With his Eric Gordon All-Star team out of action for the weekend, class of 2014 guard Jaquan Lyle teamed up with the Derrick Rose Best Choice All-Stars for the 2011 Indiana State AAU tournament.
The 6-foot-4, 187-pound Evansville Bosse freshman is drawing interest from schools all over the country, including Indiana. He currently holds offers from the Hoosiers, Purdue, Illinois and Xavier.
Inside the Hall caught up with Lyle for a video Q & A on Saturday at North Central:
In the unlikely event that you’ve yet to hear, Indiana Media Relations announced on Friday that Bobby Capobianco is leaving the program and will transfer.
After digesting this development over the weekend, here are a few thoughts:
– Crean’s first 2009 recruit: While much of the focus in the comments in recent weeks has been on finding room for the 2012 recruiting class, it’s important to remember that Capobianco committed to the program when things were at an all-time low. The Ohio native was Tom Crean’s first verbal in the 2009 recruiting class, which was ranked in the top ten nationally, and was a solid student and citizen during his time in Bloomington.
– Decline in minutes: Capobianco’s minutes fell from 11.9 per game as a freshman to 6.3 per game as a sophomore. He logged more fouls (44) than total points (26) last season. His minutes, had he remained a Hoosier, were likely to fall even further with the arrival of Cody Zeller. While playing time was not cited as a reason for his decision by Capobianco in the school’s release, it was mentioned by Tom Crean. Even with a big offseason of improvement, Capobianco was likely the odd post player out in the rotation.
– Fourth transfer: This is the fourth transfer in three seasons of the Tom Crean era. There were two after year one: Malik Story and Nick Williams and one last summer: Bawa Muniru. The level of attrition thus far seems normal given the rebuilding state of the program and the continued improvement in recruiting.
– Scholarship situation: Capobianco’s announcement means that Indiana can now sign all five players that are currently committed in the 2012 class in November. (Updated scholarship numbers here.) The NCAA has a limit of 13 scholarships, but the Big Ten allows conference members to oversign by one. The Hoosiers continue to recruit Gary Harris and Mitch McGary for the 2012 class, but as the roster currently stands, only five players can sign early in November.
From IU Media Relations:
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana University men’s basketball coach Tom Crean has announced that forward Bobby Capobianco will leave the men’s basketball program and look to transfer to another institution where he can receive more playing time.
“Bobby has decided to go for a fresh start and transfer to a school where he can have three years to play two.” said Crean. “He has indicated he would like the opportunity to find a program where he can get more playing time and continue his education. We will help him accomplish this move in any way that we can and we all really want to see Bobby be successful. My hope is that he finds a school like Indiana, that puts a prominent emphasis in academics as it does in basketball, as he has done an excellent job here in the classroom. He will be an asset to whatever program he chooses and we wish him the best as he moves to this next stage in life.”
In two seasons, Capobianco averaged 1.7 points and 2.0 rebounds and was an Academic All-Big Ten honoree this past spring. He is currently enrolled in summer session and will complete those studies.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time here at Indiana, but I want to look for an opportunity to further my basketball and academic career at another institution,” Capobianco said. “I value the experience that I have had here and appreciate everything the coaches and basketball staff have done for me. I am looking forward to this new chapter, and will always have very strong feelings for my teammates, coaches and everyone associated with IU.”
(Photo credit: Jamie Owens of J. Scott Sports)
Inside the Hall continues its first breakdown of IU’s 2014 commits today with Indianapolis Tech and Spiece Indy Heat forward Trey Lyles. After scouting five games at the Spiece Run ‘N Slam and adidas May Classic, here are our thoughts on the 6-foot-8, 205-pound Lyles:
– Arsenal of moves: Most high school freshmen at Lyles’s size are still adjusting to their bodies and often lack coordination. But the IU-bound freshman is a smooth player with an advanced game. Lyles can excel with his back to the basket, where he overpowers smaller defenders and finishes with either hand. He showed off a very difficult turnaround jump shot on several instances that he’s still developing, but managed to knock it down a few times. He also possesses the capability to face up his defender and knock down shots all the way out to the 3-point line.
– Capable ball handler: This is one area where Lyles sets himself apart from other prospects at his size. While he was never put in a position to play the primary ball handler, he corralled several rebounds and started the fast break off the dribble. Lyles was also effective getting past defenders off the bounce (as shown in the photo above) from the perimeter.
– Solid defender: Lyles still needs to get stronger as a defender down low and that will come as his body continues to mature, but his length and instincts allow him to block a lot of shots without fouling. In one impressive sequence during a pool play game at Assembly Hall, Lyles made up significant ground as a trailer on a fast break and erased a shot that should have been a basket by his opponent.
– Lyles on what he needs to improve: “Probably just getting the mentality that I can score whenever I want, be more selfish, but I’m very much a team player. But sometimes I’m too much of a team player when it gets down to games where they really need me to score. I might be very passive at the beginning, but I need to work on being more selfish. Just playing against better competition and better guys will help me out a lot.”
HD video of Lyles from the adidas May Classic after the jump …
From Brian Bennett of THE WORLDWIDE LEADER IN SPORTS:
Big Ten officials discussed a proposal that would pay athletes to help cover living expenses on top of their scholarships during the league’s spring meetings this week.
The idea, which is backed by current NCAA president Mark Emmert and was favored by late NCAA president Myles Brand, is to bridge the gap between what athletic scholarships pay and other expenses like transportation and clothing. That difference has been estimated at between $2,000 to $5,000 per player.
Two sides to this:
1) It’s a feather in the cap for the “kids-deserve-to-get-paid” crowd, a seemingly growing group of individuals who believe as universities and the NCAA stack millions off their student-athletes, there should exist a kickback. In this sense, thumbs up for the Big Ten, which would use the Big Ten Network’s revenue to fund this idea.
2) With word of the Big Ten’s idea, other big-time decision makers spanning several conferences agreed that “hey, something has to give here, we should definitely explore this, too.” Which, again: cool.
But what if one conference offers athletes at the top end of that $2,000 – $5,000 range — or even higher — and the other is down at the $2,000 or lower range? What if some conferences just can’t hack it and aren’t able to pay at all because they don’t have a TV network? Might that steer an athlete to the conferences handing out more cash? Could it set up a pro league scenario, where certain schools are drawing more top-tier kids like free agency? Where is the line drawn? Is a universal pay grade even feasible from conference to conference?
And of course, this isn’t going to stop boosters and street runners and such from giving kids under-the-table handouts to come to a certain school. Still so hard to police. The NCAA’s imperfect system stays imperfect.
But I suppose it’s a start.
(Photo credit: Jamie Owens of J. Scott Sports)
Much of Inside the Hall’s focus over the past two weekends at the Spiece Run ‘N Slam and adidas May Classic has been on Indiana’s two commitments for the class of 2014, James Blackmon Jr. and Trey Lyles.
It was our first in-person look at both prospects. After scouting five games, here are our thoughts on the 6-foot-1, 175-pound Blackmon Jr.:
– Wired to score: Blackmon Jr. is aggressive both from the perimeter and attacking the basket. In four of the five games we watched, the talented freshman wasted no time looking for his shot inside of the offense. Although he took his share of shots, there were few that were forced and he shot a very high percentage. He’s capable of connecting from well beyond the 3-point line, has an efficient release and nice mechanics.
– Off the pick: One thing that Blackmon Jr. does well is use screens near the top of the key. Once he comes off a screen on the dribble, he doesn’t need much room get his shot off and is nearly as good shooting off the dribble as he is off the catch. This should bode well for what Tom Crean is looking to do with his future teams at Indiana.
– Capable distributor: In a pool play game against The Family at the Spiece Run ‘N Slam, Blackmon Jr. got on an early run from the perimeter and the defense adjusted to slow him down. The 15-year-old quickly shifted his focus to facilitator and looked for open teammates in the lane off the drive. He’s currently playing more of a two-guard role with Spiece Indy Heat, but he’s capable of filling in at the point when needed.
– Student of the game: One common theme with Blackmon Jr. and Lyles is that both players have been taught the nuances of basketball from an early age. Blackmon Jr. rarely looks to make a flashy play, but instead makes fundamentally sound decisions.
– Athleticism and strength: These are the two areas where Blackmon Jr. is still developing. He’s an above average athlete, but doesn’t possess a “blow by” first step. It doesn’t seem to affect his game at this point because he’s talented and intelligent enough to find openings and score. Strength wise, his upper body is still developing, but he’s got plenty of time to bulk up and playing up a year in AAU should only help him.
– In his own words: “I’m just trying to get quicker and stronger. I already know how it’s going to be next year. It was a good test for me my freshman year, so I just want to come back even better sophomore year.”
HD video of Blackmon Jr. from the adidas May Classic after the jump …
