(2023) - C Xavier Booker to Michigan State

[Stuhoo]

27 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Clearly, we seem done with Booker. Did we throw in the towel? Odd, we backed off of a top kid like this. Maybe he already told our staff he isn’t interested?


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Fair to say that Fife was not excellent as the lead on this one?

[Uspshoosier]

2 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Fair to say that Fife was not excellent as the lead on this one?

Hunter took over being lead mid season.  

[CSP]

8 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

Hunter took over being lead mid season.  

I assume that's a yes? 

[HoosierX]

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

Justin Young at last night's Grassroots Showcase event.

The action tipped off in a big way at the 2022 Grassroots Showcase on Friday night at the Kentucky Expo Center. With over 675 teams and 57 courts of action, there was a lot to take in. There was one match-up and one showing that stood out above the rest. Let’s talk about Xavier Booker of George Hill Indy Elite.

When you take a big picture view at the class of 2023, you know a lot of the names at the very top of the class. You’ve read them with a 1. Or a 2. Or a 3. Next to their names for years. DJ Wagner, Kwame Evans Jr. and Mackenzie Mgbako have ruled the realm at the top of the class for several years.

But are they locks for that top spot? Are they?

Let’s talk Xavier Booker in that conversation. Seriously. Let’s. The 6-foot-10 big man from Indianapolis certainly looked like a player who should be in the conversation for the class of 2023.

Seriously.

In a headliner match-up on opening night, Booker was paired with 1 of 1 big man Jordan Butler out of North Carolina. The court was overrun with fans wanting to see the action on the big stage. Booker didn’t disappoint. He pumped in a loud 27 points on an array of big-time plays. Booker scored on plays at and above the rim, knock down three-pointers and just about anything he wanted to do. As a rebounder, he grabbed everything.

When you take a big picture view of Booker, there is no reason to think he can’t be in the conversation. How do you really grade a team’s interest In a player? Just take a look at who is watching on the opening night of a live period. Tom Izzo of Michigan State, Juwan Howard of Michigan and Mike Brey of Notre Dame were all sitting on the baseline on Friday night to see Booker In action. Coaches from Duke, Purdue and Utah were also in attendance.

The tone was set, the message was delivered and those who saw what Booker and his teammates did on the opening night took note. That was made quite clear on Friday night.

He’s a contender, y’all.     

Would be quite a meteoric rise for a guy outside of the top 80 in the 247 and composite rankings.

[Stuhoo]

33 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

Hunter took over being lead mid season.  

 

24 minutes ago, btownqb said:

I assume that's a yes? 

So, among other reasons for Fife being dismissed this was “his Kyrie Irving?”

[WayneFleekHoosier]

1 hour ago, Stuhoo said:

 

So, among other reasons for Fife being dismissed this was “his Kyrie Irving?”

All the pieces with NIL talk coming together now?

[MikeRoberts]

4 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

 

So, among other reasons for Fife being dismissed this was “his Kyrie Irving?”

What am I missing? It was considered a 4 horse race when Fife was here and then now we are out of the hunt.

[moyemayhem]

3 hours ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

All the pieces with NIL talk coming together now?

I think it’s becoming clear that the NIL stuff was the reason Fife was let go.  That’s clearly one of our primary recruiting pitches, and we can’t have any assistants not buying in.  If he had problems with it, then we had to let him go.  All the other stuff is background noise.

[cthomas]

23 minutes ago, moyemayhem said:

I think it’s becoming clear that the NIL stuff was the reason Fife was let go.  That’s clearly one of our primary recruiting pitches, and we can’t have any assistants not buying in.  If he had problems with it, then we had to let him go.  All the other stuff is background noise.

Still not sure that I fully embrace the new landscape, but you are exactly right. The coaching staff has to on the same page. Anything less is unacceptable. Further, you cannot have a loose cannon who just expresses his personal opinion to whomever whenever he wants. 

[Uspshoosier]

1 hour ago, MikeRoberts said:

What am I missing? It was considered a 4 horse race when Fife was here and then now we are out of the hunt.

I can’t speak for everyone but that early in a kids recruitment I never once saw it as a 4 team race.    He took some junior visits but nothing I saw that showed 4 teams out in front of everyone else 

[hoosierbgh]

9 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

 

So, among other reasons for Fife being dismissed this was “his Kyrie Irving?”

I thought his shouting match with Filipowski was his Kyrie moment?

[Stuhoo]

1 hour ago, hoosierbgh said:

I thought his shouting match with Filipowski was his Kyrie moment?

Maybe that too

[WayneFleekHoosier]

So Fife tanked 2 recruitments on our best ‘22 offer, and possible best ‘23 offer. Did he know his job was to get kids to play for Indiana?

Speaking of which, who wants to do the deep dive to see who he won for MSU, because they had multiple players that got the reported “bagman” treatment. Guess he didn’t know about those guys.


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[MikeRoberts]

4 hours ago, Uspshoosier said:

I can’t speak for everyone but that early in a kids recruitment I never once saw it as a 4 team race.    He took some junior visits but nothing I saw that showed 4 teams out in front of everyone else 

IU, PU, MSU, UM was all I heard until recently. I  certainly not the recruiting guru but those four were the ones most mentioned for over a year

[Brass Cannon]

1 hour ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

So Fife tanked 2 recruitments on our best ‘22 offer, and possible best ‘23 offer. Did he know his job was to get kids to play for Indiana?

Speaking of which, who wants to do the deep dive to see who he won for MSU, because they had multiple players that got the reported “bagman” treatment. Guess he didn’t know about those guys.


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Which other recruitment did he tank?  

[WayneFleekHoosier]

Which other recruitment did he tank?  

Presumedly Filipowski and Booker


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[ebridges24]

16 hours ago, hoosierbgh said:

I thought his shouting match with Filipowski was his Kyrie moment?

Who had a shouting match with Filipowski?

[hoosierbgh]

13 minutes ago, ebridges24 said:

Who had a shouting match with Filipowski?

Fife

[Hoosierfan2017]

Lol Fife got into a shouting match with a recruit about NIL? What a tool. So glad he got canned. 

[Stuhoo]

13 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

Lol Fife got into a shouting match with a recruit about NIL? What a tool. So glad he got canned. 

I don’t know that happened…

Anyone have a real source that this happened?