Stromboli

In case you missed it....

ROOOAAAAAARRRR!!!

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Send those ROAR vibes towards Bloomington! Romeo posted on Instagram that he's on his way there now.

ViP! Sounds awesome. Im going to try to get down there. I mostly don't want to miss the beginning of this new era.

I assumed recruits were put up in the Union. Is this not the case?

Whoa! #1 Indiana vs #16 Butler, at Butler. Easy game to get to for a lot of us. I may try to get the family there. Anyone know anything about attending games at Butler?

Can anyone give me a better scouting report on Trayce? There's not much out there. The few videos show him in position to receive a pass inside and go up hard for a bucket/dunk. That's awesome and important, but what else? He's listed as a forward, but seems to play like a center. His top 50 ranking is awesome, and I'm not doubting it by any means, I'd just like to know more about his play. Anyone?

My wife: Are you going to clean out the garage this weekend? Me: It's a possible truth.

Last night Jake Forrester was live on Instagram, taking questions. The same, generally boring stuff that usually makes me wonder what I'm doing with my life. Anyway a couple times he was asked if he's coming to HH. It's pretty clear he can't, he has games happening on Saturday. Otherwise, someone asked if we're getting Garland or Langford. His response was something like "Yeah we're getting Romeo." Probably just a BS answer for a BS question. ....or is it?!?!? Jake was sitting there with Cam Reddish, his teammate at Westtown. Looks like they were in the dorm where they live, both studying. Jake is plugged in. So I'm just going to go ahead and say that we're a lock for Romeo. (This is admittedly nothing. One time I got really excited because Mo Bamba told Wilkes to "just hurry up and commit to Indiana." Apparently he was wrong.)

Yeah not gonna lie, that is awesome. The most famous player of all time, another 6'6" SG. Jordan is from Wilmington, NC. When he committed, Indiana was the best program, and reigning champs. Dean Smith at UNC was a good coach, but hadn't won a Championship in his 20 years as HC. Jordan chose to commit to the in-state team and, as a freshman, helped them to their first Championship in 25 years. Let's hope Romeo wants to follow suit, and Be Like Mike.

Hmm. Maybe he's there today to get his shots done in uniform by the old center court wall, like Forrester. That way his commitment tweet will be looking all professional on Saturday. If this is real (there sure is a lot of smoke here), then we should all be thrilled. He's higher than any recruit since Deron Davis in November, 2015. Archie's highest commitment ever. Another message that signing with Indiana is big. A rising big man from Indiana that can't wait to commit. This is awesome.

Just checked his Twitter feed. This was 3 days ago. He's using emoji eyes, guys...

Awesome, thanks Aaron. Good to hear these teams have some familiarity, too. This sounds like a great game to get to.

I really hope Jake can get here, too. I'd love for the whole class to begin to gel, get excited about carrying the program together. Also I hope Jerome gets some love from the crowd! The guy is going to be a star.

Barf. I just want to watch basketball. Amateur basketball, preferably.

Not to pick nits, but I don't recall anything said against Damezi. Total pleasant surprise when he committed, and I credit him with giving Archie some early legitimacy. And there have been a few reports of him recruiting for IU since he committed. Pumped to have him.

Holy smokes. Rick Pitino received 98% of the cash from Louisville's contract with Adidas. Unbelievable. http://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/louisville/2017/10/05/university-louisville-college-basketball-adidas-tom-jurich-rick-pitinio-money/730771001/

That's pretty close to something my wife told me once.

Lol. That quote is going to live on here forever.

Yep. You bring valuable information to the forum. Hoosier Guy brings unwavering positivity. Both of you help make this my favorite IU basketball forum lol. Man, that Donovan stuff. I still have people absolutely swearing by their information that it was very, very close to happening. Archie definitely feels like the right guy, now.

That's just Hoosier Guy's communication style. Confidence that everything will go as well as possible, best case scenario. For some reason it rubs some people the wrong way, but I don't think he means it like that. That's his positivity in the best case scenario of Romeo being so overwhelmed by his HH visit that he'll end the debate and commit. He was doing the same stuff when IU was in the coaching search, and Hoosier Guy posted daily with matter-of-fact statements that Billy Donovan was coming. When it didn't happen, Hoosier Guy was immediately on board with the positivity for Archie. Again, just his communication style. I don't think he's actually looking to debate the merits of a 5* waiting to commit.

Bryant with 5 assists and 4 steals in 16 minutes? That's fantastic. Only took 2 shots, but produced. Yogi is continuing with his excellent play. All the Mavericks articles are about the heralded Dennis Smith Jr debut, but Yogi still walked out an outperformed the rookie. It's funny, DSJ is being favored as the Rookie of the Year, before he's done a thing. Yogi actually performed like a Rookie of the Year, but didn't get any attention.

Lavar already blew Lamelo's eligibility by putting out that BBB shoe and having him star in a commercial. So whatever required courses and "book work" may have been standing in the way for him to play for UCLA are no longer an issue. I hope his homeschooling teaches him Russian or Chinese or French, since he's going to have to go somewhere for at least a year if he wants a career and shot at the NBA. Now he's just baggage, and will be uncoachable. At least he'll have his own signature shoe.