- Matt Dollinger of the Indiana Daily Student has a great piece on Bloomington North sophomore-to-be Ray McCallum Jr. I first saw Ray Jr. at the Kentucky Hoopfest last month and came away very impressed.

After seeing him again at the New Albany Barnstorming Tour game a couple weeks ago, I was even more convinced that he’s got a chance to be an All-Conference player wherever he ends up. Of course IU fans are most interested in hearing that he’ll be a Hoosier and the younger McCallum seems to be warming to the idea:

“I still want to play for my dad,” McCallum said. “But I’m looking more these days at IU.”

- Jody Demling of the Louisville Courier-Journal caught up with Matt Roth and it’s looking favorable that IU could get good news from Roth very soon. Roth is down to St. Louis and Indiana and here are his most recent thoughts on the Hoosiers:

“I feel for as late as it was in the summer for them to start calling me, I’ve built the best possible relationship on a short notice,” Roth told The Courier-Journal in a phone interview on Monday. “It’s still growing, but it’s going in a positive direction.”

- Last, but not least, Dashan Harris appears to be favoring Texas A & M. The Monteverde (FL) Academy point guard recently visited the Aggies and a commitment could be imminent (subscription required).

“Things are going good. I just took an unofficial visit to Texas A&M yesterday,” Harris said. “It went pretty well. It went real well. I was real impressed with the school.”

“They are high on my list,” Harris said. “It (a commitment) could be a possibility.”

Earlier this summer, the IU coaching staff appeared to be hot on the trail of both Harris and Lewis Jackson. However, interest in Jackson fizzled and Harris is less of a priority simply because IU has plenty of options at the point guard position over the next few seasons.

The biggest news on the recruiting front that IU fans should be aware of is the offer that was extended to Washington, Illinois guard Matt Roth. Mike Pegram of Peegs.com broke the news and it came as a surprise to most. The offer was the third for Roth (St. Louis and Bradley have also offered), but it sounds like the shooting touch displayed by Roth this week could make him an even hotter commodity down the road. From that standpoint, it’s probably a good thing that IU is entering the picture with the Indiana Elite guard now rather than later.

I spoke to Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal earlier this evening about Roth and he told me that he’s been very impressed with Roth’s performances (specifically the one where he nailed seven threes) this week. Apparently he’s one of the best shooters in the country. With that said, the possibility of Roth coming to IU is quite intriguing.

Two other prominent IU targets, guards Dashan Harris (LA Dream Team) and Lewis Jackson (Indiana Elite) have also played well this week. Both have IU offers and my sense is that the Hoosiers will take whichever is ready to make the pledge first. I’ve been asked by a few people which guy I’d prefer to have and that’s a hard question to answer considering I’ve only been privileged to video of both. I think either guy would fit in well, but I get the sense that Jackson is the more likely get for Coach Sampson and staff.

It sounds like Marquette is the school to beat for Chicago forward Josh Crittle. Crittle is by no means an immediate difference maker, but he’s the type of blue collar player that Kelvin Sampson goes after and turns into a solid four-year contributor.

And one final note, regarding the play of Bud Mackey this week. While he’s been out of action for quite a while rehabbing his knee, there’s no doubt that Mackey is a better player today than he was at the end of last season. He’s putting in the necessary work to get back to full strength and he’s got his eye on defending the Kentucky state title with his Scott County (KY) teammates. He’ll also be a top Mr. Basketball candidate and could play his way onto the McDonald’s All-American team if the dominoes fall in line.

In a story by Greg Jones in today’s Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette, Jones spoke out on his decision to evaluate his options and why he made it:

“It wasn’t the Indiana coaches or anything,” Jones told the Herald-Times. “I still like them a lot. I just thought I needed to look at other schools. I felt like I hadn’t really taken the time to make the decision.”

Expect Jones to look the hardest at Cincinnati, UCLA and Missouri, three schools that were in the mix for him before he committed to Indiana back in November. Vaughn also mentioned that Illinois, Miami (FL) and Tennessee could get involved.

As far as the effect this will have on the 2008 class for Indiana, don’t expect it to be significant if Jones does indeed end up elsewhere. The Hoosiers are loaded with guards for this season (Eric Gordon, Armon Bassett, Jamarcus Ellis, A.J. Ratliff and Jordan Crawford) and have top 40 recruit Bud Mackey already on board for 2008.

You never like to lose an in-state kid, particularly one that is a great scorer like Jones, but expect the Hoosiers to ramp up their efforts to land point guard Dashan Harris, who already has an IU offer and would fit in well with Mackey and Devin Ebanks in the 2008 class.