Tom Crean

Tom Pritchard

Christian Watford

Maurice Creek

Postgame video, courtesy of IU Athletics on YouTube

+ Chris Korman writes that signing day went off without much excitement in Bloomington. (The Hoosier Scoop)

+ Tom Izzo is excited about his four man class — Adrien Payne, Keith Appling, Russell Byrd and Alex Gauna — in East Lansing (Detroit Free Press)

+ Michigan signee Evan Smotrycz penned the first entry in his diary at our favorite Michigan hoops site. (UM Hoops)

+ Matt Painter calls his recruiting class “great for our needs.” (Purdue Official Site)

+ Bruce Weber received Letters of Intent from three top 100 recruits in Champaign. (Chicago Tribune)

+ Ohio State’s class is being touted as No. 1 nationally and it’s headlined by Jared Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas. (Ohio State Official Site)

+ Adam Hoge writes that as the Big Ten gets stronger, Bo Ryan’s recruiting is putting Wisconsin in a hole. (Bucky’s 5th Quarter)

+ Jody Demling wrapped up the first day of the early signing period with a live blog. (Louisville Courier-Journal)

+ Dave Telep breaks down signing day from a national perspective. (Scout.com)

The Indiana University Athletics Department is seeking names for the student section in Assembly Hall. The student’s selection will be placed on the front of the Crimson Club Student Basketball Shirt.  These shirts will be handed out to all student basketball season ticket holders.  The student t-shirt is a great way for the students to show their passion and pride for Indiana Basketball at every home game.

The Crimson Club was designed to reward Indiana University students for their support of Hoosier athletic teams and the great game day atmosphere they create. Club members will earn points redeemable for prizes such as retail gift certificates, adidas gift packs, opportunity to be Athletic Director for a day, laptop computers, framed IU athletic jersey’s or 42″ HDTV’s. Students will also receive their official t-shirt when they earn 10 Crimson Club points.

Student section names will be accepted now through November 17th with finalist selections occurring on November 18th. Entries are open to all current Indiana Students. Students will be able to vote for their favorite name from November 18th-November 24th on IUHoosiers.com.

Entries must be emailed to SPTMARKT@indiana.edu no later than November 17th , 2009. We will notify you if your selection is chosen as a finalist.

Get to work, boys and girls.

+ Chris Korman of the H-T/Hoosier Scoop has highlights from the Hall induction, including the full text of Bob Knight’s letter to Fred Glass that was read at the ceremony. {The Hoosier Scoop}

+ Michael Rosenburg of Sports Illustrated writes that it’s time for Knight and Indiana to move on and bury the hatchet. {SI.com}

+ Terry Hutchens writes that Bob Knight was recalled fondly at the Hall of Fame induction. {The Indianapolis Star}

+ IU Athletics celebrates 2009 Hall of Fame class. {IUHoosiers.com}

Quotable: “You are the only person in the administrative capacity at Indiana in the last ten years to say thank you for what we did, and I appreciate your doing so. You mentioned in your letter to me that you would like to sit down and talk with me any place or at any time. I would be willing to do this and would suggest that you bring Bob Hammel with you as he would be a great help in your understanding why I feel as I do. It is obvious that the people who replaced the aforementioned people over the years have not nearly maintained the standards with Indiana’s athletic program that those people established. I would hope that during your tenure you would be able to get Indiana athletics back where it once was and want to wish you the very best in that regard.” – Excerpt from Knight’s letter to Glass.

(Photo courtesy of Tom Crean’s Twitter.)

A few minutes ago, Tom Crean dropped this on his Twitter account:

Moments ago we just learned that Bawa is completely eligible. If you see his smile as wide as it has ever been you will know why.

So yes: the NCAA has decreed Bawa’s lingering high school coursework is in shipshape, and he’ll be able to participate in game action now. Anyone else interested to see how his game fits in with Crean’s more up-tempo style of play this season?

+ Crean also met with the media today and Chris Korman of the Herald-Times/Hoosier Scoop has the audio here.

+ Dave Telep of Scout.com posted an update on five-star wing Jelan Kendrick and the Marietta (GA) product says he’ll likely wait until the spring to sign a Letter of Intent. Kendrick visited Indiana this past weekend and attended Saturday’s Haunted Hall of Hoops. (Subscription required to view link.)

+ Jerry Meyer of Rivals.com has a note on Will Sheehey in his “Weekly Whispers” column. Sheehey will visit Indiana this weekend and recently added an offer from Michigan. (Subscription required to view link.)

+ Game notes for Indiana’s exhibition opener against Grace, a NAIA opponent. {IUHoosiers.com}

+ One of Indiana’s top recruiting targets in 2012, North Central’s D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, recently underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus and will be out several weeks. {Indianapolis Star}

+ Mike Hutton writes that Indiana is on the fast track with Tom Crean at the helm. {Gary Post-Tribune}

+ Kyle Neddenriep looks at five players from around the state who are under the recruiting radar, but ready to soar. Indiana is mentioned with several including Kellen Dunham, Jared Drew and Collin Hartman. {Indianapolis Star}

+ John M. over at the Indiana SBNation site previews the returning players in Indiana’s backcourt. {Crimson Quarry}

+ Andy Katz ponders the question: Could this finally be the year at Northwestern? {ESPN.com}

+ Katz writes that Wisconsin doesn’t mind being picked low in the Big Ten. The Badgers are looking for their 12th straight NCAA berth this season. {ESPN.com}

+ The Big Ten Network has video interviews with most of the coaches in the conference (Tom Crean not included). {Big Ten Network}

+ The media selected Michigan State as the preseason favorite to win the Big Ten and also announced its all-league team, headlined by Kalin Lucas. {Big Ten Conference}

+ Fred Glass confirmed that he talked to Bob Knight and the former coach will not attend his Hall of Fame induction. His reason? He didn’t want to detract from the other inductees. {IU Athletics}

+ Michigan State coach Tom Izzo says the Big Ten is the best its been in a decade. And Bruce Weber chimes in on Indiana. {The Hoosier Scoop}

Big Ten Media Day Tom Crean Audio (Thanks to The Hoosier Scoop)

Or if you prefer video

Making matters worse, fans will now be treated to another season of Dick Vitale mentioning that Indiana should rename Assembly Hall after Knight. Might be time to make sure your mute button works.