D.J. White will have none of your shenanigans
By Big A | June 4, 2008
Remember all of the chaos down the stretch this past season? Suspended players, a dismissed coach, players skipping practices and meetings. I’m sure there are some other things I left out (or that I can’t mention). One name that had no involvement in any of this: D.J. White. This according to Rick Bozich of The Louisville Courier-Journal, who wrote the following on his blog:
Last Wednesday night when new IU coach Tom Crean spoke at Huber’s Orchard and Winery, I sat with two secretaries in the basketball office as well as a women who worked in academic counseling.
All three said D.J. White was as nice as any player who has come through the IU program, a complete gentleman who was not involved in any of the nonsense that brought the Hoosiers season down in the final month.
This isn’t a groundbreaking revelation. We all know what a fine lad Mr. White is. The reason I bring it up is that it’s still troublesome to me, more than two months removed from the season, that one of the best players to ever don the cream and crimson had his final season go straight down the toilet. And until the team takes the floor again next winter and we all have something to cheer about, I’ll probably continue to think about it. He deserved better than Kelvin Sampson and a few teammates who quit on the season. Here’s to a prosperous NBA career for you, D.J.
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Jamarcus Ellis to Northern Kentucky University?
By Big A | June 4, 2008
Our old friend Jamarcus Ellis, who somehow got me to believe he was “happy to be a Hoosier” last summer, is reportedly considering a transfer to Northern Kentucky University. Here’s the scoop, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer:
It’s been an offseason of recruiting that has produced a lot of what-might-have-beens for Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball coach Dave Bezold, but he may be on the cusp of a major coup.
Multiple sources say former Indiana University forward Jamarcus Ellis, who was selected honorable mention All-Big Ten this past season, is strongly considering transferring to NKU. According to the sources he visited NKU a few weeks ago and came away impressed, especially with the new Bank of Kentucky Center.
So in a little more than a year Ellis has gone from the Junior College Player of the Year to a guy who will be lucky to suit up at a Division II school. Probably not what he had in mind when he arrived in Bloomington, but when you combine an attitude that was poisonous to the team environment down the stretch with shaky academics, what do you expect?
{HT: Basketblog}
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Virtual tour of the new practice facility
By Big A | June 3, 2008
Not sure how we missed this, but here’s a video tour of the new practice facility. If Crean can pull recruits with the current facilities, just imagine what he’ll be able to do when this place opens. Enjoy.
{HT: Hoosier Nation}
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NCAA reduces T-shirt gift to secondary violation
By Big A | May 31, 2008
According to various reports, most notably one by The Indianapolis Star, IU has received a case summary from the NCAA enforcement staff detailing the proceedings of their June hearing in Seattle. And in the case summary, there is actually a piece of good news.
Remember that T-shirt that former assistant coach Jeff Meyer gave Derek Elston? The charge has been reduced from a major violation to a secondary violation:
The NCAA defines secondary violations as isolated or inadvertent, and not giving a team a significant competitive advantage.
The charge involved an impermissible recruiting contact with Derek Elston of Tipton, Ind., during a basketball camp last summer. Former IU assistant coach Jeff Meyer was alleged to have given Elston’s coach a backpack and T-shirt.
Meyer concedes an impermissible meeting occurred but said the timing was a technical and unintentional violation. Regarding the backpack and T-shirt, Meyer said he is a longtime friend of the coach’s family and often gave them gifts from various stops in his coaching career.
This is a first here at Inside the Hall. Good news and NCAA allegations in the same post. It’s almost worth getting excited over until you remember there are four other violations that include the words “Kelvin Sampson,” “lying,” and “major.”
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Gordon talks about Sampson; Chad Ford talks about his draft position
By Big A | May 30, 2008
With all of the NCAA allegations/recruiting news going on in Bloomington over the past month, we haven’t had a chance to update you on Eric Gordon and his NBA Draft stock. Gordon is down in Orlando participating in the “combine” portion of the pre-draft camp. Rather than working out, he’s being tested for strength, agility, speed and size.
He’s also going through some interviews and here’s what he told Jeff Rabjohns of The Indianapolis Star about his old buddy Kelvin Sampson:
“We had a real good relationship. After all the stuff I’ve been through in college with Illinois and Indiana and all that and for me to play for him my first year of college, we got pretty close. It’d be neat (to play for him in the NBA), but there’s a lot of other good coaches out there. I don’t want to just be specific on playing for him.”
Let me translate. Since I’m a really nice kid and don’t want to throw Kelvin under the bus, I’m going to say that I enjoyed playing for him, but I’m really looking forward to a fresh start. If I was Gordon, the last thing I’d want during my rookie season is to answer questions about IU and Sampson.
Meanwhile, ESPN draft guru Chad Ford has the latest on Gordon’s wrist and a list of teams that are interested in his services:
Gordon said his wrist is totally healed and he’s back to being a dead-eye behind the arc. The thing that stuck out to me about Gordon was his size. He is so wide for a guard. He looks like a 6-foot-4 power forward. Given his athleticism and quickness, that size will serve him well in the pros. He’s significantly bigger than Mayo or Jerryd Bayless.
Sources say that Gordon will likely fall to either Seattle at No. 4, the Knicks at No. 6 or the Clippers at No. 7. On potential, he could be the third- or fourth-best player in this draft. If his jumper is falling in workouts, his stock will be quickly repaired.
If Gordon shows that his wrist is 100% and has the range he exhibited early in the season, I see no reason why O.J. Mayo or Jerryd Bayless would go ahead of him. Gordon might be the best pure scorer in the draft and his body is more than NBA ready. Let’s just hope he doesn’t go to the disaster also known as the Knicks.
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Around the Hall: Crean at Huber’s and more
By Big A | May 29, 2008
Tom Crean visited the Louisville/Southern Indiana area on Wednesday for a press conference at Louisville Slugger Field and a gathering for the IU Varsity Club at Huber’s in Starlight, Indiana. Here are links to coverage from Crean’s trip along with a couple of other IU related stories:
- Hurricane Tom taking IU by storm (Louisville Courier-Journal)
- An evening at Huber Farms (Hoosiers Insider)
- Before I get into this wine… (The Hoosier Scoop)
- No excuses from IU (Evansville Courier Press)
- Crean touts return to Hoosiers tradition (Kentucky.com)
- Crean is ready to talk Hoosiers - anywhere (News and Tribune)
- Georgetown guard set to transfer to IU (Indiana Daily Student)
- IU prepares for unforeseen changes (Indiana Daily Student)
- IU pays $203 K in legal fees (The Indianapolis Star)
- Magic have eyes on Dorsey and White (Orlando Sentinel)
- Negedu to visit Tennessee on June 10 (Knoxville News Sentinel)
- Vaden, Hill turn heads at camp (The Indianapolis Star)
- Ex-Boilermaker Martin to play for Irish (The Indianapolis Star)
- MSU makes play for Indiana sharpshooter (The Detroit News)
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Crawford expected to return for sophomore season
By Big A | May 28, 2008
One of the more promising developments out of Tom Crean’s trip to the Louisville/Southern Indiana area today — Jordan Crawford is expected to return to Bloomington for his sophomore season.
Rick Bozich of The Louisville Courier-Journal and Chris Korman of the H-T/Hoosier Scoop were both on the scene:
From Bozich:
Crean on how good next season’s team will be considering only one recruited scholarship player — Jordan Crawford — is on the roster: “We’ll be so young, it’s hard to gauge what kind of team we will be for awhile.”
From Korman:
Crean said that there is no change in Jordan Crawford’s status. Crawford, who will be the only returning player who came to IU on scholarship, is back in Detroit right now and will not attend summer school. “He doesn’t need to, and I think it’s good for him to get home,” Crean said. “It’s important to remember that those guys have been through a whole lot.”
So the plan is for Crawford to return to Bloomington next season as of right now. This is welcome news after the mass exodus this offseason, right? It’s looking like the team will be in Bloomington starting on either June 10 or June 11 to begin summer workouts. When Crawford makes it back to Bloomington, I’ll be completely sold.
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Are the Detroit Pistons targeting D.J. White?
By Big A | May 27, 2008
That’s the rumor, according to a report on Draft Express. White will skip the NBA pre-draft camp, which could mean he feels comfortable about his draft position with Detroit and sees no reason to participate.
Detroit Bad Boys has a nice recap of all of the White-to-Detroit information, including a nice quote on D.J. from PostmanR:
He finally reached his potential this year — he was a bear and real consistent. Former McDonalds All-American, averaged a double-double, was Big Ten Player of the Year. Skill-wise, he’s a good rebounder, he’s got kind of a turn around hook that he can work well but I wouldn’t go so far as to call him “athletic” — he was a bit of klutz at times. He’s a high character guy, had to wade through all the bullshit with the coaching changes and what not. I mean, in the late first round, it’s not easy to get an impact guy but you’re getting a consistent hard-worker who can play in a system.
Couldn’t have said it better myself, R. As far as D.J. going to Detroit, I think he’d fit in nicely in their system as a guy who can come in and give you 10-15 solid minutes off the bench. If he can continue to knock down his jump shot, an area in which he’s made great strides, he’ll definitely stick around the league beyond his rookie contract.
Update: Chad Ford of the World Wide Leader is calling this report false after speaking with Pistons President Joe Dumars, but would you really expect Dumars to come out and say, “Yes, we want D.J.”?
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