Tom Crean was an in-studio guest on Friday's ESPNU Midnight Madness special and on the broadcast, was asked by Andy Katz for the latest on injuries to freshmen Luke Fischer, Troy Williams and Stanford Robinson. Here are Crean's comments on each player: · Fischer: "Luke Fischer got injured right before we started practice. Tore his labrum and he's back doing 5-on-0 work and hopefully we'll have him by the second exhibition game, probably at the earliest."
The recruiting process for class of 2014 guard JaQuan Lyle has had its share of twists and turns. He's been offered scholarships by elite schools. He's switched AAU teams multiple times. He's transferred from Evansville Bosse to Huntington Prep. He's made a verbal commitment, only to rescind it months later. He's drawn love and scorn from fans on social media. For Lyle, it's all been a learning process. In an interview on Friday afternoon with Inside the Hall, the No. 22 prospect in the 247Composite reflected on what he's learned over the last three years.
Indiana will again host a “Haunted Hall of Hoops,” which will take place on Sunday, Oct. 27, according to this release from IU media relations: The Indiana University men’s basketball team will hold its Haunted Hall of Hoops on Sunday, ...
The Indiana Hoosiers will begin the 2013-2014 season ranked in the USA Today coaches poll. The preseason poll, released late this morning, has Indiana slotted at No. 24. Four other Big Ten teams are ranked: Michigan State (2), Michigan (9), Ohio State (10) and Wisconsin (21).
The Inside the Hall Mailbag is a collection of questions tweeted to us via Twitter (@insidethehall) and sent to us via our Facebook page. Submit your questions and we’ll answer as many as we can. @daviddoss8315 on Twitter writes: Tom Crean was in to see James Blackmon Jr. recently. What is his status? Not surprisingly, Blackmon Jr. remains a topic of conversation for Indiana fans as the Hoosiers have still been recruiting him hard. And the recent news that he is no longer planning a decision on Oct. 22, immediately after his Kentucky visit, provided some optimism. As for his status, I traded texts with Blackmon Jr. this week and it does sound as if Indiana will get another visit before his final decision is made. Publicly, he's working from a list of five finalists: Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, but Kansas and Michigan State aren't considered serious contenders.
A consensus top 10 player in the class of 2016, it's no surprise that Bentonville (Ark.) guard Malik Monk was selected to participate in the USA Basketball developmental national team mini-camp in Colorado Springs earlier this month. Monk, who is already attracting major recruiting attention, performed well on the first day of the camp before suffering a thumb injury that forced him to miss day two. "The first day I kind of overextended my thumb," he told Inside the Hall on Oct. 6 from Colorado Springs. "Before I got hurt, I was doing very well, but I've got to get a long stronger." The 6-foot-3, 170-pound guard averaged 22.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game as a freshman at East Poinsett County High, but moved to Bentonville for his sophomore season. Monk's older brother, Marcus, played at the University of Arkansas, which has already offered a scholarship. Baylor, Florida, Indiana, Memphis and Kansas have also offered.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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."
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 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.
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, ...
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 ...