Hoosier Hysteria is on the horizon and it’s time for Inside the Hall’s player-by-player breakdown of the 2009-2010 Indiana Hoosiers. We wrap up the player profiles today with Devan Dumes

Devan Dumes led Indiana in several statistical categories a season ago: total points (344), points per game (12.7), 3-pointers made (59) and indefinite suspensions (1). Here’s a brief synopsis of his 2008-2009 season: he was Tom Crean’s most reliable option on offense and for a period in February, he was Crean’s biggest headache following an ejection for throwing elbows against Michigan State.

Dumes was at his best offensively in late January and early February when he averaged 19.6 points during a five-game stretch that included IU’s one conference win over Iowa. Unfortunately, his season-high 27 points against Iowa was preceded by an elbow to Goran Suton’s groin and an indefinite suspension that lasted two games. He apologized shortly after the incident, but struggled mightily in three of the final four Big Ten games, suffered a knee injury in the regular season finale and had surgery on his finger over the summer.

His role in 2009-2010 will be far different than a year ago: available shots and minutes won’t be as plentiful. He could find himself as a reserve because of Indiana’s added backcourt depth. Coming off the bench could actually be a positive for Dumes and for IU because his ability to provide instant offense and energy may be better utilized as a sub.

Bottom Line: The lone senior expected to contribute on the court (sorry Tijan!), Dumes has an opportunity to step up and seize a leadership role. In his press conference a week ago, Tom Crean commented that “nobody that just grabs the team and says this is what we’re doing everyday.” Dumes should benefit from IU’s improved personnel on offense, specifically Jeremiah Rivers and Jordan Hulls, who both make it a point to find open shooters.

Quotable: “Devan (Dumes) missed some valuable time this summer because of his injury, because of his surgery, and that has probably put a few things back. He is shooting the ball extremely well, but he has still got a ways to go in developing that driving game again and that ball handling.” – Crean on Dumes.

Dumes leads Hoosiers over Hawkeyes:

Hoosier Hysteria is on the horizon and it’s time for Inside the Hall’s player-by-player breakdown of the 2009-2010 Indiana Hoosiers. Today: Tijan Jobe

I don’t feel confident about much in my life. I’m wrong about a lot, and even the stuff I get right leaves room for doubt. But if there is something I feel wholly confident stating, it is that — and I say this without the slightest hint of exaggeration — the Hoosiers’ most important player in 2009-10 will be Tijan Jobe.

Of course, this should come as no surprise to any faithful Indiana basketball fan. If you paid attention last year, you saw the seeds of what should turn out to be a legendary IU basketball career begin to sprout. Jobe is a dominant big man, a versatile force on the inside, a veritable monster from end to end. Some players, if they’re big and strong enough, earn the nickname “Baby Shaq.” Little known fact: When Shaq first started playing basketball, they called him “Baby Tijan.”

Perhaps the highlight of the 2008-09 season was watching Jobe enter games at crucial moments and simply take over. Few players have that quality, but Tijan is one of them. It was a shame Jobe didn’t play more minutes last year, but one can understand why: Tom Crean clearly made the strategic decision to keep Tijan on the bench in an attempt — futile though it may have been — to keep Jobe’s profile low. In 2009-10, the Big Ten better look out. No such mercy will be granted. Jobe will be freed. And it will be spectacular.

Bottom line: Just kidding. Tijan’s pretty bad. But he’s a good kid and a hard worker, and we love him. And sometimes that’s all that matters.

Quotable: The 7-foot, 255-pound Jobe, by the way, has become more of a threat to teammates than opponents. Guard Jeremiah Rivers is hobbled from a bruised thigh courtesy of a collision with Jobe. Guard Daniel Moore was knocked out by a Jobe elbow in preparation for last year’s game against Minnesota.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do with him,” Crean says. “We have to put him in some of the drills. He has the ability to hurt his teammates. I know he doesn’t mean to, but goodness gracious.”

Hoosier Hysteria is on the horizon and it’s time for Inside the Hall’s player-by-player breakdown of the 2009-2010 Indiana Hoosiers. Today: Jeremiah Rivers.

There is no player on this 2009-10 Hoosiers squad I’m more interested in seeing on the court than Jeremiah Rivers. I’ve heard and read so much about him: how he’s the leader the team so desperately needs; how he looks terrific in practice; how he’ll be a rock at point guard for IU. He is part of a basketball pedigree with his father being Doc Rivers, while leaving a school, Georgetown, that’s been quite good in recent years to transfer to Indiana.

I don’t think there’s a doubt in anyone’s mind that he’ll be the starter from day one, and it’s his job to lose as the season progresses. There’s a sentiment that with Rivers at the helm, everything feels safe: there is no wildness of Daniel Moore, there is no Verdell Jones perhaps playing a bit out of position. There is a point guard. A true point guard.

But have we all been duped? Think about the level of competition Rivers practiced against last season, the one he looked so good against. It wasn’t exactly stellar. As a sophomore at Georgetown, he only averaged 2.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and one assist in 18.6 minutes. I know he was brought in mainly for defense, and wasn’t a go-to guy. But that’s hardly anything to write home about.

Look: Rivers will be an upgrade over what the Hoosiers marched out at point last year. He’ll be better. And, trust me: I want Rivers to be as good as advertised. I want him to lead this team. It’s just that, based on past performance and a year of practicing against weaker competition, I’m  going to be cautiously optimistic about him heading into this year.

Bottom line: Rivers offers an immediate, reliable and experienced upgrade for the Hoosiers at point guard this season. Unlike Jordan Hulls, he has a year under Tom Crean’s system, which should help smooth out any wrinkles once the season is underway.

Quotable: “As a coach you want the leadership vacuum to be filled right now. You want it to be set. But it is not like that. He hasn’t played in a year. I don’t know that he always understands when I say this, but he has won at every level. There is no question about that. He won in high school and he won in college. He has won three BIG EAST Championships (ed. note:  this is inaccurate, he was only at Georgetown two years) and has been to a Final Four. However, outside of high school, which is a little different, I’m not sure he has absolutely been responsible for winning. He is going to have a huge responsibility in how we play to win. Not just coming in like at Georgetown. Now, he was on the court a lot at winning time at Georgetown because of his defensive abilities, but he also wasn’t the lead guard. He also wasn’t one of the 28 or 30 minutes a game guys. He very well could play into that for us.” – Coach Crean on Rivers

Rivers talks about his father, and coming to IU last season:

Hoosier Hysteria is on the horizon and it’s time for Inside the Hall’s player-by-player breakdown of the 2009-2010 Indiana Hoosiers. Today: Matt Roth.

When Matt Roth signed a Letter of Intent with Indiana, former coach Kelvin Sampson compared his shooting ability to Lee Humphrey, a catalyst in Florida’s back-to-back national championships. The comparison was a high billing considering Humphrey is the all-time leader in three-pointers made in the NCAA Tournament. The Washington (IL) native showed flashes of shooting brilliance as a freshman, but for the most part, he was a one-dimensional threat who lived and died by the three-pointer.

Roth attempted 174 shots in 2008-2009 and 153 came from behind the arc. While many considered Devan Dumes to be IU’s streakiest shooter, Roth was actually less effective than Dumes in shooting the basketball. If you throw out his extraordinary performance against Ohio State where he connected on 9 of 11 attempts, his three-point percentage checked in at just 34 percent.

So where does Roth fit in as a sophomore? That will be largely dependent on his improvement during the off-season. There is playing time on any team for a shooter, but IU has added a shooter in Maurice Creek. Roth will need to show that he can occasionally operate off the dribble, defend much better, contribute on the glass and hit open shots to consistently see the floor. One thing that he’s reportedly changed is his body: Tom Crean said on Thursday that he’s gained 20 pounds since last season.

Bottom Line: The good news for Roth heading into the season is that Crean is speaking highly of his progress over the summer. His experience should help him when minutes are divvied up in November, but beyond that, he’ll need to bring something other than just standing outside and waiting for an opening. Improvement on defense is probably his best bet to regular playing time in an ultra-competitive backcourt.

Quotable: “Matt has a quicker release, and he is trying to do more than just shoot threes. We’re actually trying to get him to move his range in, so that he has a quicker release and at points in time can break you down off of a shot-fake. He is trying to get to the offensive boards.“ – Crean on Roth.

Roth catches fire against Ohio State:

Hoosier Hysteria is on the horizon and it’s time for Inside the Hall’s player-by-player breakdown of the 2009-2010 Indiana Hoosiers. Today: Tom Pritchard.

Heading into last year’s campaign, there were a lot of question marks. How would this team of virtual unknowns look? Would IU lose every game? Does Tom Crean really drink that much Diet Coke? But early on, there was a question mark that was quickly answered: if nothing else, we had a guy down low that might not have the prettiest game, but he was going to try and grind and bruise his way to a double-double every night. This guy’s name was Tom Pritchard.

Now, Pritchard did disappear some games last season, particularly in Big Ten games where more experienced and skilled opponents knew to key on him because we didn’t have much else. But for a freshman on a team such as last year’s, the numbers are pretty good: five double-doubles, an average of nearly 10 points a game, and his 6.4 rebounds was good for eighth in the Big Ten.

As many of you are predicting, Tom Pritchard will likely get the starting nod to begin the season, though if he isn’t improving and battling, he might be unseated by Derek Elston or Bobby Capobianco when it’s all said and done.

I would think Pritchard would be safe, but Tom Crean’s comments about him on this video are a little troubling. It seems Pritch came into individual workouts out of shape and lacking conditioning, and allowed a flaw to come back into his jump shot. On a video full or praise for his players, Pritch was one of the lone harping points for Crean.

Bottom line: If Pritchard puts in the hard work necessary to keep improving his game, there’s no reason he can’t snag even more double-doubles this year with an improved cast around him. Can he be the consistency IU so often is lacking in the frontcourt?

Quotable: “Tom Pritchard is better in some areas, but not where he needs to be yet.” — Tom Crean at yesterday’s press conference.

Hoosier Hysteria is on the horizon and it’s time for Inside the Hall’s player-by-player breakdown of the 2009-2010 Indiana Hoosiers. Today: Verdell Jones.

In a year of horrific gosh-they-just-play-so-hard basketball, Verdell Jones was a pleasant surprise. Whether he’s anything more than that — whether he’s a legitimate Big Ten point guard, or merely a seat-saver for the likes of Jeremiah Rivers — is the predominant question facing him in 2009-10.

But first, his 2008-09. Jones was second on the team in minutes in 2008-09, which, considering the frequency with which Daniel Moore played, is a testament to how bad the Hoosiers were last year; there were times when Jones and Moore actually shared the floor. Jones was second on the team in points per game to Devan Dumes, but he did it at a more efficient rate, with a slightly better effective field goal percentage than Dumes. (Dumes made more threes, though, so take that as you will.) But Dumes, as turnover-prone and erratic as he was, actually committed fewer turnovers than Jones, who gave the ball away over three times a game. That is not good, especially not from a point guard.

The real revelation with Verdell Jones comes in the eye test. He has the calm, casual manner of someone used to controlling games. He can hit outside shots and slash to the rim — his slash is more of glide, but you know what I mean — and his passing ability is probably his best attribute. Even with explosive recruits on the horizon, the Hoosiers still need scoring; if Jones can provide an extra threat, all the better.

Bottom Line: Jones should share time with Jeremiah Rivers — both could start, actually — and be more productive than he was in his none-too-shabby rookie campaign. He needs to get stronger and more physical and less turnover prone. But hey, that’s what the offseason’s for, right? Jones’ progress will be interesting to watch.

Quotable: Here’s Tom Crean discussing Jones’ individual offseason workouts on September 9:

The bit on positional flexibility will be important, too, seeing as Jones could be a bit of a tweener when Rivers, not to mention Dumes, is on the floor. I’m intrigued.

Hoosier Hysteria is on the horizon and it’s time for Inside the Hall’s player-by-player breakdown of the 2009-2010 Indiana Hoosiers. Today: Derek Elston.

Derek Elston, the first player to commit to Indiana’s 2009 class, made the call to become a Hoosier in September of 2007. After his decision, he watched Indiana go from a top ten team during the 2007-2008 to a program decimated by Kelvin Sampson’s excessive phone calls. Once Tom Crean was hired, it only took a couple of conversations between the coach and the player to decide that Elston’s commitment was still a perfect fit.

At 6-8 and 225 pounds, the Tipton (IN) forward has the body to play inside and the versatility to step out and play the three. He averaged 19.8 ppg and 10.8 rpg his senior season and finished third in the voting for Mr. Basketball. His ability to rebound and defend will put him in position to play major minutes from day one. It’s not out of question that he could lead IU in rebounding this season.

What remains to be seen is how much Elston has improved his mid-range game over the summer. Mechanically, his stroke is very sound and if he can consistently knock down shots from the perimeter, he becomes a much tougher player to guard. He’s also a solid ball handler and when he doesn’t finish in the paint, he consistently gets to the line and knocks down free throws.

Bottom Line: After flying under the radar nationally, Elston will get his chance to show his top-50 talent immediately in Bloomington. He probably won’t become a prolific scorer until later in his career, but his contributions on the glass and interior defense should be felt right away. Alongside Bobby Capobianco, Christian Watford and Tom Pritchard, Elston will help anchor a front line that could be better than expected.

Quotable: “Derek deserves a lot of credit because he stayed loyal to Indiana through all the turmoil. As everyone knows, he committed to the previous staff and shortly after we got the job he came up to see us. He’s the unsung hero of this class because people around the country have forgotten how good he is because they haven’t had a chance to see him. He is tough and can rebound the basketball in addition to playing multiple positions on the front line.” – Crean on Elston.

Back in time, 25 months to be exact:

Hoosier Hysteria is on the horizon and it’s time for Inside the Hall’s player-by-player breakdown of the 2009-2010 Indiana Hoosiers. Today: Bawa Muniru.

Finding a potentially dominant big man at any level of basketball is not an easy thing to do. And even though he’d only been playing organized basketball for roughly five years, that’s exactly why high-major programs were lining up to recruit 7-0 Ghana native Bawa Muniru.

Muniru, who is awaiting word from the NCAA on his eligibility for the upcoming season, comes to Bloomington as somewhat of a mystery. He’s a solid 260 pounds with a physique that resembles a body builder more than it does a basketball player. At Madison Academy in Alabama, Muniru helped lead his school to three straight state titles before finishing his prep career at Mt. Zion Academy.

The key to Muniru’s development will be patience, hard work and persistence. Offensively, he appears to be very raw. The limited film available on him suggests he’s most comfortable receiving an entry pass deep enough where he can gather himself and go straight up for a dunk. On defense, he has the tools (a 7-3 wingspan) to become an excellent shot blocker and more importantly, a presence capable of locking down the lane.

Bottom Line: Bawa’s contagious smile and attitude will immediately make him a fan favorite. Having come from a difficult background, he seems truly excited to have an opportunity to attend IU as a basketball player and a student. He has the physical traits to be an impact guy down the line, but he’ll likely spend most of his freshman season learning and adjusting to the speed of the college game.

Quotable:  “This is a unique guy. He’s had a lot of pitfalls in his life. A LOT of pitfalls. But that young man wants to be very, very successful. And I have very high optimism that he will be in time. He has a great attitude. If you’ve met him you know what I’m talking about. The first 10-15 minutes you’re like, `is this kid for real? Is anyone that happy? Does anybody have a smile that wide?” – Crean on Muniru.

Bawa on Bloomington: “I really liked it. Just for visiting, I think it’s a small, busy town. A college town. I liked that about it and they love basketball. The fans give them a lot of support.” – September 26, 2008 after his official visit.

Hoosier Hysteria is on the horizon and it’s time for Inside the Hall’s player-by-player breakdown of the 2009-2010 Indiana Hoosiers. Today: Christian Watford.

If Maurice Creek is the freshman most ready to contribute, Christian Watford is not far behind. A consensus top 50 recruit nationally, Watford chose the Hoosiers over Alabama, Kentucky, Memphis and Louisville. Both Tom Crean and Bennie Seltzer put a great deal of effort into his recruitment and were able to sell the Indiana as the place where Watford can best prepare his game for the next level. His commitment in early September of last year lifted Indiana’s class into the top ten nationally.

At 6-8 and 215, Watford is a versatile wing that can score from the perimeter and also finish on the block. His handle on the perimeter is solid enough to utilize a pull-up jump shot that he’s able to knock down consistently. Although he’ll need to bulk up to compete on the block in the Big Ten, his ability to finish in traffic with contact is already a strong suit of his game.

When speaking about his freshman class a couple of weeks ago, Crean commented that Watford is getting work with the guards, wings and the post players this fall to make him a more rounded player. His ability to play different positions will give this year’s team the ability to go with several different looks. He’ll be a difficult matchup on the wing because he’s long and has a quick release. But he’s also capable of hitting the offensive glass and scoring on put backs or getting to the free-throw line.

Bottom Line: Watford will be counted on to play major minutes right away and as he gets acclimated to the physical style of play during conference play, he’ll have some breakout games. He has the tools to be a solid defensive player when he gives maximum effort on each possession and moves his feet. He’ll battle to be one of the top five freshmen in the Big Ten and down the line, he has the talent to take his game to an all-conference level.

Quotable:  “Christian, along with Maurice, showed the nation that Indiana never really went anywhere when it comes to getting national-level players from different parts of the country. Bennie Seltzer did a tremendous job of keeping up with Christian when we were at Marquette and we did feel like we had much of a chance (with him). And we all worked diligently to show Christian that he would be a very valuable part of our rebuilding process at Indiana. He has the ability to get to the rim and he can play on the perimeter. He is a matchup nightmare because if you go small on him he can take you down low and if you go big he can take you to the rim. He can be an excellent rebounder and what I feel, along with the other members of this class, is that he will be able to hold his own defensively for many years to come inside our program. We are really excited to have a player of Christian’s caliber coming into Indiana.” – Crean on Watford.

Watford Speaks:

The least heralded by analysts of Indiana’s 2009 recruiting class, Bobby Capobianco won’t be the first name you come across when browsing the various preseason magazines beginning to hit newsstands.

Capobianco, a 6-8 bruiser from Loveland (OH), is the son of a former Vanderbilt basketball standout, Barbara and a former Vanderbilt football player, Bob. Tom Crean began recruiting him while at Marquette and just 15 days after landing in Bloomington, Capobianco became Crean’s first commitment. He led Loveland to a 17-4 record last season and averaged 18 points and eight rebounds per game.

The trademark of his game lies in the paint and his impact will be felt primarily on the boards. He’s capable of putting up points on the block using either hand and has a nice stroke from 15-17 feet. It’s doubtful that he’ll block a ton of shots, but he won’t stand for getting beat by defenders, either. Capobianco’s effort on defense is the trademark of his game. What he lacks in foot speed and athleticism, he makes up for with a willingness to work hard on every possession.

Bottom Line: Capobianco probably won’t see a ton of minutes as a freshman, 10-15 per game is probably a reasonable estimate, but he’ll be a four year guy with the talent to become a starter. He’s an intelligent kid who will practice hard, play hard, improve as a player and do his job in the classroom. His winning attitude and outgoing personality will quickly make him a fan favorite. If he can improve his foot speed and polish his offensive game, he’ll be a steal for Indiana.

Quotable:  “Bill Lynch has been very, very noble not to try to get that kid to be one of his tight ends, one of his linemen. He has that body. He doesn’t have tremendous athleticism – that’s not there yet. But he’s got to have tremendous will. When he shows that will, shows that grit and that fight, and when he’s got it you’re going to see a guy that will really help us.” – Crean on Capobianco.

Capobianco Speaks: