RaceToTheTop

Looking at their current roster, the two players I see there who are local (Camden Webster and Jaelyn Johnson) both graduated high school in the spring of 2024 and academics were not an issue. Looking at others I see that were local, they also were high school graduates that went there. So I can't speak for all players there, but it seems like a way for kids to take more college prep classes while concentrating mainly on basketball. I would say the classes are secondary to their purpose -- but of the players that I know that went there from the area, academics was not the issue to begin with. Kid I know very well took was a straight A student that I had in calculus and physics. Found this in their Twitter bio: Bosco Institute is a high school / post grad program designed to help young men continue their development&enhance their opportunity to play college basketball.

Don't know much about him but do know the Don Bosco school in Hammond. They've done a decent job at getting kids that weren't getting much in terms of offers out of high school to programs. Basically it's a place where high school graduates can go, mostly concentrate on basketball for a year (their classes are online) and play against some better competition and get noticed. They did take a kid who went to the high school I taught at who was getting marginal D2/D3 offers and ended up getting a scholarship to Evansville (coaching change there before he ever got on campus and he ended up playing at Delaware, so still D1). That said, they don't typically get kids to P5 levels. I found a couple they had in recent years, but they were cup of coffee guys (Tracy Ramsey who played at Maryland as a scholarship player but only appeared in five games before transferring) and Patrick Suemnick who was in West Virginia's rotation last year and is in Oklahoma State's rotation this year). I believe the two most successful players to come through Don Bosco Hammond are Nick Boyd and Kobe Knox. Boyd is a senior at San Diego State, played three years at FAU under Dusty May (in their rotation all three years, averaged 9+ points his junior year and scored 12 points in the final four loss to San Diego State as a sophomore). Currently averaging 13.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.5 assists at San Diego State and put up 23 against Gonzaga. Knox is at South Florida where he is a junior averaging in double figures.

I know it's not going to happen, but I wish the efficiency part of rankings would just go away. If a team is winning a lot of close games against inferior competition once the teams get through conference it should show. Based on the above NET for Maryland and Indiana it would seem that IU could go 12-8 in conference and still be behind Maryland if they went 8-12. Wins, losses, and who you won and lost to should be all that matters in my book. Guess its why I'm not on the committee. FWIW, Torvik runs a WAB ranking (wins above bubble). Based just on wins/losses and who you played. A positive win above bubble indicates that you are above the minimum number of wins necessary to make the tournament. IU is ranked 62 -- very similar to their net -- but Maryland is at 51. The WAB top 25 looks pretty good IMO: Auburn 11-1 Oregon 12-1 Alabama 11-2 Tennessee 12-0 Marquette 11-2 Memphis 10-3 Oklahoma 13-0 Florida 13-0 Duke 10-2 Mississippi State 11-1 Utah State 12-1 Iowa State 10-1 Texas A&M 11-2 Drake 12-0 Kansas 9-2 Kentucky 10-2 Arizona State 9-2 UCLA 11-2 Georgia 12-1 Pittsburgh 10-2 Purdue 9-4 Wisconsin 10-3 Michigan State 11-2 Nebraska 10-2 U Conn 10-3

I saw him play on tv (can’t remember against who). Good athlete and defender but that was as far as it goes. If I remember correctly the offer came from McLeod on a visit — Crean didn’t know about it until Williams posted it and accepted. There was no official ‘IU pulls the scholarship’ but it quietly went away as did McLeod at the end of the season.

My problem is that it’s based on what he did against Winthrop. I’m glad he’s an option at least.

I will say that I liked K.J. Doucet's game. He's a senior at Winthrop but if the JUCO rule holds he should get another year. He had an off shooting night but he moves well for his size and can play at the P5 level. In his four games against P5 competition this year, he's averaged 13 points and 8.5 rebounds.

I don't know that I really come away with the thought that Hatton needs to play more. He had a really good game but I doubt that translates to playing against Big Ten teams. Our ceiling is really low if we have to count on Hatton and Leal for big minutes. But it's obvious right now that the talented players aren't getting anywhere near their potential.

I'm not but I am.

No Ballo today.

From what I heard from the Harrison people, Painter wasn't real happy with his play/attitude in the game he attended there. But Painter isn't the type of a coach who won't do his work and base his opinion on one performance. FWIW, Michigan State offered in August and they have pulled some recruits away from Purdue despite coming in much later.....and with NIL involved, I could see them pulling him away.

We've seen Woody play more and more without two bigs on the floor at the same time. We've also seen that we still don't hit outside shots. Sadly, two bigs on the floor at the same time has produced the best results for IU but that style of play has such a low ceiling. Until we have a modern offense run by someone who knows how to coach it, we aren't destined for anything.

Has IU being showing any interest in 2026 SG Steven Reynolds (SB Washington)? #1 recruit in Indiana by 247 and ranked 90th overall. SB Washington was at the Harrison invitational on Friday/Saturday. Matt Painter was in attendance on Friday (Reynolds had an off game and picked up a technical in OT but his team pulled away in the extra session to beat Harrison). Saturday Reynolds put up 50 points in an 87-51 win over Hobart (I think he was like 20 of 35 from the floor). Good shooting stroke plus good athleticism and a true lanky 6'5".

Thanks for the info. Do you live near Rock Hill? When I retire a few years down the road, we will be relocating around the Greenville SC area.

Yeah, was in the rotation under Allen but couldn’t get in the field last year.

Yes, just was stating this year that he was leaving a program that whines to go somewhere that wins.

From Ole Miss to IU? So he up transferred.

One already did transfer in -- Riley Nowakowski from Wisky.

I seriously doubt he would have been back next year. Lost their last ten last year, are 4-8 this season. You can’t survive that kind of losing very long.

Miami has lost 18 of the last 22 games he's coached.

Would seem a little strange to me if he were to go into the portal and transfer from Illinois to Indiana. I would assume he is going to be starting again next year for the Illini if he comes back. Illinois had a pretty good team last year and I would think that the NIL was okay there. He is from Mississippi so it wouldn't surprise me to see him go back down south. That said, would love to have him.

DJ Wingfield, starting right guard for Purdue, enters the portal. Originally planned on going into the NFL draft. That said, I believe he is entering with the hope that the JUCO years not counting goes through as he would be out of eligibility unless it does.

Could be. Started graduated and the player in house who would have taken the job has entered the portal. They signed two QB recruits but the top one is ranked 31st among QB recruits and they haven't signed any in the portal.

Would be better than Purdue.

Give Cig double duty as a bball coach.

Colorado signed one of the top portal QBs….who knows if Lewis even ends up at colorado