Bruuuuce loses an assistant and a recruit
By Big A | September 7, 2007
Under the category of “I’m glad that didn’t happen to IU” comes the news that Mason County (KY) wing Darius Miller has committed to Kentucky.
Miller had been heavily recruited by Illinois and their former assistant coach, Tracy Webster. At one point there were rumors that Illinois was leading for Miller.
However, a funny thing happened this week when Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie poached Webster from the Illini and then received a verbal commitment from Miller just two days later.
Our good friend Jody Demling from the Louisville Courier-Journal breaks it down:
His commitment comes just two days after news broke that UK is planning to hire former Illinois coach Tracy Webster as its third assistant coach. Webster was a key factor in Miller’s interest in Illinois until recent weeks.
“I think that was a factor,” Brian Miller said. “But also he really liked and felt comfortable with Gillispie and his staff. He just felt very comfortable.”
So yeah, not only is Bruce losing major recruits left and right, he’s now losing assistant coaches. Is there any doubt that the Illini program is full blown Titanic mode?
Tags: Billy Gillispie, Bruce Weber, Darius Miller, Kentucky Wildcats Posted in Opponents |
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Preseason: Where will you rank the Hoosiers?
By Big A | September 6, 2007
Even though we’re still in the first week of September, many publications are already releasing their annual yearbooks for college hoops. For an oddity like myself that really doesn’t follow college football or the NFL, this is great news.
Lindy’s and Athlon Sports are both on newsstands with several others to follow in the coming weeks.
Lindy’s has IU pegged at No. 10 and Athlon Sports has IU headed to the Sweet 16 and champions of the Big Ten. The FanHouse, an AOL Sports Blog, has the Hoosiers at No. 8.
And of course, you’ve got your early summer rankings also giving props to IU: Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports places the Hoosiers at No. 15, Andy Katz shows the love and slots them in at No. 9 and Garry Parrish of CBS Sports pencils in IU as the 11th best team in the land.
All of this, in reality, means nothing. It’ll all be sorted out on the court come March (take a hint BCS supporters, get a playoff!). However, it does create plenty of opportunities for discussion amongst all of us, the fan base.
So that’s where you come in: Where will you rank the Hoosiers and why? I’m interested in hearing your thoughts.
Tags: Athlon Sports, Lindys, Mainstream Media Posted in Media | Subscribe to RSS Updates |
Crawfordsville’s D.J. Byrd headed to Purdue
By Big A | September 6, 2007
D.J. Byrd, a 6′4″ wing from the class of 2009, has given a verbal pledge to play for Matt Painter and the Purdue Boilermakers. Byrd, who will be a junior at North Montgomery in Crawfordsville, chose Purdue over Indiana, Notre Dame, Xavier and Butler.
Crawfordsville is located approximately 30 miles south of West Lafayette and its no secret that Byrd grew up rooting for Purdue. Therefore, this news comes as no surprise to many.
There’s no question that Painter and staff are stockpiling talent from inside the state. His 2007 class featured four Indiana All-Stars in E’Twaun Moore, Scott Martin, Robbie Hummel and Jajuan Johnson.
And now with Byrd in the fold, Painter’s attention will turn to Lawrence North’s Stephan Van Treese (an AAU teammate of Byrd’s) and Tipton’s Derek Elston who are also primary IU targets for the 2009 class. These recruiting battles between Painter and Coach Sampson will only add more fuel to the revived rivalry between IU and Purdue.
Tags: D.J. Byrd, Derek Elston, Matt Painter, Purdue Boliermakers, Stephan Van Treese Posted in Recruiting | Subscribe to RSS Updates |
Drew Neitzel sings praises of Assembly Hall
By PostmanR | September 6, 2007
Over at Sports Illustrated today, Luke Winn threw down an interview he conducted with Michigan State’s Drew Neitzel. (I swear DN should have graduated two years ago. Seems like he’s been there forever.)
Within it, Neitzel talks about playing on the road in the Big Ten, namely at Assembly Hall:
It’s a tough conference to play on the road. Every place is unique, and sometimes it depends on what kind of a year a team is having. Illinois is tough. Indiana might be No. 1, though. It’s not just their student section; it’s their whole fan base. They love basketball. The arena [Assembly Hall] is huge. It’s like a theater — it goes up really high on both sides, and the sound seems to echo in there. It feels like the fans are right on top of you, and they get pretty loud.
I haven’t been to a lot of other Big Ten arenas, (only Illinois’ Assembly Hall and Northwestern’s um, high school gym) but I’d have to say Drew’s right: the other Assembly Hall is right up there with IU’s. With the Orange Krush student section literally on the court, the atmosphere can get rather raucous in there. I’d actually give the edge to the Illini on a few different facets, (namely student section and crowd continuity) but IU has more seats which should equate to more sound, no?
Let’s just call this a draw. Because if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Illinois and Indiana fanbases, it’s that they like to agree, right?
Tags: Assembly Hall, Drew Neitzel, Michigan State Spartans Posted in Opponents | Subscribe to RSS Updates |
Devin Ebanks video from Rumble in the Bronx
By Big A | September 5, 2007
Update: The original video we posted was removed by the user who posted it on YouTube, so we had to substitute another Ebanks video.
It’s never a bad idea to send us a tip, which is how I got notice of this Devin Ebanks video from YouTube. The camera work isn’t the best, but you can see why Ebanks is drawing comparisons to Rudy Gay, Kevin Durant and Tracy McGrady. He’s ridiculously long and athletic, folks.
{Thanks to ITH reader Andrew from Southern Indiana for the tip on this one.}
Tags: Devin Ebanks, Rumble in the Bronx Posted in Recruiting | Subscribe to RSS Updates |
The Hoosiers are awesome, baby!
By Big A | September 4, 2007
The preseason hoops polls are slowly starting to trickle out and today we got Dick Vitale’s top 40 teams. Using his revolutionary “Vitale Bald Dome Index” formula, also known as the VBDI, Dickie V has the Hoosiers pegged as the No. 8 team in the land.
8. Indiana: Kelvin Sampson is thrilled to have diaper dandy Eric Gordon, and the newcomer will make a difference right out of the blocks. DJ White has to have a strong season.
Nothing groundbreaking here from Vitale on the Hoosiers, but some of his other predictions did catch my eye.
First, Michigan State is slotted at No. 7, which is a fair assesment of the team Tom Izzo will put on the floor in East Lansing this season. Ohio State was the only other Big Ten team mentioned, coming in at No. 23.
Two teams I thought Vitale overrated were Duke (surprise, surprise) and Kentucky. Duke is penciled in at No. 12 and I just don’t see where the Blue Devils will be much better than last season. I know, I know, they return everyone of importance from last year’s team with the exception of Josh McRoberts. But they weren’t any good last year. Maybe they’re counting the loss of McRoberts as addition by subtraction. As far as Kentucky goes, they’ll be improved, but they’re still very thin down low and their point guard play is very questionable. The last I checked, those are two important variables.
ESPN still hasn’t addressed Vitale’s obsolete website, which takes me back to the days of dial-up and Compuserve as an ISP. Maybe that’s because this company is so proud of their creation.
Tags: Dick Vitale, Duke Blue Devils, Josh McRoberts, Kentucky Wildcats, Michigan State Spartans, Ohio State Buckeyes Posted in Media | Subscribe to RSS Updates |
All-Big Ten preview: D.J. White
By Big A | September 3, 2007
We’ve already revealed the first three members of our preseason All-Big Ten first team: Raymar Morgan of Michigan State, Jamar Butler of Ohio State and Geary Claxton of Penn State. The tough part came in deciding who would be our preseason player of the year: Drew Neitzel or D.J. White. After putting all bias aside, the nod went to Neitzel. It was not an easy decision and I’m sure it’ll generate quite a bit of discussion here at the Hall.
This will be the year that White’s star finally shines bright in Bloomington. As a freshman, White burst onto the Big Ten scene by leading all freshmen in scoring in the conference. Unfortunately, that talented team never lived up to its potential and dropped a first round NIT game at home to Vanderbilt.
In 2005-2006, White struggled with a foot injury that limited him to five games and left many wondering if he’d ever return to his freshman form.
Last season was a bounce back year for White, as he was named second team All-Big Ten under new coach Kelvin Sampson. He played in his first NCAA Tournament and led IU in scoring (13.3), rebounding (7.3), blocks (2.3) and minutes (31.8). He was the only Hoosier to start every game.
White entertained the idea of testing the NBA waters following IU’s second round tournament loss to UCLA, but decided to return because he felt it was in his best interest and more importantly, he wants to earn a degree:
“I believe it is in my best interest to return for my senior season. I learned a lot from Coach Sampson and the rest of the coaching staff and really improved my game last year. I’m excited to take my game to another level and I look forward to a very successful season with my team. Another factor in my decision is I want to graduate. Getting my degree from Indiana University is very important to me and my family.”
While much of the buzz for the upcoming season surrounds the arrival of Eric Gordon, White is the key to getting the Hoosiers to San Antonio. The Hoosiers are heavy with talent on the perimeter and thin on experience in the paint. D.J. will be counted on to carry the load down low and also be a leader as one of the captains. He’s already embracing that role:
“We have a lot of young guys, so we just have to do the right things on the court and do what Coach Sampson asks. I think these guys want to learn enough that they’ll follow our guidance, so I think that will be big for Lance and I to lead by example.”
In the end, White’s play this season will propel IU to a deep run in the NCAA Tournament and first round status in the NBA Draft. He and Neitzel will decide the player of the year award with two head-to-head battles and ultimately, the nod will go to the player who leads his team to a league title.
Tags: Big 10 Preview, D.J. White Posted in Media | Subscribe to RSS Updates |
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