IU/Butler/Notre Dame

Hey ! Where ya been all summer ? Did you get a chance to watch Luke and turn south on him ?

Super fair point and it bothered me for a while there was no contact what so ever but I think dgmabill made some great points to that effect that help explain it regarding Archie’s defensive vision. They type of player he wants or the type of traits he needs for his philosophy kind of have the same check boxes as scouting and ranking systems ....at Luke’s size and at his level of leaping ability Archie May not feel like he could fit unless he grows a lot and he may not want to lead the kid on. on top of this I feel like he put a lot of eggs in the Lander basket and Lander doesn’t look like a one and done so with Galloway on roster and Leal possibly singing that could leave brown without a spot on the floor even if he improves and is offered

I think those things absolutely describe him ....he will need some size to get the Aaron craft defensive persona to stick so I’m curious to watch that over the next couple years but yes it seems like that type of player always kills us season in and out and it seems like we have that type of player infrequently

Id love this post if I could ....you’re spot on and I’ve spent months on this bored hearing people say “ but he doesn’t play the same completion as a 4A” then when you bring up that he’s leading his aau team in assists while also scoring comparably to Kaufman who is on his team everyone just writes it off. If you watch the kid play he more then passed the eye ball test and to further your points: 1. When you say 40 percent from three ( he was over 40 as a freshman and 38 as a sophomore ) I want to point out I think that number or mark should be actually asterisked .....I have been to every high school game he has played live except for two and I’m not exaggerating when I say that over the course of a season and a half he has had less than 10 open 3 point shots. I’m not casually or arbitrarily throwing that number out. He is literally double and triple teamed all game every game and he has to handle 95% of the ball handling duties for the Blackford team. Stroble can shoot but he can’t create or play make so every shot Luke takes is with one or two sets of hands in his face and is usually off the dribble and often from 25-30 foot instead of at the 3pt line . If he had another dangerous ball habdler/ shooter that got him some open looks he would be even more deadly from long range. 2. When you say he will develop physically I can’t say he will for sure get taller ( I think he probably has another inch or two but can’t ever be certain with that ) but I can definitely say he will fill out with solid upper body mass. Weight training is controllable and if it’s in his control he will do it . He developed noticeably physically from freshman to sophomore year . So much so that I was concerned it might effect his shot. The kid is absolutely obsessive and had a better work ethic than any athlete at any level I’ve ever been familiar with. He’s self aware and I can tell you he no doubt puts in hours per day on his upper body and jumping on top of the two hours of practice and two to four hours of shooting drills and hour of ball handling. Brody Boyd is a great comparison and I think Luke will be significantly bigger than Brody was by his senior year even if he doesn’t get taller than he is now

Agree on Archie but somewhat disagree on power five programs ....I don’t think it’s telling that those offers aren’t there yet ...usually the power 5’s commit offers to the best of the best and hit the second tier kids once the first tier kids start committing and the schools with slots left can fill them knowing the 5 stars are already off the table ....my prediction is Purdue or Clemson offers him late during basketball season or early this next summer and then that spawns a couple more offers within the same conference or group

I can understand that ...someone should kick the jerk out ;)....kidding ....thanks for disagreeing ( or at least questioning if not disagreeing ) in a friendly manner. I get it I really do but my personal opinion is that most of the ratings are politically/say influenced and , further more, they have to evaluate SO many kids that things like height and athleticism cut people out from consideration right from the start in order to narrow the evaluation pool ....I’m not saying there is a better system , because more often than not the best talents get uncovered BUT it’s not a perfect system and players fall through the crack ....I firmly believe Luke is one of those kids / gamers that his intangibles or immeasurables make up for his lack of size and jumping ability which is the only thing people question about him

Amen !!! I couldn’t agree with you more I just made a post about the fact that Sydney in the kid a letter would take zero time or resources and would still keep our foot in the door especially in the instance that he grows physically

My favorite staff about Luke was that he was the only 50/40/90 Player in the entire state of Indiana in any class during the 2018 season… He would have been the only player in 2019 but he only shot 38% from three But had a higher overall field-goal percentage than the previous year

He has not been invited for a visit in fact… As of two weeks ago… They had not even so much is said hello to him despite following trey Kaufman who is on the same AAU team as Luke. I have advocated for it before I think something as simple as a letter congratulating him on leading the state and scoring with a note that they’ll be watching him in the future would be more than sufficient and would waste no time or resources on the scouting end. I won’t say it’s a mistake to not offer him right now but it is a mistake to ignore him completely.

I completely agree… A little attention would go a long ways towards keeping us at the top of the list but I don’t think there’s any reason to rush unless purdue puts in an offer first

I agree with most of what you have said… The main argument against the kid typically comes from people saying over and over again that he plays inferior competition… I have kind of given up on fighting it and try to direct the conversation more towards the fact that he competes during the summer against that top level talent. I am one of his bigger supporters and I definitely want him in iu colors but my preference would be that we just show him some attention now and wait to see how he physically develops next summer and make an offer then if we like what we see. I love everything about Luke’s work ethic and offense of game but I also know what Archie tries to do on defense and Luke would have a tough time fitting that bill right now at his current size. I think he will end up surprising or proving a lot of people wrong

Wait ....that WORKS ???

Who me ? I don’t need to convince you of anything I’m open to your point of view ....I don’t have Archie’s direct line so I’ll have to settle for you guys ;)

Totally same page it will just make me sick if he ends up at a non iu big ten school ( especially Purdue ) ...very good point on Lander also not just points but they’d have to share ball handling responsibilities

Huntington !? You weren’t far from Blackford then. And for record purposes, Jordan’s brother Jay was a heck of a ball player too. He wasn’t blessed with Jordan’s metabolism and got pretty hefty but we won many a game in the competitive division at the fishers field house because he was 6’1 close to 300 pounds and the other team would laugh at him till he scored our first 10 points.

Yeah ...it really sneaks up ....I’m his older brothers age and I prefer not to feel old just yet so let’s knock off that sentiment mdn lol

That’s fair ...it’s kinda like saying if you switch manning and Brady from colts to patriots do the outcomes change ? There really is no way to know I’m just basing it off 1. What I saw from both of them at similar ages in terms of individual skill ( which I admit for Jordan was limited to a handful of games) 2. What my two good friends who went to MOST of his games take on it is. I think the most fair barometer would be the aau performance since they both played similar completion there ....I will have to ask my friends but do you or does anyone know what Hulls stats were like in summer ball? I’m not a huge fan of using aau stats because of all the variables involved in grass roots basketball but it’s the only thing we have where the two of them played comparable competition.

That’s fair in some respects but also consider the alternative 1. Brown plays the exact same level of aau competition ( Indiana elite 2021 platinum team) where he has maintained/excelled. 2. His supporting cast at Blackford wouldn’t even make the team at schools like Bloomington....he’s producing the way he is with two defenders committed to him the entire game and there are times he draws a third. From having seen both play at the same age I can say if you put Jordan on Blackford as a sophomore I’m not confident he’d be getting 35 and 7 per game nor keeping them at the win percentages they have had since his arrival and that’s NOT a knock on Jordan that’s a compliment to Luke.

I like the Jordy comparison a lot ....I mentioned this before so sorry for the repeat but two of my best friends in high school ended up rooming with jay ( Jordans older brother ) at IU....they in turn became huge hulls fans. They use to try drag me to all his high school games and I was always kind of a jerk about it. I went to a couple but I always said he was too short/ small to be iu caliber. I ate my words appropriately and I’ll never make the mistake again ...he turned out to be a very productive high level player despite his size or athleticism deficiencies. I wish I had gone to watch him more looking back. That being said those same Blackford alum buddies of mine come back regularly to watch Luke and they insist that he is as good a shooter, ball handler , and distributor as a sophomore as Jordan was as a senior and , from the games I saw, I agree with them. I have no doubt the kid will add bulk because it’s something that can be controlled and he will make it happen ....can’t control any height change but I think he’s the type that will be successful regardless of where he ends up.

That is an amazing point ...saw that exact example brought up on a different page...I have never seen a work ethic like this in a kid at ANY pursuit

Couldn’t agree more ....he’s genuinely a great kid you’d never have an issue with and he’s obsessed with improving

Add university of Wisconsin Milwaukee ....so basically everyone in the mac

So true ! I enjoyed the days when butler was more under the radar ...it’s fun to root for the little guy

Yep at least a year ! Plus once one hits it usually snowballs a little

I guess I can’t speak for the community as a whole but my personal take ( and I get a sense it’s shared ) is that I’m thrilled for the current status and he has nowhere to go but up ....with his work ethic and any physical growth I still think a power five team drops an offer next summer ...not sure what he will do with the options but I think he will feel validated personally which would be satisfying given how hard he works