AKHoosier

So I guess the two of them make quite a coach. Haha.

"Bold strategy there Cotton, let's see if it pays off."

As long as the poll has nothing to do with politics, I'm in.

Yeah they are panicking over there in Purdue-land after missing out on another of their top prospects. Painter banked a decent number of scholarships for 2017 in the hopes he'd be able to fill them with quality players, but they are striking out left and right. Highest ranked guy left on their board is Eastern I think, a guard from Chicago who also is a lean to Michigan State. Painter has to be so frustrated being Purdue's coach, he just can't catch a break sometimes no matter how hard he tries.

He seems like a good kid, gave a nice interview. So is the consensus that we want him? Tell me what to think haha. It'd be nice to have a 6'10" kid committed so Wilkes would be assured he wouldn't be playing the 4, and I don't think we have much of a chance we have with any of the other bigs we're going after like Billy Preston and Deng Gak.

I know what you're saying but think about it like this: Tom Crean has been recruiting Kris Wilkes since 8th grade. He's not going to turn away Kris Wilkes because Collin Hartman can take an additional year, which means he may not even be given an additional year to begin with. Just sucks all around.

Both parents are Illini graduates. That makes this sweeter.

Wilkes doesn't even want to be a stretch 4? Is Smith ok with being one?

I definitely am, but all that would (should) get cleared up this weekend during his official visit. If Smith commits, the timing is good in that regard, because I'm sure he'll have questions for the staff on their ability to play together.

Slightly off tangent but not really - I think Fred Glass is really helping IU athletics make strides where he can. He may not be able to directly produce wins on the court, field, etc., but he's making sure our athletic teams have what it takes to compete and keep up with the joneses. You really can't take that for granted.

This is long overdue, I've always felt this would be a great documentary.

I really hope he stays at Riley, as there were rumors he was looking at LaLumiere or other prep schools. Being from South Bend area originally, I'd like to see us land a top player from there.

^^I'd definitely take that class as long as one of those "two others" includes a big guy.

I hate Matta, but I hate him a little less after reading that. That's pretty awesome, although I find it pretty hard to believe Jaquan Lyle wasn't one of the problems, and is a solution.

Michigan? I'm not seeing it. Yeah upper half maybe, but they won't be contenders at all. They're way behind IU, Wisconsin, Purdue, and Michigan State.

Supposedly his #1 concern is exposure and ability to win next year, which is why he's leaving Nebraska. Of that list of finalists, I'd say us and UVA are the only schools who would be able to give him what he wants.

Yeah I am concerned about this, especially because he is so relatively new to basketball. I think he started playing organized bball his junior year of high school, went the juco route for 2 years (I think), and now is stepping into a B1G program. I'm not sure how much he was going to produce this year anyway, but it sure would have been nice to have him on campus already so he could start to get himself ready to go in the gym and weight room.

I'm so excited to see this past year's freshman make the typical sophomore jump. If all 3 of these guys make a significant leap, then WHOA.

I hope we don't have any basketball games on FS1, I don't have that channel.

Dang, I wanted to root for him, but it's like he keeps giving me reasons not to.

In what world is any of this true? Cody was a likely first-rounder in the 2012 draft, with maybe an outside chance at a lottery pick. Certainly not a lock. In the 2013 draft after his sophomore season, he was considered a lock for the lottery, but most believe it was a reach to select him #4 overall.

I still think Troy leaves. He sounded concerned when he said there aren't many seniors drafted in the first round. If he has his degree in May, there wouldn't be much of a reason for him to return other than to chase a national championship, which he probably cares about less than his future in the NBA (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). He seems like he'll be the type of guy who will ask 100 scouts if they think he should come back or go pro. Even though 99 of them will tell him to return, he'll listen to that 1 guy telling him to go pro. Sometimes you only take the advice you want to hear.

I just feel bad for players sometimes. The people they take advice from set them up for failure.

I think Troy is definitely gone. He'll have his degree, and probably knows his minutes could go down next year because of the emergence of OG and addition of DeRon Davis.

There's a post on TOS national board that he is a Duke lean, been a fan all his life. He does like IU too though. Hopefully this past season, and a good 2016 - 2017 season combined with a solid 2017 class (Wilkes, Williams, Jackson) will be enough to keep him in-state.