During the first week of the July evaluation period, it’s easy for any 16-year old to get caught up by the faces in the crowd. For Washington (IN) big man Cody Zeller, worrying about who is watching does nothing to help his game.

“If you try to impress them, you’ll play awful. I just try to play my game,” Zeller said after a pool play game in Louisville at the Hoopfest where 19 college coaches watched from the baseline. “I play in front of 7,000 people at my high school games, so I’m used to a lot of people watching.”

The 6-9 Zeller, who holds offers from Indiana, Purdue, Iowa, Butler and Florida, is unusually well-coordinated for a kid his size, can finish in traffic with either hand and often beats his man up and down the floor.

“I’ve just grown in the last year or two,” he said. “I was 6-5 my freshman year. I was a point guard in junior high, so I’ve always been able to run the floor real well.”

Zeller, accompanied by his brother Luke, recently got the chance to play pick-up games in Bloomington with many of Indiana’s returning players and some of the incoming freshman during an unofficial visit.

“They’ve got some good freshmen coming in,” Zeller said. “I was impressed with quite a few of them. They’ve got some good guys in there so they can build a good team.”

Zeller says he is still in the early stages of the recruiting process and doesn’t have a timetable for a decision. On June 15 when college coaches were able to contact him by phone, mail and email, he received 7 or 8 phone calls and 15 to 20 emails.

“I’m still a long ways away. I’m looking into it more,” he said of the recruiting process. “I’m getting to know the coaches and stuff.”

A who’s-who of college coaches arrived in Cincinnati Monday for the opening of the July evaluation period at the adidas It Takes 5ive Classic.

Among the coaches spotted: Tom Crean and assistants Tim Buckley and Bennie Seltzer; Louisville’s Rick Pitino, Walter McCarty and Steve Masiello; UCLA’s Ben Howland; Kentucky’s John Calipari; North Carolina’s Roy Williams; Ohio State’s Thad Matta; Minnesota’s Tubby Smith; Michigan’s John Beilein; Arizona’s Sean Miller; Memphis’s Josh Pastner; Notre Dame’s Mike Brey; Michigan State’s Tom Izzo; Maryland’s Gary Williams; West Virginia’s Bob Huggins and Georgetown’s John Thompson III.

Inside the Hall spent the day bouncing back and forth between the Fifth Third Center and the Campus Recreation Center and here are our observations:

+ The jury is still out on David Williams: The 6-7 lefty (pictured), IU’s lone commitment from the 2010 class, started the day slow as he failed to score in the Atlanta Celtics opening contest. Williams told us he wasn’t happy with his play in that game and looked much better in the afternoon in a 10-point effort. Offensively, Williams has a long way to go to become a scorer at the Big Ten level. He often looked out of rhythm offensively and needs to become more assertive. In July, the best players tend to stand out and make a name for themselves. Today, we simply didn’t see that from Williams.

+ Strong performances from Indiana Elite’s Matt Carlino, Cody Zeller and Marshall Plumlee: Carlino looked much more comfortable than he was in May and looked like a player that can make an impact at the next level. His court vision and ball handling were both excellent.

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The July evaluation period kicks off Monday for college coaches and their assistants. And with coaches being unable to attend AAU tournaments in the month of April, July’s evaluation period has even more importance in 2009.

In no particular order, here are the storylines we’ll be tracking this month:

+ Is David Williams a high major talent? Before he committed to Indiana in late April, Williams was relatively unknown nationally. He is not among the top 100 prospects in the 2010 class on either Scout.com or Rivals.com and many wonder if offering a scholarship to Williams was a stretch for the IU staff. Playing on a stacked roster for the Atlanta “J-Smoove” Celtics that includes N.C. State commit Ryan Harrow, Tennessee commit Jordan McRae and former Ohio State commit Trae Golden, Williams is often overshadowed and perhaps under appreciated by scouts. We’ll get our first look at the Jacksonville native on Monday.

+ Can Indiana secure an official visit from Kyrie Irving? The Hoosiers appear to be in a favorable position for their top 2010 target after he said Indiana was at the top of his list in early June. However, Irving has established himself as one of the top players nationally in his class and Duke, Virginia, Kentucky and Notre Dame are all believed to be making a strong push. He will participate in the LeBron James Skills Academy this week and IU coaches will be able to watch him on Wednesday and Thursday.

+ Will Matt Carlino return to form after a tough April and May? After being slowed by injuries this spring, Carlino hopes to get his shooting stroke back and display the talents that led to an IU offer last summer. With his recent move to Bloomington, he should be more familiar with his Indiana Elite teammates. Look for IU’s lone 2011 commitment to have an impressive summer while playing both guard spots.

+ Is Indiana a major factor for Marquis Teague? Publicly, the stance from the Indianapolis Pike point guard is that he loves Indiana and Tom Crean. At the same time, Louisville has been recognized as the team to beat since last winter. There’s no doubt IU has been able to make up considerable ground in his recruitment. But can Crean sell Teague that he’ll be able to compete for a national title his freshman season?

+ Who is the best player from Indiana in the 2012 class? The 2012 class is loaded with talent and IU is actively recruiting four of the top players: Bowman Academy’s Dejuan Marrero, Broad Ripple’s Ron Patterson, Lawrence Central’s Jeremy Hollowell and North Central’s D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera. To this point, Smith-Rivera has garnered the most national publicity, but Hollowell’s length, Patterson’s versatility and Marrero’s athleticism are all things to keep an eye on.

On Monday, July 6 we’ll be at the adidas It Takes Five Classic in Cincinnati and on July 10, 11 and 12 we’ll be at the Kentucky Hoopfest in Louisville. Follow us on Twitter to receive updates throughout the day from both events.

With the summer evaluation period set to begin next week, Scout.com expanded their rankings for the 2011 class to include 75 prospects.

And several players being pursued by Indiana made the list.

Matt Carlino, the only player committed to Indiana in the 2011 class, is No. 72. Carlino recently transferred from Highland (AZ) to Bloomington South and is playing this spring with Indiana Elite.

Among the notables (High school and AAU team in parentheses):

+ Marquis Teague (Indianapolis Pike; Spiece): No. 6

+ Branden Dawson (Gary Lew Wallace, SYF Players): No. 26

+ Marshall Plumlee (Arden Christ School, NC; Indiana Elite): No. 35

+ Chasson Randle (Rock Island, IL; Illinois Wolves): No. 49

+ Austin Etherington (Hamilton Heights; Indiana Elite): No. 57

+ Cody Zeller (Washington HS; Indiana Elite): No. 59

Rivals.com also released an updated version of their 2011 rankings.

With roughly two and a half years to recruit before the early signing period in November of 2010, the fruits from the Indiana staff’s recruiting efforts for the 2011 class could be plentiful. The only catch? The uncertainty of the scholarship situation. A quick look at the scholarship numbers page shows the Hoosiers have two available scholarships for 2011 (three if they oversign by one.) But if the Hoosiers add to the 2010 class, the number of available scholarships will decrease accordingly.

That said, let’s take a look at the names being frequently mentioned in Indiana’s 2011 recruiting efforts:

– Marquis Teague – Depending on who you talk to, Indiana’s chances to land Teague range from coming on strong to a longshot. Where the Hoosiers actually stand is anybody’s guess. Teague’s talent is undeniable. He is an excellent ball handler and can both score and distribute from the point guard position. And he’s already ready physically for the rigors of the Big Ten. His only knocks? An attitude that sometimes doesn’t endear him to officials and a jumpshot that is still improving. In the end, Teague possesses the talent to be special.

– Cody Zeller – I’ve watched Zeller twice this spring and came away impressed after watching him in the adidas May Classic. He’s a legitimate 6-9 and still growing. And as is usually the case with big men, he’s tweaking his game to adjust to his changing physique. Zeller is a heady player who can be a little too unselfish at times, but his skills in the post are very good. If he can improve his strength over the next two years, he’ll be a difference maker.

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6-9 Washington (HS) junior-to-be Cody Zeller has one leg up on most of his peers going through the recruiting process for the first time. He heard the pitches various schools made to his older brothers Luke and Tyler, both Mr. Basketball’s and McDonald’s All-American’s that ended up at high profile programs.

And although Luke and Tyler haven’t passed on much advice as his recruitment heats up, the youngest Zeller kept his eyes and ears open as they went through the process.

“They haven’t passed on much advice but I know how it goes. I went on most of their trips with them. I sat in on some of the conversations Dad and them had,” Cody Zeller said. “I know that every college coach is going to make their school sound great but you’ve gotta look through all the stuff they put out there. You’ve gotta find the real details. Ask around and figure out what the school’s really about.”

With two years of high school left, the immediate focus for Zeller, who has a scholarship offer from IU, is improving over the summer and gelling with his Indiana Elite teammates.

“I need to get stronger. It will help my defense and rebounding,” Zeller said. “I’m just trying to figure out my role. In high school I was having to shoot the most but with this team I don’t have to shoot as much. I’m trying to figure out what I need to do to help the team win.”

This weekend I’ll be in Louisville for the Grassroots Shootout, an event organized by Eddie Ford. Tournament play kicks off Friday night at 6:00 p.m. at the Hoops facility in the east end of Louisville. Pool play will continue through Saturday with the finals being held early on Sunday. A complete schedule of the event can be found here.

Among the top players and teams I’ll be keeping an eye out for (and hopefully grabbing some video of):

• Cody Zeller (Washington HS) and Spencer Turner (Bloomington South) from the Indiana Elite One 17 & U team. (Matt Carlino and Marshall Plumlee will reportedly not make the trip to this weekend’s event.)
• D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera (North Central)
• Obij Aget (Central Park, Birmingham, AL) and Hanner Perea (Central Park, Birmingham, AL). Both Aget and Perea are a part of Mark Adams’ A-HOPE Foundation.
• Former Kentucky commitment and sophomore-to-be Michael Avery
• Justin Gant (Terre Haute North) and Jeremiah Davis (Muncie Central)
• Team Southern Indiana Red, a team organized by Matt Denison that won the Indyball.com Tournament last weekend.

In unrelated site news, beginning this Monday, April 20, we will begin a bi-weekly live chat on the site. The chat will be moderated by myself and Chris Korman of the H-T/Hoosier Scoop and will be available here and on the Scoop. It will take place at 7:30 p.m. The plan is to have guests join us from time-to-time to field questions and also discuss all things Indiana basketball.