RaceToTheTop

The shooting issues would still be there if Ledlum had signed as he's not a great shooter. My expectation was that Ware would likely shoot a higher percentage from three than Ledlum was going to. That said, Ledlum looked to be a known scorer and bulldog. I do think the staff needs to identify some specialists, particularly a shooter. Doesn't even need to be a starter who is going to play 30 minutes. We have a spot for a shooter who can come off the bench and knock down some shots......fill a Tamar Bates spot BUT be able to knock shots down.

If you aren't going to be around, how would messaging you help?

Reneau was an incredibly late commit......in fact, he committed to IU exact one year ago yesterday (April 18, 2022). Newton committed in October of 2021.

The strange this is that the Big Ten style of play is the style that Ledlum likes to play. But if there is one thing that seems to be true about most players, they seem to want to be what they aren't. Watch any pick up game and you'll see big men trying to show they can make threes and guards trying to post up.

When he committed, it looked like they would be playing four guys at three spots -- Essegian, Hepburn, Klesmit, and him. My guess is some assurances he was given by Gard were broken or going to be broken when they signed A.J. Storr.

Would you not call both Reneau and Ware both recruiting wins?

Interesting. Comes on the heels of A.J. Storr committing to Wisconsin. Reynolds is from Peoria, so I assume it's not because he would be far from home. Seemed to be hitting his stride at Wyoming before his season ended in early February. Prior to that, had averaged 19 points in his previous 12 games. Might be worth kicking the tires.

New to the portal: Tre White, 6'7" wing, USC. averaged 9 ppg and 5.1 rpg last season in 27 mpg as a freshman. Shot 47/27/69. 50th ranked recruit coming in last year. 247 analysis out of high school: A powerfully built small forward at 6-6. An explosive leaper off two feet. Has functional basketball athleticism and versatility skill wise. A keep the defense honest long range shooter. Prefers to score off the dribble. Has a reliable pull up jumper and can finish in traffic. Handles the ball well and can be a playmaker with his passing. Can rebound in traffic and will chase down a rebound. Defensively, can typically adequately defend any position.

He did. He's a Canadian kid. Had a nice offer list out of high school -- Syracuse, Illinois, Xavier, GTown, NC State, OKlahoma, Providence among others. Ranked 131st in the 2019 class.

I know that every player looks good in the highlight tape -- everyone shoots 100% in them. So I try to look more at moveset, how the player responds to contact, their shooting form. His moveset is okay but on the interior looks solid; looks like he most definitely likes to play through contact. His shooting form looks really good. I expect he would be a 10 and 5 type of player but does have a ceiling higher than that -- he's put up a 14 and 8 average in the ACC already. I am all in on buying that Altman is losing his touch and that he isn't getting the maximum out of his talent -- part of the reason I am expecting big things from Ware.

Moving on. I know I'm beating it to death, but....Quincy Guerrier from Oregon. 6'8"....big wing. Probably a more natural 3 than Ledlum was (not saying he's a better player than Ledlum, but he's more of an above rim player than Ledlum. He won't be a blow-by-you player, but moves well enough and defensively has the length to recover. Will play through contact. Solid build.

Or people who think you can just look at who a player follows and know where they are going.

Knecht is said to have shut his recruitment down so I would assume he is Oregon bound. Had a bad feeling about Ledlum when he continued his visits. Quincy Guerrier is a 3 that still interests me. Entered the portal a couple of days ago from Oregon.

Agree on Knecht and Ryan. Disagree on nothing else interesting if your bar for interesting is Cormac Ryan.

Jesus. Felt like he just strung IU along.

Devo Davis had tweeted on March 31st that he was going through the draft process but keeping the possibility of returning to U of A open. That's different than saying going to the draft but keeping college eligibility open. I assume he's either going to go into the draft or had his mind set on returning to Arkansas. That said, Musselman has already over recruited him in Ellis, Mack, and Battle and I don't see the minutes for him. But if he does want to portal, better do it before the draft process. NCAA transfer portal entry deadline is May 11; NBA withdrawl deadline for NCAA early entrants is May 31.

His sarcasm is very straight forward. No one has to guess when he is being sarcastic. If he is being sarcastic here, he's doing a bad job of it.

We know (or have reason to believe two things): he didn't close the deal (at least yet) with either Knecht or Ledlum. But we also know Ledlum is at least still listening.

Aloha isn't typically someone who does that. He's pretty straight forward when he wants to mess with someone. That said, as with everyone, sources have varying degrees of accuracy and mean different things, and sometimes even if they believe what they are saying, they aren't correct.

Agree on Battle being a better shooter. But I wouldn't call him a knock down shooter....I think the sample space is good enough to call him a bulk 35% three point shooter. Ledlum is a 30% three point shooter in lower quantity and against lesser competition. Obviously that's an advantage for Battle. That said, Ledlum is a better get to the rim and back down option IMO and a better defender and rebounder. Battle is a proven quantity. I'd say lower ceiling on Battle, higher floor. We don't know how Ledlum will translate to Big Ten play. In terms of Tennessee 'doing their thing' with the NIL, they have only signed one player in the portal -- Jordan Gainey -- and I believe someone said he is an assistant's son. Their issue is the numbers crunch -- three freshman coming in, unsure of a couple coming back. At most right now they have one spot open.

Yeah, have to say it's hard to stay patient on this. He did enter the portal very early, waiting a month before taking any official visits then took three within a week. I don't understand him taking an at home visit from Tennessee after just visiting there for two days four days ago. Maybe Tennessee feels that Knecht is going to Oregon and therefore they need Ledlum, but Tennessee is pretty set either way given they have 11 scholarship positions filled with talent already. There are already going to be some players at UT unhappy next year. Hope Ledlum comes to IU, but if not....next man up. Hopefully the staff has been in touch with Quincy Guerrier (Oregon, just hit the portal). Big wing, shoots the three okay. Been a 10 and 6 guy over four years at Syracuse and Oregon and put up a 14 and 8 year in 2020-1 at Syracuse.

Honestly, nobody knows. Ledlum has been in the portal a long time and has been very quiet about everything. But I also know that Tennessee wouldn't be doing an at home visit right now if he had already decided to commit to Tennessee.

Gotcha. Twitterverse seems to think he will be going to Syracuse which recruited him heavily. From what I've seen at Syracuse requires an 85 TOEFL for foreign students, so if he was short of Michigan's requirement he might be short on Syracuse's (there are other tests he could have taken, but I assume if he is asking out of his letter of intent, retaking the TOEFL wasn't a realistic option because his score wasn't close enough). I checked Indiana's TOEFL minimum and it is 79, so the 79 is probably what most Big Ten schools require...but not Michigan or Northwestern.

Not sure why that would lead to him asking out of his NIL.

Julian Roper (formerly Northwestern) commits to Notre Dame.