In a move that he says will place him in a program that will build around him, former Lawrence North forward Dominique Ferguson is headed to Florida International. Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports and Evan Daniels of Scout.com broke the news earlier this afternoon.

Ferguson, who recently announced plans to leave Jack Keefer’s program at Lawrence North, will play this fall at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham (VA) before playing at FIU for Isiah Thomas.

There’s no denying the talent of Ferguson, a consensus top 25 player in the 2010 class, but perceived academic and attitude issues led some of his more notable suitors to take a wait and see approach.

The 6-9 wing de-committed from Kentucky after Billy Gillispie was fired in early April. He attended Indiana’s Elite Camp in June, but did not participate due to an injury. The Indiana staff had expressed interest in Ferguson after he opened up his recruitment, but didn’t offer a scholarship.

As reported on Wednesday, 2010 forward Dominique Ferguson is transferring to Hargrave Military Academy. This is not exactly surprising given the rumors about Ferguson leaving Lawrence North started circulating over a month ago.

What is a bit surprising are the comments made by the head coach of Lawrence North, Jack Keefer, regarding Ferguson and his decision to leave the school.

Keefer has long had a reputation for accepting players from other schools, including Greg Oden, who moved from Terre Haute. More recently, Ferguson himself bolted Franklin Central to come play at Lawrence North.

But now that Ferguson is no longer one of his players, his former coach is sounding off. Remember, we’re not talking about a professional or even a college player. He’s a teenager. Witness these comments from Thursday’s Indianapolis Star:

“Dom did not fit into being a Wildcat. The workouts and the classroom work and the discipline and teamwork were not what he was looking for. We have a great team here, a possible state championship team. I’m sorry he doesn’t want to be part of that.”

“He wasn’t qualified and wasn’t taking his summer classes that he needed to get caught up.”

Hear that sound? It’s Keefer backing up his Mack truck and then running over a high school kid. Bad work ethic? Check. Trouble in the classroom? Check. Not fitting in with the team? Check.

Regardless of what you or I think about Ferguson, it’s important to remember that he’s only in high school. The fact that Keefer publicly questioned his academic work ethic is out of line regardless of whether or not it’s true. I don’t remember it being an issue during the last high school season, so it shouldn’t have been an issue now.

Related:

• Audio of Jack Keefer on The Drive with JMV
• Ferguson: They can say what they want to say

(Photo credit: Indianapolis Star)

2010 Indianapolis forward Dominique Ferguson won’t finish his high school career in the Hoosier state.

According to a report by Kyle Neddenriep of the Indianapolis Star, the 6-9 Ferguson will finish his high school career at Hargrave Military Academy.

Hargrave, located in Chatham (VA), is a military-style prep school that produced former IU players Armon Bassett and Jordan Crawford. Incoming freshman Maurice Creek attended the school last season.

The buzz that Ferguson would not return to Lawrence North started at the JR/SR all-star game at New Albany, when he didn’t show up because of a reported injury.

As recently as June 22, Ferguson told Jody Demling of the Louisville Courier-Journal that he would return to Jack Keefer’s program for his senior season.

Ferguson is considering a list of schools that includes Arizona, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Depaul, Duke, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. The Hoosiers have not offered a scholarship.

Around the Hall is recommended reading from the Inside the Hall crew.

+ Kyrie Irving backs off of comments that Indiana is his leader and says the Hoosiers are the “same as every other school.” {The Hoosier Scoop}

+ Irving tells Scout.com recruiting analyst Dave Telep that Indiana has made it clear that he’s their guy and that the Hoosiers are “all in.” {Scout.com, subscription required}

+ Former IU guard Jordan Crawford was the talk of the LeBron James Skills Academy after he dunked on the Cavs star — and then Nike confiscated the evidence. {CBS Sports}

+ Herald-Times sports editor Chris Korman writes that Crawford is no longer the happy-go-lucky kid that he was during his days in Bloomington. {Herald-Times, subscription required}

+ Indianapolis Pike point guard Marquis Teague is down to five schools: IU, Louisville, Ohio State, Purdue and Wake Forest. {The Hoosier Scoop}

+ Teague’s father, Shawn, tells the Indianapolis Star that Kentucky has offered and that his son hasn’t knocked any schools off of his list. {Indianapolis Star}

+ Lawrence North forward Dominique Ferguson refuses to say if he will return Jack Keefer’s program next season. {The Hoosier Scoop}

+ Jody Demling recaps day two of the adidas It Takes 5ive Classic. {C-J recruiting blog}

Fans of Indiana high school basketball came to New Albany on Thursday night planning to see the best from Indiana’s 2009 and 2010 classes face off.

And if the results from Tuesday’s exhibition at Benton Central and Thursday’s showdown are any indication, the debate on which class is stronger is settled. It’s the class of 2009, which rolled to a 109-94 victory. Mr. Basketball Jordan Hulls had 17 points and Derek Elston added eight points and seven rebounds.

What fans were not expecting was the absence of Lawrence North forward Dominique Ferguson, who was not listed in the game’s program just days after committing six turnovers in Tuesday’s exhibition. The official explanation: Ferguson hyper-extended his knee.

But the chatter around the gym suggested otherwise. If you are a member of a team and you’re unable to play, you show up and support your teammates, right? Ferguson didn’t do that.

Some suggested he decided not to show up on his own accord and not because of an injury. There was even buzz that Ferguson is on his way out at Lawrence North and headed to Oak Hill Academy. Call me crazy, but normally an injury doesn’t get you removed from the program, does it? (To be clear, a reader tells us Ferguson wasn’t in the program distributed at Tuesday’s game, either.)

Whatever the story is, it’s obvious that something doesn’t smell right. Which leads me to this point: On the surface, this isn’t the type of kid you build a program around. Indiana needs hard working kids who can bring stability. And at this time, talent aside, Dominique Ferguson doesn’t seem to fit that description.

Before facing Kentucky this weekend for bragging rights, the Indiana all-stars will get what may be a bigger test against the junior all-stars beginning tonight at Benton Central.

In tonight’s exhibition at 8PM, Jordan Hulls, Derek Elston and the rest of the senior stars will go head-to-head with Deshaun Thomas, Dominique Ferguson and the junior all-stars.

The team of juniors is comprised of six “core” players. Six players from the northern part of the state will team with the “core” players for tonight’s game at Benton Central. The teams will also play at 8PM Thursday at New Albany and the “core” junior players will be paired with six players from the southern part of the state.

Complete rosters are available after the jump.

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For those of you outside of the Indianapolis area, Indy Star columnist Bob Kravitz (a huge fan of blogs, by the way) hosts a weekly radio show with Eddie White on 1070 the Fan. And on today’s show, Bob & Eddie talked to 2010 Lawrence North forward Dominique Ferguson about a variety of topics, including his recruitment.

The good news? He’s still listing IU. The not-so-encouraging news? He had trouble narrowing his list down to less than ten schools. Here’s a direct link to the audio and we’ve also embedded it below for your listening pleasure:

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The surprise commitment of David Williams has left many Indiana fans trying to figure out the recruiting plan for the 2010 class. A quick glance at our scholarship numbers page shows two available spots for the 2010 class. (Three if IU wishes to oversign by one.) There’s a camp that believes that IU could hold a couple of spots for the loaded 2011 class and there are those who believe the Hoosiers will fill the two remaining spots.

Here’s a look at the names IU is recruiting for 2010:

– Kyrie Irving – Irving tops the wishlist for Indiana and several other schools because he is a versatile point guard who has the ability to make others around him better. He prominently mentions IU when speaking about his recruitment and has developed a strong relationship with Tom Crean and Roshown McLeod. Scout.com recently moved him into the top 10 of the 2010 class. IU fans will likely have a chance to see Irving in a couple of weeks as his New Jersey Roadrunners team is expected at the Adidas May Classic. Consider him the top priority in Indiana’s recruiting efforts.

– Moses Morgan – Michigan was reportedly the school to beat for Morgan until IU made a recent push for the Las Vegas guard and now the Hoosiers could be in the driver’s seat. The son of Anderson-Madison Heights product and former IU player Winston Morgan is among the top 75 players in 2010 according to Rivals.com. Jerry Meyer recently called Morgan “a physical wing prospect with a game ready for the rigors of college basketball.” Morgan plans to visit Bloomington in June.

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