“Hall Notes” is a gathering of news clips mixed with opinion that, on their own, probably wouldn’t have made it on Inside the Hall. But throw them all together and well, here we go …

+ Kyrie Irving (pictured) hosted the Duke coaching staff on Wednesday night for the first of his in-home visits. On Thursday, both Devils Illustrated (Rivals) and The Devils Den (Scout) decided that squeezing every pro-Blue Devil comment out of Irving was the perfect way to cause an uproar on the IU message boards. It worked. Remember, it’s far from uncommon for a recruit to gush about a visit immediately after it happens. The Indiana coaching staff will make their way to Elizabeth (NJ) on Sunday to meet with Irving and barring any scheduling changes, he’ll visit Bloomington on the weekend of October 3.

+ Moses Morgan will visit Indiana this weekend and Dustin Dopirak of The Herald-Times caught up with the 6-5 wing before he boarded his flight to Indianapolis. If Morgan’s comments are any indication, the commitment of Victor Oladipo earlier this week will not factor into his decision. DePaul, Minnesota, Arizona State and Clemson are also in the running for Morgan.

+ Tom Crean announced the hiring of Drew Adams and Mason Revelette in a press release on Wednesday night. Adams, 24, will be the coordinator of basketball systems and Revelette, 22, will be a graduate assistant. Most of the chatter concerning the announcement has centered around Adams, who has strong ties to the Indiana Elite AAU program. Adams served as a student assistant the past two seasons at Tennessee and is a graduate of Bloomington South where he played for three seasons.

+ Kyle Neddenriep of The Indianapolis Star reported on Thursday that the IHSAA is close to ruling on the eligibility of Bloomington South guard and IU commitment Matt Carlino. According to Carlino’s father Mark, a decision is expected in the “next week or so.”

+ Mike Pegram of Inside Indiana/Peegs.com tweeted late on Wednesday that Marquis Teague could potentially visit Indiana on Saturday. At this point, it’s hard to view Teague as anything but a heavy lean to Louisville.

Here’s what we’ve been able to piece together from Saturday’s Elite Camp that took place at 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.

Until recently, the idea of prized 2011 Indianapolis Pike guard Marquis Teague playing college basketball somewhere other than Louisville was hard to imagine.

Teague’s father, Shawn, played for Louisville coach Rick Pitino at Boston University. And after the Louisville coach passed on Marquis’ older brother Jeff, a NBA first round pick this past June, Pitino and his staff set their sights on the younger Teague as the cornerstone for their 2011 class.

But the whispers of a Teague commitment to Louisville have all but gone silent after The Louisville Courier-Journal revealed last week that Pitino admitted to having sex with Karen Sypher and then paid her $3,000 for health insurance which was used for an abortion.

And while Louisville Athletic Director Tom Jurich and President James Ramsey have publicly backed Pitino following his public apology last week, this story still has twists and turns to navigate further. There are pending federal charges against Sypher for attempting to extort up to $10 million from Pitino. Until Sypher’s trial is resolved, she’s perfectly capable of doing even more damage to Pitino’s crumbling reputation.

So where, you ask, does Marquis Teague fit into this equation? For now, Shawn Teague told Jody Demling last week that the latest Pitino news changes nothing in his son’s recruitment:

“It hasn’t changed a thing for us. Of course, I want to see some things fall out a little bit more. Things happen and things can change – even with this situation – and we still have to look to see if anything is going to happen as a result of what did happen. But in terms of who Rick Pitino is and how I feel about him and how my family and Marquis feel about him, there’s no change in that whatsoever.”

With the uncertainty of Pitino’s job status moving forward and two years of high school remaining for Teague, it’s hard to imagine a commitment to Louisville being anything close to imminent. Which puts Indiana and other schools in position to continue making a push for Teague while Pitino tries to convince the guard and his family that he’ll be in Louisville two years from now. Consider the recruitment of Teague far from over.

For my money, Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis is one of the better college basketball journalists in all of the land. Most of you probably know him best from his work in the studio alongside Greg Gumbel on CBS, but Davis also writes columns for SI and published When March Went Mad earlier this year.

Since most of us are trained to read recruiting writings from the likes of Jody Demling of The Louisville Courier-Journal or Dave Telep of Scout.com, it’s not often that we get the opinion of a scribe who normally doesn’t follow recruiting as a religion.

Davis hit the recruiting trail hard last week and today published his scouting reports of several of the nation’s top players, including three IU recruiting targets:

Kyrie Irving, 6-2, 175, Elizabeth, N.J.: Irving is the point guard at St. Patrick’s High, which includes 6-8 junior Michael Gilchrist, whom I wrote about last week. You think that’s a tough inside-outside combo? Irving isn’t as strong as Selby, but he is such a deft ball-handler with a mean crossover that he repeatedly gets by his defender in the half court. Irving is more of a true point guard than a scorer, and his outgoing personality enables him to be a strong leader. His recruitment seems to be wide open, but his coach at St. Patrick’s, Kevin Boyle, told me that Indiana, spearheaded by its assistant Roshown McLeod, a New Jersey native who played for Bob Hurley at St. Anthony, has been working especially hard to get him.

(more…)

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}

The July evaluation period kicks off Monday for college coaches and their assistants. And with coaches being unable to attend AAU tournaments in the month of April, July’s evaluation period has even more importance in 2009.

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.

With the summer evaluation period set to begin next week, Scout.com expanded their rankings for the 2011 class to include 75 prospects.

And several players being pursued by Indiana made the list.

Matt Carlino, the only player committed to Indiana in the 2011 class, is No. 72. Carlino recently transferred from Highland (AZ) to Bloomington South and is playing this spring with Indiana Elite.

Among the notables (High school and AAU team in parentheses):

+ Marquis Teague (Indianapolis Pike; Spiece): No. 6

+ Branden Dawson (Gary Lew Wallace, SYF Players): No. 26

+ Marshall Plumlee (Arden Christ School, NC; Indiana Elite): No. 35

+ Chasson Randle (Rock Island, IL; Illinois Wolves): No. 49

+ Austin Etherington (Hamilton Heights; Indiana Elite): No. 57

+ Cody Zeller (Washington HS; Indiana Elite): No. 59

Rivals.com also released an updated version of their 2011 rankings.