Class of '66 Old Fart

Earlier, Durham received an invite to Chris Paul's summer camp and today invited to Nike's Basketball Academy along with a couple of other IU targets. His numbers in this summer's AAU circuit haven't been eye popping but there must be more to his game than what we can glean simply from the box score. Final note - the EYBL Peach Jam Classic runs July 6-8, and I'll try to keep up-to-date with stats but don't look for stats from all of the EYBL players we've targeted including Durham and his teammate Collin Sexton because teams had to qualify (wins/losses in the 4 previous EYBL events) to participate in the Peach Jam and Durham's Southern Stampede team was not one of the qualifying teams.

And in the category of whatever happened to: 7'0" C Jeremiah April, a former player at Indiana University, has signed with @coachcarp1 at Wabash Valley CC

From 247: Andrew Platek 's stock rose rapidly this spring, as the Massachusetts 2017 shooting guard picked up a slew of high-major offers. North Carolina, Indiana and Stanford stood out among those offers, and Platek spoke with CarolinaBlue's Ross Min about his recruitment recently. Martin was kind enough to share with us what the 247Sports Composite three-star guard had to say about Indiana and his May 6 visit to Bloomington. "Going there I didn't know what to expect," Platek told Martin. "I had been to Butler before, but I had never been to Bloomington. So one thing that really stood out was how passionate the coaches were in the workouts and everything was about Indiana basketball. Everyone really bought into what they were doing and they had a plan and everyone was trying to execute that plan. Coach (Tom) Crean is a great guy. He is a fantastic coach and a great person to talk to about the game." Platek, who stands 6-foot-4, has visited North Carolina, Indiana and Stanford recently, the latter visit coming just last weekend. There's no timeline on his decision, but Platek's Crystal Ball is currently in favor of North Carolina.

From Scout.com: 5-star wing Terrance Ferguson is no longer going to Arizona. Not a major surprise. Looks like he'll attempt the Emmanuel Mudiay route.

Sure, why not!

A humorous article on ESPN.com matching songs with next season's top 25 teams. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/16585442/the-song-defines-top-25-college-basketball-team 11. Indiana Hoosiers: "Look At Me Now," Chris Brown ft. Busta Rhymes and Lil Wayne (2011) Indiana coach Tom Crean sat squarely on the hot seat going into last season, and he knew it. Instead of allowing his detractors to get their wish, Crean and the Hoosiers shook off an ugly 5-3 start to the season and marched into the Sweet 16, where they fell to North Carolina. Now, Crean returns proven scorer James Blackmon Jr., talented big man Thomas Bryant and explosive guard OG Anunoby. So yes, as Chris Brown foretold, Crean "don't see how you can hate from outside of the club" Look at him now, he's (still) getting paper.

We've made Beatty's final 8 schools of interest.

I know you ended your list with the qualifying statement "...to name a few". But the Rivals list has quite a few more names of kids with IU offers or high interest so should we draw a conclusion that your list is a list of the kids with the highest probability of wearing candy stripes and names you didn't list are really long shots?

Zach McRoberts to be a walk-on this season and be immediately eligible. Younger brother of Josh McRoberts left U of Vermont last year and spent last season as an IU student thus the immediate eligibility. Listed at 6'6". "Averaged 5.1 points per game in America East play for the Catamounts in 2015. He missed the first seven games of that season with a knee injury, but came on strong late in the year. McRoberts played in 27 consecutive games and averaged 7.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and shot 57.1 percent from the floor in the 2015 CBI Tournament." http://scoop.hoosiershq.com/2016/06/zach-mcroberts-to-walk-on-at-indiana-iubb/

http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/recruiting-central/2016/06/27/indiana-hosts-heralded-womens-recruit/86443762/ Dana Evans took an unofficial visit to Indiana on Monday. The 5-6 Evans is one of the nation’s most sought-after women’s basketball prospects in the 2017 class. The Gary West point guard is ranked No. 7 nationally in her class by ESPN. Last week, Evans was named to the USA Basketball Women’s U18 National Team that will play in Chile from July 13-17. She was added when Crystal Dangerfield of Tennessee was ruled out with a hip injury. Heritage Christian grad Tyasha Harris, a South Carolina recruit, is also playing with the team. The U.S. will train in Colorado Springs, Colo., from July 2-8. Evans led the state in scoring as a junior, averaging 35.8 points a game. She was named as a core member of the Indiana Junior All-Star team.

Plays in the Adidas Gauntlet Series which has a smaller schedule than does the Nike EYBL. Gauntlet Series next round of games is set for July 6 -9. Nick Weatherspoon '17 PG - MBA Hoops 2016 Date Pts. FGM FGA 3PM 3PA FTM FTA Reb Assts. TO's Stls. Blks. 4/15 15 6 17 0 0 3 4 3 3 6 0 0 4/16 24 8 21 1 6 7 10 5 4 6 1 0 4/16 26 9 26 1 4 7 10 6 1 8 0 1 4/17 19 7 19 1 5 4 6 8 2 1 0 1 4/22 22 10 15 2 3 0 0 4 4 1 1 0 4/23 32 14 24 2 5 2 4 6 7 2 0 0 4/23 24 7 18 2 5 8 10 3 4 1 4 0 4/24 25 9 17 5 9 2 3 6 4 3 3 0 Avg 23.4 45% 38% 70% 5 4 4 1 0

2 min. clip of Herro's Wisconsin camp highlights: http://wisconsin.247sports.com/Bolt/Wisconsin-Advanced-Camp-Tyler-Herro-45998891 Appears to like to shoot off the dribble and pretty aggressive going to the bucket.

CBS Sports mock draft for 2017. TB at #15 going to the T'wolves. OG at #17 going to the Hornets. http://247sports.com/Gallery/CBS-Sports-releases-early-2017-NBA-mock-draft-45978355

John Cena? Maybe not an Academy Award winning actor but has the physical attributes of Reacher.

Leave it to Hollywood casting Munchkin Cruise as Jack Reacher.

What a coincidence! I too just finished up "All Necessary Force" and started on "Gone Tomorrow" in the Jack Reacher series. I'm alternating between Logan and Reacher although I prefer Lee Childs' writing over Brad Taylor's.

From the Omaha World-Herald: LINCOLN — After a month of behind-the-scenes uncertainty, Andrew White III, Nebraska basketball’s top returning scorer and rebounder, is expected to leave the program as a fifth-year graduate transfer. Husker coach Tim Miles said Saturday evening that he talked to White during the day Saturday and expected another conversation on Saturday night. During that gap, Miles said, White contacted Nebraska Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst to request a transfer. Miles, with disgust in his voice, declined other comment. The World-Herald asked Eichorst on Saturday night if White’s release would be granted, and if so, would it be a full release or restrictive of movement to certain teams? Eichorst’s reply text: “Coach Miles will get back to you regarding Andrew’s transfer situation when he knows more.” Neither White, who transferred to Nebraska from Kansas and played just one year, nor his father responded to multiple calls and texts. The 6-foot-7 wing was an honorable mention All-Big Ten pick after averaging 16.6 points and 5.9 rebounds a game. White entered the NBA draft this spring and stayed in until the final day (May 25), pulling out just a few hours before the deadline. Sources close to the program said even after White withdrew, they felt uncomfortable with his commitment to returning to Nebraska following his graduation in early May. More uncertainty bubbled up periodically for the past month, even as Miles and assistant Kenya Hunter kept in communication. Two World-Herald sources elsewhere in college basketball said they had heard AAU coaches and handlers in other parts of the country talk as if it were fact White would leave Nebraska this summer for another school. When asked about those reports, Andrew White Jr. recently told The World-Herald: “Those rumors aren’t coming from our camp. We’re not looking to leave. He’s sold. He’s ready to come back. He loves Nebraska and he loves the people and he loves the coaches.” Yet the older White wouldn’t commit to guaranteeing his son would return. Now, White III appears on track to play for a third Division I program in five years. He originally was a top-50 recruit from Richmond, Virginia. In his two years at Kansas, he played almost entirely as a backup. For Nebraska, he started all 34 games. One possible issue for White’s departure might involve the family’s perception of Nebraska’s prospects for success. Something that lingered from White’s conversations with NBA people was a question about why his team didn’t have a better record if he was NBA caliber. Nebraska finished 16-18 overall last season and 11th in the 14-team Big Ten at 6-12. “Andrew desperately wants to win,” his father said. “There’s a correlation between winning and getting to the next level.” Nebraska, in 2016-17, likely would have been picked to finish in the bottom third of the Big Ten even before White’s announcement. Now, the Huskers have an 11-scholarship roster of one senior, three juniors (one who must sit out as a transfer), four sophomores and three freshmen. White, because he had graduated, received permission by Nebraska coaches to spend June at his parents’ home in Virginia. All of his teammates other than senior Tai Webster and freshman Jordy Tshimanga are in Lincoln working out together. Webster is playing with the New Zealand national team. Tshimanga graduated from boarding school too late to enroll in NU’s first summer session. In May, White worked out for the Utah Jazz, Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls. About 10 days before the draft-decision deadline, The World-Herald asked White if he was picking only between Nebraska and the NBA. “As of right now, yes, that’s all I’ve really considered,” he said. With the departure to graduation of White, plus second-team All-Big Ten forward Shavon Shields and guard Benny Parker, Nebraska has lost 53 percent of its scoring and 38 percent of its rebounding. The two returning starters are Webster, a combo guard, and sophomore forward Michael Jacobson.

For those who don't follow the Indpls. Star here's an article by Gregg Doyel on what I will call our mystery recruit. Doyel: Grant Gelon more than meets the eye Tom Crean doesn’t know the numbers. He doesn’t want to know the numbers, either. I tell him I have those numbers, but Crean isn’t interested. We’re talking about incoming IU freshman Grant Gelon of Crown Point, one of the most unlikely signees in Crean’s eight years at Indiana. Gelon made four appearances this month with the IndyStar Indiana All-Stars. He played 43 minutes. He took 15 shots, 12 from 3-point range. How many did he make? We’ll get there. Those are the numbers Crean doesn’t know, or care to know. “I don’t put a lot of credence in all-star type games,” Crean was saying this week. “Grant’s not an all-star game kid. We recruited him because of what he can do in a system, and how much better he’s going to get if he gets stronger.” Grant Gelon is a project to be sure, rated a two-star recruit by Rivals.com. When Indiana offered him a scholarship before his senior year at Crown Point, Gelon had one other offer: Western Michigan. So who is this dark horse recruit heading to the red royalty of Indiana? IU fans around the state got a glimpse this past month. They saw him play 43 minutes in four all-star games. They saw him take 15 shots, 12 from 3-point range. How many did he make? Slow down. We’re getting there. Grant Gelon knows you care, believe me. We talked about you a few weeks ago, whoever you are. He has heard the IU fans wanting to believe the best, and the IU detractors hoping for the worst. IU basketball is a lightning rod. Gelon is the Hoosiers’ only in-state recruit this year. That puts him at the tip of the lightning rod. And it’s storming out there. * * * “Nothing I can do about it,” is what Gelon says, repeatedly, to questions about being in the eye of a statewide storm. Whatever anybody says, you’ve got to let it go. People are going to say what they say.” Whether he has the physical tools for what awaits at Indiana, we’ll see. But from what I can tell, Gelon can handle it mentally. He sounds 18, going on 25, and talks like he doesn’t know exactly what’s out there, which is probably true. He has no Twitter account, and his Facebook page hasn’t been updated in years. “If he’s not on the basketball court,” Crown Point coach Clint Swan is telling me, “he’s out hunting and fishing or pulling fence posts with his grandfather. I just think his mental makeup is right for this. He’s not your typical teenager. He loves the outdoors and he loves shooting the basketball.” Gelon hasn’t avoided all of the noise, not even in his home gym. The visiting crowd from Chesterton was giving it to him on March 4 at the Class 4A sectional, and Gelon responded with 20 points, what Swan was calling “the best game of his career.” What happened to him eight days later when Crown Point played Warsaw in Michigan City was so notable, so ugly, it made the local newspaper: “The Region gets criticized for being ‘rough’ and ‘unsportsmanlike’ all the time,” wrote Steve Hanlon in The Times of Northwest Indiana. “But what many Warsaw fans were chanting about Gelon was very poor.” For what it’s worth, the Twitter mentions of Grant Gelon were mostly positive — if overwhelmingly curious — going into the IndyStar Indiana All-Star series. Then came those four games. The Twitter mentions changed. Not for the better. The IU recruit averaged 2.5 ppg. He took 15 shots and made four. He was 2-of-12 on 3-pointers. He received the fewest minutes on his 4-0 team, and despite the Indiana roster being reduced to eight players for the final game of the tour, he played just seven minutes. “Nothing I can do about it,” is what Gelon told me. Says Crean: “We didn’t recruit him to win all-star games. And I don’t think he’s going to look good in those games.” To be honest, Gelon did not look good. To be clear, it might not matter. * * * High school all-star games are the domain of ball-dominant guards like Eugene German of Gary 21st Century, who led the Indiana All-Stars in scoring three times in four games and averaged 20.8 points, more than a point a minute. It was during the third all-star game, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse when Indiana was beating Kentucky 106-84, when I texted Crean about Gelon, whose first appearance off the bench had the crowd murmuring in anticipation. “Fans want to see him light it up,” I texted Crean, “and he’s not getting the chance.” Answered Crean: “Grant will get a lot of open looks here.” Despite averaging just 15 ppg, Gelon led the state in 3-pointers as a junior and senior. That says two things: He can really shoot from distance … but otherwise doesn’t score much. There is room in college for a player like that. In two years at Indiana, Nick Zeisloft made 128 of his 147 field goals from 3-point range. “I had no hesitation after watching him shoot the ball,” Crean says. “What we saw is a guy who can come off screens and can create room with his footwork. You projected him as a guy who can dribble into his shot. He’s going to space the floor, and he’s going to get open looks.” Swan was telling me about an 8 a.m. AAU game, when “other kids are still wiping the sleep from their eyes, and Grant comes out and hits 11 3s and scores 43 points.” Swan tells me about a Crown Point game earlier this season when Gelon hit six 3-pointers — in the first quarter. And he tells me about the time Gelon hit a dozen 3-pointers. “He was in eighth grade,” Swan says. Recruiting rankings never materialized for Gelon, who isn’t ranked among the top 300 recruits nationally by most analysts, but Crean’s seen that before. He reminds me about unsung Victor Oladipo, a lottery pick in 2012, and even less heralded OG Anunoby, projected as a 2016 NBA draft pick had he entered the draft. Crean is not comparing Gelon’s ceiling to theirs, just noting that where a kid is ranked can be misleading. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Crean says. “For us, the way we can develop him, Grant is going to be fine.” Grant Gelon reported earlier this month to Indiana. Games start in November. One way or another, lightning will strike.

Much like Troy's drives to the bucket apparently he's not quite sure where he's going. I posted the earlier comment about Houston that was reportedly on his Snapchat account but am now seeing Phoenix as you noted. I'm old; I'm confused; I have no idea where he's going. From 247Sports: Former Indiana forward Troy Williams signed a summer league deal with the Phoenix Suns, according to the Indiana basketball Twitter account. Williams joins former IU teammate Yogi Ferrell in the summer league, as Ferrell signed with Brooklyn on Friday. As a junior this past season, Williams started 34 of IU’s 35 games, averaging 13.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, leading the team in rebounding. He shot over 50 percent from the floor in all three years at Indiana, currently sitting at a 52.2 percent shooting percentage for his IU career.

Troy has apparently indicated on his Snapchat account that he will be playing for the Houston Rockets in summer league.

Always a class act. Orlando's loss; OKC's gain. VicOladipo @VicOladipo I just wanna thank the Orlando Magic organization for a great three years. The entire city of Orlando, my teammates, the fans, and coaches that have taught me so much and I'm truly grateful. I'm so excited to be a Thunder!!! I'm ready to win BIG and play in front of the best fans in the world!!! #ThunderUp

Give Ed Smith an Academy Award for orchestrating the whole Thon Maker movie. Toyed with numerous universities including IU repeatedly talking about how important education was to Thon and then maneuvered Thon into the NBA draft without ever having to play a game at the college level and go through the NCAA clearinghouse where the whole question of just how old Thon is may have been uncovered. Doubt his sequel with Matur will be as successful.

What does all this make Ed Smith?

Another kid I missed. Plays in the EYBL on Expressions Elite, same team as Nick Richards another IU target. Tremont Waters 2016 EYBL Season Date Pts. FGM FGA 3PM 3PA FTM FTA Reb Assts. TO's Stls. Blks. 4/16 10 4 9 2 3 0 0 8 8 5 3 0 4/16 18 6 10 2 4 4 4 3 4 3 2 0 4/17 23 6 9 3 4 8 9 3 3 4 2 0 4/22 18 5 11 1 6 7 7 2 6 5 5 0 4/23 12 5 10 2 5 0 0 7 6 2 2 0 4/23 10 3 12 2 8 2 2 4 1 5 3 0 4/24 7 3 11 1 5 0 0 3 6 4 3 0 5/13 21 4 10 2 4 11 14 3 4 3 2 0 5/14 11 4 13 3 7 0 0 1 3 5 1 0 5/14 20 6 10 4 5 4 4 9 7 1 1 0 5/15 4 2 8 0 2 0 0 2 7 3 3 0 5/28 9 4 10 1 2 0 0 3 5 2 2 0 5/28 6 3 8 0 4 0 0 2 7 1 2 0 5/29 13 4 11 3 7 2 3 3 3 2 3 0 5/29 9 2 5 0 2 5 6 1 2 4 2 0 5/30 Did Not Play Avg 12.7 41% 38% 88% 4 5 3 2 0

5 min. clip of Goodwin in action: http://www.d1circuit.com/news_article/show/662980-video-stl-eagles-star-jordan-goodwin-enjoys-dominant-2016-eybl-season