Old Friend

Coaches ranked us 3rd in budget and resources....don't think it's that bad.

We would have to get rid of Assembly Hall to move up, and that's not going to happen. It's very excusable if you look at it that way. Assembly Hall gets replaced with the Kohl Center, we're probably #1, but I don't want that and I don't believe you do, either. It's not as simple in this case as saying "we're #6 in facilities." True, our home arena is outdated in some ways, but it's iconic in others and when full and loud, the best home court advantage in the country. Kansas and Duke also have bad facilities by this measure and North Carolina does not. Why? New arena. But UNC does not have the home court advantage it once did.

Recruiting base, we are behind Chicago, New York, and Washington DC. Not sure that's an accurate assessment other than "available talent." Lots of playground ballplayers there... Media exposure is something many overlook. Indiana was on national TV 9 times last season. Purdue 4. IU still moves the needle because of the program...not the current team. Anyone who believes Indiana is an irrelevant program should talk to people who really know. I LOVE this. It should be shown to every recruit and every idiot pundit who thinks Indiana is irrelevant.

Yep. I would say in this case, Archie is wrong. He still has some Dayton in him, and I have zero interest in any me first kids. Getting or losing this kid will have zero bearing on whether or not Indiana makes or doesn't make the NCAA tournament. Indiana's entity is far bigger than the recent on court results. Culture is not always current status. I have complete faith in his ability to coach, but not every kid is a fit. See Luke Recker. See Lawrence Funderburke. On and on. This kid would have been a bad fit in my opinion, and I don't equate him one bit to a failure or some "sign." I know what we DID get.

You should pick this up. It might help you. https://www.k5learning.com/reading-comprehension-worksheets/first-grade-1

Not sure where to start with this.... "A program needs talent to win?" Really?? You don't say. Do you honestly think I meant we don't need talent? Is that what you interpreted? I'll start with Franklin. You've never seen him play if you think it'll take a couple of years for him to be a good player. That's just truth. We just landed Phinisee, Jackson-Davis, Hunter, and Franklin. I'm not seeing this "struggle" you're selling. And no program will ever land "most" of anything, which is one reason I said we need the "right kids." The ones who can succeed in the Big Ten and in Archie's system as it evolves. You aren't the only one who knows IU's history, but here are some things that kinda' validate what I said. 1981, IU also had a whole lot of experience. Tolbert, Wittman, Kitchell, Turner, Risley, Grunwald, and Isenbarger were all upper classmen. 1987? Alford, Thomas, Jadlow, Sloan, Hillman, Smith, Eyl? Upper classmen..plus the two JUCO's...one of whom was 22 years old at the time. But....the real funny thing here is the title itself. Yeah, Daryl Thomas and Rick Calloway were both, in title, "McDonald's All Americans," but....Steve Alford wasn't. That kinda' throws a wrench into the theory, if you ask me. Alford had a legendary senior season that ended with a 57 point game in a semi state game with no 3-point line - at a time when Indiana High School Basketball was pretty solid - and became one of the best college guards of his era, and a 2 time consensus All American in college. There are hundreds of stories of players like this who didn't hold that moniker. Meaningless technicality of a title. At that time, with no internet, it was up to writers who had never seen a lot of the players, and as much a popularity contest as anything. Greg Dreiling, Greg Kite, and Tim McCormick were McDonald's All Americans. Charles Barkley was not. Numbers seem to mean a lot to you. How many top 50 (McD's All America caliber) kids participated in this season's final four? I'll wait while you look that up, since I'm living in some "pure fantasy." Oh hell...I'll help you. On 4 teams (each of which won their conference or their conference tournament), six total top 50 kids participated/played in this season's final four. Know how many of those Texas Tech had? In fact, know how many top 100 kids Texas Tech had? Zero. None. But they had a damned good coach who recruited to a system. You think Michigan State has built what they have solely with McD's All Americans, or maybe "getting old and staying old" with kids that fit what Izzo does has something to do with it? So much for your theory that Indiana needs "almost all highly ranked players." (That was a ridiculous statement by you) I don't think I said we don't need talent to win. Did I? I don't think I did. Indiana has and will continue to get its share of talent. But we don't need a lineup of "mostly highly ranked players." Is your point that we needed Quinones, or something else?

Consider this a major victory, my man. We lost nothing except a PIA kid whose ego is too big to ever be on a good team. We have 3 top 100 kids (I think Franklin got there, right) in Hunter (37 last year), Jackson, and Davis. We need the RIGHT players. Not "top 100" players. We need seniors. Program kids. We need to get old and stay old. We do not need "immediate impact" kids in every recruiting class or all we'll do is turn over recruiting classes. That is not Indiana's culture and I don't want it to be.

Don't look now, Boot. We agree again. This is exactly how I feel. Kids have to fit, and this kid never seemed like he did or would.

Okay, ray. Calm down. Let's apply meaning and context to what I said. I don't hate the kid or anyone else. I think this one in particular is an attention seeking, "me first" kid for many reasons. And what I meant (and basically what I said) was if the amount of Facetime he gets with a coach is a large or THE deciding factor in what school he chooses, this is one more example of why I believe what I do. Go to Memphis. I have no interest in kids who choose Indiana because of how much attention (see : "love") he feels from Archie Miller. You either want to play basketball at Indiana University or you do not. And I know you understand that. Right? Take a breath.

It just says "old!" It doesn't say "Old enough not to know the difference between Facebook and Facetime!" I have 3 teen aged boys....believe me....I know the difference!!! Plus, Middle Aged Friend sounded stupid....and out of context for purposes of this site. =)

I know. It's still in that genre to me. All of my kids use it. I'm not THAT old.

Sounds to me like after a week or so, this is an offer Galloway really values. We get Leal and Galloway? Go get some size and a couple of point guards; and we've got ourselves a foundation.

I hope Archie never uses Facetime, if that's something a recruit uses to make a decision. "A recruit" will never be important enough to convince me to believe anything on social media is the difference maker. To me? A recruit that needs this (and I already believe this about Quinones) is an attention seeker who's more interested in himself than anything. Indication of being pampered and entitled. I know social media is used and has its place. But if Facetime communication is THE deciding factor and a player needs to be "shown love" that much? Go to Memphis.

When you are choosing a career....do not choose "Lawyer."

I don't agree with all of your schedule comments and I'll get to those in a minute, but this all means what? His numbers are inflated? Go watch a video and see how many of his yards are after contact. How many tackles he broke. It's not like Rutgers or Illinois have a roster full of kids who would physically overwhelm Spegal. He's not an NFL player; but a good college player?? Absolutely. Do we need every player we have to be an NFL guy, or as I believe we need gym rat, hard working tough, smart, willing football players? I only needed to see him in 1 game to know what I'm looking at, but regardless of whether or not you think they played a bad schedule, they went 14-0 and won the 5A state championship. They beat Center Grove 31-9. At Center Grove. Center Grove is a 6A team that beat Carmel (check me if I'm wrong, but Carmel was in the 6A state title game, yes?), Cathedral, Lawrence North, and Lawrence Central and Ben Davis last season. New Pal beat them by 22. With a lot of help from Spegal. Now...I don't pretend to know everything there is to know about Indiana high school football; and you might be able to find a better win than a 3-touchdown victory over CG at their building. But maybe not. And yes, they beat a whole lot of bad teams too...I get that. But....that has nothing to do with the kind of player Spegal is. I have zero doubt he'll have plenty of better D1 offers before long.

Just wait. My opinion is based on the eyeball test and experience. Your comment stands. Duly noted. SMH

You DO know I see your last as a challenge, right?? =) AT is a friend of mine. I wouldn't disrespect him for anything, and he is one of my favorite people. He was not much faster than Spegal is in high school. When he trained with Walter Payton? Yeah,....he got faster; but Spegal runs the same way. Through people. He gets lower than they are and he dares you to tackle him high. You brought up the height question (as I referenced....checking a box), so I used others as a reference; that's all. No direct comparison intended. Spegal just turned 17. But.....Spegal just put up some of the best numbers of all time against a better HS schedule than AT ever played. I'm not comparing the two, just giving you a reference. A BIG back does not have to have every box checked. The only one that's not with this kid is "explosive speed." I don't have to tell you there have been plenty of backs who've been very successful in the BIG without it. I'll simply close with this...and I think this one's tough to argue. Cole Gest is and was a very effective back. if you watched him before he got hurt, he was one tough SOB. Spegal is at least that good and I'd say better. So we have an example now within our own program. My examples to you were simply that 5'8" means nothing. Whatever his weight is means nothing. Heck, the best and toughest linebacker on my son's high school team weighs 155 pounds, and he tackles like a fish hitting a lure.

All due respect? (I know there is WAY too much arguing here...not my intent) Kid bench presses in the 400's, squats in the 600's, and averages > 10 yards per carry because good teams can't tackle him (you ever tried tackling a short guy who squats 600 pounds and has 4% body fat? I have. Good luck.) and because he is "fast enough." He's also a terrific blocker and incredibly bright as a football player. How tall, by the way is J'Shun Harris? Anthony Thompson was 5'10" 190 in high school. I don't know your background at all, but what don't you see? Do you remember Maurice Jones-Drew? I see a whole lot of him in Spegal. Barry Sanders was 5'8" 205. In the NFL. By the way. If I'm Tom Allen, I can't offer this kid fast enough. Hell, so what if you miss?? New Pal IS a machine. You don't think a school that close to IU's campus and that set records a year ago can't send kids who can help? I'm telling you, he will get big time D1 offers. There's a reason Michigan State and Wisconsin were there to watch him. This is a no brainer to me. I'd take 10 of him and dare teams to work harder or play harder than my team does. He doesn't get an offer from Indiana, I'll bet you a cold beer he ends up in the Big Ten somewhere and we'll wish we'd offer. And NOT said "he just doesn't check the boxes...." Indiana does not have that luxury. We need football players. This kid is a badass football player.

This kid is far better than a preferred walk on. He will be a great football player in college and I would hate to insult him by even making that suggestion. Other D1 schools with far more to offer than Indiana does will offer scholarships. We'd look ridiculous if we didn't. New Pal is a 5A football school. Look at those numbers. Come on now....walk on???

Absolutely THIS. Go to Memphis. I have no interest in a player with this mindset. I will never, ever, ever, ever understand why or how Indiana fans are excited this kid might accept his scholarship to IU and come to school here. Is it that someone said yes?? Surely those of you who are excited understand this mentality is 180* from any successful college culture that doesn't focus on one and done's, right?

Believe it or not, in that neighborhood, yes.

Here's a fact. Crean offered on average ~ 50 scholarships every season. Archie has offered around 12. Crean recruited with a shotgun. Anyone who'd say yes. It's why he spent 10x more on recruiting than Wisconsin did. It's why he never built a team, but rather just pieces thrown together. And...that single reason is the ONLY reason this kid is even palatable to me right now. I do trust Archie enough to believe he sees something he needs. Otherwise? Go to Memphis.

It's not only "okay," it's preferable. Losing a recruit to Memphis concerns me exactly zero.

I'd say this is accurate. My question (and this may sound odd) is whether or not Archie has moved on from what will be successful at Dayton to what will be successful at Indiana. The kids he recruits cannot be cut from the same cloth at both schools. I love the Brunk signing. I do not love Damezi Anderson. I love Franklin and Jackson-Davis. I do not love Quinones, and I really don't know what I don't know about Watford. But...at this point, I refuse to believe that ANY player is a make or break kid because we DO need to get old...and stay old. With the right kids. That's the trick in my mind, and I just don't feel it with Quinones. Hopefully, I'm dead wrong if he decides to come here; and I wouldn't fault a kid one bit for going to play with Penny. What concerns me? Memphis is a lot more like Dayton than it is like Indiana, which is in part why I made the comment above.