goonaha

I do wish RP would stretch out his recruitment a little longer to the signing date. Garland is saying that he might decide and sign in the early period, whereas before he seemed like a definite spring kid. I know Vandy is the favorite but it seems like IU could make a great sales pitch to him with the playing time we have available. Bird in the hand and all that though, if RP commits at the end of the month I will be excited.

Cuonzo Martin is a far better coach than Johnny Jones (or Lorenzo Romar if you want to use Fultz as an example). They should make the tournament.

The best quote is at the end after being asked what his interests are outside of basketball: "I don’t have a lot of interests outside of basketball. To me, basketball is life"

Move in date for regular freshmen is next Wednesday. I assume he'll be there then or shortly after.

That's a shame. Would've been a very easy and convenient recruiting day for the staff.

Late offer from Georgetown. I assume too little too late from them.

@ASlater247: Top 5 Matt Hurt'19 @HurtMatthew of @D1Minnesota will visit #Indiana, #Louisville, & #Kentucky from September 28-30th

A good move for him to get out of the Midwest probably. Hopefully he can figure it out. Solid program too.

People still listen to him?

Brian Snow posted an article talking about recruits setting visits and featured a picture of Romeo. Paywall is blocking it though. Does anybody know when he's planning on doing his officials?

I guess you could argue that the best shot is always when it's in LeBron/Jordan's hands, but I think that is statistically just not true as well as being overly simplistic. I think even Michael would disagree with that (Steve Kerr shot comes to mind).

Hoosier Aloha said "mental game". That's open to interpretation in terms of what he meant by that. He didn't say "mentally weak" (I'd also disagree with that). LeBron always has the ball in his hands in late game situations; he doesn't always take the last shot. There's a difference there and it's more down to how the two's games are different than a referendum on their "mental toughness". I don't think LeBron is mentally weak for playing the same way all the time. He's always trying to make sure the best shot gets taken, whether it's him or someone in a better spot.

Why didn't Jordan win MVP every year then if nobody came even close to having better seasons than him? LeBron James might have the best basketball mind of all time so I definitely disagree with your "mental" jab. You can argue that Jordan was more clutch or had a better "killer instinct" because of #rings. I won't debate you on that. But to say that LeBron's "mental game" is weak is just wrong. And on the football thing, I say that because it's pretty self evident. He's one of the most freakish athletes of all time and incredibly smart. A college or NFL route tree would be incredibly easy for him to get down. I trust people like Urban Meyer who tried to get him to ND as a receiver/tight end to evaluate football potential. I'm not going to ever argue against someone who thinks MJ is 1 and LBJ is 2. That's a perfectly reasonable take. But some of the reasoning being used against LeBron I just can't agree with.

I disagree with literally everything you said lol. Taking Jordan all day everyday in almost every athletic or competitive event is ludicrous. Jordan couldn't cut it in minor league baseball. LeBron was wanted by every major college football program. He would be a Pro Bowl caliber NFL player if he had gone that route, no doubt in my mind. Magic, Barkley, Hakeem, David Robinson, and Karl Malone all won MVP's during MJ's prime, so I am very confused by your statement of "players you would take before him or who have had better seasons." Furthermore, LeBron should have already matched MJ's MVP counts and would have had 5 MVP's in a row had it not been for the robbery that was the Derrick Rose MVP season. The only reason you wouldn't take him now is because of age compared to Durant.

Will Wade is definitely adapting to the $EC lifestyle quickly.

God the #rings argument is so dumb. Like you alluded to with 11 vs 6, nobody would try to argue that Bill Russell was a better player than Jordan. Kobe was a great player. Give young LeBron a prime Shaq and he wins those titles too.

I believe Cole Anthony is that combination you're looking for. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

I would almost assume that's part of our recruiting pitch. He'll definitely need to be able to initiate offenses in the NBA.

Interesting article from Sports Illustrated: https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2017/07/31/romeo-langford-indiana-hoosiers-archie-miller

http://247sports.com/Article/Checking-In-With-Five-Star-PG-Darius-Garland-UCLA-Vanderbilt-Duk-105654428 IU part: Let’s go through them. Let’s start with Indiana.. With Indiana, coach (Archie) Miller came in and really changed the program this year. They have a really good recruiting class coming in. They’ve already got some talented commits for your class. Have you visited the campus? Some may not know you’re from Gary, Indiana. I am and I visited in the summer, well, last summer. Did the fact that it was the prior staff have any effect on your thought process? Right. I knew I liked the campus and the facilities. That didn't change. Anything else, as to why they made your final list? I mean, I’m from there. I like the new staff too. And it’s certainly a big-time program. Right. That was a factor too. Also said he will take all 5 officials but doesn't know when yet. More importantly, he downplayed the previous talk of wanting to do a package deal. Relevant quotes below: It’s going to be strictly you? Yeah. I mean, if other people join me, it’ll be great, but it’s going to be my decision. It might be a package deal, but it might not. The package aspect is more of "if it happens, it happens?" Right.

Somewhat offtopic but 247 did come up. Is anybody else not able to access Indiana's page on there? I figured the HSN forum there had a chance of going away with the Scout merger, which it appears happened. However, I can't even access anything related to Indiana (non forum). Can't look at commitment lists, Crystal Ball predictions, etc. Is anyone else having this problem?

Amazing that they exclude IU when he explicitly announced a top 6 that included us. Like how hard is that to research. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

Highlights: Duke, UNC, Indiana, Minnesota, Louisville are the schools contacting him the most. Kentucky is "jumping in" Relationship with Race is really close, "like a brother", thinks Indiana is a great fit for Race Race is talking Indiana up to him Visit plans: Louisville and Indiana in September; Duke and North Carolina at some point; UCLA unofficial during family vacation

For four-star class of 2018 guard wing Damezi Anderson, the chance to represent his state was always important. The South Bend Riley High School player ranked No. 82 nationally by Scout.com started getting major Indiana interest when new IU coach Archie Miller was hired. Anderson made a visit to IU this summer and it was then he realized how well he fit at IU. “It was about the new coaching staff, a great chance to come in and play as a new recruit and being an Indiana kid, there’s no place like home,” Anderson told Peegs.com after he committed to IU today. “It matters to me because I have a lot of support from my family and friends. Being at home would mean a lot to me, a lot to my family, a lot to my friends, and they can all come out and see me.” Anderson is a 6-foot-6 win who can play multiple positions. “He (Miller) told me he might move me around because of my length. I know I can play the guard positions and the four position,” Anderson said. Anderson committed to IU over Purdue, Michigan, Connecticut, Xavier and others. Anderson is one of three top-100 prospects to commit to IU in a span of about 18 hours. Four-star power forward Race Thompson of Robbinsdale High School in Minnesota committed Sunday night, and four-star 2018 forward Jerome Hunter of Pickerington North High School in Ohio committed earlier today. Thompson plans to enroll at IU early and be a redshirt freshman to start the 2018-19 season, so from a playing standpoint, all three are in the 2018 class. “I think it’s good,” Anderson said of the three commitments. “I talked to Jerome earlier today. We’re both on the same page. Hopefully all three of us are on the same page, and we all do what we can to make Indiana a great program again. “He thinks it’s going to be a great fit for all three of us together.” After he committed, Anderson Facetimed four-star class of 2018 point guard Robert Phinisee of McCutcheon High School. “I’m telling him basically with all of us coming in, it would be good. We’re going to have a good experience. I told him it’d be a great fit for him because we need another guard.” Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app