Honkyman

I'm glad to read that Lester Quinones was impressed by what he saw and heard during his official visit to IU last week and hope we land him. He would be an important addition to an IU team that is losing most of its reliable scoring in Romeo and Juwan. Obviously, Quinones is not in the same class as Keion Brooks. But he is a top 100 player with scoring ability--something we sorely need if we hope to avoid sliding further down the Big 10 standings.

I don't quite get the pessimism. He had good things to say about each school. With respect to IU, he said the home visit with Archie was "really good." I'm not sure what people expect out of an interview like this. I didn't read positive or negative about any of the schools. He just wasn't tipping his hand. We've been a bit of long shot all along and we'll know soon enough.

Penn State actually makes sense for Jake. He wouldn't lose two years eligibility. That is mistaken.

UNC posters have good reason to be optimistic about recruits since they get more than their share of targets. You have to assume they are the favorites with just about any recruit when going up against any school except Duke, Kentucky and maybe Kansas. Harris could be an exception. We have three returning guards who started at various points in the season. But any guard who can shoot has an excellent chance at significant playing time next season at IU.

Exactly my point. Ease up on the criticism of these high school players. No need to be so judgmental.

Why would anyone care about Watford canceling his scheduled announcement date because it won't be televised? All but a handful of these players want their school announcements to be on a big stage. It reflects not one bit on what kind of person or player Watford or anyone else who wants a big audience for their college announcement. Not a good look? Gives you pause? If that bothers you, maybe you should follow a different sport?

What does this ridiculous discussion about Archie Miller's record have to do with Trendon Watford?

The New York Knicks won't be pulling a random name out of a hat in the 2019 draft. Romeo hasn't hired an agent but he has met with prospective agents. He is taking his time deciding which agent to hire just as he took his time choosing a college.

Six months since this came about and Hunter still cannot do workouts involving contact. No official comment on what was wrong or when or if he might be available to play. Not very encouraging.

What is the problem with some IU fans and twitter? Some knucklehead gets in a twitter fight with Keion Brooks' mother? Another idiot goes after Lester Quinones because he needs to reschedule his official visit? Outside of Indiana (and probably inside of the state), Indiana fans have a reputation of being uncivil and out-of-control. I regret to say that lately it seems deserved. If it hasn't hurt recruiting yet, it will. Let's get it together guys!

I don't see Windham playing meaningful minutes in 2019-2020. As pointed out, he is not physically ready and frankly he is not quick enough for the level of competition IU plays. If Windham isn't going to play next year, then why not save the scholarship for better guard prospects in the 2020 class? The enthusiasm for Windham is what often happens after a disappointing season when fans and sometimes coaches start grasping for solutions.

The high expectations for the team in 2018-19 were within the IU fan base largely because of Romeo. Most conference previews had IU outside the title race and right around where we ended up.

More often than not players play in college at the level they are rated as high school players. Five star players are special and are usually better than four star players, four star tend to be better than three star, etc. Obviously, there are exceptions but they are exceptions. A two star most likely will not be a player who gets a whole lot of playing time at a top 30 school, especially in their first year. Again, there are exceptions which is why an underrated player garners media attention when he plays well enough to become a starter on a Final Four team. Maybe Windham will be one of those exceptions. Personally, I would hope that Miller lands a higher rated player who can shoot, like Lester Quinones.

The argument that IU should hire Dane Fife is academic. Fife not coming to IU. He is a top assistant at a successful program under a Hall of Fame coach. If he leaves it will be for a head coaching job, not for a lateral move to a less successful program. There may be other former IU players from that era like Michael Lewis willing to come to IU. But Dane Fife is not coming to IU. No rational person would make that move.

That's because Vandy's most exciting player got hurt in November and was out for the season. Georgia arguably has the top high school player in the country. Georgia will be covered more nationally than otherwise because of Anthony Edwards. It will happen. Edwards will get plenty of exposure this year which means Georgia will. More than IU--unless you live in Indiana.

I think there's a good chance Crean gets Beverly. Beverly will start at Georgia right away. He will play alongside a 5 star so they'll get a lot of TV coverage and attention. The only reason not to is he is from Michigan and he might want to play closer to home.

I just read a Bleacher Report mock nba draft that came out yesterday where Romeo drops to 16. NBC Sports mock NBA draft also released yesterday has Romeo at 19. If he drops a couple of more the Pacers can grab him.

There is a reason why Brunk is leaving Butler--he not only wasn't starting any more but he wasn't getting the playing time he wanted. My guess is if Brunk comes to IU, he will come off the bench behind Deron Davis but still get lots of playing time since Davis rarely goes more than 20 minutes a game even when fully healthy. Then Brunk would start the next year after Davis graduates.

Even bringing in Joey Brunk might prompt one of the current front court player to decide to leave as a result of reduced playing time.

There may be a player or two who decides to leave the program depending upon who is brought in either as a graduate transfer or a new recruit. If Trendon Watford would choose Indiana, for example, we might see one of the "bigs" decide to leave because that would mean less playing time.

IU already has lots of players everybody hates.

Three weeks ago, Jalen Blackmon attended an IU game. Why would he bother if not interested in IU? Why would IU be interested in having him attend a game if not interested in IU. I am sure the IU coaching staff knows more about the situation than you do.

My definition of flat out play is a guy who has the ability to compete at a high level, the drive to develop critical basketball skills, and a motor that won't quit. Victor Oladipo is a good example. Not highly rated but had ability and the drive that allowed him to reach his potential. I saw him in high school and at that time he wasn't even the 2nd best player on a very good Dematha team. But he was a hell of a defensive player even then (though he didn't do anything on the offensive end except dunk). Crean saw something in him that many other schools did not. Maybe Wyndham has the potential. I don't know. I've never seen him. My sense is that rankings shouldn't be taken as gospel, but more often than not they are a good guide to how a player will perform at the next level. There are exceptions of course. We'll see. If IU coaches having seen him play think he can help improve the outside shooting, I'm all for it.

I hope neither Damezi nor Smith transfer. I think both have great potential for strong careers at IU.

I'm all for getting guys who can flat out play. I'm not convinced Wyndham can do that at Big 10 level. But perhaps he can. Personally I'd rather give a scholarship to a highly rated guy who can flat out play. Maybe at this point, we can't land such a guy.