Maedhros

Problem is, Chris also said to watch for a commitment from Trayce within the week of Romeo's, in early May. Sam recently said to watch the dates of Oct 5th or 12th. Here on Oct 22nd, we're still waiting for even the announcement of an announcement. I'm not doubting the integrity of anyone who has graciously told us what they've been hearing. But what they were told either wasn't true or more likely changed somewhere along the way. There's no guarantee it can't change again, and Trayce could still flip to MSU or UCLA. It's not over until we hear from Trayce himself, and the longer this goes, the harder it just is for me to feel that we good.

We can't truly know what's happening between a recruit and the staff, but Franklin was considered a Xavier lean, then a Purdue lean, and wasn't thought of as a possibility for Indiana until on or after his OV on August 25. Bouknight and Harris had already set up official visits well before then, and skipped Bloomington. Jalen Lecque, Tre Mann and DJ Carton had already officially eliminated us. Given the timeline, the only guard target we perhaps backed off from was Jahmius Ramsey. As for bigs, our most recent offer didn't go out to a guard, it went to Kadin Shedrick in August, a 6-11 C ranked 63 in the 247 Composite, exactly the profile you offer of a backup target. He's no longer on the board because he committed to Virginia. I'm probably dragging this point out further than is necessary, and I absolutely hope Trayce and Keion commit to Indiana every bit as much as I'm sure you do. It just strikes me as overly optimistic, if not a touch naive, to believe the staff intentionally has no backup plan by design. No matter how confident they may be. The simplest explanation is they've just missed. Bill Self once said if you're not hearing "no" more often than you're hearing "yes" on the recruiting trail, then you're targeting the wrong players. Until this is over, it's not too late for Trayce or Keion to say "no" to Archie as well. And so we wait.

That's a level of "in Archie we trust" that I just can't reach. We pursued a bevy of guards over the summer, seemingly handing out a new offer every week. Yet the only targets we were ever able to bring on campus were the two in-state recruits. At this point you could also say the staff is no longer pursuing any guards, but the explanation isn't that they stopped trying, or because the staff ever felt confident or satisfied with landing only Armaan Franklin. It's that the staff struck out. As for bigs, there actually several targets still on the board. Matthew Hurt mentions us in his core seven, Isaiah Stewart in his final six. Trendon Watford is planning an official visit for the Louisville game. I agree we don't seem to have a great shot at any, but I don't believe it's for lack of trying; we're still in pursuit. No doubt we are prioritizing the targets with whom we feel we have the best shot, and that's where you see the most recruiting effort, but reading Trayce and Keion as locks because of it, rather than just our best remaining options, is a bridge too far for me to cross.

I've been hearing some variation on this since last January, so I'd say that time has come and gone.

Stewart is not an Indiana kid. He's attending prep school in the state, but he's from New York.

This was a part of the changes to recruiting made by the NCAA commission. Recruits can now take five official visits starting August 1 before their junior year of high school, through the end of that school year. This is in addition to the five visits we normally think of, starting the summer before their senior year and lasting through the October after graduation. Potentially, Ethan could still take an official next year as well, and be there for Hoosier Hysteria 2019.

Chris Fisher, who covers Kentucky, dropped his Crystal Ball pick to Kentucky last night and switched to "Foggy". There's zero chance of foggy being a correct pick; I don't think you drop a pick you've had for three months for foggy unless you also think there's zero chance of Brooks ending up in Lexington.

I disagree somewhat on the chosen priorities. Every offer Archie has given out has been to a guard or to a big 6'9" or taller. The only wing has been Keion Brooks, but you target him because of his location and because of relationships on your staff as much or more than you do because of the position he plays. You're correct that the staff starting offering guards much later than they offered bigs. But acknowledging that the staff chose not to prioritize guards earlier would seem to concede the whole point of the discussion. We prioritized Darius Garland, then DJ Carton, ostensibly finishing third for both. Now we're handing out offers late and trying to build relationships from scratch. I'm not involved with the process and can't say whether the root cause rests with the staff or with the kids in this class. But if it's the result of a decision by the staff, as you've asserted, then it would seem to have been a misstep. We've handed out eleven offers to guards, eight of which are still on the board. The only recruits we can get on campus for a visit are the two in-state prospects. For both, if you asked me to take Indiana or the field, right now I'm taking the field. Unlike some others posting here I'm not yet enamored with our current guard situation, so I confess that I find our current recruiting paradigm to be a bit concerning.

Yeah, I suppose I did. You're certainly correct that even as a freshman Yogi started every game for a team that won the Big Ten. If surrounded by talented players, I suppose there's no reason one of our veteran guards couldn't do the same. My thought in bringing up Yogi was that I didn't trust him as a reliable ball handler as a freshman. He did improve, every season, and by his senior year I was totally confident every time he brought the ball up the court. Brass Cannon is correct that one of our current guards could certainly improve to that point by the 2019 season as well. I'm just not ready to assume that they will. I'm also not ready to trust in our current guards, given their play at the position last season, not until that trust has been earned on the court. Your mileage may vary, but I think the staff believes they need to upgrade the position as well, given their pursuit of DJ Carton, and Darius Garland before him.

Trusting that Romeo is one and done, we will have three guards on our roster in 2019, not four. I've not read anyone who believes Jerome or Damezi can play minutes at the two except wishful fans on message boards. And while I believe our current players will improve before the 2019 season rolls around, I can't say with any certainty they will improve to level where we trust them to start on a Big Ten championship caliber team. It took Yogi four years to get to that point. Some like Curtis Jones don't show improvement at all.

Last year we had four guards firmly in the rotation, even as we were seldom satisfied with their performance. Even the least of them in minutes, Al Durham, received fifteen per game in Big Ten play. Rolling into a season with just three guards is stretching them dangerously thin. And that's before I note that two of our three guards need to show improvement before I would consider them reliable options. The third is an unproven freshman who has yet to play a minute at the college level. I won't consider Jerome or Damezi or Keion capable of playing minutes at guard, not until they prove it on the court. So with all that said, I don't see how anyone can feel comfortable with our guard situation, to the point they don't feel we need to land a guard in this class.

He's a kid enjoying the process, and that's fine, that's his right. I want to make it clear up front that I respect this is his personal decision to make, and I'm just some stranger rooting for a basketball team. But if knows where he wants to go, I don't see how enjoying the process is better for his future than committing now. Friends of his like DJ Carton are coming off the board, when they could be joining him in Bloomington. Carton said that getting along with his future teammates was a big factor in his decision; I presume having Alonzo Gaffney with him on his visit was a factor. We need our own commit out there recruiting for us. I have to think Indiana becomes a more attractive destination once a Top 15 five-star center breaks the seal on our 2019 class, especially for guards. As it stands, we've not shown any momentum from landing Romeo Langford, and 2019 recruits know he'll be gone before they arrive.

The earliest date being looked at by the NBA is the 2020 draft, per Adrian Wojnarowski. Trayce, Keion and the rest of the 2019 class will not be affected.

Bell's is fantastic, they probably have my favorite IPA (Two-Hearted), Wheat (Oberon) and Brown (Best Brown Ale). We stop in at their Eccentric Cafe whenever I visit my in-laws in Kalamazoo. New Holland is another favorite, with White Hatter, Hoptronix and Dragon's Milk among their offerings.

Even without an invite, putting his name in allows Juwan to work out directly with NBA teams outside of the combine. I fully expect Juwan to return, and Archie's comments when he declared essentially said as much. But that implies Juwan declared entirely to receive feedback from his potential future employer; all the more reason why he would see the process through, invite to the combine or no.

Withdrawing from the draft on Monday would defeat the purpose of declaring, as he wouldn't have a chance to go through the process. The NBA Combine isn't until May 16-20, and the NCAA deadline to withdraw isn't until May 30. I don't expect to have an answer on Juwan until that last week of May.

The Romeo page has been slow to update for the past few weeks, but it's there if you check the page for all Indiana Crystal Ball picks: https://247sports.com/college/indiana/Season/2018-Basketball/TargetPredictions

Evan Daniels agrees. He just dropped in a Crystal Ball pick for Romeo to Indiana. That's a guy who doesn't make picks lightly.

Chad Lykins was the latest to flip, from Vanderbilt previously. The picks on Romeo's page don't appear to be updating, but you can follow all the latest Crystal Ball picks, Romeo included, at this link: https://247sports.com/Season/2018-Basketball/TargetPredictions

Appears Brian Snow just now dropped in a Crystal Ball pick in favor of Indiana. It's hidden behind VIP and as I'm not a VIP I can't confirm, but the percentages say it's Indiana.

I don't believe the 247 site allows you to track previous picks, but yes, Slater did previously pick Vanderbilt back in November.

Your guy should do some legwork before spreading rumors like that one. Next Thursday, Romeo will be out of the state and across the country, practicing in Portland OR for the Nike Hoop Summit game to be played the next day. April 12 is perhaps the least likely day on the calendar for Romeo to commit to his home state of Indiana and their Adidas-sponsored basketball program.

Perhaps. But on my way home from work today, I'm going to drive 5-10 miles an hour over the speed limit, just like everybody else.

James Blackmon and Noah Vonleh both participated in the Hoop Summit, in 2014 and 2013 respectively. Kansas usually has kids on the roster, including Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, Cheick Diallo and Cliff Alexander.