Stromboli

Oh geez. Let it go, dude. I made one post, ever. Under the same handle I use everywhere. You've brought it up 3-4 times like you caught me or something. You wouldn't even know if you didn't "frequent" the same board. So long as I'm coming clean... I also visited some Vandy boards and Kansas boards recently. I watch Butler games when I get the chance. My wife is a Purdue grad and was an All American there, I'm proud of that. I didn't even do my undergrad at IU. Feel free to post all of that next time I disagree with one of your profane, sophomoric internet attacks. My entire point is the attacks really don't add value to the board. You know what might? Sourced posters. After a few months it's easy to know if a guy has intel or not. Why run them off before then?

These personal attacks seem unwarranted and are unbecoming of the board. RealIU is trying to contribute, give him a chance. Best case, we have another good source here. Worst case, you can block him.

Made the cut!!

I'm not too surprised that Trayce didn't notify the OSU media guys that he may decide soon. This is all a show, and these kids are learning how to play it. That doesn't mean he won't adjust his timeline from what was said a few weeks ago. It looks like ITH posted the video where Trayce made all of these comments, but interestingly there's no quote about waiting until July. In the OSU article posted, that part isn't in quotes, either, and so I'm not sure that's something he just said, or if they're drawing from previous interviews. Also, there was one question that I couldn't hear, but his answer made it sound like it had to do with a timeline. It seems like there's a little hesitation when he's answering about this stuff, like maybe he's not being entirely truthful about "just enjoying the process for now." You can tell that "enjoying the process" is just a phrase he's practiced to answer these questions. Also, when originally asked about the programs showing interest, he rattled off 6-7 programs and didn't even mention OSU, until later in the interview when the OSU guy (and presumably the same guy that wrote that article) reminded him, and then Trayce gave some input on Holtmann. Here's the video. Let's be clear, I'm not calling Trayce a liar or anything. I'm almost always impressed with these kids' abilities to handle media questions politely, while understanding how not to say anything that will get them in trouble. Here's a video from EYBL last weekend. Like I said in my earlier comments, Trayce knows his role and sticks to it. It's almost refreshing to have a kid not dream about being the next stretch-4/Durant/Lebron. He plays inside, and does it very well, and very reliably. His back-to-the-basket moves are already polished and he uses them well. He covers ground fast to get to the hoop, and draws some fouls because of it.

USPS, great meeting you, I hope to see you at these events in the future! It was fun talking about the team and the board. We both agreed, BtownBanners is the best community for IU basketball fans online. I was there on Friday and Sunday. Once again, really cool event. Insane to see so many big figures in the basketball world. For $5 I rubbed elbows with Roy, Shaka, Archie and Ed, Izzo, Dale Davis, Bonzi Wells, Greg Anthony, Scottie Pippen, Patrick Ewing. I talked with a rep from IMG about Ramsey. I talked with Tre Mann's guardian. Talked to some other IU fans. And saw some really fun basketball. ALRIGHT, ANALYSIS! My impressions are mostly the same as what everyone else is saying. Keion is a different player from last year. He should never be considered an inside player again. He's a wing/point forward. I do think he and TJD have a good relationship, it seemed to me that Keion was trying to get the ball to TJD more than the others. TJD was very good. Not dominant, but very productive. What I can say about his play is that he really seems to play within his assignment, almost dutiful in the way he gets down and plays his role on the team. That stuff is important, and in ways made the game easier for Keion to be rangy and free to do things. He didn't have the best hands at times, some passes wouldn't be collected. But when he gets the ball in a good spot he goes in hard for the basket. He's strong, and runs the floor. I hate to mention it, but his body language isn't always great. For his own sake I hope he cleans it up a little. Anyway, he showed out and would be a huge get for us. The biggest takeaway for me was Kira Lewis. He is slightly built, but he moves in a way that it really doesn't affect his game. He's fast, he sets people up. He scores. At these events the kids that understand the game stand out immediately, and for me Kira was one of those. It was the same last year with Coby White, when he was still ranked in the 50s. As you all can see from Old Fart's post, the kid can score. He's not a flashy player, seems focused out there. I've never seen Carton play, but right now Kira is high on my wishlist. Ramsey isn't really a guard, and he's definitely not a point guard. He hardly moves like a basketball player, and to me wasn't particularly fast. He has a very strong build that I think people get excited about, but he looked like a new basketball player. I'ts possible I just saw a bad stretch, but I just don't think he's in the same conversation as Carton, Lewis, or Mann. Tre Mann was fine. In the half game I saw, he was more interested in breaking knees with dribbling moves than initiating offense. But I spoke with some of his entourage, and they were nice people and said he was having a bad game. Seems like he's very often a highlight reel out there, kind of a crowd favorite. He looks very young but has a long build. In speaking with his people I didn't get the impression they were too amped about an offer from Indiana. Trendon was about the same as always. He's just a good player. He seems to fatigue a little bit as the game goes. But he's polished, his moves are effective. He a big kid, too. He seems like a sure thing as a player. Reliable, keeps a cool head. No part of the moment was too big for him, if that makes sense. He wasn't timid, and he didn't force anything. Again, I'll be thrilled if we can pull him and his family back to Bloomington.

I'm home from a 4 hour tasting event and I have thoughts. 1. ROAR. 2. Peegs gets paid per click. Creating drama is just good for business. They've been printing the exact same Romeo articles 3x per week for 6 months. 3. The newb/vet scrimmage wouldn't be close. Vets by a landslide. It would be a great tool though. 4. I love the crazy women. I've married two of them. So far.

Dudes, I went to EYBL yesterday. I saw Lewis, Ramsey, and Mann play. Small sample size, but Lewis was clearly the best of the 3. Really controlled the game. Very good chemistry with Trendon.

I haven't really gotten into the Vandy/Drew hate and conspiracy theories, like saying that Drew and those from Vandy are feeding things to the media. Welp. I was wrong. And here's the IndyStar to print a giant Vandy puff piece. I like how they timed it right before Romeo's commitment. I like that they printed it for all of our other recruits to read. I like how they were given full access to the admins and Board of Regents at Vandy to talk about what an exciting program it is, and what a great guy Drew is. Unbelievable. Why do this? https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2018/04/25/romeo-langfords-college-choice-vanderbilt-bryce-drew-campaign-against-iu-hoops-archie-miller/548366002/

So I moseyed over to a UM forum to see what was out there about Carton. Not a whole lot that we don't know. While there I poked around for a bit. Some interesting things: 1. Really nice fanbase. Knowledgeable, grounded. They weren't nasty or making rampant cheating allegations if they lost a recruit. Good discussion. 2. I read through recruiting threads on Race, Damezi, and Jerome. I didn't realize that UM offered all 3. These guys are higher than what Michigan usually brings in, especially in '16 and '17 before their run this year. Really interesting to see this stuff from the other side. Especially on Jerome, they wanted him BAD. They saw him as a program changing talent. There was very little smoke around Jerome to Indiana, and it hit hard and suddenly. We've all been so caught up in the Romeo stuff that we don't spend much time thinking about Jerome, et al. When Jerome committed, it's like there was this wave of realization that Archie and Indiana are going to be good. 3. On the subject of Archie, they have universal respect. At the same time, two years ago they were entertaining threads about whether they should replace Beilein with someone that will make them competitive. Obviously, I doubt they'd trade him now. Anyway. Here's hoping we can deflate that forum yet again. With so many forwards on the roster, I'd love to secure more talent in the backcourt. I'm fine with Mann and Ramsey, I just think it's very difficult to get kids from the South to come north, (don't @ me with the exceptions, I get it). We don't have much relationship with either one yet, but if we were to hit on TJD and Brooks/Watford, I could see any guard wanting to be a part of that class. With Carton, it feels like he likes IU for the same reasons we like IU. Attended the Purdue game, realized what's going on here.

No ideas on the name, but I'll say that if your marketing focuses on safety concerns, you might get somewhere. People eat that up. Good luck!

Maybe we shouldn't be so confident in Juwan staying. I have seen interviews where he talks about him and OG texting every day, with OG actively encouraging him to go pro, it's such a blast, get here, etc. Juwan's two classmates are gone. It's like being a 90 year old with none of your friends left. Being a senior star has the same kind of dubious honor of holding a minor league record. Juwan has his own teammates who can tell him about life as a G-leaguer; Yogi, Troy, JBJ, Thomas, Zeisloft. Most of those guys left early, and are likely telling Juwan they're glad they did. Also, people aren't just going to let Juwan steamroll them. Justin Smith is jumping out the gym? Romeo is coming? Will Juwan stand out the same way next year? Does Juwan really want to spend another season playing the undersized 5? I want him back. But I think our judgment gets cloudy because we're all dying to get IU back to the Final Four. I don't think the last 16 months in Bloomington have been so great that Juwan wouldn't entertain moving on.

Why does this seem like the Austin Boucher thread...

Guys this is insane. We won't always have an "in" like we do with so many top level guys in 2019. If we do pull 3-4, 5* guys in a 3 month period, it just may give us the momentum to keep it up even without the fortuitous connections. For this reason alone I'm particularly interested in DJ Carton. He has no reason to look at us over anyone else. But if we flex our collective muscle we can land these guys. He's been treated to well-prepared coaches talking to him, a game against Purdue at Assembly Hall, watching an NBA All Star receive a hero's homecoming at the game, that same All Star penning an ode to Indiana published the day after besting LeBron, and now TJD retweeting DJ's offer announcement. This strength was there before, but got lost somehow resulting in paltry recruiting classes at times. Maybe Archie can harness it. Strange to say, if I had my druthers I'm taking TJD, Watford, and Carton. Hurt is the best of the bunch, but I guess I'd rather roll with the local kid. Watford basically because he's in the family already and a top ten talent, and Carton because we need guards bad. "Stromboli, you delicious and stupid pizza sandwich, you wouldn't take Keion Brooks and Matthew Hurt if they wanted to commit (insert interrobang)" Like I said, this is insane.

Here's a neat look into the staff's recruiting efforts. This comes from Reddit. A guy posted examples of the photoshop/graphic design stuff he does for the staff. The full gallery can be viewed here: https://www.behance.net/gallery/64402023/2017-18-Indiana-Basketball-Graphics I had some questions for the designer and he answered as follows: ======================================= Awesome work, man. Are you paid for this? A lot of those seemed directed at recruits. Are those flyers and things that are sent to recruits? Will you be working with us again this year? [–]Indiana HoosiersVo1ture[S] 16 points 1 day ago Yeah I am paid. I’m actually Indiana Athletic’s graphic design director. I can’t go into too much detail here, but these are all recruit graphics. I do both personalized and generic ones, and these are the generic ones. The coaching staff asks me for personalized ones, and I just come up with three to four generic ones each week on my own. And I’ve been here for two years now, so I should be here again next year! Haha. And thank you btw. =======================================

My dudes!! I have nothing to add. Just want to post on this awesome day. Thanks 007, really appreciate that you share with us. Hoosier Hysteria will be insane this year.

The Boil Makers.

I'm ready to go down with this ship. Romeo to Indiana.

Methinks mdn82 is closer to the mark on this one, even if he was more aggressive than he needed to be in his post. There's a reason the basketball program has Cook Hall. Because Bill and Gayle Cook gave $15 million. You can make a donation, but the university has restrictions. Also, remember Title IX comes into play here. Brass Cannon, many of the women's activities are not money making, but they must be afforded similar amenities. Personally? I think you guys get a little too excited about the locker rooms. You're singling out this issue, when the AD is obviously busy doing a ton of big projects. The locker room pics you guys are posting look great on twitter, but every time I see those pics, I'm just wondering why they've got the lights turned down low in the locker room. Without the professional photography and mood lighting, those will look much more like normal locker rooms. A place like Assembly Hall gets its cool factor from its history, not based on whether or not the locker room has a drop ceiling. I understand it may have some pull for visiting recruits, but honestly it's not more than 1%. More important to me with my limited experience of college athletics (cross country and track, D-III)? Meals, and lots of them. You hear athletes complain about not having food while in school. Training facilities, access to excellent treatment. Definitely the weight room. Goofy stuff like laundry service for practice clothes. The right kind of gear for practice and travel. More meals. Some snacks. Anyway, moot point. The locker rooms are getting an update. Surely, that means the program will see an uptick in success, based on the pages of locker-room-belly-aching going on.... This program spends like crazy. We probably have the worst spending to success ratio in the country.

I think you're thinking of Jake Forrester, playing at Westtown with Cam Reddish. Jerome here played in no one's shadow, and was a finalist for Ohio Mr. Basketball (lost to UA's Dane Goodwin, decommit from OSU, now Notre Dame). Jerome does have length. The guy looks like an NBA player. He creates a real matchup issue out there, as he's really an inside player that's 100% committed to becoming a perimeter/ball handler type. Have to imagine he and Archie will work to create some mismatches out there. I can't wait to get these guys on campus, start working with Clif and the rest of the team.

The horror.

This..... Pleases me. Major ramifications. Lets Juwan breath as a 4. Lets De'Ron breath. May push Clifton out, or it may stand as a motivator for him. Trey was 172 lbs when he arrived at George Mason, played this year around 225. He put this weight on while dealing with diabetes, developed his game over the years. This guy would be a player. I really wasn't looking forward to another season where our best lineup has Juwan playing the 5. Juwan is fantastic, but we need to be bigger.

Romeo did a journal for USA Today yesterday about his experience. Link to the whole article: http://usatodayhss.com/2018/romeo-langford-mcdonalds-all-american-diary Relevant excerpts: [...] So far, I’ve liked playing with Darius Garland (Brentwood Academy, Brentwood, Tenn.) and Coby White (Greenfield School, Wilson, N.C.). They’re two good point guards who bring a lot of energy out there, and are very good on the breaks. I’ve been on NBA floors before, and obviously the crowds for our high school games are crazy, but I can tell you the lights at these arenas are definitely brighter. For those of you that don’t know about Indiana high school basketball, it’s crazy. The basketball is great, and every night is a big night in Indiana with high school basketball. Everybody lives up for it. There’s no other place like Indiana, because the fans pack the gyms everywhere. There are no small gyms. There are never games not packed. They’re always packed, and they’re always big games. It gets you pretty ready for college games, where the atmospheres are even crazier. I’m the only boy here from Indiana, and there’s one other girl here from the state (Heritage Christian’s Kaitlyn Gilbert). Some people think Indiana is not a great basketball state, but that’s just not true. There’s tons of good players all across the state, it’s a really area for hoop. [...]

I'm not a gamer, but I take interest in it just because it's a big thing in pop culture now. As I understand it, in Fortnite you can have a 4 man squad to complete objectives and beat other teams. All 4 guys have a headset, and usually a plan going in. Of course you have to counter what the other squads are doing as well. Jerome Hunter just did an interview with Hoosier Network where he was talking about his squad and their strategy to get dubs (Wins). Two snipers in the back, two guys flanking on either side. Sounds a little like small ball, no? I wasn't allowed to have video games growing up, and as an adult I'm not really drawn to playing them. But I think they've evolved well past donkey kong, or even the nerdy years of Gear or League. Interesting games, and really the way kids communicate now.

Definitely. An article recently talked about his video game buddies. For those that don't know, online gaming is HUGE. It has really taken over for what social media used to be, for guys anyway. Kids all share their "gamer tag," and then at night they get online and they chat and play games together. In the past few months, there have been reports that Romeo games with TJD on a regular basis. He games with Darius all the time. Rob Phinisee has started gaming recently, but as Romeo says, "he's not good." An article this week just said that Romeo and Louis King play video games together all the time. Previous interviews, Romeo said Grimes is his best friend, and then as an afterthought threw in Darius as well. What I'm saying is that Louis King, who has no skin in the game but is tight with Romeo, says Indiana. Grimes, who is a best friend of Romeo and does have skin in the game, says Indiana. Also very interesting that Bazley and Jones both note that Romeo has been hanging with the Kansas guys all week, and yet they think he's going to Indiana. Otherwise, I refuse to take much from this beyond reinforcement that nobody knows. The responses are almost comically spread out over the three schools.