Evan Fitzner to IU

[rebelhoosier848891 9,588]

IDS reporting Fitzner to IU?
 
 
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Is this official?

Disregard—see that it is.


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[southsidehoosier 4,980]

Has the Archie was at Jankos story been confirmed by anyone else? I remember seeing that post then the Langfords said all the coaches were at home watching and finding out then.


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An Indy star article about the Langford commitment confirmed the story.


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[rebelhoosier848891 9,588]

Welcome to the Hoosiers—Evan! A very solid pick up. Some posters wanted another big and some posters wanted another shooter. We just got both! A 6’10” kid that shoots 3’s at over a 40 percent clip. Win-win. Well done—Archie!


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[HoosierTrav 7,748]

3 hours ago, rebelcc said:

Link to full game against Washington in this year's NIT.  Fitzner scored 20 and had 6 boards in 30 minutes.  Looks pretty solid.

 

Moves really well without the ball. Has a nose for it on the defensive glass. Very very smooth stroke. I’m impressed. He’s going to really help. 

[mike vannice 281]

Hey Chris or anyone else who might know, are we really involved with Wichita State transfer Austin Reeves? He is not a grad-transfer and they have not had a coaching change so he would have to sit for a year and be available in 2019. He is a point guard and an excellent three point shooter. Someone earlier in this thread said IU was mentioned with him.

[HoosierAloha 30,036]

3 hours ago, Hardwood83 said:

Combined with solid to above average defense? I'll take those numbers in a heart-beat!

None of our options at Center are likely going to be all B1G, just need it not to be a glaring weakness, IMO.  

 

ETA: basically exactly what HoosierAloha said

Great minds think alike, right...?  If our center(s) can be an = instead of a - we will be just fine. 

[ap2345 7,595]

1 hour ago, mike vannice said:

Hey Chris or anyone else who might know, are we really involved with Wichita State transfer Austin Reeves? He is not a grad-transfer and they have not had a coaching change so he would have to sit for a year and be available in 2019. He is a point guard and an excellent three point shooter. Someone earlier in this thread said IU was mentioned with him.

Not unless someone transfers.

[lillurk 3,738]

6 hours ago, rebelcc said:

Link to full game against Washington in this year's NIT.  Fitzner scored 20 and had 6 boards in 30 minutes.  Looks pretty solid.

 

 

6 hours ago, Chris007 said:

Can I get the cliff notes version?

 

3 hours ago, HoosierTrav said:

Moves really well without the ball. Has a nose for it on the defensive glass. Very very smooth stroke. I’m impressed. He’s going to really help. 

Trav is right. I’ll add: he’s in the right place at the right time on both ends.

He’s thin, and he’s not a five. More of a 3/4. Now, it’ll still help insure against Davis coming along slowly; depth there makes it easier to slide another frontcourt player to five. Besides, even aside from Davis, Morgan and Smith do much of their best work near the hoop, so a spacing frontcourt player is a good thing.

in this game specifically, he doesn’t start either half, but UW is playing a 2-3 zone, and he hardly comes out after entering. He plays at the foul line and makes good reads just about every time down.

The recent Hoosier he most resembles is maybe 2014-2016 Collin Hartman. It’s not a perfect comparison, especially given their physical differences, but sophomore and junior Hartman was a really helpful player on a couple good teams.

[rebelhoosier848891 9,588]

I like that it was reported Evan likes Archie’s pack line defense. He will also draw another team’s big out of the lane because they will have to respect his shooting which will allow Romeo-Devonte-Al-Robert-Juwan —etc. to drive the lane.


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[Brass Cannon 24,301]

I could see him being a starter. While I think PER is far from perfect as a stat he has a respectable PER  And he fills a need on both ends. Perhaps Clifton can surpass him would love to see it but I could really see this guy starting. 

Great work Archie and staff. 

[ALASKA HOOSIER 11,257]

Yep

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[Bowhunter 2,693]

6 hours ago, Brass Cannon said:

I could see him being a starter. While I think PER is far from perfect as a stat he has a respectable PER  And he fills a need on both ends. Perhaps Clifton can surpass him would love to see it but I could really see this guy starting. 

Great work Archie and staff. 

I don’t see him as a starter unless Davis is not healthy and Morgan doesn’t come back. 

[Chris007 43,623]

13 hours ago, mike vannice said:

Hey Chris or anyone else who might know, are we really involved with Wichita State transfer Austin Reeves? He is not a grad-transfer and they have not had a coaching change so he would have to sit for a year and be available in 2019. He is a point guard and an excellent three point shooter. Someone earlier in this thread said IU was mentioned with him.

I read somewhere that IU has checked up on him. They do a lot of work screening players to see if it's a fit or not. So I'm sure they made some calls. 

[GnarlyTimGarl 1,433]

A few thoughts on the addition of Fitzer... all of which are simply my opinion...

"He’s looking for an opportunity to showcase what he does. Obviously not just as an individual, but he’s a very team oriented guy.”  -Fitzner's dad

"He wants to go out and have an even playing field so that he can go out and earn his spot on the team.”  - Fitzner's dad

"He wants to get back to the NCAA tournament" -Fitzner's dad

"We wanted him back... He will enhance their program" - St. Mary's Coach Randy Bennett

I really like all of the above quotes and I think they pretty much explain what kind of player we're getting. I'll admit, the 5 PPG kinda puzzled me first as to why Archie would pursue him, but then you read these quotes and you start to understand. Notice there wasn't as much focus on "wants to become a more focal part of the offense" or "wants more playing time". Instead, you see him talking about the TEAM. About how he wants to work hard and EARN his spot. He talks about wanting to WIN and making the tournament. His old coach (who is pretty successful in his own right... look up his record) didn't want him to leave and believes he'll "enhance" our program. Those are promising sentiments you don't hear too often from transfers.

Will he have a higher statistical impact than what he had at St. Mary's? I would doubt it. (I'm not even sure he'll match it.) Do we need him to produce more than that? Not really. What we could use is senior leadership to help bring along the five freshmen and three sophomores. What we could use is a guy who can knock down an open shot and be an offensive threat when on the floor. Check and check. If this team reaches its potential, it will have to have good team chemistry. While the talent on the roster has been upgraded in the off-season, we're still not talented enough to "out-talent" most other teams. They'll need to play well together. It sounds like Fitzner can help with that.

Am I worried that this may mean Morgan is leaving? No. I think there's a better chance of another transfer before Morgan would leave.

Am I worried that Fitzer is Priller 2.0? No. By all accounts, Priller was a good guy. But his on-court effectiveness made Richard Mandeville and Robbie Eggers look like All-Americans. Could Fitzer be Eggers 2.0? Possibly, but remember that Robbie Eggers never missed the NCAA Tournament.

If Fitzer isn't effective, it isn't much of a loss. He only occupies the scholarship for one season. There are only two ways that this was a bad addition. #1) Fitzer is a detriment to team chemistry (seems unlikely) or #2) there was a more effective graduate transfer out there that specifically wanted to fill this role.

[Certified Sunshine Pumper 8,945]

28 minutes ago, Bowhunter said:

I don’t see him as a starter unless Davis is not healthy and Morgan doesn’t come back. 

I don't see how he won't play ahead of Davis

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,147]

Fitzner's own words on why he chose IU - he's certainly expecting Juwan to be on the floor.

[ap2345 7,595]

29 minutes ago, btownqb said:

I don't see how he won't play ahead of Davis

I watched the game against Washington and I'm intrigued. The guy can play and is way more skilled than Davis so we'll see what happens.

[Stuhoo 79,876]

8 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Fitzner's own words on why he chose IU - he's certainly expecting Juwan to be on the floor.

 

Another way of saying that: the coaching staff made it clear to Fitz that they expect Juwan Morgan to be on the floor.

 

[Stuhoo 79,876]

I think that this thread is well worth the time to read:

St Mary's has a nice, substantive message board with a 31 post thread about Evan Fitzner and his potential transfer. Good insight as to his talents and weaknesses. As a bonus, barely-remembered Hoosier-to St. Mary's player Ben Allen gets name-checked!

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/godisagael/fitzner-t8395.html?sid=9b2e5766900ba750299f0687fb0e533b

 

[Certified Sunshine Pumper 8,945]

18 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

I think that this thread is well worth the time to read:

St Mary's has a nice, substantive message board with a 31 post thread about Evan Fitzner and his potential transfer. Good insight as to his talents and weaknesses. As a bonus, barely-remembered Hoosier-to St. Mary's player Ben Allen gets name-checked!

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/godisagael/fitzner-t8395.html?sid=9b2e5766900ba750299f0687fb0e533b

 

Not bad. They obviously liked Fitzner and all at least acknowledged he was at least a good shooter. 
 

Side note... who were the radio guys they were saying had no clue about college BB?