While they’re entering the fray a bit late, the Hoosiers are right in the thick of the race for 2009 five-star guard Dominic Cheek. Cheek’s ties to new Indiana assistant coach Roshown McLeod have been well documented. Here’s a look at Cheek for those of you who haven’t had a chance to check him out:
There is potentially a new twist in the recruitment of Lawrence North forward Stephan Van Treese — the possibility that he will join Indiana next season as a walk-on. It seems the rumor originated with John Decker over at Hoosier Nation and then trickled onto the discussion forums where it’s become a hot topic.
Van Treese’s stock has taken a tumble nationally and he’s no longer listed in the Rivals 150 for the 2009 class. While he was impressive at the Kentucky Hoop Fest in July, the major concern seems to be his ability to score in the post against top notch talent.
The five schools he was considering at the start of the summer — UCLA, Kansas, Ohio State, Louisville and IU — have all backed off considerably. That leaves Van Treese with one offer from a high major school in South Bend — Notre Dame.
Whether or not this walk-on rumor is a real possibility remains to be seen, but the likelihood of a scholarship offer being extended from the coaching staff is basically non-existent. The focus for the 2009 class has shifted primarily to Dominic Cheek, Christian Watford, Roger Franklin and others. The interest from Van Treese in the IU program is still there — his brother is currently a student in Bloomington, his best friend is Bobby Capobianco and he’s been an IU fan for most of his life. Will that translate into a willingness to accept a walk-on spot to play for the program he loves?
J.D. Campbell, the Director of Media Relations from IU, sent the following release earlier this evening:
Indiana University senior Kyle Taber injured his knee last week and will undergo surgery tomorrow. He is expected to be out for 10 weeks.
“This is very unfortunate for Kyle,” said IU Coach Tom Crean. ”He has been a strong presence and has done things the right way for us since we arrived here. We will move forward and help him through his rehabilitation and look to him to provide us with the leadership that is expected from a fifth-year senior at Indiana.”
He started four games last year and averaged 1.3 points and 2.5 rebounds in 22 games.
So instead of Indiana starting the season with one returning scholarship player, it’s looking like they’ll start the season with zero. In fact, Brett Finkelmeier will be the lone returning player on the roster when Hoosier Hysteria kicks off in October. Despite all of the recent optimism around the program, make no mistake about it, it’s going to be a rough season in Bloomington.
Update: Taber surgery goes off without a hitch (IDS basketblog)
(Photo credit: The Hoosier Scoop)
Inside the Hall caught up with Indiana’s latest commitment, 2011 guard Matt Carlino, to get his thoughts on the Elite Camp, his decision to commit early to the Hoosiers, his relationship with the coaching staff and more. Carlino is ranked No. 8 nationally in his class by the Hoop Scoop.
On his experience at the Elite camp and his decision to commit to IU:
“The elite camp was great. There were a lot of great players there and alumni. The coaches were great and they taught me a lot when I was down there. The decision was basically I loved Indiana so much that I didn’t think I needed to see anything else.”
On whether or not he followed Indiana as a kid:
“My dad was always a fan of Bobby Knight and so was I when he was at Indiana. I’ve continued to stay a fan of Indiana since then.”
On the experience of being in Assembly Hall:
“I had been there when I was in 4th grade. My brother and I got in there and were just shooting buckets. We thought it was the coolest thing at that age just to go shoot at Assembly Hall. One of the players actually let us, because they were about to practice, so he let us in there and we just got up a few shots. It was in the dark but it was still cool to go look up at the banners. It’s just an amazing place.”
In the aftermath of his coaching debacle with the New York Knicks, Isiah Thomas is apparently back in the fold in Bloomington helping to rebuild the program he once led to a national championship. Via a tipster, here’s a link to Isiah hamming it up with Christian Watford, who attended the Elite Camp this weekend and is considering the Hoosiers, Kentucky, Louisville, Memphis and Alabama.
From all indications, this past weekend was an excellent first step in putting some of the pieces of a fractured program back together. The Elite Camp yielded a commitment from 2011 guard Matt Carlino, several former players (D.J. White, Brian Evans and Thomas) helped work the camp and the day ended Saturday with a dinner in French Lick in an effort to reunite former players. Even though all former players and coaches were invited, Bobby Knight and Kelvin Sampson apparently forgot to RSVP.
Editor’s Note: You may have noticed the change in the author bylines on Inside the Hall. Big A, PostmanE and PostmanR will now be known by Alex, Eamonn and Ryan.
Instead of moving into one of the IU residence halls on Wednesday morning — former recruit Bud Mackey, the subject of the first post published on this very site (Thus the continued coverage of this story until its conclusion. We’re diligent like that.) — will soon be checking into the Scott County penal system.
Here are the details from LEX-18:
Mackey, 19, pleaded guilty to first-degree possession of a controlled substance. The Commonwealth’s Attorney recommended a sentence of five years for Mackey, and recommended that a minimum of six months be served.
Boys and girls, this is a lesson of exactly what not to do with your senior year of high school. While the only illegal participation by most college freshmen is the search for a fake id to get into Kilroy’s, Mackey will soon be fitted for an orange jump suit. Rest assured that our old friend Kelvin still has Mackey’s back. Wait, what’s that Bud, you haven’t heard from Kelvin? Neither have we.
Editor’s Note: You may have noticed the change in the author bylines on Inside the Hall. Big A, PostmanE and PostmanR will now be known by Alex, Eamonn and Ryan.
Update: We were just tipped off about this video of Carlino via goazcats.com. The file size is large, but if you have the patience and the bandwidth to check it out, it’s definitely worth a look. We’ll have a Q & A with IU’s latest commitment later this week.
Indiana has its first commitment for the class of 2011 — Gilbert (AZ) guard Matt Carlino. According to our good friend Dave Telep of Scout.com, Carlino made the decision shortly after attending this weekend’s elite camp in Bloomington:
“I had gone to their team camp in July and ever since then I’ve been thinking about Indiana. When I came down here and got coached by a lot of great coaches that just sold me. Looking up at the banners, that was amazing. They’re looking for me that when I get there I’m supposed to be an impact player on their team. They’re going to really get it rolling here with him there. By the time I get there, I hope, they’ll have a chance to win a national championship. Once I saw Indiana … Coach Crean is unbelievable. He gets guys ready for even higher levels and that’s what sold me on Indiana.”
Carlino grew up a fan of the Indiana program and that influence led him to pick the Hoosiers over UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State and USC. He’s ranked the No. 8 player in the 2011 class by Hoop Scoop and is expected to be among the top 50 players in his class when Rivals and Scout expand their rankings.
(Photo credit: Jody Demling)
Editor’s Note: You may have noticed the change in the author bylines on Inside the Hall. Big A, PostmanE and PostmanR will now be known by Alex, Eamonn and Ryan.
