The summer is winding down for Naadir Tharpe, though you wouldn’t know it by the recent flurry of activity that’s marked his recruitment.

After Tharpe’s New England Playaz took home top honors at the West Virginia Hoop Group Jam Fest last week, Tharpe revealed to Inside the Hall that he’s picked up a trio of recent offers.

Virginia, Marquette and Minnesota have all now extended a scholarship to the Class of 2011 point guard, who backed out of his verbal commitment to Providence earlier this year and has started to tally an impressive list of suitors.

Thus far, however, Indiana has not decided to write its name on that list, though Tharpe said the Hoosiers are keeping the lines of communication open.

“Coach (Tim) Buckley and I, we communicate a lot,” Tharpe said by phone Sunday night, adding, “I just know basically offensively, they get up and down pretty fast, and that’s the game that I play.”

Indiana is paying close attention, according to Tharpe, who said he feels his best basketball has come recently, coinciding with his team’s improved play.

“What got us going was our defense,” Tharpe said of his squad’s performance in the Jam Fest event. He said he’s worked hard to improve defensively and involve his teammates whenever possible.

“I’ve been playing a lot better.”

Tharpe’s whirlwind summer is nearly over. The Playaz will go to the adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas and then stop in Phoenix for the Desert Duel. The second July evaluation period starts this week, putting the ball in IU’s court once more regarding Tharpe. The 5-foot-11 floor general certainly has plenty of respect to send the other way.

“I know that they have a great program,” he said.

Related:

+ Naadir Tharpe confirms IU interest, keeping options open
+ Naadir Tharpe picks up interest from Indiana
+ Meet Brewster Academy point guard Naadir Tharpe

(Photo credit: Rivals.com)

After assistant coach Pat Skerry left Providence College in late May to take a similar position at Pittsburgh, 2011 point guard Naadir Tharpe decided to re-think his verbal commitment he’d made to the Big East school less than three months earlier.

As a result, the 6-0, 160-pound Tharpe, who plays at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro (NH), has picked up interest from several schools, including Indiana.

“I talk to Coach (Tim) Buckley a lot,” Tharpe told Inside the Hall. “Basically we talk about how they see me fitting in their system. It’s all good stuff. I’m just waiting to see if they give me an offer.”

Like several other IU targets and commitment Austin Etherington, Tharpe was invited to last week’s NBA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville (VA). He said the experience was an opportunity to go head-to-head with some of the best point guards in the country.

“The NBA Camp went well because there were a lot of point guards there that were highly ranked and the best players in my class,” he said. “It was a great experience for me. Last summer I had a problem with my ankle. This summer and spring are going well so far.”

Having just opened his recruitment up earlier this month, Tharpe has yet to put together a definite list of schools that he’ll consider and said he’s open to any school that shows interest. And while he hasn’t talked with the Indiana staff about a trip to Bloomington, it’s not out of the question.

“Yeah, I would definitely want to go out there and take a visit,” Tharpe said. “I’m just going to play the summer, see how I do and then take it from there this fall once I get back to school.”

Continue reading this post »

Naadir Tharpe, Scout.com’s No. 12 point guard nationally in the 2011 class, has a new school expressing interest: Indiana.

Assistant coach Tim Buckley watched the 5-11 point guard work out a couple of weeks ago at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire and Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports tweeted last week that the Hoosiers were coming on strong.

“It seems like we’re going to start building a relationship together,” Tharpe said. “I haven’t spoken to Coach Crean yet, but I was talking to one of the assistant coaches and he said that Coach Crean was going to come back up to Brewster to see me. So we’ll just see how that goes.”

Tharpe, who listed Arizona as his top school over the summer, appears to be wide open and is looking forward to learning more about the IU program.

“I really don’t know a lot about the program, but something I do know is that usually it’s a really good, winning program,” he said. “I know that Coach Crean is a really tough coach and he works his players hard to strive to be the best. I want to know more about Indiana, that’s why I’m going to keep on talking to the coaches.”

Continue reading this post »

If you’re following us on Twitter, you may have noticed an update from Fox Sports writer Jeff Goodman regarding Indiana coming on strong for 2011 point guard Naadir Tharpe.

Tharpe is a 5-11 point guard at Brewster Academy (NH) and is rated No. 62 nationally by Scout.com and No. 80 by Rivals.com. In April, Tharpe told WildcatSportsReport.com that he could potentially re-classify to 2010: “It’s like this – I am at Brewster Academy right now and a 2011 player. I was looking things over with my Coach and if my grades are right and the college is perfect for me next year then I could possibly become a 2010 player.”

Here’s an interview with Tharpe, which was filmed in July at the adidas Super 64: