LamarCheeks

Some 8- or 10-year old Bloomington kid should pose with Leal. The youngster would be on track to a big future!

NCAA approves an extra year for spring sport athletes. Barry Alvarez says, "Not so fast, my friend."

Yes. I realize that. But thank you.

I wonder: Is this just an odd angle for a photo -- or does Penix have huge hands??? ... This football looks like a toy in his big left mitt.

Are we gonna have guys leaving or not? So far, there's been no word on that front. Yet we're finalists for this grad transfer from San Francisco. So obviously, we're pursuing him. Yet if Lander does indeed reclassify, we don't have an open scholarship -- unless someone leaves. I can't imagine we'd be recruiting a kid (particularly a grad transfer) if we don't have a spot for him.

Hillman did play baseball, but he definitely was a basketball recruit. I think he averaged over 40 points a game as a high school senior.

I'm still waiting for someone to say they're leaving, too ... But if that doesn't happen and Lander reclassifies, we're right at our limit ... Two schollys open. De'Ron and Devonte leaving. Four guys coming in. That would put us right at 13 -- no room for anyone to transfer in.

I guess we reached out to Nolley. Not sure how hard we pursued him, but it looks as if we didn't make his final cut. ... BTW, when you cut your list to 11 -- how many did you start with? Sheesh!

BTW, Izzo did not try to contact the victim. The son of former player Steve Smith -- Brayden Smith -- was with Brock Washington (a MSU player) on the night Washington was accused of sexually assaulting a female student. When police went to speak with Smith about what he saw, he said that he already been contacted by Izzo and the coaching staff. So why did Izzo contact Smith? To tamper with the witness? Your guess is as good as mine, but regardless, it was extremely inappropriate and could easily be considered obstructing an investigation. Izzo is slimy, but in this case, he didn't do what Alford did with regards to the victim in the Pierre Pierce situation. He didn't try to intimidate or harass the victim.

I think I saw somewhere here that we had reached out to Landers Nolley (Virginia Tech). Don't know how seriously we pursued him, but we apparently didn't make his final cut ...

I remember in the days leading to that game, Vitale was screaming his head off that they should reseed before the Final Four -- because you had Oklahoma (a No. 2) and Indiana (a No. 5) on one side and two No. 1s (Kansas and Maryland) on the other. ... I thought it was very disrespectful to Oklahoma and IU -- they did what they had to do to get there and for us, that included knocking out the No. 1 overall seed (Duke). Had the other two No. 1s (the Devils and Cincy) done what they were supposed to do, it's not even an argument. And that's the way the tournament had been run for years. Was just a crazy rant from the appropriately named Dick.

Listened to a bit of it. He sure made it sound as if the Class of 2020 will be a group of four -- him, Leal, Geronimo ... and Lander.

Sorry for your loss. Never easy to lose a pet. This fella was 15 or 16 or so, diabetic, arthritic and half-blind. He had been declining recently, but didn't seem to be suffering or in pain -- still seemed like a happy, old cat. Then one day early last month, he meowed really strangely and really loud. I sorta figured it wasn't good -- that it might be his time -- so I called the vet and asked if I could bring him in. About 10 minutes later, he was gone. Passed away right in front of me. Was very, very tough.

We beat Michigan in the 1976 NCAA title game to finish unbeaten. I was 7. My mother, an IU alum, shed tears of joy.

I have to admit, when Teri Moren first came aboard, I did not like the hire. I was adamantly opposed to hiring another Purdue grad. But I think we got the best person we possibly could have. Hope she and the ladies see continued success.

BTW, we're playing West Virginia in the NCAA tournament. We're a 10 and they're a 7.

Archie's favorite TV show: Narcos. His favorite movie: Kingpin. Looks as if he's making an effort to cover the can in this photo. Wonder if it's 12 ounces of his favorite ale?

Watching IU/VCU now. It's one of those hour condensed versions. Not sure I understand why they can't just show the whole game. I can't imagine they currently have a glut of programming. ... The thing I remember about that game is we kept setting all those high ball screens for Jordy. And the screener's man would just stick with Jordy on a double team -- and he really struggled to beat it. It was painful to watch -- because it happened over and over and over.

I'm not sure Archie had anything to do with him. I'm pretty sure Anthony Grant was responsible for him being at Dayton. Seems as if he was a little like Oladipo -- a totally UTR recruit who really blossomed in college.

Wonder when/if we'll hear about any guys transferring out of the program? ... Sorry. Know it's sorta been addressed, but I thought I'd try to get this thread back on topic -- which is IU offseason moves. Not the Pacers and T.J. McConnell.

My friend -- a South Carolina alum and big fan -- pointed out to me that the Gamecocks trailed at the end of a quarter only three times this season. Two were against us -- including the all-important fourth quarter. Just gives an indication of how dominant that team was. And how huge our win over them was.

This came out over a month ago. I wonder if, since he already said this -- and is sticking with it -- he figures there's really no point to getting feedback if he's not planning to go anywhere?

I just watched that this afternoon on YouTube. I think that was Jeffrey Newton's one shining moment. He was a beast in that game -- on both ends of the court.

Just took the path of least resistance. Not surprised at all. Nor impressed. ... A Power 5 school picks an AD who has never hired or fired a coach? Doesn't make any sense -- but for IU, it makes perfect sense.

Hey, not only did we get in -- we won our first game! Looks as if Good Devonte showed up. If we want to get to the Sweet 16, I'm guessing it'll have to be someone else stepping up. I don't see Devonte having two good games in a row ...