The easy on-court comparison for class of 2016 guard Vijay Blackmon is his older brother, James, who committed to Indiana back in the fall of 2010 and is a member of the program’s 2014 recruiting class.
They share similar builds and can do many of the same things on the floor.
But it might not be the best comparison off the court according to their father, James Blackmon Sr., their high school coach and a former McDonald’s All-American who played at Kentucky.
“It’s so funny, you can have three or four kids and they can have different personalities,” Blackmon Sr. said over the weekend at the Spiece Run-N-Slam in Fort Wayne. “James and Vijay are totally different. Vijay has some qualities that James doesn’t have. James has some qualities that Vijay doesn’t have.”
“I’d say I’m more of a laid back type of guy,” James Blackmon Jr. says. “Vijay is always talking when he gets home about his games non-stop.”
As a freshman at Class 2A Ft. Wayne Leurs, Vijay joined his brother in the starting lineup and helped lead the school to a sectional crown. He averaged 12.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
Next year, he’ll play at Class 4A Marion, which recently hired Blackmon Sr., an alum, to rejuvenate a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2008-2009. It’s a challenge the whole family is looking forward to.
“It’s a good opportunity for my dad and I want to play for him,” Vijay noted. “So I’m going to go with him.”
“It’s going to be an emotional feeling having your own kid play in the same gym that you played in,” Blackmon Sr. said. “Within that atmosphere and that environment, I knew how it was when I played. We had 6,000 people in that gym and the tradition was really strong. Marion is a little down now. If we can generate some energy back in there, it will be pretty exciting.”
The growth of Vijay’s game could be a big factor in just how far the Giants can come next season.
At 6-foot-2 and 165 pounds, adding strength in the offseason is an important goal for him and one that his older brother says he’s attacked head on so far in the offseason.
“He’s been developing ever since the high school season got over, working on his shot and working on his strength,” Blackmon Jr. said. “I think he’s gotten a lot stronger as you can see out there.”
Vijay got the opportunity to travel with the Spiece Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) team for the April evaluation periods to gain some experience in that environment, but was back on the court last weekend at the Spiece Fieldhouse playing with his 15-and-under team.





James Blackmon Jr. is putting together a fantastic spring with Spiece Indy Heat as the class of 2014 Indiana commit has proven himself as one of the nation’s most efficient perimeter scorers in Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) play.
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — The 20th annual Bill Hensley Memorial Run-N-Slam Classic tipped off Friday night at Spiece Fieldhouse and Inside the Hall was there to get a look at several prospects, including 2014 commit James Blackmon Jr., Trevon Bluiett, JaQuan Lyle, Eron Gordon, Vijay Blackmon, Caleb Swanigan and Carlton Bragg.
This weekend marked the second of two April evaluation periods, and the premier event was session two of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) in Hampton at the Boo Williams Sportsplex.
This weekend marked the first of two April evaluation periods, and one of the nation’s top events was session one of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) in Los Angeles.
