Class of '66 Old Fart

From Hutch at the Anderson Herald-Bulletin Wednesday, August 3, 2016 Today’s Hoosiers Insider Blog will look at the top kids playing high school basketball in the state of Indiana in the class of 2018. And with Indiana picking up its third football commitment in the last four days, we'll take a look at that, too. On Monday, I had a blog that looked at the top high school basketball players in the state of Indiana for the 2017 class. I talked about how there’s a lot of information out there from a lot of good people that focus on recruiting first. Indiana is filled with good recruiting reporting at sites like Scout, Rivals, 247 Sports and Inside the Hall to name a few. Myself, I do my best to keep up. When you’re a beat writer covering college football and basketball, you end up wearing several hats. Staying current with the recruiting scene is one of them. In compiling this list of the top 10 high school basketball players who will be playing basketball in the state in the 2018 class, I looked at several sources. One of the ones I found the most user friendly and balanced was the composite top 150 for 247 Sports. So I’ll refer to that list to give a top 10 Indiana basketball kids in the class of 2017. Here’s how that top 10 looks according to 247 Sports: Romeo Langford (New Albany) SF, 6-5, 191 Kevin Easley (Lawrence North) SF, 6-6, 210 Musa Jallow (Bloomington North) SF, 6-5, 195 Damezi Anderson (South Bend Riley) SF, 6-6, 175 Kevin Zhang (La Lumiere) SF, 6-6, 175 Robert Phinisee (McCutcheon) PG, 5-11, 160 Eric Hunter (Tindley Prep) SG, 6-3, 165 Aaron Henry (Ben Davis) SF, 6-5, 185 Austin Boucher (Fort Wayne South) CG, 6-3, 165 Gavin Bizeau (Plainfield) C, 6-11, 181 Of the group, Langford is the one who stands out. He’s the No. 2 ranked player overall in that class by 247 Sports, Rivals and Scout. He has offers from all of the usual suspects including Duke, Kentucky, Indiana, Louisville and Kansas. Purdue is there as well. Just how much of a gap is there between Langford and the rest of the field when it comes to 2018 state of Indiana kids? After Langford at No. 2, Kevin Easley is in the No. 105 spot in the 247 Sports rankings. Musa Jallow is No. 112, Damezi Anderson is No. 117 and Kevin Zhang is No. 149. No one in the class is committed at this point and it’s still a little early for that. Perhaps by the spring in a few of the cases, there could be some movement on that front. Both Indiana and Purdue are on all of the top 10 and have offers out to several of them. This coming season, their junior year of high school, will dictate a lot of their movement in terms of where they could be leaning with college choices.

Auburn has offered.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/kevin-sumlin-is-running-out-of-strikes-at-texas-am-152316215.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma Pat Forde doing a number on Kevin Sumlin of Texas A & M for a female chalk talk $80.00/plate dinner that bordered on the lewd and vulgar.

Better late than never but....! Danny Fisher, De'Ron Davis' coach, says Davis will arrive in Bloomington for the start of the fall semester between Aug. 18-21.

Eat your heart out Durant! LOL

Indiana 2017 commit Al Durham among the 60 high schools players selected for the 2016 Nike Skills Academy.

Right you are and it truly was creepy. I think Capt. Jack stayed on as a regular for the remainder of that particular season. He's also had a couple of guest appearances in later years.

Am I the only Dr. Who fan on the board? Every time I see pictures of them in their masks I can't help but think of the Empty Child episode when Christopher Eccleston was still playing The Doctor.

Langford's team knocked out of the Adidas Summer Championships after playing 6 games. For these 6 games: Date Pts. FGM FGA 3PM 3PA FTM FTA Reb Assts. TO's Stls. Blks. 7/20 22 7 15 2 5 6 9 10 3 2 0 2 7/21 20 7 13 0 3 6 7 3 4 0 0 1 7/21 18 8 14 0 4 2 4 5 4 3 3 0 7/22 40 12 19 5 10 11 13 8 1 2 3 0 7/22 11 3 11 2 3 3 3 5 3 2 0 1 7/23 10 3 8 1 4 3 5 6 1 3 0 2 Avg 20.2 50% 34% 76% 6 3 2 1 For 17 games of his AAU season. Numbers are remarkably close. Avg 20.6 54% 32% 76% 8 2 2 1

Phinisee's team knocked out of the Adidas 16U Summer Championship after playing 5 games but overall he had a solid tournament. Date Pts. FGM FGA 3PM 3PA FTM FTA Reb Assts. TO's Stls. Blks. Min. 7/20 13 5 14 1 7 2 3 2 8 0 3 1 32 7/21 19 7 13 2 2 3 3 2 1 0 0 0 30 7/22 20 8 12 3 5 1 2 3 5 1 1 1 25 7/23 28 11 16 3 3 3 5 6 3 2 0 1 30 7/23 9 4 11 0 2 1 2 6 1 3 2 0 25 Avg 17.8 53% 47% 67% 4 4 1 1

Hutch article on Gelon in the Anderson Herald-Bulletin: BLOOMINGTON — Think of the great long-range shooters in Indiana University basketball history and names like Steve Alford, Jay Edwards, A.J. Guyton and Jordan Hulls quickly come to mind. In recent years, Matt Roth, Nick Zeisloft, James Blackmon Jr. and Yogi Ferrell have also been particularly proficient from distance. No pressure but IU incoming freshman guard Grant Gelon clearly has a chance to be mentioned in that same company. The kid can flat out shoot it. Clint Swan, Gelon’s high school coach at Crown Point, remembered a team camp game in Fort Wayne the summer prior to his senior year when his team went up against Jay County. Gelon had 42 points in that game and knocked down 11 3-pointers. “I was sitting there and I looked at one of my coaches, and I said, ‘Grant is going to have a game like this in the month of July in front of the right coach, and he’s going to get an offer that’s going to blow everybody away,'’’ Swan recalled. “And that is exactly what happened.’’ That coach turned out to be Indiana’s Tom Crean. Gelon was playing a high-profile AAU game for Indiana Elite in Indianapolis in the second-to-last recruiting period of the summer, and Crean was in attendance. Up to that point, Gelon, a two-star recruit, had received offers from Western Michigan, Illinois-Chicago and IUPUI but nothing from a major Division I school. Gelon had hit five 3-pointers and scored 25 points. Crean was impressed with his range, his size (Gelon is 6-foot-5) and his mechanics. Things got rolling very quickly in Gelon’s IU recruitment. “The following weekend was the last open period in Las Vegas, and Grant had two or three more really good games where he hit a lot of shots and sort of solidified in the coaches minds what he could do,’’ Swan said. “And then he took his unofficial visit to Indiana, and they offered him, and he didn’t even get out the door before he accepted it.’’ Initially, the reaction from Hoosier fans wasn’t particularly positive because Gelon had not garnered a lot of national interest. But Crean has a track record of success with under-the-radar recruits in the past. Two good examples are Victor Oladipo and Will Sheehey, both ranked at No. 140 and beyond in the nation coming to IU. Both scored more than 1,000 points in their IU careers. "That’s one of those signees where everybody’s looking at it and wondering because there weren’t a lot of people on him, and some other teams in the state or the Midwest didn’t recruit him,’’ Crean said last spring. “That’s where we’ve always stayed true to what we see. You stay true to what you see on film, you stay true to what you see with your own eye, you trust your instincts and you trust your coaches. You want kids from really good programs, and I think that’s the thing that I feel good about.’’ As a high school senior, Gelon averaged 14.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game on a team that won four games in the state tournament before losing in the regional title game. Gelon shot 38.9 percent from beyond the arc. Gelon arrived in Bloomington in June and quickly caught the eye of his teammates and coaches. In the weight room, he squatted 245 pounds. “I’ve been lifting since eighth grade back in Crown Point with our high school strength coach teaching us all the Olympic lifts so I came in pretty comfortable with all of those lifts,’’ Gelon said. “I actually think I could have gone even more, but that’s where we stopped that day.’’ Gelon said he’s comfortable with the "shooter" label. He said that’s what he has been known for since the fifth grade. Swan said in high school there were times when he would have to kick Gelon out of the gym after practice so he could lock up and go home. “I’ve always been a shoot first kind of guy, but we’re working on finishing at the rim and getting better with my left hand,’’ Gelon said. “I’m also working on my ball handling. It’s all going to come. I just think being here, with all of these resources, I just want to make myself into the complete player that they see in me and that they recruited me to be.’’ It’s difficult to guess how much playing time an under-the-radar recruit will get right away at IU, but his high school coach is confident that Gelon is a good fit for the Hoosiers. “I’ve always said that no college freshman is really ready for college basketball,’’ said Swan, who also coached former Michigan and current Purdue fifth-year senior Spike Albrecht at Crown Point. “But once he gets acclimated to the rigors of big time college basketball, I really think he’s going to fit like a glove. Coach Crean has always appreciated guys that can make shots from way beyond the basket, and I think he sees Grant as a critical piece in that puzzle. “Grant’s body is going to evolve, his game is going to evolve and once it does to its fullest potential, he’s going to be a very important part of the equation at Indiana.’’

He's human after all! Date Pts. FGM FGA 3PM 3PA FTM FTA Reb Assts. TO's Stls. Blks. 7/20 22 7 15 2 5 6 9 10 3 2 0 2 7/21 20 7 13 0 3 6 7 3 4 0 0 1 7/21 18 8 14 0 4 2 4 5 4 3 3 0 7/22 40 12 19 5 10 11 13 8 1 2 3 0 7/22 11 3 11 2 3 3 3 5 3 2 0 1

How's this for a 4-game tournament especially today's game? Date Pts. FGM FGA 3PM 3PA FTM FTA Reb Assts. TO's Stls. Blks. 7/20 22 7 15 2 5 6 9 10 3 2 0 2 7/21 20 7 13 0 3 6 7 3 4 0 0 1 7/21 18 8 14 0 4 2 4 5 4 3 3 0 7/22 40 12 19 5 10 11 13 8 1 2 3 0 Avg 25.0 56% 32% 76% 6.5 3.0 1.8 1.5

Now that we're known as a football school, I heard from a reliable source that Nick Saban has already been on the phone and on a plane to Suwanee!

With a record of 2 - 1, Phinisee's team fails to advance to the championship bracket and unless there are consolation games, his Vegas experience is over. But despite his team not advancing Phinisee had 3 very solid ballgames. Date Pts. FGM FGA 3PM 3PA FTM FTA Reb Assts. TO's Stls. Blks. Min. 7/20 13 5 14 1 7 2 3 2 8 0 3 1 32 7/21 19 7 13 2 2 3 3 2 1 0 0 0 30 7/22 20 8 12 3 5 1 2 3 5 1 1 1 25 Avg 17.3 51% 43% 75% 2 5 0 1

Las Vegas: Three prioritizing Phinesee Evan Daniels LAS VEGAS -- 2018 point guard Robert Phinesee scored 19 points in a win over the Iowa Barnstormers on Thursday. Following the game Scout caught up with the four-star guard and discussed the schools recruiting him the hardest. [IU, PUke, Butler, Xavier] Evaluation Notes Indiana native Robert Phinisee landed in Scout’s updated 2018 player rankings at the beginning of the month. Phinesee’s play with the Indiana Elite 16’s, at least on Thursday, proved that he certainly was deserving of that honor. \ Phinesee, who stands 5-foot-11, is a crafty lead guard that uses a good handle and change of pace to slice his way into the paint and make plays. Phinesee is a good passer with quality vision, but he also proved to be a pretty good finisher as well. Through two games at the adidas Summer Championship, Phinesee is averaging 16 points and 4.5 assists. He’s also yet to turn the ball over.

Ditto!

After 3 games at Adidas Summer Championships Date Pts. FGM FGA 3PM 3PA FTM FTA Reb Assts. TO's Stls. Blks. 7/20 22 7 15 2 5 6 9 10 3 2 0 2 7/21 20 7 13 0 3 6 7 3 4 0 0 1 7/21 18 8 14 0 4 2 4 5 4 3 3 0 Avg 20.7 55% 27% 75% 8 2 2 1

2 games played in the 16U Adidas Summer Championships 13 pts. on 5 of 14 FG's; 1 of 7 on 3's; 2 of 3 on FT's; 2 reb; 8 asst.; 0 TO; 3 stls; 1 blk. [helps offset a bad shooting day!!] 19 pts. on 7 of 13 FG's; 2 of 2 on 3's; 3 of 3 on FT's; 2 reb; 1 asst; 0 TO; 0 stl; 0 blk.

In his second game of the Adidas Summer Championships, Romeo's team was beaten by D1 Minnesota 73 - 71. Romeo with 20 pts. on 7 of 13 FG's; 0 for 3 on 3's; 6 of 7 FT's; 3 reb; 4 asst; 0 TO; 0 Stl; 1 blk.

He was 7 of 15 on FG's; 2 of 5 on 3's; 6 of 9 FT's; 3 asst; 2 TO.

From ESPN.com The South Florida men's basketball program is under NCAA investigation for possible academic fraud issues, multiple sources told ESPN. Assistant coach Oliver Antigua, the brother of head coach Orlando Antigua, has not been allowed to go out on the road recruiting this month, multiple sources told ESPN. Orlando Antigua took over in 2014 after spending the previous six seasons under John Calipari -- one at Memphis and five at Kentucky. Oliver Antigua was previously an assistant for one season at Seton Hall before he was hired to join the USF staff in 2014. He spent more than a decade as the head coach at St. Raymond High in the Bronx. Orlando Antigua, 43, is 16-47 in his two seasons at the helm at South Florida. The Bulls were 7-24 last season.

I admit I'm confused but then again I'm an Old Fart. They talk about college and yet quite honestly, I don't think any of the top 50 (and maybe top 100) really expect to obtain a 4-year degree. They seemingly all have pro ambitions and the sooner the better.

Played 32:36 in a 93 - 83 loss to the T'wolves. Troy Williams: team-high 24 pts (5-11 FGs, 0 for 5 on 3's, 14-15 FTs), 6 rebs, 2 stls, 4 TOs.

Durham's AAU team played in a 3-day event called Best of the South this weekend in Suwanee, GA, with 72 participating teams. Durham played 5 games and his team won the tournament. Unfortunately, no individual stats are available but I did see one tweet to the effect that Durham had continued his hot shooting. The only other team that participated that I saw with IU interest was Trendon Watford's Alabama Challenge but can't provide any details of his individual performance.