Trevon Bluiett caught the eye of several high major schools with his stellar play as a freshman at Park Tudor last season. The 6-foot-5, 185-pound small forward scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Park Tudor’s Class 2A state championship win over Hammond Bishop Noll last March.
Inside the Hall caught up with Bluiett after a pool play game at last week’s adidas Invitational for an update on his recruitment, his thoughts on Indiana and more:
Full transcript after the jump.
Tom Crean, Matt Painter and Tom Izzo made their way to Ben Davis on Monday to get a look at five-star guard Gary Harris as he participated in the IBCA Top 100 Showcase.
Inside the Hall was there and we’ve compiled over 90 seconds of Indiana’s top recruiting target in the 2012 class in the embedded media player below. (Note: You can expand the video to full screen by using the arrows in the bottom right hand corner of the player.)
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V.J. Beachem is practicing patience as his recruitment rolls along.
The 6-foot-7, 180-pound wing from the Fort Wayne area is among the top 50 players in the class of 2013 according to Rivals.com, but held just two scholarship offers as the first July evaluation period kicked off on Wednesday.
Matt Green, Beachem’s coach with the Eric Gordon All-Stars, said that college coaches are waiting to see how Beachem’s strength comes along this summer.
“He’s improving physically,” Green said after a pool play win at Northview Middle School. “Once he gets stronger, we all think that he has the most potential out of all of them (on the Eric Gordon 16-and-under team) to be the best.”
Beachem is receptive to the feedback on the importance of improving his strength and is in the weight room three to four times a week this summer.
“It’s tough. You guys probably can’t tell I’ve been working at it, but I have been working at it,” Beachem said with a smile.
Purdue was the first school to offer Beachem a scholarship and he added an offer from Butler earlier in the spring. Cincinnati, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee and Xavier are also recruiting him.
The Fort Wayne native said three of his Eric Gordon teammates — Collin Hartman, Basil Smotherman and Devin Davis Jr. — have mentioned the possibility of playing together at the next level.
“I talk to them (Hartman and Davis) about it a little bit, not a whole lot,” he said. “Basil (Smotherman), on the other hand, says ‘You going to Purdue?’ just about every day I see him. Those guys, I talk to them a little about it. They talk to me about Coach Crean and about how they think I could fit in with them.”
Indiana coaches, including Tom Crean, have been spotted at Beachem’s games during the first few days of the evaluation period. He also heard from the staff on June 15, the first day college coaches could call class of 2013 prospects.
2013 Indianapolis Cathedral and Eric Gordon All-Stars wing Collin Hartman is off to a hot start this summer and according to his AAU coach Matt Green, the IU commit has become much more aggressive offensively in recent months.
Watch over 90 seconds of Hartman from last week’s adidas Invitational in the embedded media player below. (Note: You can expand the video to full screen by using the arrows in the bottom right hand corner of the player.)
Park Tudor and Indiana Elite point guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell is Indiana’s point guard of the future and the talented floor general put together an impressive string of performances at last week’s adidas Invitational at North Central.
In addition to our highlights of Ferrell in super pool play versus Connecticut Basketball Club, Dream Vision and the Atlanta Celtics, Inside the Hall compiled video of the IU commit and Indianapolis-area native from three tournament games from Friday and Saturday in the embedded media player below. (Note: You can expand the video to full screen by using the arrows in the bottom right hand corner of the player.)
2013 Louisville Trinity guard Darryl Hicks was forced to sit out his sophomore season due to Kentucky High School Athletic Association transfer rules, but is back on the scene this summer splitting time between the Tennessee Travelers and The Ville.
As a freshman at Shelby County, Hicks averaged 13.5 points and helped lead his team to the Sweet 16 of the Kentucky State Tournament, where he scored 30 points in a loss to Ballard at Rupp Arena.
The 6-foot-4, 180-pound Hicks picked up his first scholarship offer from Indiana more than a year ago and talked about his interest in the Hoosiers, his recruiting picture and his relationship with Tom Crean in a Q & A with Inside the Hall on Sunday at the Kentucky Hoopfest:
On what he worked on during his transfer season:
“When I was sitting out I just worked on my ball handling and I still got up shots and everything. I still conditioned and everything so I could come out on the AAU circuit and be in good shape. Sitting out it was very frustrating because I’m used to playing every day and it was boring sitting down all of the time.”
On the schools recruiting him the hardest and who he’s noticed watching him so far:
“The schools that are recruiting me the hardest would probably be Indiana and Georgia Tech. There’s a lot of other schools that I’m not as familiar with that were at the Hoosier Shootout.”
On his interest in Indiana:
“Indiana is the school that’s the most in contact with me right now. I think I really like Indiana a lot and that’s probably going to be one of my top schools that I will choose from.”
On potential visits after AAU season concludes:
“Coaches are trying to get me to come down and visit. Indiana wants me to come up. Georgia Tech wants me to come down some time in August.”
On the schools he heard from on June 15 besides IU and Georgia Tech:
“Auburn, Oklahoma, Georgia, Cincinnati and Tennessee.”
On what he likes about Indiana and his relationship with Coach Crean:
“Coach Crean would probably be the reason I would go to Indiana. He and I have a good relationship and he talks to me all of the time. He tells me what I could do better and how I would fit into the program and everything.”
