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Posts Tagged James Blackmon Jr.

No shortage of visitors expected for IU-Michigan

by in Recruiting | September 29th, 2010

When IU (3-0) and Michigan (4-0) kick-off Saturday at 3:30 on ESPNU, Tom Crean and his staff are expected to be in the midst of hosting one of the most impressive list of visitors on a single weekend since Crean’s arrival in Bloomington.

According to their Twitter accounts, Hamilton Heights’ Austin Etherington (pictured), Hamilton Southeastern’s Gary Harris, Lawrence Central’s Jeremy Hollowell and LaPorte La Lumiere’s Hanner Perea will all be in attendance on unofficial visits.

(Edit: Cody Zeller will also be in Bloomington, according to a message board post by Mike Pegram on Peegs.com. Zeller is scheduled to take his first official visit, to Butler, next weekend.)

Park Tudor’s Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell, a frequent visitor to Bloomington, could also attend but homecoming at his high school may prevent that from happening.

Ferrell and Perea were both in Bloomington last weekend for IU football’s 35-20 win over Akron.

Also expected: 2012 Detroit Pershing guard Sherron Dorsey-Walker, 2013 Jeffersonville guard Darryl Baker, 2013 Warren Central forward Devin Davis Jr, and 2013 Heritage Christian guard Basil Smotherman.

2014 commit James Blackmon Jr. will be participating at the John Lucas Basketball Resources Midwest Invitational Camp in Louisville this weekend.

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Lyles adds his name to Indiana’s 2014 class

by in Recruiting | September 26th, 2010

In 2014, I will be 27. Barack Obama, should he be re-elected, will be less than three years from his constitutionally-mandated removal from office. And Trey Lyles will begin his freshman year in Bloomington.

The 6-foot-9 forward from Indianapolis’ Tech High School, already considered one of the state’s top prospects in the 2014 class, joined friend and AAU teammate James Blackmon Jr. on Sunday when he gave Indiana a verbal commitment. Our fellows at the Hoosier Scoop have the details.

Lyles joins Blackmon, a long-armed guard who plays for his father — former Kentucky standout James Blackmon Sr. — at Bishop Luers in Fort Wayne. Some interesting stuff from Hugh Kellenberger’s post:

“It is what Trey wanted to do,” said Tom Lyles, his father. “He has been talking about it for a while. I had told him, ‘No, you don’t want to do that for a while.’ But he was adamant. Me and him and his mom talked about it and he proved positive that he wanted to play for coach Crean and IU.”

We’ll try to get in touch with Lyles and his family in the next day or so. In the meantime, feel free to chew on this and leave your thoughts below. Hope your Sunday was enjoyable.

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James Blackmon Jr. gives Indiana verbal commitment

by in Recruiting | September 3rd, 2010

UPDATE: 12:17 p.m. Friday

Just got off the phone with James Blackmon Sr. who said Tom Crean and Indiana’s coaching staff made his son feel “welcomed” throughout their recruitment, making last night’s decision easy.

“He made us feel welcomed, answered a lot of questions,” Blackmon Sr. said. “(Blackmon Jr.) had a lot of questions.”

Indiana’s recruitment of Blackmon Jr. really took shape over the summer, when his father said the Hoosiers got plenty of chances to see James play. The player also visited Indiana’s Elite Camp over the summer.

By the time he came down to visit last night, Blackmon Sr. said the last step in the process was easy to take.

“It just felt like this was a good opportunity,” he said. “I think Coach Crean is headed in the right direction.”

Blackmon Sr., who was a McDonald’s All-American at Marion High School and a standout guard at Kentucky, is his son’s coach at Bishop Luers in Fort Wayne. The elder Blackmon won state titles at the school in 2008 and 2009 with DeShaun Thomas, now a freshman at Ohio State. So his son’s pedigree is inherited from his father in more ways than one.

November 2013 is the earliest Blackmon Jr. can sign a letter of intent, but he’s already drawn rave reviews. ESPN has him ranked among the top 10 players in the ’14 class, and their top shooting guard. He is the only committed player in ESPN’s 2014 top 40, and it should also be noted he’s the only in-state player on that list.

Like many other recruits that have come through Bloomington since April, the Blackmons were particularly impressed by Cook Hall. More than that, Blackmon Sr. said, he was impressed by the convenience of having Cook Hall and Assembly Hall so close to the northwest dormitories.

“It was just so convenient,” Blackmon Sr. said. “It was exciting to be able to walk through (Cook Hall).”

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