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Zeller opens season with 30-point, 13-rebound effort

by Alex Bozich in Recruiting | November 28th, 2010

Throughout the season, Inside the Hall will keep you posted on how 2011 signees Austin Etherington and Cody Zeller, IU’s seven verbal commitments and other notable prospects being recruited by the Hoosiers, are performing at their respective schools.

You can send us stats or results for this report at insidethehall@gmail.com. Here’s our latest update:

2011 SIGNEES

+ Austin Etherington (Hamilton Heights): Six points in 62-54 overtime loss at Lebanon on November 24. 16 points (three 3-pointers) in 58-54 win at Mt. Vernon on November 27.

+ Cody Zeller (Washington): 30 points and 13 rebounds in a 70-42 rout of Barr-Reeve on November 24.

2012 COMMITMENTS

+ Hanner Perea (La Porte La Lumiere): Nine points and 10 rebounds against Rakeem Christmas and Academy of the New Church (PA) on November 25. 15 points and 17 rebounds against the nation’s No. 1 prep school, Findlay, on November 26. La Lumiere also played Brehm Prep (IL) on November 27, but no stats were available as of early Sunday morning.

+ Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell (Park Tudor): Following his commitment to IU, Ferrell scored 13 points as Park Tudor crushed University, 78-29, on November 24. Park Tudor moved to 2-0 with a 53-36 win at Indianapolis Washington on November 27. Ferrell had 17 points, four steals, four assists, six turnovers and one rebound. (Thanks to Chris Engel for the stats.)

+ Peter Jurkin (United Faith Christian Academy, NC): No information available.

+ Ron Patterson (Broad Ripple): Will open season on December 3 at Guerin Catholic.

2012 CLASS

+ Gary Harris (Hamilton Southeastern): 32 points in 84-78 win over Indianapolis Northwest on November 27.

+ Jeremy Hollowell (Lawrence Central): 22 points, including four 3-pointers, in 61-55 loss to Lawrence North at Hinkle Fieldhouse on November 24.

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Tags: Austin Etherington, Cody Zeller, Hanner Perea, Yogi Ferrell

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Ferrell Sr: “I’m thinking maybe IU”

by Zachary Osterman in Recruiting | November 11th, 2010

Cody Zeller’s commitment was always expected to immediately impact Indiana’s overall recruiting picture, particularly with Zeller’s close friend Yogi Ferrell. Hearing the words today made presumption reality, according to Ferrell’s father, Kevin Ferrell Sr.

“I think it does accelerate it,” Ferrell Sr. said of his son’s recruiting process, adding that Yogi has “always wanted to play with Cody.”

“There might be a process that he may go there,” Ferrell Sr. told Inside the Hall. “As it stands right now, I’m thinking maybe IU.”

Landing Zeller’s commitment, probably as sought after as any in Indiana basketball’s last 30 years, has fans hopeful that his joining the fold will open the door for fellow top recruits.

Success certainly breeds success in the game, but given the relationship between Zeller and several top prospects — most notably Ferrell — grabbing the 2011 forward was crucial for Indiana in numerous ways. Such a shift in Ferrell’s overall process, which Kevin Sr. described as “wide open,” appears to be good news for Hoosier fans.

Yogi Ferrell has long been considered an IU lean, something Kevin Sr. acknowledged Thursday. Between the chance to play with some of close AAU teammates — including Zeller, Austin Etherington, Peter Jurkin and 2012 forward Hanner Perea – and the opportunity to put Indiana back in the forefront of college basketball’s collective consciousness, Indiana has a lot to offer the younger Ferrell.

“The challenge of getting IU back on its feet is intriguing to Yogi,” his father said.

The next step in the process, according to Ferrell Sr., will be a family sitdown, to try and pin down Yogi’s next move, which could include one or two visits. Indiana clearly sits well in any such discussion.

Not lost on the Ferrells either is the fact that Indiana has an obvious need at point guard in the 2012 class, a need Yogi Ferrell would fill nicely. Rivals rates Ferrell as the No. 2 point guard in his class, and No. 17 overall. The recruiting service considers him a five-star prospect, No. 2 overall in the state of Indiana in his class. Committing to IU would pair him with Rivals’ No. 1 in the Hoosier state, Hanner Perea.

And from his father’s perspective, Indiana fits nicely as well. It’s close, it’s about to be saturated with what Ferrell described as “good kids, good caliber kids,” and there’s an obvious slot at Ferrell’s preferred position.

“I think IU would be my preference,” he said. “(The) fit would just complement him well right now.”

Tags: Austin Etherington, Cody Zeller, Hanner Perea, Yogi Ferrell

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Oh, what a day

by Staff in Media | November 11th, 2010

Inside the Hall, it appears, has survived the decision of Cody Zeller to commit and then sign a Letter of Intent with Indiana.

In an effort to deliver a compact way to navigate all of the day’s coverage, here’s an all-inclusive link buffet. We’ll keep it pinned at the top for the time being. Navigate away, friends:

+ Korman: Cody Zeller to IU: What it all means
+ Video: Zeller makes the call: It’s Indiana
+ Audio: Cody Zeller press conference
+ Video: Zeller discusses decision to attend IU
+ It’s Indiana for Cody Zeller
+ Tom Crean talks Cody Zeller and Austin Etherington
+ Video: Crean on national signing day
+ Hoosier Scoop Audio: Crean discusses the 2011 class
+ Hoosier Scoop Audio: Tim Buckley discusses the 2011 class
+ Hoosier Scoop Audio: Bennie Seltzer discusses the 2011 class
+ Hoosier Scoop Audio: Steve McClain discusses the 2011 class
+ Scholarship numbers following Etherington, Zeller LOI’s

Tags: Austin Etherington, Cody Zeller, Tom Crean

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Tom Crean talks Cody Zeller and Austin Etherington

by Ryan Corazza in Recruiting | November 11th, 2010

Per a release from IU Media Relations, here’s Tom Crean’s comments this early evening about his latest recruit, Cody Zeller:

“When I look at Cody Zeller, I see a great teammate. I see a young man that has mental toughness that is not normal. I see a young man that has endurance and a will about him that is going to pay dividends at Indiana and for many years after that. Obviously he is a year-round winner from the programs that he is in. He plays for one of the finest coaches in all of high school basketball in Gene Miiller and the proof is there in his record.

“But getting to know Cody and getting to know his family, much like Austin’s, it would have been an absolute shame to not be surrounded by those guys and what they mean as people. The basketball is going to be without question, there is no doubt about that. Cody will continue to improve and the rate of improvement that he has been in over the last year and then watching where he was at over the summer to where he is at now…when you use the phrase “the sky is the limit,” you can put Cody Zeller’s name next to it. I see no ceiling right now for that young man.

“Athletically, ability-wise, stature…but when you look at the entire package and what he has as a human being that is what makes him stand out for us. He is as good of a defensive rebounder as I have ever recruited, not just because of his size but because of his tenaciousness. He has improved his range, he has improved his skill set. He is outstanding at the elbow area and is very good around the post. But what he is getting now more than ever is the ability to shoot the ball from range.”

Oh, and Austin Etherington, too:

“I remember the first time I saw him play in an open gym workout, he had been injured his sophomore year, but there was no doubt that we saw enough inside that first workout to go back the next week. From that, we got hooked on this young man’s athletic ability, on his ability to shoot the ball, on his ability to built a physical nature, even though he was not that physical-type of kid.

“But the thing I love is that he loves basketball. He has a high-level of athletic upside and this summer is when he really started to take shape. One thing that is big in our recruiting is that we want to recruit year-round winners and certainly Austin is that way. Whether it is the winter time or the summertime, he is a year-round winner.”

Tags: Austin Etherington, Cody Zeller, Tom Crean

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Audio: Cody Zeller press conference

by Alex Bozich in Media | November 11th, 2010

Listen to the comments of 2011 Washington forward and IU signee Cody Zeller from his press conference earlier today at the Hatchet House in the embedded media player below:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Tags: Cody Zeller

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Video: Zeller talks about decision to attend IU

by Alex Bozich in Video | November 11th, 2010

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Cody Zeller to IU: What it all means

by Chris Korman in Commentary | November 11th, 2010

Tom Crean did it.

He walked into a gym on the first day he was allowed to, found just the man he wanted to — Washington boys’ basketball coach Gene Miiller — and discussed the player he knew he needed to have, and finally got today: Cody Zeller.

This was in the spring of 2008, not long after Crean took the head coaching job at Indiana. Originally unable to recruit on the road due to sanctions stemming from NCAA violations committed by Kelvin Sampson and his staff, Crean received clearance to head out on the road for a few days during the early period. He attended the Top 100 workout at Ben Davis. Upon walking into the long hallway leading to the gym, he saw Miller and stalked straight to him.

This was, even then, about Cody Zeller.

At the time, Zeller could hardly walk. His feet seemed as big, heavy and nimble as cinder blocks. The rest of him was rail thin. Guards whose bodies had filled out earlier would muscle him in the post. Wings with better coordination swooped past him often. While he was certainly a valuable high school and AAU player at the time, you had to know something about the Zellers before you could realize how important landing him was.

Not that Indiana had pushed for Luke. Mike Davis barely gave him a look. While that didn’t cause too much consternation among the fan base — the first Zeller was not all that hyped — it did cause some concern. To many it felt as though Indiana should have at least handled the situation with more class; it always paid, they felt, to recruit top players in Indiana and find a way to make them a part of the program if that is their desire.

Kelvin Sampson did recruit Tyler Zeller, and he and his staff felt they were in good position with the middle brother. During Sampson’s first year, the Hoosiers showed traits that anybody who cares about basketball the way people from Indiana do adore: hustle, dedication to defense, desire to rebound. That appealed to Tyler. What happened next didn’t. Sampson became distracted by the violation situation, and the players on his team lost discipline. The culture didn’t feel right for the Zellers, and they knew trouble was on the horizon.

So as the dust settled or the clouds lifted or the smoke cleared — whatever it was that happened in those first days after Crean arrived — it became abundantly clear that recruiting Cody Zeller would be important. Even as gawky sophomore, Zeller showed as much — if not more — promise than his brothers. He’d had to play them over and over in family games, after all. But this much was inevitable, too: he was the type of player that traditional IU fans wanted the team to be built around. He’s not flashy. He appreciates the fundamentals. He keeps it simple. He plays with gusto.

Crean knew this then, and Zeller’s importance only grew over the next few years. He showed a strong inside-outside game, something Crean loves. He got stronger. He bonded with other players around the state during a time when, even by Indiana’s lofty standards, the classes were pretty impressive. He showed that he was a winner.

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Tags: Cody Zeller

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