2023 General Recruiting Thread (BBall)

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,221]

FYI really nice article on Copley HS basketball and Stew Robinson's son, Amire.  I haven't attempted to track his season as there's been no indication he's on the IU radar.

By most standards, Amire Robinson and Khoi Thurmon are young.  Both players are sophomores, playing for a Copley team that starts just one senior.   But Saturday against Wooster, Robinson, Thurmon and the rest of the Indians looked like veterans who could make serious noise in the playoffs, even against some of the best teams in the state. 

Copley jumped on Wooster early, rolling to a 56-46 win that wasn't as close to the final score, ending the Generals' season in the sectional finals. The Indians have now won six in a row heading into a Division I, Northeast 4 District semifinal clash with top-seeded Medina. 

Against the Generals, Robinson and Thurmon both showed off the talent that will likely land them at the Division I college level in a few years. 

Nobody scored more than Robinson, who had a game-high 18 points on 13 shots (with no free-throw attempts) and hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the second half to bury Wooster. Leading by 11 at halftime, Robinson's pair of 3s keyed a 10-0 Copley run that spanned the first four minutes of the third quarter and made it 36-15. 

Copley led by as many as 15 in the first half as well, jumping out to a 24-9 lead in the second quarter. Wooster played catch-up all night, and Copley wasn't going to allow it to do so successfully. 

When the Generals went on a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to cut Copley's lead to 11, Thurmon and Robinson combined for six quick points to send the lead back to 14. Wooster got as close as eight in the final 20 seconds, but the result was already assured. 

"[We] made some uncharacteristic turnovers tonight to allow Wooster to even have a chance to be back in the game, but credit to Wooster to forcing the turnovers," Copley head coach Mark Dente said. 

The Generals simply had no answer for Robinson, Thurmon or 6-foot-7 big man Caleb Laurich. Those three combined for 45 points, with point guard Thurmon going for 16, six boards and five assists and Laurich scoring 11 and pulling down 14 rebounds. 

"We have everything you need in a team," Robinson said. "We have a good big in Caleb, a shooter in Matthew [Dente]. We have one of the best point guards in the country. We have everything we need. Yeah, we're young, but we have good talent and we have good coaches." 

It was a much different story than when Wooster went to Copley and beat the Indians 80-78 earlier this month. Copley has made huge defensive strides since then, evidenced by allowing just 46 points in the rematch. 

"We have the most offensive power in Ohio," Robinson said. "We have everything we need, but the defense was slowing us down. Now that we got that together, we're one of the best teams in Ohio." 

If they play like they have lately, the Indians believe they have a chance to pull an upset Wednesday when they face Medina. They've already beaten Barberton and Wooster handily — two teams to which they lost during the regular season.  Robinson was also out during Copley's 76-62 loss to the Bees in January, and the Indians feel like a different team now. 

"We have what it takes to beat anybody, I feel like," Robinson said. "If we all just lock in, do our part, play as a team, I feel like we can beat anybody we want to." 

With the loss, Wooster has now bowed out in sectional play three straight seasons. For a team that's consistently de-emphasized the importance of regular-season accomplishments, another early exit was painful, especially losing at home as the higher seed. 

"It was a frustrating end," Wooster head coach Michael Snowbarger said. "We've talked to the kids all year about playing hard and winning those 50/50 balls. I thought in the second half, we came a long ways. We played much harder in the second half.

"Basketball is one of those things where you make your breaks by playing hard, and in the second half we got a lot more breaks and a lot more bounces when we started picking up the intensity. In the first half, it seemed like we were a step slow and didn't have the intensity to compete every possession." 

Micah McKee had 14 points to lead Wooster, Brayden Hamilton added 13 and senior David Nolen scored 11 in his final high school game. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,221]

On 9/24/2020 at 9:43 AM, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

6'8" Carter Lang attends St. Anne's Belfield school and is a high school teammate of Justin Taylor who received an IU offer a few weeks ago.  Included in the link below is a link to a 3 min. Hudl video.

https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/iu-basketball-recruiting-class-of-2023-names-to-know-carter-lang/?fbclid=IwAR3lzurxQG_7AsfA_5yfQA14SHO7_Bvk0er3gkJcGosoZm5CMeNOhFXE8wU

MaxPreps

No idea what our level of interest may be in Lang but saw this today.

2023 Carter Lang 6’9 (St. Anne’s Belfield) was the only player to average a double-double during @theCBGLive  East Coast Elite 24.  @CarterLang_23  recently picked up an offer from Texas A&M after leading the event in rebounding.

This is the same event that Tyrell Ward participated in and had a very good stat line.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,221]

Brief summary on Jalen Hooks of Crispus Attucks.

https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/iu-basketball-recruiting-class-of-2023-season-highlights-in-state-forward-jalen-hooks/?fbclid=IwAR1cwTs-LmE1hydzuk2DFgQMR1tBIbwZDLZgtBJf72j4-2O3N942tuPOG6Y

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,221]

Jalen Hooks (Crispus Attucks HS) playing on the George Hill All Indy team in this weekend's NY2LA Swish N' Dish event in Wisconsin.  These comments from Eric Bossi - 2023 wing Jalen Hooks is flashing a lot of different skills. Can attack rim, gets on glass, threat to shoot from deep. Playing with lots of energy. His George Hill teammate Xavier Booker is an intriguing big man. Long and athletic lefty.

Hooks is currently rated a 4-star and #90 by 247.  Rated the #2 player in Indiana behind Jeremy Fears of La Lumiere.

[Demo 19,701]

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

Jalen Hooks (Crispus Attucks HS) playing on the George Hill All Indy team in this weekend's NY2LA Swish N' Dish event in Wisconsin.  These comments from Eric Bossi - 2023 wing Jalen Hooks is flashing a lot of different skills. Can attack rim, gets on glass, threat to shoot from deep. Playing with lots of energy. His George Hill teammate Xavier Booker is an intriguing big man. Long and athletic lefty.

Hooks is currently rated a 4-star and #90 by 247.  Rated the #2 player in Indiana behind Jeremy Fears of La Lumiere.

Let’s see: a 6’5” wing forward from an Indianapolis city HS with a variety of offensive skills. Wonder if there’s any way CMW can find a a basis for building a relationship here?

[Demo 19,701]

On 4/3/2021 at 12:43 PM, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Jalen Hooks (Crispus Attucks HS) playing on the George Hill All Indy team in this weekend's NY2LA Swish N' Dish event in Wisconsin.  These comments from Eric Bossi - 2023 wing Jalen Hooks is flashing a lot of different skills. Can attack rim, gets on glass, threat to shoot from deep. Playing with lots of energy. His George Hill teammate Xavier Booker is an intriguing big man. Long and athletic lefty.

Hooks is currently rated a 4-star and #90 by 247.  Rated the #2 player in Indiana behind Jeremy Fears of La Lumiere.

https://247sports.com/college/basketball/recruiting/Article/NY2LA-Swish-N-Dish-New-names-emerge-on-the-radar-Leon-Bond-James-Brown-Dallas-Thomas-Xavier-Booker-163658436

Can anyone tell me anything about Xavier Booker? 6’10” ‘23 who apparently goes to Cathedral. Had not heard of him until yesterday and have now seen him mentioned or written up 3 times in 2 days. 

[Dalton26 16,892]

27 minutes ago, Demo said:

https://247sports.com/college/basketball/recruiting/Article/NY2LA-Swish-N-Dish-New-names-emerge-on-the-radar-Leon-Bond-James-Brown-Dallas-Thomas-Xavier-Booker-163658436

Can anyone tell me anything about Xavier Booker? 6’10” ‘23 who apparently goes to Cathedral. Had not heard of him until yesterday and have now seen him mentioned or written up 3 times in 2 days. 

I’ve not found anything on him and he’s showing 0 offers. Maybe we can get in on him early because it sounds like he’s starting to get some attention. 

[Demo 19,701]

7 minutes ago, Dalton26 said:

I’ve not found anything on him and he’s showing 0 offers. Maybe we can get in on him early because it sounds like he’s starting to get some attention. 

This is from last fall. Once you get past that the “competition” looks a lot like a gym class, he clearly has some traits. A 6’10” kid in Marion county is intriguing by definition. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,221]

Xavier Booker is a new name to me as well.  Here's his past season stats from MaxPreps.

https://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/xavier-booker/fu0dsAbvEeqAzqREozo6lw/basketball/stats.htm

[RaceToTheTop 25,264]

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

Xavier Booker is a new name to me as well.  Here's his past season stats from MaxPreps.

https://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/xavier-booker/fu0dsAbvEeqAzqREozo6lw/basketball/stats.htm

So didn't play much for Cathedral last year, but definitely in their rotation.  Really not a shame that as a sophomore project...Cathedral is a hell of a program and they play top notch competition that doesn't allow for many blowouts.  Still went 18-3.  At this point loks like a good rebounder and defender -- averaged 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 9 minutes per game at Cathedral.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,221]

Eric Bossi on Jalen Hooks - 

When you are the head coach at Indiana, you are expected to be in the mix and landing the top players from the Hoosier state. Given his pedigree, I don’t think Mike Woodson needs me to tell him that. I don’t think he needs me to tell him anything.

If he was interested in my opinion on the class of 2023, well then, I would tell him to take a real long look at Jalen Hooks and consider making him a priority type recruit sooner than later.

Currently ranked No. 55 nationally by 247Sports, the sophomore at Indianapolis (Ind.) Crispus Attucks really caught my attention playing with the George Hill All Indy 16U team. He’s at least 6-foot-6, maybe pushing 6-foot-7, is athletic, has a motor and is dripping with potential as a big wing or a matchup problem small ball four. His shot looks workable and he can definitely do some things in transition.

Obviously, he’ll need to keep getting better and he could improve his ball handling and consistency. But, if he’s able to put it all together then he’s a guy with a lot of upside and ability to help out in Bloomington.

Illinois already offered, Xavier has offered, and DePaul had too under their previous coaching staff. Once coaches can finally get back out this summer, I believe there is a good chance that Hooks could really see people ramp things up. If so, it wouldn’t hurt for Woodson and Indiana to have made him one of their early priorities.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,221]

PrepHoops rankings of Indiana players.

1.  Jalen Hooks 6'7" - Crispus Attucks

2.  Jeremy Fears 6'1" PG - La Lumiere

3.  Ashton Williamson 6'2" PG - Calumet New Tech 

4.  Xavier Booker 6'10" - Indpls. Cathedral

5,  Jermaine Coleman 6'7" - Indpls. Park Tudor

6.  Qushawn Ware 6'4" SG - Crispus Attucks 

7.  JaQualon Roberts 6'7" F - Bloomington North 

8.  Jayden Pinkston 6'4" SF/SG - Indpls. Tindley

 

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,221]

Jalen Hooks and Xavier Booker both picked up offers from LSU today.

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,221]

Another NY2LA event this weekend being played at the Indiana Convention Center.  Xavier Booker (Crispus Attucks) had 16 pts. including a couple of 3's in a George Hill All Indy win over Illinois Wolves.

This from Trevor Andershock:  

The 16U game between GHAI and Illinois Wolves featured off-the-charts intensity from the tip. Xavier Booker’s first half was a glimpse at his incredible potential. He finished above the rim in the lane, popped for threes, beat defenders off the dribble, rebounded at a high level, and pushed the ball up the floor himself. His production at 6’10” was fantastic. Booker had a good second half with another three and a couple of finishes in the lane, but the first half was like seeing the future. He has a ton of upside and just needs to work towards making that performance a regular thing.

Jalen Hooks had a good showing for GHAI as well. He opened the game with a three off the dribble. Hooks made his biggest impact in the second half. He had a few rim-rocking dunks as well as some blocks that might have dented the floor.

[Stuhoo 79,929]

2 hours ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Another NY2LA event this weekend being played at the Indiana Convention Center.  Xavier Booker (Crispus Attucks) had 16 pts. including a couple of 3's in a George Hill All Indy win over Illinois Wolves.

This from Trevor Andershock:  

The 16U game between GHAI and Illinois Wolves featured off-the-charts intensity from the tip. Xavier Booker’s first half was a glimpse at his incredible potential. He finished above the rim in the lane, popped for threes, beat defenders off the dribble, rebounded at a high level, and pushed the ball up the floor himself. His production at 6’10” was fantastic. Booker had a good second half with another three and a couple of finishes in the lane, but the first half was like seeing the future. He has a ton of upside and just needs to work towards making that performance a regular thing.

Jalen Hooks had a good showing for GHAI as well. He opened the game with a three off the dribble. Hooks made his biggest impact in the second half. He had a few rim-rocking dunks as well as some blocks that might have dented the floor.

Booker playing hs ball for Jason Delaney.

Feeling good here

[8bucks 6,383]

14 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Booker playing hs ball for Jason Delaney.

Feeling good here

What is the Delaney connection. Not too familiar with him 

[Feathery 4,005]

Doesn’t Hooks play for Birdman? That should put IU in good standing as well. 

[ap2345 7,595]

2 hours ago, 8bucks said:

What is the Delaney connection. Not too familiar with him 

Coach at Cathedral and coaches the Speice 17u EYBL team

[ap2345 7,595]

2 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

Booker playing hs ball for Jason Delaney.

Feeling good here

I’m not sure how that’d be much of a factor. That one guy that transferred from IU to Virginia did too. I’m having a hard time remembering his name at the moment. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,221]

Trevor Andershock on Xavier Booker's Saturday performance at the NY2LA event.

Booker did not have the head-turning performance that he did Friday night, but the 6’10” center made important strides against high-level competition. It seems like he is getting used to battling tough opponents like James Okonkwo. He produced on the boards in traffic and out of his area. Booker displayed a quick, consistent release against hard close outs. The improvements that he displayed this weekend were extremely encouraging for his long-term development.