is, where would you guys rate this class compared to some of Crean's other Recruting classes: 2013: Noah Vonleh, Luke Fischer, Standford Robinson, Devin Davis, Troy Williams, Evan Gordon 2012: Hanner Parea, Jeremy Holowell, Yogi Ferrell, Peter Jurkin 2011: Cody Zeller, Austin Etherington, Remy Abel 2010: Will Shehey, Victor Oladipo 2009: Jordan Hulls, Christian Watford, Maurice Creek, Bawa Minuru, Bobby Capobianco, Derek Elston 2008: Verdell Jones, Nick Williams, Malik Story, Tijan Jobe, Matt Roth, Devan Davis. On Paper, 2013 looks pretty good, but the 2009 class was also nice, just injuries got in the way. What do you guys think, How do you like this class, and do you think that it stacks up well compared to some of Coach Crean's previous classes?

Thanks for the proof read, I made the correction in my post. Not too bad though for off the top of my head.

LOL not being sensitive, just alluding to the fact that you're up tight. :)

I am very happy with the committment of Emmitt Holt and I think he'll get an opportunity to play for this team in 2015. 7'3" wingspan is crazy, how awesome would it be to grow another inch or two...? I'd like to see him standing side by side to Devin Davis and see how close in size they are. Both seem to be in that undersized power forward range, but sometimes in College Basketball those kinda guys are the ones that battle harder than anyone else on the court, because they got to. Remember a guy named Kenneth Farried, who played at Morehead St. and is now in the NBA, he has the same kinda frame and size, heck AJ Moye played down low for us, out of necessity, and he was only 6'2". So at 6'7" and some good hands, and good on the boards, well I'll take it!

Jeez sorry to insult the Volleyball world out there! Back in my middle school days our Volleyball team wore jersey shirts like that. Didn't mean to insult you though, with that awful comparison to a Volleyball jersey. Forgive me.

Relax though guys, we could have Evansville's old uniforms. These might be the worst ever, they look like volleyball uniforms. LOL

Good coaches keep an open scholarship for late in the game, and this is a perfect example why. Coaches never stop recruiting, a player may not be available at one moment, but 3 months later maybe he is. I think Holt just came along at the right time and filled a position of need. I don't buy into all of the conspiracy theories about why Crean brought in a recruit or why people have transferred off of his teams dating back to his Marquette days. Some of it the landscape of modern College Basketball, last year was the most transfers that NCAA Mens Basketball has ever had. Some of that can be attributed to the 5th year senior transfer rule, (Evan Gordan, Nick Ziesloft) also the modern landscape of College Basketball has changed to where scholarships are now more than ever a 1 year deal rather than 4 years. In regards to Crean and his transfers, well what I can say to that is that I can't remember any player that left the program where I was broken up about it, not like I was in 1999 when Luke Recker left IU under Coach Knight, or when Jason Collier left. There were some players that were ok, that I thought would have been able to help like Remy Abel, Nick Johnson under Crean's first year, or Luke Fischer from last year, however the majority of the guys that leave IU simply were not good enough or they seeked more playing time because a recruit that was coming in next season was going to take his playing time. Under Coach Crean, Luke Fischer is really the only guy that put IU in a bind, and that was because he was a big man. Also, i find it in bad taste to speculate who is going to leave IU before the season has started. I hate when people do that, all it does it create negativity or start rumors. Just let the season start and unfold.

see what i mean

I love this topic, I have mentioned this for the last couple of years. To be honest, our uni's have gradually changed. In Tom Crean's second year, we changed uniforms. We cleaned up the neck line of the jersey and changed the font to a lil bit smaller lettering. The jersey's that we wear now I like a lot. Would i be ok with change? Yes I would. In this day in age, many teams have an alternate jersey, this is where I'd like to see IU go. Or change the home and away jersey, and keep the jersey that we have had forever as the alternate. So many teams that have just as much tradition as us change their uniform all while honoring tradition. Mich St, Kansas, Duke, UCLA, and others have all changed the concept of their Uniform, all while honoring something about a previous look, basically tweeking it. Another big part of our look has to do with who licenses our goods. I would consider myself an expert on this because I always pay close attention to our jersey. When we went to the Championship game in 2001-2002 we were licensed by NIKE, and our red was more of a fire red, and we had an IU logo on the neck line. If you you look at my avatar of Tom Crean this is an example of that jersey, then when Denim Shirt took over we went over to Adidas, actually even before him, and our colors changed slightly, as did our neck line, as well as incorperating a big oversized American Flag on our jersey. The rumor that I keep hearing is that when the contract expires from Adidas, which I believe is 2015 that IU is looking to change Vendors again, and this time go with the Jordan Brand. In my opinion, that would be a smart move and one would expect our jersey to change slightly, and we'd probably offer more as to what some are wanting; IE more options, better shoes, different warmups, more options. As of right now in NCAA Men Basketball, NIKE is the best as far as top money grosser and most of the big schools are with them. Jordan Brand is also very big and gaining more traction. Adidas is somewhat down. Then there are others like Under Armor and some smaller Licensed Vendors. If it were me, I'd go back to Nike or Jordan Brand and just give the kids and fans more options, and become more attractive to recruits.

I'm assuming his head is screwed on straight since he's a good student and wants to major in Business, I'd rather use our last scholarship on him to have depth behind Hanner and Devin. Just my opinion.

I might be down

Well i guess I just really don't get into recruiting numbers, I never really have, that's the old school in me. I'm not a Tom Crean apologist, and I know someone said in Tom Crean we trust, sarcastically, but I do trust Coach Crean. I think that his recruiting prowess has spoken for itself while being at IU, just not when it comes to picking up Centers, particularly African Centers. I'm more excited about Holt than I am the April signing, and contrary to some, I do feel that he can help IU. This is not the old days where a team is locked into a player for four years, and if he can't play you still keep him on the roster, scholarships, whether you agree with it or not are judged on a year by year basis. In the current situation that IU is in with not many able bodies down low, you use a scholarship on a guy this late in the game that can help you next year. The Staff has seen enough in Holt to form an opinion that this kid can help IU for 2015, and that's good enough for me.

Because nothing is set in stone for 2015, that's a long way away. In case you haven't watched IU lately, we have constantly have turn over, every year. When you say that we only have one scholarship left for 2015, and you say that now, well that's not necessarily accurate because of Roster turnover. Also, Crean is coaching for his job right now, he must feel that as it stands right now our front court depth is not good enough, and here's a kid that he feels can help shore some of that up. Why would Crean bank the scholly for next year, if he knows that he has to do everything he can this year to rebound from a very disappointing season last year. He can't afford to just sit back and wait for possible recruits next year, he has to address the situation now. I don't see how IU fans can feel comfortable with our Front Court prospects on this team, if you can add a player now that you feel can help the team and you have a scholarship available you do it!

Most coaches never stop recruiting, and nobody said that he's an Impact Talent. Holt would be a guy that adds depth at a position that IU desperately needs help at. We've got one scholarship to use, and Crean hates to keep schollies in his pocket, so he's trying to use it on a player that very well could help IU down low since that is by far our biggest weak link. But you are right, bringing in a player right when school is starting is very rare. I can't think of a player added this late, maybe ever. I know that Michael Hermon, who played on the 94 team was a very late addition, he was a guard out of the Chicago area, and he only lasted one year at IU, but the one similarity between Michael Hermon, if you've ever heard of him, and Emmitt Holt is they both are players that filled/fill a position of need. In 1994 IU had no athleticism at point guard and nobody that could create off of the bounce so Coach Knight took a flyer on a kid that was a playground legend out of the Chicago area. Fast Forward 20 years and now IU has basically 4 points per game returning down low between Hanner and Devin, and un proven 7 foot project in Jeremiah April. Why not bring in a kid at a position of need, who was a finalist for the New York State Mr. Basketball with your last scholly if he's available? I'm just glad that Coach Crean never stops from trying to improve his roster.