(2016) SG Grant Gelon commits to IU

[Walking Boot of Doom 18,170]

He should have never been offered is what people are saying. We don't have a blue chip player in this class. Those are your Top 20-25 guys. According to ESPN, Jones is our only Top 50 player. To 247 it is Davis. This wasn't a super duper class. Just a good one.

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So... One that you support a program with when you're loaded as a team, and looking to land some major prospects the following year. Sounds good to me!

[Jketch 385]

I say we stick to actual stats and practical insight with Gelon because I think I got dumber reading these posts. Clearly we don't have a say in who gets recruited.

[Sam_Boger 360]

I think the dude will eventually shoot the lights out.

[X-Hoosier 529]

I say we stick to actual stats and practical insight with Gelon because I think I got dumber reading these posts. Clearly we don't have a say in who gets recruited.

The actual stats say he wasnt good enough to get an offer. If this were the first 2 years for Crean.. Maybe.

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[X-Hoosier 529]

Ill take him.

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[ALASKA HOOSIER 11,261]

Crean has surprised us on many of recruits. Yes, he has had some that didn't pan out. However, I think he is worth giving a try. Gelon will fit a role that CTC has in mind, and that's all you can ask of a recruit. Not every kid is going to be a blue chip, and many kids turn out to be studs as they develop.

[colonel06 1,913]

OKAY, the best laid plans of mice and men! Some of u may have remembered my message 2 weeks ago when I said I was volunteering to workout with Gelon w/ weights and in the gym shooting hoops until he leaves for IUB. Even had a former weight guy to help!

Turns out he became the property of IU right after Crown Point's loss to 25-1 Warsaw in the Regional! This per Coach Swan himself to me! IU has him in a regimen already and they have Gelon working out with a Mr. Exton who is the or one of the former strength and conditioning coaches of Coach Knight

I guess in any case Crean and staff want him down there in June..

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,522]

For those who don't follow the Indpls. Star here's an article by Gregg Doyel on what I will call our mystery recruit.

Doyel: Grant Gelon more than meets the eye

Tom Crean doesn’t know the numbers. He doesn’t want to know the numbers, either. I tell him I have those numbers, but Crean isn’t interested.

We’re talking about incoming IU freshman Grant Gelon of Crown Point, one of the most unlikely signees in Crean’s eight years at Indiana.

Gelon made four appearances this month with the IndyStar Indiana All-Stars. He played 43 minutes. He took 15 shots, 12 from 3-point range. How many did he make? We’ll get there. Those are the numbers Crean doesn’t know, or care to know.

“I don’t put a lot of credence in all-star type games,” Crean was saying this week. “Grant’s not an all-star game kid. We recruited him because of what he can do in a system, and how much better he’s going to get if he gets stronger.”

Grant Gelon is a project to be sure, rated a two-star recruit by Rivals.com. When Indiana offered him a scholarship before his senior year at Crown Point, Gelon had one other offer: Western Michigan.

So who is this dark horse recruit heading to the red royalty of Indiana? IU fans around the state got a glimpse this past month. They saw him play 43 minutes in four all-star games. They saw him take 15 shots, 12 from 3-point range. How many did he make?

Slow down. We’re getting there. Grant Gelon knows you care, believe me. We talked about you a few weeks ago, whoever you are. He has heard the IU fans wanting to believe the best, and the IU detractors hoping for the worst. IU basketball is a lightning rod. Gelon is the Hoosiers’ only in-state recruit this year.

That puts him at the tip of the lightning rod. And it’s storming out there.

* * *

“Nothing I can do about it,” is what Gelon says, repeatedly, to questions about being in the eye of a statewide storm. Whatever anybody says, you’ve got to let it go. People are going to say what they say.”

Whether he has the physical tools for what awaits at Indiana, we’ll see. But from what I can tell, Gelon can handle it mentally. He sounds 18, going on 25, and talks like he doesn’t know exactly what’s out there, which is probably true. He has no Twitter account, and his Facebook page hasn’t been updated in years.

“If he’s not on the basketball court,” Crown Point coach Clint Swan is telling me, “he’s out hunting and fishing or pulling fence posts with his grandfather. I just think his mental makeup is right for this. He’s not your typical teenager. He loves the outdoors and he loves shooting the basketball.”

Gelon hasn’t avoided all of the noise, not even in his home gym. The visiting crowd from Chesterton was giving it to him on March 4 at the Class 4A sectional, and Gelon responded with 20 points, what Swan was calling “the best game of his career.”

What happened to him eight days later when Crown Point played Warsaw in Michigan City was so notable, so ugly, it made the local newspaper:

“The Region gets criticized for being ‘rough’ and ‘unsportsmanlike’ all the time,” wrote Steve Hanlon in The Times of Northwest Indiana. “But what many Warsaw fans were chanting about Gelon was very poor.”

For what it’s worth, the Twitter mentions of Grant Gelon were mostly positive — if overwhelmingly curious — going into the IndyStar Indiana All-Star series. Then came those four games. The Twitter mentions changed. Not for the better.

The IU recruit averaged 2.5 ppg. He took 15 shots and made four. He was 2-of-12 on 3-pointers. He received the fewest minutes on his 4-0 team, and despite the Indiana roster being reduced to eight players for the final game of the tour, he played just seven minutes.

“Nothing I can do about it,” is what Gelon told me.

Says Crean: “We didn’t recruit him to win all-star games. And I don’t think he’s going to look good in those games.”

To be honest, Gelon did not look good. To be clear, it might not matter.

* * *

High school all-star games are the domain of ball-dominant guards like Eugene German of Gary 21st Century, who led the Indiana All-Stars in scoring three times in four games and averaged 20.8 points, more than a point a minute.

It was during the third all-star game, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse when Indiana was beating Kentucky 106-84, when I texted Crean about Gelon, whose first appearance off the bench had the crowd murmuring in anticipation.

“Fans want to see him light it up,” I texted Crean, “and he’s not getting the chance.”

Answered Crean: “Grant will get a lot of open looks here.”

Despite averaging just 15 ppg, Gelon led the state in 3-pointers as a junior and senior. That says two things: He can really shoot from distance … but otherwise doesn’t score much. There is room in college for a player like that. In two years at Indiana, Nick Zeisloft made 128 of his 147 field goals from 3-point range.

“I had no hesitation after watching him shoot the ball,” Crean says. “What we saw is a guy who can come off screens and can create room with his footwork. You projected him as a guy who can dribble into his shot. He’s going to space the floor, and he’s going to get open looks.”

Swan was telling me about an 8 a.m. AAU game, when “other kids are still wiping the sleep from their eyes, and Grant comes out and hits 11 3s and scores 43 points.” Swan tells me about a Crown Point game earlier this season when Gelon hit six 3-pointers — in the first quarter. And he tells me about the time Gelon hit a dozen 3-pointers.

“He was in eighth grade,” Swan says.
 

 

 

Recruiting rankings never materialized for Gelon, who isn’t ranked among the top 300 recruits nationally by most analysts, but Crean’s seen that before. He reminds me about unsung Victor Oladipo, a lottery pick in 2012, and even less heralded OG Anunoby, projected as a 2016 NBA draft pick had he entered the draft. Crean is not comparing Gelon’s ceiling to theirs, just noting that where a kid is ranked can be misleading.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Crean says. “For us, the way we can develop him, Grant is going to be fine.”

Grant Gelon reported earlier this month to Indiana. Games start in November. One way or another, lightning will strike.

 

[Hoosiers High Life 278]

Let's not talk bad bout the kid before he even gets the chance to prove himself!! I remember OG was a 3 star and a lot of people doubted him. I'm not trying to compare the two I'm just saying the stat line and the rating part doesn't mean anything if the kid has heart and determination

[HoosierAloha 30,067]

In two years at Indiana, Nick Zeisloft made 128 of his 147 field goals from 3-point range.

I dislike very much when columnist attempt this crap. Just scanning over the article it makes it seem like Z3 was the best shooter to have ever lived, minus FT on here. I guess it looks turrrble when you say Z3 only made 19 two-point shots in two years.

Anywho, hopefully Gelon can find a role with this program over the next few years. I'm skeptical but hopeful.

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[Hoosiers High Life 278]

I'm honestly thinking he will be our next Hartman

[biteoftheapple 4,115]

I'm honestly thinking he will be our next Hartman

I honestky wonder if he or Priller logs the least minutes.

[Hoosierfan2017 21,229]

I'm not expecting anything from him. He doesn't seem like a Big 10 caliber player, but it's not his fault Crean offered him a scholarship. As long as he doesn't do anything off the court to embarrass the program I'm fine with the situation. 

[Old Friend 8,389]

On 6/25/2016 at 5:18 PM, biteoftheapple said:

I honestky wonder if he or Priller logs the least minutes.

Gelon is a far better player than Priller.   He (Gelon) has at least one Big Ten level skill.  His Indiana All Star team mates all loved playing with him because he understands the game.  Not everything needs to be measured in terms of production and numbers.  Gelon will be fine, but if anyone's expecting greatness as a freshman, they need to re-evaluate,

[colonel06 1,913]

This young man can "quickly" jack up the 3 ball that always looks like it has a real good chance at punishing the net-great rotation and arch coupled with Curry-like range. I certainly hope he will make Hoosier Nation proud!

[zinch2o 9]

I think I was the only one that didn't like Nick Z .... because he is a liability on defense so much it's worth his shooting....I mean he shaved the season single-handedly in Minnesota this year, but he couldn't guard my sister.

[HoosierAloha 30,067]

I think I was the only one that didn't like Nick Z .... because he is a liability on defense so much it's worth his shooting....I mean he shaved the season single-handedly in Minnesota this year, but he couldn't guard my sister.

This is simply not the truth. At the beginning of the season, Nicky Z was a big part of the problem on defense. However, on a team full of improved defenders Z3 stood out. Unless your sister is playing in the WNBA I like Z3s chances to stop her.

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[HoosierHoops1 5,024]

EVEN if she's playing in the WNBA I like z3's chances...

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,522]

Hutch article on Gelon in the Anderson Herald-Bulletin:

BLOOMINGTON — Think of the great long-range shooters in Indiana University basketball history and names like Steve Alford, Jay Edwards, A.J. Guyton and Jordan Hulls quickly come to mind.

In recent years, Matt Roth, Nick Zeisloft, James Blackmon Jr. and Yogi Ferrell have also been particularly proficient from distance.

No pressure but IU incoming freshman guard Grant Gelon clearly has a chance to be mentioned in that same company.

The kid can flat out shoot it.

Clint Swan, Gelon’s high school coach at Crown Point, remembered a team camp game in Fort Wayne the summer prior to his senior year when his team went up against Jay County. Gelon had 42 points in that game and knocked down 11 3-pointers.

“I was sitting there and I looked at one of my coaches, and I said, ‘Grant is going to have a game like this in the month of July in front of the right coach, and he’s going to get an offer that’s going to blow everybody away,'’’ Swan recalled. “And that is exactly what happened.’’

That coach turned out to be Indiana’s Tom Crean. Gelon was playing a high-profile AAU game for Indiana Elite in Indianapolis in the second-to-last recruiting period of the summer, and Crean was in attendance. Up to that point, Gelon, a two-star recruit, had received offers from Western Michigan, Illinois-Chicago and IUPUI but nothing from a major Division I school.

Gelon had hit five 3-pointers and scored 25 points. Crean was impressed with his range, his size (Gelon is 6-foot-5) and his mechanics. Things got rolling very quickly in Gelon’s IU recruitment.

“The following weekend was the last open period in Las Vegas, and Grant had two or three more really good games where he hit a lot of shots and sort of solidified in the coaches minds what he could do,’’ Swan said. “And then he took his unofficial visit to Indiana, and they offered him, and he didn’t even get out the door before he accepted it.’’

Initially, the reaction from Hoosier fans wasn’t particularly positive because Gelon had not garnered a lot of national interest. But Crean has a track record of success with under-the-radar recruits in the past. Two good examples are Victor Oladipo and Will Sheehey, both ranked at No. 140 and beyond in the nation coming to IU. Both scored more than 1,000 points in their IU careers.

"That’s one of those signees where everybody’s looking at it and wondering because there weren’t a lot of people on him, and some other teams in the state or the Midwest didn’t recruit him,’’ Crean said last spring. “That’s where we’ve always stayed true to what we see. You stay true to what you see on film, you stay true to what you see with your own eye, you trust your instincts and you trust your coaches. You want kids from really good programs, and I think that’s the thing that I feel good about.’’

As a high school senior, Gelon averaged 14.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game on a team that won four games in the state tournament before losing in the regional title game. Gelon shot 38.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Gelon arrived in Bloomington in June and quickly caught the eye of his teammates and coaches. In the weight room, he squatted 245 pounds.

“I’ve been lifting since eighth grade back in Crown Point with our high school strength coach teaching us all the Olympic lifts so I came in pretty comfortable with all of those lifts,’’ Gelon said. “I actually think I could have gone even more, but that’s where we stopped that day.’’

Gelon said he’s comfortable with the "shooter" label. He said that’s what he has been known for since the fifth grade. Swan said in high school there were times when he would have to kick Gelon out of the gym after practice so he could lock up and go home.

“I’ve always been a shoot first kind of guy, but we’re working on finishing at the rim and getting better with my left hand,’’ Gelon said. “I’m also working on my ball handling. It’s all going to come. I just think being here, with all of these resources, I just want to make myself into the complete player that they see in me and that they recruited me to be.’’

It’s difficult to guess how much playing time an under-the-radar recruit will get right away at IU, but his high school coach is confident that Gelon is a good fit for the Hoosiers.

“I’ve always said that no college freshman is really ready for college basketball,’’ said Swan, who also coached former Michigan and current Purdue fifth-year senior Spike Albrecht at Crown Point. “But once he gets acclimated to the rigors of big time college basketball, I really think he’s going to fit like a glove. Coach Crean has always appreciated guys that can make shots from way beyond the basket, and I think he sees Grant as a critical piece in that puzzle.

“Grant’s body is going to evolve, his game is going to evolve and once it does to its fullest potential, he’s going to be a very important part of the equation at Indiana.’’

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,522]

After leaving IU to attend State Fair Community College and subsequently committing to Missouri State for this next season, and now with a new head coach coming into Mo. St., he's decommitting from Mo. St.  Have to feel a little sympathy for him and I hope he can find a program that works out for him.