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Monday roundup: D.J. adds a move, Mackey surfaces in Vegas

by in Media | July 23rd, 2007

D.J. White- The praise for D.J. White for his performances with the United States team leading up to the Pan American Games continues to come rolling in. Haverford, a blog that is following the team, has the latest on IU’s top returning scorer:

When the D stretched to account for Foster’s hot hand, White assaulted Jason Fraser with an array of hook shots and drop steps inside. D.J.’s hook is a throw-back to an earlier era with a contemporary influence. Both the traditional sky hook and White’s “power hook” are released with one hand with the off-arm pointed directly at the basket. The sky hook circa 1976 was a finesse shot, taken from a slight running start. But White doesn’t need the momentum or the leg kick often associated with the move to pour in his points. By dropping his beefy shoulder into his defender’s chest, he adds a powerful component to the high release point in order to hit this shot from the low post.

Sounds like D.J. is adding a nice hook shot to go along with his patented turnaround baseline jumper. If it continues to develop, he’ll be even more unstoppable on the low block.

- Bud Mackey, IU’s first commitment for the 2008 class, has landed with the Indiana Elite AAU team. Currently he’s participating in the Adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas, the biggest AAU tournament of the summer. This is Mackey’s first AAU action in quite a while due to a torn meniscus suffered at the end of last season.

Also playing on the Indiana Elite team are IU targets Tyler Zeller and Lewis Jackson. Through their first two contests of the event, Indiana Elite is 0-2. According to Jody Demling, coach Kelvin Sampson watched Indiana Elite yesterday along with UK coach Billy Gillispie, UNC coach Roy Williams and Illinois coach Bruce Weber.

Is this D.J.’s last year at IU?

by in Media | July 19th, 2007

white.jpegD.J. White has the option to come back for a fifth year at IU if he so desires. But will he?

Well, Kelvin Sampson doesn’t seem to think so. From Andy Katz at the WWL:

Although listed as a senior, White could return to Indiana next season after receiving that medical redshirt year, but that’s an unlikely proposition, Sampson said.

“But if the year plays out the way it should, then that should be a moot point,” Sampson said of White likely declaring for the draft after this season. Indiana lists White as a senior on the Web site because it’s his fourth year in school.

D.J. White’s career has been slowed by injuries, which have contributed to his return to Indiana for a fourth year.

“It’s nice to know that if something happens, he can come back,” Sampson said. “But everyone anticipates he’ll have a great senior year.”

I’d have to think Sampson’s feelings are the general consensus here. It’s going to be harder for teams to double-down on White this year with Eric Gordon lurking around out on the perimeter, which means D.J. will get the opportunity to showcase his stuff more. And, regardless of Gordon or not, White is in position to make some real noise in the Big Ten and beyond. But can he play himself into a first-round lock? Or better yet, a lottery pick?

Eh, much too early to tell. But with White recently working his way onto the Pan Am team, I certainly wouldn’t rule it out either.

Kelvin Sampson to play golf at Wolf Challenge

by in Media | July 16th, 2007

gilmore.jpgI fashion myself at least a novice golfer — and a poor one at that — but I’d never heard of “wolf golf” until today. If you are unfamiliar with it yourself, hop on over here and get your learn on, son.

In any event, IU coach Kelvin Sampson will be participating in a wolf-style golf tournament August 12 and 13 in Sellersburg, IN., with the likes of Fuzzy Zoeller, John Daly and Lee Trevino.

Rounding out the field will be I.U. men’s basketball head coach, Kelvin Sampson. This will be Sampson’s first appearance and he will be going head to head against Zoeller, Trevino and Daly utilizing the “wolf” format. This will be Sampson’s second year as the head coach, and currently boasts ten consecutive 20-win seasons and 14 straight post-season appearances. He was also named National Coach of the Year in 1995 and 2002.

All four players will be wearing microphones while competing. The competition will be an eighteen-hole match utilizing the “wolf” format. Sampson will be able to use his USGA handicap.

I don’t know about you, but this foursome seems pretty grand — especially when you throw in the microphones. You have John Daly, he of booze and wife-scratched fame, Lee Trevino, who was excellent in Happy Gilmore, and Fuzzy Zoeller, who sued a Miami-based company for defamatory marks left on his Wikipedia entry. This is an interesting group of guys.

I just hope Sampson makes it out alive.

Kelvin Sampson has a good sense of humor

by in Recruiting | July 12th, 2007

sampson.jpgIn our experience with him, if there’s one thing to know about Kelvin Sampson, it’s that he has a pretty great sense of humor. He gets bristly at times, but most jokes are well-delivered and well-received. (Ahem: most of the time. Sometimes he’s not so nice.)

Anyway, that sense of humor is probably a positive now that Kelvin’s out on the recruiting trail at IU for the first time. He’s had to take a little abuse from some old friends in the coaching fraternity:

Kelvin Sampson took it like a man. The Indiana head coach was razzed by Texas’ Rick Barnes and Minnesota’s Tubby Smith when he walked in the gym on Sunday afternoon.

“Where have you been?” joked Barnes. “Call me sometime.”

“Still got the ankle bracelet?” added Smith.

In my fantasy world, Sampson tells both of them to eff off. He tells Rick Barnes exactly how much better Texas’ last season could have been with a coach who actually knew how to utilize the once-in-a-generation talent that landed in his lap … and he tells Tubby Smith to forget about beating IU for any recruits in the next five years, because if he couldn’t recruit at Kentucky, he’ll never land anyone at Minnesota. “I recruited better than you from my living room, Tubby!”

They probably just shook hands and laughed. But a guy can dream.

(HT: The Hoosier Report)

Seth Davis sings the praises of Devin Ebanks

by in Recruiting | July 9th, 2007

davis.jpgIf you think clicking on a national writer’s column and reading a fawning take on a soon-to-be Hoosier is ever going to get old, well, you’re wrong. The latest props for an incoming IU recruit? Seth Davis’ take on Devin Ebanks, IU’s top 2008 get:

Skinny: Every kid growing up in Queens dreams of playing his college ball in … Bloomington, Indiana? That’s where Ebanks is headed next season, and the Hoosiers faithful will love what they’re getting. Ebanks reminds me of a young Rudy Gay, but mentally he’s ahead of where Gay was at this point. For example, the gold medal game at the USA Basketball Festival tipped off at 8:30 in the morning. Most of the players were barely awake when the game began, but Ebanks put himself through a hard warmup routine (he listened to an iPod as he went through the paces) and was the only guy ready to go when play started. As IU coach Kelvin Sampson likes to say, that shows he’s got a little mud in his blood.

Ain’t it great? Attracting top talent is one thing. Getting kids like Eric Gordon and Ebanks, players who seem to care every bit as much about intense self-improvement as their coach, well, what more can you ask for? Put your crimson shades on — that future is awfully bright.

Errek Suhr gets into coaching

by in Former Hoosiers | July 5th, 2007

Errek SuhrLess than four months removed from his playing days at Indiana, Errek Suhr is already back into basketball. Suhr has returned to Bloomington North, where he graduated in 2003, as an assistant coach.

Suhr talked to the Times Mail about the role coach Kelvin Sampson played in preparing Suhr to be a success in coaching:

“He’d just pull me aside during a practice and say, ‘Now this is what you should do when you are a coach,’ ” Suhr said. “He’d just talk to me about all the things you encounter as a coach.”

It’s no surprise to us that Suhr has landed this gig. When he was on the floor with the Hoosiers, he was an extension of the head coach and you could be sure good things were going to happen.

And we have no doubt that Suhr will make a successful coach. Why are we so confident in saying that? If the attitude he showed us over the past four years is any indication, nobody will outwork Errek Suhr.

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