AKHoosier

In kind of somewhat sorta related news, MSU recently picked up a commitment from 2018 4* PF Thomas Kithier. 6'8", 210 lbs means that's someone Brooks would have to compete with for minutes in the front court at MSU. That definitely means Brooks should stay home and play for IU. No question.

Just odd that he deletes a picture off his Instagram account of him and Darius Garland just days after posting it. Then come pretty strong rumors he's looking to transfer high schools to the St. Louis area, and he switches AAU teams. Red flag alert.

Another board has also dropped news of a non-impact player possibly leaving. If he does leave, I hope we bank the scholarship. Something we never would have done in the past 8 years.

Sneakerheads aren't buying that. Neither are rappers, other athletes (lmao), actors (wtf?), or anyone other than a member of the Ball family. They're buying Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour. Just like everyone else.

Yep and the inverse is also true. It's amazing how good shooters can turn into bad shooters when they're no longer wide open after a pass from the post. You'll see it next year at Purdue when Swanigan is no longer there to kick it out to Mathias, Cline, Thompson, etc for a wide open 3. I'm sure some of those guys really did improve as shooters, but a huge reason why their numbers went up was because Swanigan was double-teamed, leaving a perimeter guy open.

I'm hopeful he gets paid, improves his game, and has a long productive career in the NBA. And I'll root for him. But he's going to get his @$$ kicked.

It'll be interesting to see what Moore can do with his minutes next year, because he just got more. Hopefully Blackmon comes back, suspect defense and all. We'll need his ability to stretch the defense. I really want us to hit up the grad transfer market too for a big guy. I'm not sure a rotation of Davis, Moore, McSwain, and Morgan will be enough to stay in the top 5 of the B1G and get a good tournament seed. On that same note, I hope we see Morgan add some bulk and work on finishing around the rim this summer. I still feel like he's more valuable to us in the paint than he is as a guard or a 3, and I thought Crean did too until this past year when he slimmed down and had him bringing the ball up the floor and initiating the offense.

Yeah I think we're just going after Jallow more, which is understandable. I really wish we'd recruit him harder more, he definitely is high on IU. He's visited a few times in the past couple years and is recently quoted on TOS as saying he wishes IU would target him more. A while back I wondered if the reason high-major schools weren't offering him was because of grades, but that's certainly not the case. He's a pretty good student, gets good grades at Riley. It looks like the offers are starting to come in lately with UConn and Purdue pulling the trigger lately.

lol what prompted this, a slightly-intoxicated Friday night post, or is there something new here? I really like how much time our new staff is spending on Garland this April. My dream is that we find a way to sign both him and Phinisee, and I think it's plausible given how many guards we're losing the next two seasons including this one.

Marshall certainly has his share of credentials and an ample portfolio of clients, so he definitely looks like he knows what he's doing. However, I tend to think that the S&C coach's impact is pretty overrated. I bet teams like UNC, Duke, etc. don't even know who their strength and conditioning coordinator is. Football is a different story because it's more physical and there are more injuries. Just be in shape, lift weights, and eat well.

Lots of great info to come from this, I'd love if we could end up with Brooks in 2019. Schilling should camp out in that family's front yard. Also I'm going to go out on a limb and predict Phinisee will be Archie Miller's first commitment at IU, not including the 2017 guys to reaffirm their commitments. I think he really wants to come here.

True but while he is 6'10", both he and his coach said not to expect him to bang down low with the bigs in college. He's more of a perimeter player, probably tries to emulate Kevin Durant like every other skinny 6'8"+ kid. I'm hoping that can be fixed with some attitude re-adjustment and offseason workouts because I'd like to see him on our roster.

It sucks we'll never get to see OG really shine and reach his full potential here. I really wish we could have seen him come back and make the same sophomore-to-junior leap that Oladipo did, but it definitely makes more sense for him to go pro now. Elite programs put guys into the NBA draft on a consistent basis. This should only help with recruiting.

I think you can operate in the gray without being willing to dance with the devil, so to speak. If all we were to do is foster the promise of a marketing or endorsement deal after a player decides to turn pro, then that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. To me it's just business. It's a business deciding to invest in its future by promoting a product via the likeness of a player. As long as there's no money being exchanged, only a "handshake agreement", then that's different. What I absolutely don't want us to do, though, is to become a magnet for the countless "advisors" and "uncles" of top-rated kids looking to score deals through the kid's pick of a school as well. I don't want IU to become known as a place where one of those guys can cash in on a kid they simply see as their meal ticket.

Well when someone says hiring him is a leap into the dark side of recruiting, to me that suggests that he's done some shady things and has been penalized for it. I would reserve a phrase like that for Larry Brown, Kelvin Sampson, John Calipari, Eddie Sutton, etc. Maybe you meant that he operates in the gray.

That's a hell of a stretch to say that about Schilling. What has he been penalized for by the NCAA? From what I understand, he doesn't have a history of major or even minor transgressions with the NCAA, so why is hiring him considered "a leap into the dark side of basketball recruiting"?

Wow, Ed Schilling would round out a great bench of assistants. We won't completely lock up the state in recruiting, but we'll definitely get our fair share. I really hope this is true.

Yeah I suppose it's all relative. For some reason they think it's realistic to be in the Final 4 and compete for a national championship every year, so they can't be satisfied with winning the conference and getting to the Elite 8 pretty much every year, Final 4 at least every 3 or 4 years. I mean, most schools would kill for that, but they just won't allow themselves to be happy.

Judging by the UK boards, Cal has already started to wear out his welcome a little bit. I'm sure they like the success, but their fans are getting tired of so much turnover on the roster after every season. Now with word that Humphries is likely to pursue professional options instead of return to UK, they'll have a completely green team next season. I also saw that Sasha Jones or whatever his name is could supposedly transfer as well. He was a 5* last year.

The thing about Gelon is he still has a lot of basketball he could play at another school if he chose to go that route, unlike Priller. It would be up to Grant to decide whether he wants to ride the bench at Indiana and hope to make an impact as an upperclassman, or transfer to another school like Ball State or Western Carolina, sit out a year, and play 20-25 minutes a game for a few years. I wouldn't blame him for doing either. As a fan, I can sure as heck understand both choices.

I always thought it was overrated too. I know it's heresy to say, but it's 90% hype considering all the love it always gets. I'd probably take Aver's over it if I get to pick, and it's too bad Mad Mushroom closed because that was my go-to.

I think Smith is the most important recruit for 2017. Puts up great numbers at high level Illinois basketball, which is nice because he's a Midwest kid from B1G country. One thing we missed this past season was an athletic, slashing wing like Troy Williams, and I never thought I'd say how much we missed Troy Williams, but his baseline cuts to the basket were instant offense. He would be a great, great addition to our roster for 3-4 years. Oh, and Mad Mushroom was the best pizza in Bloomington from what I recall. Aver's a close second.

I really don't know if I believe that. Archie is the head coach, we live or die with him now. It seems like assistants are there to help with day-to-day team drills and recruit. Chris Hawkins would be a heck of a hire for the IU bench. I think someone in the B1G or nearby will give him a chance, and we should beat them to the punch. People love him, and he just won a state title. He's really well respected.

Just pisses me off how we have to pay out the @$$ for years because of phone calls, yet UNC and Roy can turn a blind eye to cheating and academic fraud for years and the NCAA does nothing. Don't let the good ole boy demeanor fool you. Roy Williams is as dirty as they come.

This game is unwatchable. These refs are pathetic.