RaceToTheTop

In June of 23 he did 17 reps of 185 pounds (when he weighed 170 pounds) — that was his baseline preconditioning numbers before he any work on strength and conditioning. While that is partially cardio, that also entails strength and drive. He came into college with a solid physical training.

Yeah, hard to believe a kid ranked 131 didn’t make a splash as a freshman in a P5 conference.

I kid, I kid

Cupps is actually pretty damn strong for his frame. There were videos posted of him preseason on here where I believe he set the IU freshman reps record. Needs some work on his foot speed and decision making on screens and he needs to trust his shot more (and stop floating on his jumpers). From all accounts, he is one of the hardest workers on the team. Just needs to get out of his own head.

6'8" PF Jaylen Crocker-Johnson enters (Arkansas Little-Rock). 3 years of eligibility, true freshman last year. Played 23.4 minutes per game, averaged 9.1 points and 5.3 rebounds. Shot 50/28/63. Did take 60 three pointers. Had three double-doubles. 6'9" PF/C Chris Conway, Oakland. 27 minutes/game, 10.0 pts, 4.1 reb. 6'8" C Alex Sobel, Sacred Heart. 26 minutes/game, 12.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.8 blocks. Interior player only. 6'10" C Langdon Hatton, Bellarmine. 27 minutes/game, 10.5 points, 7.1 rebounds. Some perimeter ability, made 15 of 45 threes. From Georgetown, Indiana.

Lot of miles on him for a redshirt sophomore -- 20-21 UConn, only 2 games played. 21-22 Texas A&M. Played in 31 games, started 11....but averaged just 7.1 minutes. Interesting. 22-23 Texas A&M. Played in only 7 games but not eligible for a redshirt -- not injured and played a handful of minutes throughout the season. 23-24 Western Michigan: Given the 16 minutes per game, he really did put up good numbers given his court time.

ummmm.......WTF?

Basketball isn't a game where you get extra credit for doing one thing extremely well. I'm also not sure what hype you are referring to. He was the 131st ranked recruit by 247. IU had not a recruit that low since 2020 -- he was the lowest rated recruit Woodson has had.

Guys you think may be 10th and 11th before the season starts may end up being 8th or 9th. Additionally, those guys are also one or two injuries away (or foul trouble away) from being put in important positions. U Conn was a unicorn in that respect in that they stayed incredibly healthy. Even if you play just 8 guys in the postseason, you are going to be needing 10 or 11 for the regular season.

Braxton Meah (Washington) commits to Nebraska, so anyone wanting him as the backup big at IU, not gonna happen. Terrance Williams of Michigan commits to USC. Jack Clark, Clemson, 6’10” stretch 4/5, enters the portal. In 24 mpg last year averaged about 5 points and 5 boards. Shot 40/30/77. In 5 years (was hurt most of his freshman year) at LaSalle, NC State and Clemson has averaged 9 pts and 5.5 reb in 26.6 mpg, shooting 40/30/79. Bulk three point shooter, making 140 of 466 in his career.

Just covering his bases. He’s staying in the draft. https://www.on3.com/news/illinois-forward-coleman-hawkins-explains-decision-to-enter-ncaa-transfer-portal-nba-draft/

Sounds like Johnell Davis is an Arkansas lean. Arkansas going to be a lot better than Kentucky next year.

Personally, I think redshirt rules should be more restrictive, not less. The age of some players is way out of hand and it's another reason that high school kids are having trouble getting recruited.

few turnovers and decent three point shooting percentage weren't bad. It's not like he was C.J. Gunn as a freshman. If Cupps had been playing second minute units he wouldn't have been exposed defensively like he was. He also has been an incredibly team first guy who has went out of his to help in recruiting.

J.T. Toppin, 6'9" PF from New Mexico, enters. Three years eligibility remaining. Started 35 games as a freshman. 12.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, 1.9 blocks per game. Has shown some perimeter skill, making 11 of 32 (34%) from three.

He was a freshman who was forced into playing minutes he wasn't ready for. Can't blame him for that.

In terms of NIL, being one of the cash cows for the second largest shoe brand as opposed to many more cash cows under Nike is why it makes sense. IU, Kansas, Texas A&M, Miami and Louisville are the biggest cash cows for adidas and A&M and Miami are more so on the football end. If a kid wants to play in the Big Ten and are linked with adidas, they are certainly going to be pushed toward Indiana.

Hemenway and the staff were trying to work out a visit date last we knew. He has a visit to Vanderbilt lined up and there one or two others he was trying to line up, I believe. FWIW, I believe from one source (might have been Rabjohns) I got the feeling that Hemenway had initiated contact with IU pretty much right away when he hit the portal. If he comes to IU in my opinion it will be because he wants to be close to home and in an Indiana uniform as opposed to getting more minutes somewhere else. I certainly think he'll get minutes at IU but if he's looking for maximum playing time it would be somewhere else. Haven't heard much on the Nikita K front lately. Few days ago it was just mentioned that there had been multiple conversations with him.

I don’t disagree. My argument was more with someone posting that the first two years were ‘failures’ when they really weren’t. Year three was a bad year. in terms of what has been his saving grace in recruiting, I’m fine with whatever works.

Somto Cyril (6'10" Kentucky decommit) commits to Georgia. Calipari was able to make up for him not committing to Arkansas instead by getting a commitment today from James Aidoo (Tennessee), one of the best bigs still in the portal. Northern Illinois forward Xavier Amos commits to Wisconsin. Amos averaged 13.8 pts and 5.8 rebounds at NIU. Okay commitment, but what Wisconsin has not been bringing in the same caliber of transfers that left.

Vlad did put up 23 points in 19 minutes against Illinois......and fouled out.

Lol George Washington III (Michigan) entered the portal, withdrew, and now has entered again

Yes, and I believe that Hemenway is just getting visits lined up now — see no situation where he decides before May 1st.

Julius Marble, 6’8” power forward from Texas A&M enters the portal. 9 pts and 4 reb/game in 21 mpg. Played three seasons at Michigan state. Elijah Saunders, 6’8” San Diego State stretch 4. 6.2 pts, 3.6 ast in 20 mpg. 42/32/96 shooter

May now has Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin on his roster. Two bigs....along with Will Tschetter. All three really slow. Forget the question about how Woodson keeping two bigs on the floor together -- it's a hell of a lot easier keeping Reneau and Ware or Reneau and Ballo on the court together. I'm just going to say it: Danny Wolf is not a big ten starting caliber player. Against teams with pulse last -- Ivy League teams of any value -- he was bad. Against Gonzaga, Kansas, San Diego State, and Auburn: he was 11 of 39 from the field with 27 rebounds. Averaged 8.3 points and 6.8 rebounds in about 30 minutes/game. I simply can't see him being on the court alongside Goldin. Wolf is the backup 5 IMO without a real possibility of being a 4 in any lineup.