Honkyman

Alan Henderson is/was 6'9'', same as TJD. There are definite similarities. I agree that Henderson was smoother and a better shooter. He arrived at IU with a jump shot. And, he was an excellent rebounder. I think TJD will need to be brought along a bit. He might not be ready to start until conference play. I'm older. I remember the first year Scott May played--his sophomore year. I kept thinking "why is Knight playing this guy so much?" He didn't show much until the end of the season. And, of course, the next year--1974-75- May was the best player in the country. Not saying that will be the case with TJD, but he will be a special player if he sticks with IU at least 3 years. BTW, Ray Tolbert was one of the more athletic big men to play for IU. He didn't have an outside shot, but he could out-jump anyone he played against when he was at IU.

I hope I'm wrong but I don't think we'll get Galloway. I'm from the Culver area. Players around here relate more to Purdue and Michigan State than they do IU. Damezi Anderson was the first St. Joseph County player to play for IU since John Laskowski who graduated in 1975. Players from Northwest Indiana for the most part just don't play for IU. We'll see. As I say, I hope I'm wrong. I like the way Galloway plays. But I see him ending up somewhere else.

We're not getting both Galloway and Leal.

I love IU basketball. But I hate it when IU basketball loses on the court or in recruiting. This one (Lester Quinones) doesn't bother me except for the fact that it is a reminder that we won't be competitive for most targets who are top 100 players until we start winning again on the court.

Lester Quinones is ranked 49th in the final 247 rankings. Brooks is 14; Watford is 19; Trayce Jackson Davis is 27.

I'm not sure Damezi Anderson is being written off. But it is hard to see him being the answer to IU's 3-point shooting woes for the upcoming 2019-20 season. If he makes huge strides over the summer, who knows? But that's certainly not something that can be counted on. Right now he would seem to be around the 10th or 11th player on a team with 11 scholarship players.

mdn82--You're a bit hostile I see. Thanks anyway.

mdn82--Thanks for making my point. Any person with a rudimentary understanding of English knows that the qualifier "even if..." constitutes a hypothetical predicator. "Even if Archie believed that Romeo were a shooter..." Not to belabor the point, but I never called Romeo a shooter. I called him a scorer. Thanks again for acknowledging you were wrong.

Mdn82--I didn't call Romeo a shooter. I called him a scorer--he was the top scorer on the IU team at 16.5 points a game. I will say that there were many on this board who believed going into the season that IU's 3-point shooting would improve as a result of Romeo's shooting. I wasn't one of them.

It is correct to say it isn't who we miss on its who we get. We got two bigs-TJD & Joey Brunk. Both are expected to contribute and maybe together will cushion the loss of Juwan Morgan. And, we got a guard who likely won't be ready to contribute much for a year or two (Franklin certainly is not in the same league as Romeo in terms of scoring next year). What we didn't get without mentioning missing on specific targets is a shooter when the overriding weakness this past season was shooting. Even if Archie believed Romeo would be a better shooter than he turned out to be, he should have known that Romeo was likely to leave and we would need to target a shooter in 2019. So that is a coaching failure no matter how you look at it.

Yogiballsin--Funny guy. You quote me while lambasting fans for giving up on Damezi Anderson. When I call you on it, you deny it. OK. Whatever you say.

I guess Yogisballin didn't read my post. In response to the suggestion that IU concentrate on players in the 150 range rather than the top 100 high school players, I wrote that players in that range don't always turn out as well as those ranked higher. I mentioned Victory Olidapo and Rob Phinesee as players who showed promise right away and Damezi Anderson as one who had not "at least yet." It is a fact that Damezi Anderson has not yet played up to the level of others. Nobody said anything about writing him off. So there is no need for your overdramatized mischaracterization "sad if you ask me." It might help if you read before you comment.

I agree with the statement "we have to get better with the players we have." We apparently don't have a choice since after Quinones IU is not in the mix for any 2019 high school graduates or 2019 graduate transfers. Further, we aren't going win many recruiting battles for top 100 players until we play better, i.e., until we are a tournament team. There are many reasons for our disappointing 2018-19 season. But recruiting is bottom line for most players--players want to know if they are going to a program that is going to win when they are there. Based on the past season and the returning players, that is not something that IU can realistically promise. Its not a sure thing TJD would have committed to IU if he had waited until spring like Brooks did.

It is preposterous to claim that Archie lost a recruit to FaceTime. If Quinones indeed commits to Memphis, it is because he is convinced it is in his best interests as a player. Given that we came in late with this recruit and we had a lousy season in 2018-19, we were lucky to get in the mix. Time to move on. Hopefully the returning guards improve their long range shooting or 2019-2020 could be a long season.

I'm fine with Michael Jackson, John Mellencamp, Hoagie Carmichael & Cole Porter. But this list leaves out some great blues and jazz musicians who were the best at what they did: Leroy Carr--blues piano Wes Montgomery--jazz guitar James "Yank" Rachell--blues mandolin Then there are the overlooked Hoosier born rockers--Lonnie Mack & Rick Derringer

Players ranked in the 150 range sometimes work out and sometimes don't. Victor Oladipo was a great find at 136. Damezi Anderson not so much at 125--at least so far. Rob Phinesee could wind up being a very good point guard at 136. Even the best ones usually take a season or more to contribute consistently. Phinesee had some good games and some not so good games. The bottom line is that college teams need talent to make it into the NCAA tournament and the best talent will usually be found in the top 100 range. Players ranked below 50 can often contribute right away. That's why Lester Quinones is worth going after. If we get him, he will be able to help right away. If he goes to Memphis, c'est la vie.

Lester Quinones ended up 49th in final 247Sports rankings.

Keion Brooks ended up ranked 14; Trendon Watford is 19th; Trayce Jackson Davis is 27. Lester Quinones is ranked 49.

It's very very unlikely that Quinones would play on a national championship team at either school. I'm just hoping we make the NCAA tournament while Quinones is at IU--if he comes.

Hey HoosierFan--You thought Matthew Hurt and Isaiah Stewart were coming to IU? Really? They never even took an official visit. There is nobody on your list I thought would select IU 4 four days before the announcement (Watford hasn't officially picked any school but I don't know anyone who thinks it will be IU). Everybody knew Darious Garland wasn't picking IU in the days leading up his announcement. Same with Keion Brooks. Everyone had to know Anthony Harris would go to North Carolina since that was his last visit, closer to home, same conference as Virginia Tech. DJ Carton going to Ohio State was the only surprise on your list but he never said it was down to two schools--IU and someone else. The names on your list aren't comparable--four days out and IU is in his final two. Like I say, I could be wrong but I wasn't wrong on any of the ones you listed. I'm surprised anyone was.

If his parents prefer he attend IU--and by his Lester's quotes that seems to be the case--I think it will be IU. Why wouldn't his parents prefer IU? IU provides a better education which is something most parents are concerned more about. The program seems more stable, cleaner, greater tradition. These are all qualities that would normally impress parents. And, if Lester bonded with the IU players (Green, Davis), it is not like the parents would be pushing a program the son doesn't also like. I could be wrong, but everything in the quotes tells me it will be IU. BTW, I think it is ridiculous to say that IU is included just to show a player is interested in a clean program. Lester had Michigan on his top 5 which is also a clean program. IU is in the mix with these players because IU has something to sell.

Both Franklin and Newman will likely have good college careers. Newman is a very shooter. I think he will fit in well in Purdue's system. Undoubtedly, he will burn us on occasion.

"We don't know the details.." Yes, that's the problem. Too often adults on this board are engaged in character assassination of high school kids without knowing the details. These are kids. If the coaching staff thinks a player has sufficient character to play for IU that should be enough.

The short answer as to why IU didn't have a better season with a front court of George McGinnis, Steve Downing, and Joby Wright plus Indiana All Stater John Ritter and high school All-American Ed Daniels is coaching, which is why the school made a coaching change at the end of the year. Lou Watson didn't seem to know how to handle all that talent and kind of let them do what they wanted to do. No discipline was a common complaint. Most of those players were young. Freshmen were ineligible at that time so McGinnis, Downing, Ritter and Daniels were playing their first year of college ball as sophomores. They were 17-7 overall and 9-5 in conference play. Today that would have been enough to win an invitation to the NCAA tournament and that team could have gone on a tournament run. They had the talent to make it to the Final Four. I had student season tickets. Even with a disappointing record, they were amazing to watch. McGinnis led the Big 10 in scoring (29.9 ppg) and rebounding (14.7 rpg). In my opinion, George McGinnis is the most talented player to wear an Indiana uniform. Bobby Knight took many of those players to the Final Four during Steve Downing and John Ritter's senior year--two years later (Daniels transferred when Knight was hired). McGinnis expressed regret later that he couldn't stay to benefit from Knight's coaching. His father died in a construction accident and the family needed money so he signed with the Pacer's after one year at IU. A Knight coached team with George McGinnis and Steve Downing would likely have won a national championship.

I'm an 'old guy' (Lou Watson was coach when I attended IU) who loves this kid's energy. IU's 2018-19 team was energy deficient. IU needs players like Lester Quinones who are tough and confident. The folks on this board who are shamefully trashing Quinones will eat their words if we are lucky enough to land him.