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Peter Jurkin joins Indiana’s 2012 recruiting class

by in Recruiting | August 9th, 2010

As expected, Indiana received its first 2012 commitment on Monday night as Peter Jurkin gave a verbal pledge to the Hoosiers during halftime of the adidas Nations Global Challenge championship game in Chicago.

“I have decided to commit to Indiana University. It’s a good college. Good coach. I like it,” Jurkin said on the broadcast.

Jurkin, a 7-0, 200-pound native of Sudan, plays at United Faith Christian Academy in Charlotte, North Carolina and for Indiana Elite Team Indiana. He is not ranked by Rivals.com and is listed as a three-star prospect by Scout.com, but that is expected to change based on his play during the July evaluation period.

Here’s Inside the Hall’s scouting report on Jurkin from the adidas Invitational and the Kentucky Hoopfest:

There are a lot of things to like about Jurkin’s size. He’s a legit 7-footer and does a stellar job defending the lane. His length is such that he can often block shots by simply standing his ground with his arms up. He also runs the floor extremely well and shows a pretty nice touch from the foul line. A bit concerning, however, is his lack of upper body strength. It’s no fault of Jurkin’s, but he’ll need to improve in that area to become a real difference maker at the next level. Offensively, he’s still pretty raw and will need to continue developing a go-to post move or two. Still, his ceiling is high enough that it’s a bit surprising he’s not held in a higher regard by the national scouts.

We’ll have more on Jurkin’s commitment later as Ryan was in attendance tonight in Chicago.

(Photo credit: Rivals.com)

  • btowniualumn

    Just a tremendous “Get” for Crean and Hoosier Nation…..

  • Indiana Red

    Awesome. Bring on Beef Jurkin.

  • Young Kelin Zeller

    Despite the announcer being a complete moron on his facts, Glad Peter committed. Love love love what he brings to the table with two years to get better. Finally some good news. This does turn the heat up on some other guys, those scholly’s are running out

  • http://weeklycritiquely.blogspot.com/ IUfanPurduePhD

    Hooray for good news!

  • BaseballBuc

    Help is on the way!

  • Jamesrey28

    He’ll need to improve his upper body strength to make a difference at the next level? Are you kidding me? He is like 15/16 years old,, how many 15 yr olds do you know strong enough to compete in D1? IU is getting in early on a player who will be at a minimum ranked as a top 10 center as a senior in HS probably top 5, and by the time he hits 18 and has 3 more season’s of play with the most talented players in the country, will be a force. Here’s to Hanner and Yogi making it another top 5 recruiting class for IU….

  • Gustin

    Domino one has fallen or should I say arrived. Bring on BJY, CZ, HP Harris and Yogi…What a night!

  • Austin Etherington

    Now give me Hanner Perea, Cody Zeller, and Yogi and IU is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • IU_Fan_99

    Perea’s dunk at 6:30 to go in the 4th looked pretty sweet… welcome to Indiana Pete!!

  • Anonymous

    Please tell me Jurkin is not another Bawa. Is he already better than than we thought Bawa would be? Didn’t he come highly recruited? Not trying to rain on the parade, far from it, but I just need some reassurance this kid is not another project.

  • Anonymous

    Was beginning to think that first domino was just going to stand there leaning forever.

    Let the domino falling begin.

    With all the domino references being thrown around I’m thinking that Dominos Pizza should be doing some kind of super deal for this one and maybe having a super deal on pizzas every time another domino falls.

  • fergrad

    Welcome to IU Peter. Very glad to have you.

  • GFDave

    Its been awhile since we had good news, so this is really great to hear. I think that PJ will work hard the next two years and prove to be a highly rated recruit. But where he is rated doesn’t matter as much as what he can contribute, which is a legitimate post presence capable of defending the rim and grabbing boards.

    I hope we start hearing some other good news soon, this feels more like it.

  • Azur Allen

    Wow…a HUGE pickup..no pun intended. I remember sitting around for the MA decision…and when he went to Gtown I was bitter….but i would’ve take PJ over MA any day of the week! I’m actually looking back now on the MA decision thankful.
    also wondering to when rivals will come around and stop overlooking this kid
    oh yea…props to Kelin who a month or two back told me we had a better shot at Jurkin than Hammons, and that’d he’d rather have Jurkin…kudos on the pick, and the info

  • Tpksummers

    I think he’s already 18. Sorry.

  • jgongora86

    Steel of the class. Super excited. He needs to work on his rebounding. I notice that when he grabs the ball he brings it back down enough that a good guard can snatch the ball away. If we get Yogi or BJ Young, I can see him slamming the ball down as they penetrate and draw coverage. Sweeeeet.

  • Young Kelin Zeller

    + He is more experienced than bawa
    + Has played at a higher competitive level than bawa
    + Good basketball knowlege
    + He is longer than Bawa
    + He is a defensive anchor

    Does this help?

  • http://twitter.com/SethHolt Seth Holt

    Congratulations to Peter Jurkin and Coach Crean. You’ve made many loyal Hoosier fans and alumn very happy.

    Would it be too much to hope for a Perea commitment later this week?

  • Anonymous

    not from me, it wouldn’t.

  • Anonymous

    I want to thank my mom, my Uncle Joe, my 3rd cousin Ray, my dog, and anyone else I can possibly thank for some good news on the recruiting front. I thought I was done after two cocktails tonight. But this is worth a 3rd. A forth? Possibly a 5th. Whichever comes first.

    Welcome to Hoosierland Pete!

  • ArtistFormerlyKnownAs_Aceman07

    Its not such a badd dasy nowe . , . clebration is n ful swing . . .

    Just kidding. I didn’t celebrate that much, but it is SO nice to finally have some good news on the recruiting front. Here’s hoping to it’s a sign of more good news to come (raising my glass)!

    Oh, and come on guys . . . who’s loving the name Peter Jurkin. All we need to do now is higher another assistant coach named Seymore Butts. I have a feeling that rival student sections are going to have some fun with that one.

  • Hardwood83

    Exactly- regardless of his age he has at least 2 full yrs (and maybe 3) before he’ll be asked to contribute at IU. A lot can be accomplished in that time. Muscle can be added, offensive skills learned- but can’t teach someone how to be an athletic 7 footer.

  • Anonymous

    Let’s cross our fingers….

  • Anonymous

    All of a sudden I’m hungry. Pre-heating the oven now.

  • Anonymous

    thanks Kelin. I like your first two points the most. Crean knows what he’s doing and I’ll just look forward to seeing PJ in cream and crimson.

  • Anonymous

    People are saying he needs to add upper body strength. Which made me think he does live in Bloomington (AHOPE sponsor) during the summer is this corect? If so how much access does he have to Cook Hall before it is considered a violation?

    I was just thinking he has some time to hit those weights, maybe he should visit with Elston he has been pumping some iron.

  • Marsh21

    I live very close to his academy and plan on watching some of his games this year. I’ll send some reports when the season starts. I’ve already e-mailed his coach baby! I’ll be sportin the IU gear for sure!

  • Uncle Joey

    Can I be your Uncle Joe?

  • silkyslimforIU

    Seeing some BIG momentum growing in IU land!!! :o )

  • Bucky

    Thanks, KJ. I just so badly want to field an IU team that people fear again. It’s been awhile since we’ve had that swagger that was good for 8-10 points before the game even started. Some of you may not even remember that, but it was amazing to see.

    Hope PJ can help us get back to that.

  • Anonymous

    I’d add faster and more athletic to that list, too, wouldn’t you?

  • Anonymous

    And Peter should be eating them at every given opportunity. Bulk up, Big Man, we’re gonna need ya!

  • Anonymous

    Consider it done. Anyone else I can thank?

  • Anonymous

    I still don’t think, from what little video I’ve seen, that Hammons even belongs in a BCS conference. He might get there because of size, but he should be headed to Terre Haute or Muncie.

  • SeattleHoosier

    Hooray! So great to finally land someone we’ve been pursuing. It won’t be long now until banner six…

    Any thoughts regarding how this might impact CZ’s decision? Not too close to this so would welcome anyone’s thinking here.

    “Just a matter of time now…”

  • Anonymous

    I’ve been waiting for someone to comment on “Peter Jurkin’s nice stroke from the free throw line.”

  • SeattleHoosier

    Hoping he doesn’t pull a Matt Carlino on us…he is a young kid who committed early.

  • I Bleed Crimson

    I was looking up some of our recruits on the ESPN top 100 and on Yogi’s profile it shows Purdue, Michigan, Ohio State and a couple other as being considered, but IU is not on the list. Is he cooling on his interest to IU?

  • Anonymous

    Peter Jurkin’s commitment makes it more likely, I think, that Perea and Zeller will also commit to IU. More so, at least, than a commitment from another recruit would have helped IU’s chances. Here’s my logic:

    Players like Zeller and Perea, both tall athletic forwards, don’t want to be in a position where they are forced to play center out of necessity. Having a legit center like Jurkin means they can both play their natural positions, where they can refine and showcase the skills needed to make it to the NBA.

  • JerryCT

    I have always , always supported CTC’s recruiting saying ” he is getting the players he wants”. I think PJ is another example of that and we reason to be happy today. Here is why:

    1. 3-4 Star : I believe that for where the program was coming from CTC had to recruit 3-4 star kids with major upside and lay completely off 5 stars and one&done’s unless they were especially good fits at IU.

    2. Character: CTC has always mentioned hard work, desire, overcoming adversity etc as things he is looking for in a recruit

    3. Cook Hall: CTC knows this asset can help a kid develop his full potential if he has the attitude to do it.

    PJ is a perfect fit. I wish he could Carlino us and leave HS early to join the team NOW

  • http://weeklycritiquely.blogspot.com/ IUfanPurduePhD

    From what little I’ve seen, PJ can catch the ball — in traffic, too — which is something simple that seemed to escape Bawa in the few minutes he got into the game. Good hands has to be #1 on the list of things you want for a center because it reflects his coordination, which is obviously tied into rebounding, blocking, and shooting (and those are the things we want from PJ — in that order).

  • http://weeklycritiquely.blogspot.com/ IUfanPurduePhD

    Breath of fresh air, for sure. It would be great to start locking down the 2012 class so that CTC can focus on 2013 and 2014, which will ensure that we’ll be a contender for the duration of his contract.

  • http://weeklycritiquely.blogspot.com/ IUfanPurduePhD

    Hopefully he’ll keep lifting weights and turn into the “steel of the class.” A prophetic type-o!

  • MikeinNC

    This is exciting. But I always have a hard time knowing how thrilled to get about these verbal commitments, since experience has shown that things can change. Guess I’m jaded.

  • Anonymous

    I noticed that too, I chalked it up to ESPN not knowing what they’re talking about. That’d be a shock, I know.

  • Anonymous

    I try to stay away from ESPN when I want accurate news. Both Rivals and Scout have Indiana listed. I think we’re in good shape with him.

  • millzy32

    Gots to win us some games this year and we will have no worries about De-Commits.

    Looking forward to this season. A good showing and we’ll see more recruits like this and if you add a couple strong players with Jurkin we’ll have a highly recruited class. Tired of seeing OSU with high recruiting classes. No one in Ohio even cares about basketball and I should know I live here now.

    Go IU

  • SeattleHoosier

    Thanks, MileHigh. Seems reasonable (and positive) to me!

  • ArtistFormerlyKnownAs_Aceman07

    I can remember that and miss those years, the ones when you were upset when IU didn’t beat a Minnesota or Wisconsin at home by 30 points and you didn’t even have to watch most non-conference games if you were busy because you knew it would be a 30 point blowout at halftime.

    Ah, the good ole’ days!

  • ArtistFormerlyKnownAs_Aceman07

    Exactly!

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