2026 General Recruiting Thread (Bball)

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

[mike vannice]

1 hour ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Hopefully Arafan Diane and Jordan Smith are added to that list soon.

[WayneFleekHoosier]

Another question altogether I’ve been pondering.  Supposedly 2026 is a down class.  We seem to be going hard after top freshman.  Looking to spend our money there and early.  Very curious to see how this works out. 
 

Let’s say, we add 3 of our targets in addition to Moody which seems like a realistic possibility, I wonder if that projects as a great team.  I don’t know.  Gotta start somewhere and if we can get top talent, I want to get it.  
 

Maybe save some money for year 2 Mullins to play with Sisley. lol.  
 

I think we have 6 to replace?   1 spot filled already?  Could easily see a couple transfers. Spots won’t be in question.  
 

more to the thought of building through freshman and will it work and will it work early?

[Stuhoo]

16 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Another question altogether I’ve been pondering.  Supposedly 2026 is a down class.  We seem to be going hard after top freshman.  Looking to spend our money there and early.  Very curious to see how this works out. 
 

Let’s say, we add 3 of our targets in addition to Moody which seems like a realistic possibility, I wonder if that projects as a great team.  I don’t know.  Gotta start somewhere and if we can get top talent, I want to get it.  
 

Maybe save some money for year 2 Mullins to play with Sisley. lol.  
 

I think we have 6 to replace?   1 spot filled already?  Could easily see a couple transfers. Spots won’t be in question.  
 

more to the thought of building through freshman and will it work and will it work early?

Goodman definitely said it’s a down class and I’m not sure I’m buying that take. Sure, I can get behind that there might not be any “generational talent.”

But to dub a class “down“ without seeing how players develop is a bit of a stretch. So many hyper-successful college basketball teams have been built without generational talent recruits. Talented recruits? Absolutely needed; but not necessarily the super high-end recruits that make up an up or down class.

[Home Jersey]

32 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Another question altogether I’ve been pondering.  Supposedly 2026 is a down class.  We seem to be going hard after top freshman.  Looking to spend our money there and early.  Very curious to see how this works out. 
 

Let’s say, we add 3 of our targets in addition to Moody which seems like a realistic possibility, I wonder if that projects as a great team.  I don’t know.  Gotta start somewhere and if we can get top talent, I want to get it.  
 

Maybe save some money for year 2 Mullins to play with Sisley. lol.  
 

I think we have 6 to replace?   1 spot filled already?  Could easily see a couple transfers. Spots won’t be in question.  
 

more to the thought of building through freshman and will it work and will it work early?

I'd we add 3 of our 2026 targets does next year project as a great team? I think depends entirely on how many transfers we have going out and how much dry powder we have for the portal. Seems like the NIL market may be changing for HS players so maybe these top 40 guys won't be commanding massive dollar amounts. You land the right 3, retain a decent core from this year's team, and bring in a few high end portal players... I think it could project very well. Just too early to say right now, but will be fun to follow and see how it plays out. 

[Demo]

20 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

Goodman definitely said it’s a down class and I’m not sure I’m buying that take. Sure, I can get behind that there might not be any “generational talent.”

But to dub a class “down“ without seeing how players develop is a bit of a stretch. So many hyper-successful college basketball teams have been built without generational talent recruits. Talented recruits? Absolutely needed; but not necessarily the super high-end recruits that make up an up or down class.

Goodman’s an idiot. By “down class” he’s saying, “Hey, since I don’t watch these kids at all except for a couple of days at Peach Jam I need to have a few at the top that any any moron can see and require no projection at all.” Sorry Jeff, since there’s no Flagg or Peterson in ‘26 you’ll just need to put in a little more work. There are gonna be a bunch of kids in this class who will be big pieces on NC contenders and play a long time in the League.
Gotta up your game a little, Jeff. 

[Hoosierfanyuh]

I always say who ranks the rankers

[Napleshoosier]

Heard anything on Mullins in Hurley World?

[NYhoosier]

7 hours ago, Napleshoosier said:

Heard anything on Mullins in Hurley Wold?

Was just thinking the same 

[ebridges24]

18 hours ago, NYhoosier said:

Was just thinking the same 

me too!!

[Stuhoo]

Mullins? I can speculate with 99% certainty:

• He is playing for one of the great coaches in the nation.
• He is getting paid at least $500,000. At age 18. To play basketball.
• He is learning a ton about how to be a better basketball player, and welcomes the adjustment.
• He is pretty psyched that freshmen are about to move in, especially the lovely ladies.
• He is in an idyllic part of the country to be in, especially from May- September.

In summary... he is having an unimaginably incredible time!

 

*footnote: If he had committed to IU and Woody was dumped for Devries, pretty much all of these things would also be true, though we would not have landed Lamar Wilkerson as our SG. In other words? It all worked out really well for Mullins, for UConn, and for IUBB.

[mike vannice]

37 minutes ago, ebridges24 said:

me too!!

Wouldn't he be a spectacular portal add in the Spring!

But alas he will probably be going to the NBA.

[Demo]

Pretty good shortish pod with Jamie Shaw. Some analysis on several IU offers including Diane, Muurinen, Mingo, Thompson, Kinney and Rippey and mentions of multiple others, including Taylor. Nothing super insightful, this isn’t about their recruitments, but some nice analysis on their development. Interesting to hear his thoughts on Thompson’s progress because, and I imagine I’m alone on this island. I think that kid will be a better 25yo NBA player than Tyran Stokes.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

On 8/9/2025 at 11:15 AM, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Bump

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/quick-iu-basketball-recruiting-notes-as-official-visit-season-gets-underway/

[Demo]

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

https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/quick-iu-basketball-recruiting-notes-as-official-visit-season-gets-underway/

A 2nd visit already from Branham. That’s pretty good. Springfield, Mo to Bloomington is a hike. It’s not like he goes  to Center Grove. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Purely informational.  A new NCAA recruiting calendar started on August 1.  Commencing tomorrow (Sept. 3) and running through April 30, 2026 is a Recruiting Period - Authorized athletics department staff may make in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations.

There are 3 minor exceptions during this period:  4 days in November, 3 days in December and a week next April which are Dead Periods. 

[Hoosierfanyuh]

Adding on to that - Rabby said don’t expect to see iu going too crazy for the start of it because they’ll be focusing on the OV’s for this weekend, but for things to pick up for next after they conclude. (I summarized this)

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

22 hours ago, Hoosierfanyuh said:

Adding on to that - Rabby said don’t expect to see iu going too crazy for the start of it because they’ll be focusing on the OV’s for this weekend, but for things to pick up for next after they conclude. (I summarized this)

Raby might want to walk that thought back.  Per Bossi, we're going to see Ethan Taylor, Anthony Thompson and Chase Branham today.

[Hoosierfanyuh]

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

Raby might want to walk that thought back.  Per Bossi, we're going to see Ethan Taylor, Anthony Thompson and Chase Branham today.

Think he meant more for the weekend days