+ Game notes for Indiana’s exhibition opener against Grace, a NAIA opponent. {IUHoosiers.com}

+ One of Indiana’s top recruiting targets in 2012, North Central’s D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, recently underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus and will be out several weeks. {Indianapolis Star}

+ Mike Hutton writes that Indiana is on the fast track with Tom Crean at the helm. {Gary Post-Tribune}

+ Kyle Neddenriep looks at five players from around the state who are under the recruiting radar, but ready to soar. Indiana is mentioned with several including Kellen Dunham, Jared Drew and Collin Hartman. {Indianapolis Star}

+ John M. over at the Indiana SBNation site previews the returning players in Indiana’s backcourt. {Crimson Quarry}

+ Andy Katz ponders the question: Could this finally be the year at Northwestern? {ESPN.com}

+ Katz writes that Wisconsin doesn’t mind being picked low in the Big Ten. The Badgers are looking for their 12th straight NCAA berth this season. {ESPN.com}

Smith-Rivera averaged 15.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 3 apg as a freshman and is rated the No. 12 prospect nationally in his class by ESPN. Inside the Hall caught up with Smith-Rivera Sunday evening for a brief Q & A:

On his Hoosier Hysteria plans:

“I was going to go the whole time. Early in the week me and my parents were talking about going to camp down in Atlanta, but we just decided to come down to IU.”

On the atmosphere of this year’s Hoosier Hysteria versus last year’s:

“The atmopshere was great. Last year it was very intense and this year they came back with even more fire. They called out my school, so I was pretty happy to hear that.”

On his relationship with AAU teammates Hanner Perea and Peter Jurkin, who also attended:

‘We all are pretty close. Another guy that was with us is Kenny Kaminski who also came down to Hoosier Hysteria and went to the football game the next day. We all are pretty close. We played down at adidas Nations together. We just hung out and created an even better bond between each other.”

On what he learned from Saturday’s open practice at Assembly Hall:

“Just how hard they work. You can really see that they want to get better and they want to become a better team. They’re all about winning games and whatever it takes to get the job done, that’s what they’re gonna do.”

On new schools that have recently expressed interest:

“Georgetown has been to my school to watch me play a few times. North Carolina has been to North Central to talk to my coach a couple of times. That’s pretty much the newest schools in my recruitment right now.”

On where Indiana stands in his recruitment:

“Right now I don’t have an exact list, but right now IU is still pretty high up there with the rest of the schools.“

Smith-Rivera arrived just before 9:00 EST wearing a red sweatshirt and took a seat beneath the basket on the north side of Assembly Hall.

+ Both of IU’s 2011 commitments, Austin Etherington (pictured) and Matt Carlino, played well. Carlino’s shot reportedly looked much better than it did over the summer.

+ 2011 Muncie Central guard Jeremiah Davis attended the camp and the buzz continues to be that IU is in great shape with him. Davis is an AAU teammate of Etherington on Indiana Elite Team Indiana.

+ Current NBA players Eric Gordon, Steve Novak and Jared Jeffries all attended the camp. Both Novak and Jeffries spoke to the campers and Novak was spotted in IU shorts.

+ 2012 campers: Lawrence Central’s Jeremy Hollowell, Southport’s Kellon Thomas, Bloomington South’s T.J. Bell and Menomonee Falls (WI)’s J.P. Tokoto. Ron Patterson did not attend and D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera is spending the weekend taking unofficial visits.

+ 2013 campers: Jeffersonville’s Darryl Baker and North Oldham (KY)’s Darryl Hicks. I had a chance to see both players over the summer and they both have a chance to be special. Jody Demling of The Louisville-Courier-Journal is reporting that Indianapolis Cathedral’s Collin Hartman and Brent and Bryson Scott of Ft. Wayne Northup attended.

+ 2011 guard/forward Aaron Thomas from Cincinnati Aiken (OH) is in Bloomington this weekend, but we’re not sure if he played in the camp. The IU staff followed Thomas closely in July at the Kentucky Hoopfest.

+ Indianapolis Pike’s Marquis Teague did not make it to the camp and all signs continue to point toward Louisville for Teague.

+ 2011 Gary Lew Wallace standout Branden Dawson opted to attend Marquette’s ’specialty’ camp according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Significant here is that Dawson is considered a Purdue lean and the Boilermakers also held a camp of their own on Saturday. The Journal Sentinel report also claims that Michael Cobbins, Vander Blue, Reggie Smith, Jeremy Lamb and DeJuan Marrero attended the Marquette camp.

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.

And a fourth could soon be on the way in the form of 2012’s D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera.

A physical guard who is regarded as one of the top prospects nationally in his class, Smith-Rivera already holds a scholarship offer from the Indiana staff. And he plans to get more familiar with Bloomington over the summer.

“I do plan to visit IU over the summer pretty often,” Smith-Rivera said at the adidas May Classic. “I like it down here. I’ve been down a few times. I came down here and visited a few weeks ago. It was nice. I enjoyed it.”

On his last visit, Smith-Rivera got a chance to see the campus and became more familiar with how Tom Crean sees him fitting in with the program.

“We watched a little bit of film,” Smith-Rivera said. “We toured around the campus and everything. I saw a lot of historic things about IU and a lot of the things that they have going on. What he’s doing for this school and everything, he thinks it fits my personality and I can really help out in this system.”

With three years of high school remaining, Smith-Rivera plans to take his time with the recruiting process. Although he plays mostly at the two at North Central, he doesn’t mind playing the one, two or even the three.

“I get in where I fit in,” he said. “I try to do what the coach needs me to do. I really don’t try to put myself in a category, I just do what I have to do to get the win.”

Besides the offer from IU, Purdue and Tennessee have also offered and Smith-Rivera broke down the way he views the atmospheres at the three frontrunners in his recruitment.

“Purdue, their atmosphere is pretty good,” he said. “IU, the atmosphere is great. I enjoy it. The crowd is into it every game. Tennessee, the chemistry is great there and everybody gets along.”

Scouting report: Smith-Rivera is fantastic at getting to the basket and more importantly, getting to the line. He’s good enough with the ball to play the point and also showed an ability to knock down the outside shot when left alone. Consider him one of the top priorities in Indiana’s 2012 recruiting efforts.

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.

D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, a 6-3 guard who already has a scholarship offer from Indiana, is considered one of the top 10 players nationally in the class of 2012 and is the focus of a story in today’s Indianapolis Star:

Three games into his high school career, the powerfully-built 6-3 guard is already an impact player, in the top three on his state-ranked team in scoring (15.3), rebounds (7.7), assists (5.3) and steals (2.3).

“He’s really, really good,” Doug Mitchell said. “He’s talented and has a great head on his shoulders. The thing that helps him, too, is that he’s physically strong.”

You can go ahead and pencil in Smith-Rivera alongside 2011 Indianapolis Pike guard Marquis Teague at the top of the priority list for IU. In order for Tom Crean to bring the program back to national prominence, it’s going to be essential to lock down the state of Indiana. And that means getting the best players throughout the state to come to Bloomington.