IndyHutch

And if you think people are second guessing the way he did it yesterday imagine what it would be like if the blocked field goal scenario had played out?

First of all the ball went to the 1 not the 5 right? Second you would have to take a knee because SIU was letting you score there. Third what message are you sending to your team if you do all that? I'm not saying I was confident the defense would hold them but here's the other thing..... Did you see Oakes' 22 yard field goal attempt to make it 41-38? It was low and ugly, What if you do as you suggest and take the clock down and they block the field goal or there's a poor exchange? You do have a first year long snapper . That is what gets coaches fired.

I like the fact that Paige isn't interested in fair catching every punt though. He looked good there.

I say it's too early to tell. Not a large enough sample size with all of the impact defensive guys that didn't play yesterday (Scales, Latham, Green and Dutra). I need to see more but I still think IU has enough offense to win 6 games. I really liked what I saw from Jordan Howard.

Indiana 42, Southern Illinois 18

With Brad Stevens, it seems like everyone has this "top secret, deep throat" kind of source that is sitting in the weeds somewhere and comes up with this great information all the time. Whenever I question different people about their sources, they insist that the guy they know is someone who is very much in the know. And I guess I'm talking about message board posters here with sources more than anything else having been part of a different board the last couple of years.    My own take on Brad though is that he's very private. I just don't know who all these people are that he would be sharing all of this confidential information with, knowing that in doing so the word is going to get out. I just think Brad is smarter than that. He knows how to play the game. I feel like I know him well enough over the years to feel comfortable in saying that.   Back to your original question as do we know for certain that IU sent a group to talk to him? Again, I've heard that in terms of message board chapter from unnamed sources for a while. But I've never been able to confirm that through a independent reputable source that I trust. And I've never been great with passing on info that I've learned without hearing it myself for a source that I trust.

In Mike Miller's story in the HT this morning, it says that officers recognized HMP as being in the backseat with Holt and that Morgan was behind the wheel and Bryant also in the front seat. But it said that they didn't recognize the fifth "male passenger" in the vehicle. 

That's the latest word from Wilson as of Monday.

If HMP had just reached over and grabbed the two handles of vodka no one would have been cited and my guess is we wouldn't even still be talking about this story

OK, this one surprised me. I expected the penalty to be harsh for Emmitt Holt in particular after he was cited a little over a week ago for possession of alcohol along with freshman teammate Thomas Bryant. Given the incident with Devin Davis less than a year ago where Holt was driving the vehicle that struck his teammate in the road way, you knew that IU coach Tom Crean was going to have to do something that would really get Holt’s attention this time. The original incident didn’t do it. And seeing Davis and Hanner Mosquera-Perea dismissed on May 15 after Davis was cited for having marijuana in his dorm room apparently didn’t do it either. So it had to be something major and significant. He got four games last time – two regular season and two preseason. So I was expecting 10 games this time. Perhaps a non-conference penalty that would have him playing by the time the Big Ten season rolled around. But I had really never given a lot of thought to the possibility that Crean might just dismiss Holt from the Indiana University basketball team. And yet that’s exactly what happened Monday afternoon. In a simple, yet straight to the point two-paragraph press release from IU Media Relations, IU announced that Holt had been dismissed and that Bryant would face internal discipline. The statement read: “Sophomore Emmitt Holt has been dismissed from the men’s basketball program effective immediately for demonstrating exceptionally poor judgment in the circumstances surrounding his recent citation, particularly coming after his involvement in the Devin Davis accident which should have motivated him to make better decisions. Freshman Thomas Bryant, as a result of his citation, is receiving internal team discipline and is subject to additional discipline for any future failure to live up to his responsibilities to the program.’’ So here’s my take: If this doesn’t completely get everyone’s attention within the Indiana basketball program then nothing ever will. If there is another drug or alcohol related incident involving a member of this basketball team moving forward then they should simply have their bags packed the next day. The hammer came down hard Monday afternoon. For those that want to argue that it was just possession of alcohol and that a “normal college student” would have barely been reprimanded if at all, I will continue to argue that these kids are not normal college students in any way, shape or form. And considering the fish bowl like existence they currently occupy where their every move is being analyzed and re-analyzed what happened with Holt and Bryant simply cannot happen. The sad thing for me is I find myself feeling bad for Holt. He’s a kid after all and yes he was at the wrong place at the wrong time but he’s still just a college sophomore. I’m guessing he’ll get a chance to pursue his dream someplace else and I’m sure he’ll flourish there but his Indiana dream has come to a screeching halt. The big question is did he learn anything? Had he learned anything in the last week or so as we all awaited Crean to hand down his punishment? And will he learn anything moving forward. I had an interesting discussion with someone within the IU athletic program last week who told me that they have noticed that anyone born after 1996 is a different breed. Some of it is a sense of entitlement but another part is just the attitude that these kinds of things happen to everyone else but they’ll never happen to me. Well, guess what … it just happened to you. For those of you scoring at home, that’s three IU basketball players dismissed from the program in a little over four months. I remember thinking last fall that Indiana basketball couldn’t survive too many more of these types of incidents. I completely feel that way today. Will today’s actions be enough to stop these guys from having something like this happen again in the future? Only time will tell. I wish I could be more optimistic.

Kevin Wilson talked at his first weekly press conference Monday about the balance he is seeing on the offensive side of the football in particular. “Hopefully we can spread it around and get that ball not to just one guy,’’ Wilson said. “We’d like to get back to the way it used to be getting five, six, seven or eight guys getting three, four or five touches a game. That would be ideal if we could get to that point and I think we have a chance to do that.’’ Indiana lost its top three wide receivers from a year ago – two to graduation and one (J-Shun Harris) to a season-ending knee injury this summer – and there has been plenty of competition in preseason camp. Wilson said among the wide receivers Simmie Cobbs and Ricky Jones have emerged as “the top two outside guys” but he was quick to add that the competition in camp has been very strong at that position. Wilson said he hopes to play as many as nine wide receivers in 2015. He also believes the Hoosiers may have their best depth ever at the tight end position and could play as many as four tight ends, too. He also singled out running backs Jordan Howard and Devine Redding as players who can catch the ball well and contribute in the short passing attack as well. Sudfeld, who enters the season on the watch lists for the Maxwell Award and the Unitas Award, said Monday he has a much higher comfort level with this year’s group of receivers. “Last year I thought we were talented and things like that but I think we were a little bit complacent knowing that the year before we were very good offensively with the quarterbacks and receivers all on the same page,’’ Sudfeld said. “I think a lot of people just kind of believed that it would just happen again because we were the Indiana offense. “There has definitely been a little more attention to detail and focus on the little things with these guys. Guys like Mitchell Paige and Ricky Jones, we’ll text each other after a scrimmage when we’re watching film on our own and say ‘Hey what did you think on this play, should I have taken it high or come out of it?’, things like that. We all understand that if we want to be good we have to focus on those little things.’’ Wilson said the offense has been strong throughout preseason camp but he said the defense started making strides last week, too. “I thought last week our defensive front really got going with getting some pressure and really starting to make the quarterback throw a little bit more uncomfortable,’’ Wilson said. “I thought the first two weeks our offense was real good, but I thought last week the defense made a huge jump and really challenged the offense.’’ UPDATES FROM THE HEAD COACH At the very beginning of his press conference Monday, Wilson got all of the housekeeping items out of the way. Some of these had been reported previously. Wilson said three players have now been ruled out for the season: wide receiver J-Shun Harris, defensive back Donovan Clark and walk-on defensive back Garrett Welch. Harris had a knee injury, Clark has had a nagging back injury that hasn’t allowed him to practice yet during preseason camp and Welch had an undisclosed injury. Welch is a redshirt junior from Noblesville (Ind.) High School. Wilson said that running back Tommy Mister has left the program. He actually announced this on Thursday night at the tailgate tour stop in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium. He said that Mister had announced his intentions just prior to the start of classes as he was looking for a place where he might be able to get on the field quicker. Wilson said Thursday that if Mister transferred to an FCS program that he could play immediately, but if he transfers to an FBS program he would have to sit out a season. Wilson also repeated what he had said last week on that Camion Patrick situation that the wide receiver transfer will receive an academic redshirt this season and not be able to play. He will be able to continue to practice with the Hoosiers though. "We went through a process where he needed to have a credit pass, that, quite honestly with our academic schedule and with his enrollment, he was only allowed a four-week window for the summer class," Wilson said at the event. "It was offered over two six-week classes. So we were appealing based on time. Didn't get what we needed... We presented our material (Thursday) to the NCAA and they denied that." Wilson also said that IU has now picked up two transfers who will both have to sit out this season before being eligible in 2016. One of them is Wesley Green, a defensive back from the University of South Carolina, and the other is Ja’Merez Bowen, an offensive lineman from the University of Cincinnati. NO DEPTH CHART RELEASED Generally, the Indiana football weekly press release includes a depth chart and media people are quick to scour that upon arriving at the weekly press conference. The first depth chart heading into the opener is generally particularly popular. Monday, however, there was no depth chart released. Hopefully that situation will be remedied with the second game of the season Sept. 12 against Florida International. BTOWNBANNERS IS CREDENTIALED Just a note to all of you that BtownBanners will have a game day presence with Indiana football this fall. I submitted requests not only to get a season credential for myself but also for contributors Ryan Palencer and Larry Small and both were approved. In the games where either of those two cannot attend I’ll be able to give their credentials to someone else on our staff. So hopefully, we’ll have three people, myself included, at every home game this season and provide a little extra game coverage.

  I don't think it's excessive punishment because after May 15 these guys had to know they were basically on zero tolerance.    The other thing though that I believe is that if Crean was thinking about 10 games as you suggested and as I actually thought was going to be about right, I'm guessing that President McRobbie's words changed everything. After that, this outcome was almost scripted.

Often times, when a new season is about to begin, the focus can be on the players who are not eligible or physically able to play rather than those who are. That was clearly the case at Indiana Thursday when the Hoosiers took the field for their first practice of the 2015 preseason camp. On a rain-soaked and dreary day, a lot of the talk focused on players who had question marks surrounding their status. From an injury standpoint, IU only really appears to have two significant injuries early on and one of them has already been ruled out for the season. Former Fishers (Ind.) wide receiver J-Shun Harris suffered an ACL injury early in the summer and has been ruled out for the season. IU coach Kevin Wilson made that announcement at Big Ten Football Media Days last week. The other injured player is former Fort Wayne South Side cornerback Donovan Clark. The true sophomore continues to be slowed by a back injury and there is talk around the program that he may end up redshirting this season. It may still be a little early to make that determination but that’s not good news for an IU secondary that was already basically starting over. Clark was seen as a player who could very likely step right in and start from the beginning of the season. We’ll keep an eye on Clark in the coming days and weeks and monitor his situation. With IU already down a player at the wide receiver position, it's easy to see why there is concern over the situation of Camion Patrick. Patrick, the sophomore wide receiver from East Mississippi Community College, is another player that many believe could step in and start right away at wide receiver. He has good size, good hands and good speed. He was in uniform and at practice going through drills on Thursday but as of the official start of practice he has yet to be cleared academically. Patrick has had academic problems before. Out of high school he committed to play for Tennessee but ended up going the JUCO route because of his grades. All indications were that he had a good year in community college with his studies but there is still a red flag that is preventing Patrick from being given academic approval at the university level at IU. It is believed it has to do with the university needing confirmation that Patrick passed a summer school class at EMCC. One would think that could be a simple phone call that would shed light on the situation. But the reality is there is never anything simple when it comes to clearing players academically. And these things are never done quickly. If Patrick is cleared to play, the 6-3, 225-pound receiver would have three years of eligibility with the Hoosiers. And with a capable quarterback like Nate Sudfeld delivering Patrick the ball, he could have a solid year. On the flip side, while it’s not a huge deal yet, the longer this one lingers could be a cause for concern. There is still just over two weeks before school begins at IU on Aug. 24. Prior to that things will be fine as long as Patrick is ultimately cleared to play. But when school arrives that’s when things will get more tense. The week after that is IU’s first game week leading into the season opener at home against Southern Illinois. Wilson said Thursday that his team will have a few days of helmets only before having the first practice in pads on Monday and the first two-a-day on Tuesday. Btownbanners will be in Bloomington every step of the way as the Hoosiers prepare for the 2015 season. Every day there is availability we’ll be on hand to bring you the news of the day. @IndySportsHutch

With one wide receiver already lost for the season with an ACL injury (J-Shun Harris), the one player that everyone in the media wants to know about is junior college transfer wide receiver Camion Patrick and what the hold up is for him being cleared academically. That was one of the primary topics Thursday when the Hoosiers practiced for the first time in the 2015 preseason camp.Often times, when a new season is about to begin, the focus can be on the players who are not eligible or physically able to play rather than those who are. That was clearly the case at Indiana Thursday when the Hoosiers took the field for their first practice of the 2015 preseason camp. On a rain-soaked and dreary day, a lot of the talk focused on players who had question marks surrounding their status. From an injury standpoint, IU only really appears to have two significant injuries early on and one of them has already been ruled out for the season. Former Fishers (Ind.) wide receiver J-Shun Harris suffered an ACL injury early in the summer and has been ruled out for the season. IU coach Kevin Wilson made that announcement at Big Ten Football Media Days last week. The other injured player is former Fort Wayne South Side cornerback Donovan Clark. The true sophomore continues to be slowed by a back injury and there is talk around the program that he may end up redshirting this season. It may still be a little early to make that determination but that’s not good news for an IU secondary that was already basically starting over. Clark was seen as a player who could very likely step right in and start from the beginning of the season. We’ll keep an eye on Clark in the coming days and weeks and monitor his situation. With IU already down a player at the wide receiver position, it's easy to see why there is concern over the situation of Camion Patrick. Patrick, the sophomore wide receiver from East Mississippi Community College, is another player that many believe could step in and start right away at wide receiver. He has good size, good hands and good speed. He was in uniform and at practice going through drills on Thursday but as of the official start of practice he has yet to be cleared academically. Patrick has had academic problems before. Out of high school he committed to play for Tennessee but ended up going the JUCO route because of his grades. All indications were that he had a good year in community college with his studies but there is still a red flag that is preventing Patrick from being given academic approval at the university level at IU. It is believed it has to do with the university needing confirmation that Patrick passed a summer school class at EMCC. One would think that could be a simple phone call that would shed light on the situation. But the reality is there is never anything simple when it comes to clearing players academically. And these things are never done quickly. If Patrick is cleared to play, the 6-3, 225-pound receiver would have three years of eligibility with the Hoosiers. And with a capable quarterback like Nate Sudfeld delivering Patrick the ball, he could have a solid year. On the flip side, while it’s not a huge deal yet, the longer this one lingers could be a cause for concern. There is still just over two weeks before school begins at IU on Aug. 24. Prior to that things will be fine as long as Patrick is ultimately cleared to play. But when school arrives that’s when things will get more tense. The week after that is IU’s first game week leading into the season opener at home against Southern Illinois. Wilson said Thursday that his team will have a few days of helmets only before having the first practice in pads on Monday and the first two-a-day on Tuesday. Btownbanners will be in Bloomington every step of the way as the Hoosiers prepare for the 2015 season. Every day there is availability we’ll be on hand to bring you the news of the day. @IndySportsHutch [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/football/analysi/analysis-the-latest-on-camion-patrick-r162]Click here to view the article[/url]

At some point it gets ridiculous. But I really thought “at some point” was the last time all of this transpired. And yet here we are again with the latest news that Emmitt Holt and Thomas Bryant were cited early Friday for possession of alcohol. I get that kids will be kids. I have two sons of my own. One has been out of college for two years and one is a senior in college this year. I know that a lot of alcohol is consumed by people under the age of 21 on college campuses and everywhere else for that matter. I get all of that. What I don’t get is how Indiana basketball players continue to put themselves into harm’s way. At some point, given all that has transpired in just the last 18 months with the Indiana basketball program, these guys HAVE TO BE SMARTER than this. The IU athletic department put out a release around 5:30 p.m. ET Monday saying that they were aware that Holt and Bryant had been cited. They said they were in the process of gathering all the information. Here is a definite with this situation: People are going to be quick to point the blame at Tom Crean and the IU staff. They’re going to blame the culture. They’re going to say that not enough is being done to make these guys realize how bad this looks for the program. But at some point the buck has to stop with the individuals themselves. At some point, the accountability has to end there. You would have thought that the announcement on May 15 that both Hanner Mosquera-Perea and Devin Davis had been dismissed from the program for “not living up to their responsibilities to the program” would have been all the wakeup call that these guys needed. The dismissal came shortly after Davis was cited for possession of marijuana when police came to his dorm room. Mosquera-Perea was not cited but was in the room at the time. But obviously dismissal from the team wasn’t enough of a deterrent. And that’s the most frustrating thing here. At some point, you have to ask the question ‘What is enough of a punishment?’ Probably the most disappoint thing here is to see that Holt is once again involved in an alcohol-related incident, no matter how small or minor some may think this may be. It was less than a year ago that Holt was behind the wheel when Davis was struck by Holt’s vehicle on the morning of Nov. 1. Davis suffered a serious head injury that cost him the 2014-15 season. Holt was cited in that incident for illegal consumption of alcohol, a misdemeanor, and for operating under the influence of alcohol under the age of 21. Holt’s blood alcohol number was under the legal limit but since he was under 21 what is legal was a moot point. Holt was suspended for four games – the two exhibition games and the first two regular season games. And so that’s what makes today’s report even that much more troubling is that it happened again, so soon, to Holt. I can’t repeat enough that I understand possession and consumption of alcohol by minors is something that happens daily on college campuses. At the same time, these are not your average college students. These are students who are generally already under the microscope any way but in the case of Indiana basketball players it’s as if a high-beamed spotlight follows them around everywhere they go. They have to know that people are watching their every move and yet somehow, someway these things continue to happen. Are they being set up somehow by other students? It’s a conspiracy theory but probably one that needs to be considered. Or are they just not careful and allowing themselves to be put in the wrong situation? At some point this has to stop. At some point it gets ridiculous. The reality is “at some point” has long since come and gone. What am I missing here? @IndySportsHutch

There's no doubt this thing has taken on a life of its own. I think 430 posts on this thread gives you an indication of that all by itself (I'm not complaining about that by the way. I think it's great that people over here are this passionate about the topic.)   I agree with others that there has to be more than meets the eye here and I just wish that we could get more clarification on the state excise police report and why the other three in the car were not cited. That just raises red flags and leaves us all with more questions than answers.   There are two things coming up in the next few days where Fred Glass (both days) and Tom Crean on one are going to be in front of the media and in one case, the IU fan base.   Fred Glass had scheduled a media availability some time ago for tomorrow (Wednesday) and I know there will be a lot of people interested to get his take. He may not say anything but the opportunity will be there.   The other is Thursday when the IU Alumni Association hosts its Indianapolis Tailgate event at Lucas Oil Stadium. That has always been an event where Kevin Wilson, Tom Crean and Todd Yeagley attend along with Glass. I haven't seen anything to indicate otherwise and so that will be interesting as well.

Some are trying to claim on Twitter that it's not a big deal because the bottles weren't open.   But they were cited for possession of alcohol by a minor not consumption.

I thought he was cited for underage drinking in the incident with Davis.

Indiana athletics has always had a three-strike program in place.   The first offense was counseling.   The second offense was a suspension of some kind.   The third offense you were gone.   That was a few years back but I'm pretty sure something to that effect is still in place.

Just when you think it can't get any stranger, it does.   This is EXACTLY what Tom Crean and company didn't need right now.

There was one thing you knew you could count on Sunday when it was announced that Josh Newkirk was headed to Indiana. Instant analysis from the Indiana fan base. Newkirk is not a 5-star recruit, he isn’t transferring in with crazy numbers and he didn’t come out of high school as a top 50 ranked kid. And so the tone of the analysis was going to be predictable. Tom Crean recruits another project. He probably won’t even be here by the time the 2016-17 season begins. What is Crean thinking this time? The two players he has brought in the last few weeks are players he could have gotten much later in the process. This isn’t Indiana basketball as I once knew it. And on and on and on it goes. So, to those of you out there singing that song: Thanks for at least being predictable. I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on Josh Newkirk. I saw him play live one time in Assembly Hall against IU and he looked pretty good in that game. Now, did the Hoosiers make him look better than he really was? Not sure (but that was always a possibility last season). I have a pretty limited study sample here. But at the very least, I thought he looked like a player who could contribute at the Division I level. Beyond that, you have to rely on statistics. If you just look at the sophomore numbers that are being thrown around (5.9 points, 2.7 assists, 38 percent shooting from the field and 30 percent from 3-point range) you’re probably going to come away pretty underwhelmed. I get that. What I don’t really know, however, is how much his injury impacted those numbers. We all know that Newkirk had microfracture surgery on his left knee May 6 and that his lateral meniscus was also repaired. What I don’t seem to have a feel for is how much that injury impacted his sophomore numbers. Here is what I do know. In his first 24 games last season, he played 17 minutes or more per game. But in seven of his last nine games, he played 12 minutes or less. So something was obviously different. Was he injured and playing limited minutes because of that? Or was it a coach’s decision? I can’t seem to find anything that documents that. And so that’s my first question. My next question is what kind of shooter is Newkirk? If you just take that one little slice of his shooting as a sophomore at Pitt last year, you come to the conclusion that he’s not a great shooter. Again, 38 percent from the field and 30 percent from 3-point range are not something to write home about. But two things jump out to me there. First, he didn’t shoot a lot of 3-pointers so I’m not sure you think of him in that vein. He had 24 games a year ago where he attempted two 3-pointers or less. The other thing, though, that makes me wonder about his shooting is that as a freshman at Pitt he shot 46.3 percent from the field and 43.4 percent from 3-point range. He made 62-of-134 shots from the field and 23-of-53 3-pointers. He had a game against North Carolina State as a freshman where he scored 20 points and was 5-of-5 from 3-point range. The other thing about his freshman year was that he was really coming on at the end. In the last 10 games he averaged 19.5 minutes and 6.4 points per game. And then his first 24 games of his sophomore year, he played at least 17 minutes per game. All of which makes me think that his knee may have been bothering him toward the end of last year. Or mysteriously, his level of play just slipped off and he wasn’t the player he had been to that point in his Pitt career. I do know one thing and that’s he seemed to be a pretty capable point guard at Pitt. His assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.95 ranks as tied for sixth in program history. To me, that’s a significant statistic at the point guard position. You want someone who can lead the offense, distribute the ball and get your shooters in the right position to get shots. I cannot say with certainty that Newkirk will ever be more than just a role player at Indiana. Again, the sample size is too small. But I’m also not ready to write this off as a mistake in recruiting by Crean and his staff either. There is simply too much that needs to happen both in terms of how he responds from his surgery and how he looks when he is able to play with his future IU teammates before we can really provide accurate analysis here. I just think there are too many questions still to be answered.

I goofed and blanked the draft.    I still won't finish last though.   I'll be active from this point on.

I’m all for second chances. People make mistakes. People see a chance to make a quick buck and often times it gets them in trouble. I get all of that. It happens all the time. It probably happens every day. It happens way too often to high school and college-aged kids, too. Of that much, I’m convinced. But the news Wednesday that former Indiana University defensive back Antonio Allen has quickly resurfaced after being dismissed from the IU football team in June and will transfer to Indiana State just seems awfully quick. It was just over two months ago that Allen found himself knee deep in big trouble. If you remember what happened with Allen, IU’s leading tackler from a year ago, and a player many believe has NFL potential, was dismissed by IU coach Kevin Wilson after Allen was arrested and charged with two counts of dealing methamphetamine and dealing heroin and one count of dealing cocaine. And this wasn’t small time stuff. Two of the charges against Allen were Level 2 Felonies. In Indiana, those convicted of a Level 2 Felony could potentially be sentenced to 10-30 years in prison. When Allen was arrested in mid-June in Bloomington police executed a search warrant of his apartment. They found 47 grams of cocaine, 13 grams of heroin, three half-smoked blunts and $920 in cash. They also found a Colt .45 handgun. In the police report, it was revealed that Allen had been videotaped allegedly selling drugs to an informant. In the report, the informant said that the first controlled buy consisted of Allen selling a confidential informant between 5 and 10 grams of heroin and approximately 1 gram of crystal methamphetamine. The second buy consisted of Allen selling between 5 and 10 grams of crystal meth to an informant. Now again, I’m all about second chances. And ultimately I really do hope that Allen gets a second chance here. As a media member you don’t get to really know the athletes you cover beyond a very superficial view. But every interview I had ever had with Allen had been very pleasant. He seemed like a good kid. I know you always hear that but that was clearly my impression. In fact, when I heard that Allen was in the kind of trouble he was in, I was more than a little surprised. But right now what I’d like to see Allen doing is focusing on the matter at hand which is the charges that have been levied against him. I completely understand that people are innocent until proven guilty and even though there seems to be a great deal of evidence stacked against the former Indianapolis Ben Davis High School standout Allen will get his day in court. I think it’s a nice gesture on the part of Indiana State coach Mike Sanford to try and help him get things turned around. And I also think it’s a smart decision on the part of ISU to redshirt Allen this season so that he can focus on getting his life together. I just wish that we weren’t even talking about football right now with Allen. Get your life together, let the legal process take its course and let’s see where you are a few months from now. If then there’s still an opportunity to go to college and play football that will be great and those second chances I talked about will definitely have a chance to be realized. Right now though I’m worried a lot more about Antonio Allen the person than I am, Antonio Allen the football player. @IndySportsHutch

There's a good chance I'm going and I'll be doing a presentation to the IU alumni association at their tailgate at the game and trying to peddle a few books. I'll let you know the details when it's official.

When Grant Gelon became the first commit in Indiana’s 2016 basketball class on Wednesday I purposely didn’t want to weigh in right away. It was one of those announcements that just felt like you should wait on. Don’t rush to judgement. Gather as much information as you can. And then sit back and try to put it into perspective. Two days later, though, I’m pretty much still where I was on Wednesday night. There are some things I like about the commit and some things that worry me. I like the fact that he’s an Indiana kid and he clearly wants to be a Hoosier. IU has had a lot more of those types of players who have worked out than have not. They get what it means to play for the state school. They have grown up on the tradition. They don’t need to be told why it’s so important to beat schools like Purdue or Butler or Kentucky. They know it. It’s part of their DNA. They know what it means to be an Indiana kid at IU, not just when they’re playing but years later when they’re looking for a job. It means everything. They get no names on the jerseys. They get the candy stripes. They just get it. I think when you get Indiana kids to commit it’s always a good thing at some levels. So I think the fact that Gelon is from Crown Point and played with Indiana Elite are both big positives here. It doesn’t matter to me so much that he’s ranked 14th in the state or whatever the case may be. So often you hear so many complaints that Indiana isn’t getting enough kids from the state. So the in-state thing works for me. I also like the fact that the kid can shoot. I’ll admit I’m relying on the opinion of a few people I know who have seen him play because I haven’t seen him myself other than on tape. And whenever that’s the case I’ll admit I’m a little hesitant to go out on a limb. But he does appear to have big time range and I’ve always believed you cannot have enough shooters. Some say he’s another Matt Roth. Some say he reminds them of Nick Zeisloft. In terms of his shooting ability I’ve also heard Jordan Hulls’ name. As far as I’m concerned that’s pretty good company. And this program is going to need shooters beginning in 2016 and beyond. To add a shooter – and a shooter that is an in-state kid – is a positive. This just feels like the kind of player that three years from now, Indiana could have been taking a beating on because he wound up shining in another program. What was Indiana thinking back then? How could they have let Grant Gelon slip away? We’ve all heard it. For that matter, we’ve probably all said it. Pick a player that flew a little bit under the radar in high school and then blossomed somewhere other than Indiana when they went to college. You know the kind of kid I’m talking about. Gelon could easily end up being that kid. Now, of course there’s the chance that three years from now, you’re shaking your head and wondering what Tom Crean was thinking, too. And if that were to happen, there would be a lot of people in the camp that would be saying that this was the opinion they had held since Gelon committed in August of 2015. And they’d be right. But ultimately that’s what this is going to come down to: one of those two scenarios. Either you’re sitting here in the summer of 2018 thinking it was a great pickup or you’re wondering what the coach was thinking. That’s just the way recruiting plays out. There are not enough sure things. There are a lot more players that have some risk factor to them. And I guess that’s where I fall on this one. I think there are some things to like but there’s also a risk factor involved. And like most people that are weighing in on this, the risks are worrisome. My biggest reservation at this point is why? What do you gain by adding Gelon right now? It doesn’t feel like a momentum shifting commit which would be a reason to get a kid on board at this point. I look at his list of other offers and it’s not exactly a Who’s Who of college basketball. To me it looks more like a list of a player that if IU was to swoop in at the 11th hour it still could have picked him up. But maybe that’s not the case. Perhaps, by then, a bigger program would have gotten involved and Indiana would have missed out. That’s the crap shoot that you deal with in recruiting. Sometimes you reach for a kid you really like and my guess is that this is a player that Crean and his staff really liked. The fact that IU offered and he accepted right away tells me something, too. Do you think that hasn’t happened before and IU has advised the young man that it wants to wait and see how things play out with the class before they take his commitment? The fact that didn’t happen here tells me that this is a kid they wanted. It may not be the glitzy, highly-ranked recruit that Hoosier Nation wanted to brag about and puff out their chests about. Instead it seems like a lot of people are still in that fact gathering mode and trying to find a tangible reason to get excited about it. But I still think Indiana kid and a great shooter with range are simply positives that you can’t ignore. I guess I’m willing to give the IU staff the benefit of the doubt at this point. @IndySportsHutch