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Alex Bozich is the editor and co-founder of Inside the Hall. Follow him on Twitter. Contact via email.

Indiana remains strong with 2016 forward T.J. Leaf

More than a month has passed since Foothills Christian (Calif.) forward T.J. Leaf visited Indiana for the first time. The class of 2016 prospect was in Bloomington in early September and received a scholarship offer from the Hoosiers on the visit. Now that Leaf has had more time to think about it, it's clear the Indiana option continues to resonate with him. Inside the Hall spoke with Leaf by phone from the USA Basketball national developmental team mini-camp in Colorado Springs earlier this month. "It was a really good experience being able to go to a great program like that historically and recently," he said. "It seems like I would fit really well in their system. I like coach Crean and I like all of the coaches and what they're doing there. I was just really impressed." The No. 25 prospect in the 247Composite, Leaf averaged 22 points and 11 rebounds as a freshman last season. One of his primary goals during the offseason while playing with the Compton Magic was to make himself more perimeter oriented.

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2013-2014 Player Profile: Evan Gordon

  • Alex Bozich Oct 15, 2013 3
 
2013-2014 Player Profile: Evan Gordon

With the start of college basketball season on the horizon, we’ll be taking a long look at the conference at large as well as Indiana’s roster over the next month. Today, we look at graduate senior Evan Gordon. The decision of Remy Abell to transfer last spring opened a spot on Indiana's roster and rather than letting it sit empty or award the scholarship to a walk-on, the Hoosiers quickly moved into the mix and landed Evan Gordon, a graduate transfer from Arizona State. The younger brother of former Indiana star Eric Gordon and older brother of class of 2016 target Eron Gordon, Evan arrives at the third school of his collegiate career. He explained both of his decisions to transfer (Liberty to Arizona State and Arizona State to Indiana) to reporters at media day last month. "The reason I left Liberty was to look for a bigger program and I found that in Arizona State," Gordon said. "I was hoping it was here (when he transferred from Liberty). And to leave there, it was just being away from home five or six years. This is my sixth year away from home, but now that I'm back here, it adds a different element to it." A double digit scorer in each of his three seasons of experience, Gordon brings a solid combination of shooting, ball handling and defense to the Hoosiers. He's been in the mid 30's percentage wise from behind the 3-point line throughout his career, but the strong suit of his offensive game might be in the midrange.

Tyus Battle enjoys competition at USA Basketball Camp

One of Indiana's top recruiting priorities in the class of 2016, Gill St. Bernard's School (N.J.) guard Tyus Battle, was among the elite players who participated at the USA Basketball developmental national team mini-camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Oct. 5-6. The 6-foot-5, 170 pound prospect told Inside the Hall it was a beneficial experience. "It's just competing a lot and playing against the best players in the United States," Battle told Inside the Hall. "We go after it every time we step on the floor." The camp, which had a mixture of class of 2014, 2015 and 2016 players, provided Battle the opportunity to measure himself against older players, a challenge he always looks forward to taking on. "I really like going against the older guys, the class of 2014 kids. They've got the experience and it's good to go at them," he said. "You can pick up their patience for the game, they take their time going around screens, defensively they go hard throughout the whole game. You can just pick up a lot from them."

2013-2014 Player Profile: Jeremy Hollowell

With the start of college basketball season on the horizon, we’ll be taking a long look at the conference at large as well as Indiana’s roster over the next month. Today, we look at sophomore Jeremy Hollowell. If the early returns from practice are indicative of what's to come for Jeremy Hollowell, he's in line for a major increase in his role as a sophomore in Bloomington. In his recent address to students at the IU auditorium, Tom Crean said that Hollowell was the team's leading scorer through the first five practices, but added that his efficiency wasn't where it needed to be. Crean caveated these statements by saying that "five days of stats is not a big deal. It’s the level of what he’s capable of: that’s what the big deal is." Talent has never been a question for Hollowell. At 6-foot-8, he's versatile enough to play multiple positions and score the ball from a variety of areas. He's long, reasonably athletic and competes, despite criticism from some that his body language is indicative of a player who is sometimes disinterested. Whether that last piece has any truth to it will be answered this season as Hollowell will shift from a role player to a guy who is being counted on for production on both ends of the floor.

Devin Robinson cancels UConn visit, down to four

Class of 2014 Christchurch (Va.) forward Devin Robinson is down to four schools. The 6-foot-8, 170 pound wing canceled his official visit to Connecticut that was to take place the weekend of Oct. 19. The Hartford Courant was the first to report the news. Robinson has already taken official visits to Oklahoma State, Notre Dame and Indiana and will take his final official visit this weekend to Florida.

Indiana “one of the top schools” for Bryant Crawford

Bryant Crawford of Gonzaga Prep (D.C.) has long been a recruiting priority for Indiana in the class of 2015. The No. 35 prospect nationally according to the 247Composite, Crawford missed the July evaluation periods as he underwent surgery in June to repair a tear in his meniscus. That injury didn't keep the Hoosier staff from showing up at his Team Takeover games or from coming to his high school when the recruiting period began in early September. "They were one of the first schools to come down when the coaches were allowed to come out," Crawford told Inside the Hall from the USA Basketball developmental national team mini-camp in Colorado Springs last weekend. "Even though I wasn't playing, they still came down there and talked to me for a little while." The 6-foot-2, 179 pound point guard was recently cleared to resume basketball activities and said he expects to be 100 percent for the start of his high school season. "I just got cleared Monday (Sept. 30)," he said. "I've been getting in the pool and riding the bike and since Monday I've been getting in the gym and doing a little bit of work to get back into playing shape."

Five-star Jayson Tatum talks USA Basketball, Indiana

One of the top players nationally in the class of 2016, Jayson Tatum, was a standout at last weekend's USA Basketball men's developmental national team mini-camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The No. 4 overall prospect in his class according to the 247Composite, the 6-foot-7, 190 pound wing already has offers from more than a dozen programs and his performance at the USA Basketball camp drew rave reviews from national scouts in attendance. "It's really exciting. It's a blessing," Tatum told Inside the Hall by phone from Colorado Springs. "It's fun to come out here and play against the top guys, especially the ones in your age group, the class of 2015 and the class of 2014 and just coming out here, competing and showing your talent." A member of the USA Basketball team that won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Uruguay in June, Tatum averaged 10 points and 4.6 rebounds as a reserve. His play at this past weekend's mini-camp put him in excellent shape to be picked for the U17 roster that will compete in the FIBA World Championships in Dubai next summer.

Quentin Goodin returns from injury at USA Basketball camp

Quentin Goodin wasn't going to allow a broken right hand to keep him from competing against the nation's best. The Taylor County (Ky.) guard, who is rated the No. 29 prospect in the class of 2016 according to the 247Composite, played through an injury over the weekend at the USA Basketball men's developmental national team mini-camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado. "I was playing hurt this whole weekend, trying to work things out," Goodin told Inside the Hall by phone from Colorado Springs on Sunday night. "I didn't get to play the last two games but I think showcased myself pretty well." The 6-foot-2, 175 pound point guard is among the elite players who will be considered for the men's U17 roster for the FIBA World Championships in Dubai next summer.

2013-2014 Player Profile: Yogi Ferrell

With the start of college basketball season on the horizon, we’ll be taking a long look at the conference at large as well as Indiana’s roster over the next month. Today, we look at sophomore Yogi Ferrell. Friday’s Hoosier Hysteria, ...

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Braxton Blackwell picks up Indiana offer on Hysteria visit

One of the top prospects nationally in the class of 2016 got his first taste of Indiana basketball in person over the weekend. Braxton Blackwell, a 6-foot-8, 215 pound forward at Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, talked to Inside the ...

Five takeways from Hoosier Hysteria

  • Alex Bozich Oct 5, 2013 3
 
Five takeways from Hoosier Hysteria

The 2013-2014 season got underway with Indiana's annual tip-off event - Hoosier Hysteria - Friday night in Assembly Hall. Here’s a look at five takeaways from Indiana's first public practice: · The youth must come through: Yes, Will Sheehey and Yogi Ferrell both return and played starter's minutes a season ago. And Evan Gordon arrives as a graduate senior with plenty of experience after stops at Liberty and Arizona State. But the reality beyond that is this: Indiana is very thin on experience. The Hoosiers have six freshman and three of their returning sophomores have played limited minutes. Peter Jurkin and Hanner Mosquera-Perea barely played a season ago and Jeremy Hollowell, who will be counted to shoulder a much bigger role, only averaged 9.7 minutes per game as a freshman. There will be bumps in the road early for this team, but the young talent is there to mold into a tough out come March. · Injuries aren't a major concern, yet: It wasn't a surprise that Troy Williams and Luke Fischer were held out of Hoosier Hysteria. Williams is nearly back from a right hand injury and Fischer, who's had tough luck all offseason in terms of staying healthy, is battling a shoulder injury that will keep him out a few more weeks. What we didn't know is that Noah Vonleh is out with a mild ankle injury, which kept him out of the scrimmage portion of last night's festivities. And then late in the scrimmage, Stanford Robinson went down with what Tom Crean described as a knee bruise. None of these injuries figure to linger on long enough to force anyone to miss significant time, but Indiana needs to get all four players back sooner rather than later with the season opener just over four weeks away.

Video: Tom Crean, Yogi Ferrell react after Hoosier Hysteria

Tom Crean and Yogi Ferrell met with the media following Friday’s Hoosier Hysteria at Assembly Hall. Watch and listen to their reaction in the embedded media players below:

Video: Hoosier Hysteria 3-point, dunk contest highlights

Sophomores Yogi Ferrell and Hanner Mosquera-Perea were among the standouts in Friday's Hoosier Hysteria dunk and 3-point shooting contests. Ferrell made 30 of 50 shots over the course of two rounds to capture the 3-point contest and Mosquera-Perea finished as the runner-up in the dunk contest to Devin Davis due to scoring in the finals, but had the better performance of the two overall.

Four-star forward Goodluck Okonoboh picks UNLV

In a televised announcement on ESPNU, class of 2014 forward-center Goodluck Okonoboh announced his commitment to UNLV. Okonoboh, the No. 24 prospect in the 247Composite, also considered Duke, Florida, Indiana and Ohio State. The Wilbraham and Monson Academy (Mass.) took ...

Indiana releases additional Hoosier Hysteria details

With Hoosier Hysteria set to tip off the 2013-2014 season on Friday night, Indiana released final details on the season-opening event via a press release on Thursday. Here is the full release: The 2013-14 college basketball season begins when Indiana ...

Announcement primer: 2014 forward Goodluck Okonoboh

Tonight during halftime of an ESPNU college football broadcast Indiana, Ohio State and UNLV will learn where class of 2014 forward Goodluck Okonoboh will play next season. Okonoboh, a senior at Wilbraham and Monson Academy in Massachusetts, will announce his intentions a little after 9:00 p.m. ET (assuming the first half of the Louisiana-Monroe and Western Kentucky first half doesn't run long) from a studio in Bristol, Connecticut. Here’s our primer for the announcement with everything you need to know: The Essentials Forward/Center, 6-9, 220-pounds, Wilbraham & Monson Academy (MA), Mass Rivals 247Composite: 4-star (24); ESPN: 5-star (21); Rivals: 4-star (32); Scout: 4-star (37) Schools: Duke, Florida, Indiana, Ohio State, UNLV Official visits: Indiana, Ohio State, UNLV