Speaking to the media in advance of Saturday night’s exhibition against Southern Indiana, Indiana coach Tom Crean revealed his team is slowly getting back to full-health. Freshman center Luke Fischer, who suffered a torn left labrum in late September, has ...

Friday afternoon, Indiana coach Tom Crean, sophomore guard Yogi Ferrell and freshman forward Noah Vonleh spoke to the media in advance of Saturday evening’s exhibition against Southern Indiana. Watch both press conferences in the embedded media players below: Tom Crean

Since transferring to Wilbraham and Monson Academy (Mass.) from Calabasas (Calif.) High School this past summer, Max Hoetzel has seen his recruitment take off. Well, it's reached another level. Indiana has offered the 6-foot-7 forward as part of its 2014 class, only weeks after discovering him while recruiting his WMA teammate, Goodluck Okonoboh. The offer also comes just after Indiana coach Tom Crean and assistant Kenny Johnson visited Hoetzel in Massachusetts this past Tuesday evening. On Saturday, Hoetzel, along with his parents who will fly in from California, will make the trip to Bloomington for an official visit that will last through Monday.

Former 2014 Indiana commit James Blackmon Jr. said he would take a final visit to Bloomington before making his second college decision. Wednesday evening, he made it clear he was following through with his promise. Blackmon announced via his Twitter account that he will visit IU this weekend, only a week after his official visit to Kentucky. "IU visit this weekend #IUBB," he said. The 6-foot-3 combo guard from Marion High School has also taken an official visit to Michigan (Sept. 27) and is considering Michigan State and Kansas, as well. The 247Composite rates him as the No. 31 prospect and No. 12 shooting guard in the 2014 class.

In a recent conversation with Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean, Fred Glass reminisced to his first year as IU's athletic director. Crean was in the midst of his first season as IU's head coach in 2008-2009, and the team was on its way to its worst record in school history. Student season tickets sales were so poor, just more than half of its allotted space of 7,800 seats had been filled. "Shoot, we were doing everything we could. I can't remember the exact number that first year, I think we ended up with 4,200 or something like that," Glass said in a recent interview with Inside the Hall. "Which at any other university in the country would be the best year they've ever had, but for us, was extremely disappointing." For the next three seasons, students who bought season tickets would have access to every home game. But as Indiana's on-court success returned, demand grew as well. Last season, with a preseason No. 1 team, students were given access to only 10 games each. However, heading into this season with far-fewer on-court expectations, demand is up. Around 15,000 student season ticket sales have been sold, and students who bought season tickets were given eight games — only half of the amount they had received only two years ago.

Fred Glass knows how the script goes. From growing up in the Indianapolis area, to now as Indiana's athletics director, Glass would watch the same scene play out over and over, year after year: Opponents would enter Assembly Hall optimistic, maybe even confident, and then after looking up at the wall of 17,400-plus fans clad in cream and crimson "going absolutely crazy," they cringe. They unravel. In a world of college basketball that has become increasingly known for its games being played in multi-purpose arenas, Indiana's Assembly Hall is becoming the anomaly. Since the 1971-1972 season, the building has been home to three national champions. The tradition, the history, even the angle of the building's seating in relation to the court, is exactly what makes Assembly Hall different from any other college basketball venue. And for Glass, being far from the norm is exactly what he wants. "When the lights come on, Gus Johnson doesn’t need to say you’re in Assembly Hall," Glass told Inside the Hall in an interview in his office at Memorial Stadium earlier this week. "You know you’re in Assembly Hall." But for a building that has been around for more than 40 years, it has flaws. The steps are at different lengths. Not all the seating is considered "premier." A segment of fans want the building torn down and replaced with a new, state-of-the-art arena. That's not happening, Glass said. But he is quick to admit Assembly Hall needs renovations, especially to make it more "fan-friendly." He is ready to lead that effort.

About three weeks ago, Wilbraham and Monson (Mass.) Academy student Max Hoetzel was at study hall when his basketball coach, Chris Sparks, and Indiana assistant Kenny Johnson walked into the room. They came with a simple message: Indiana head coach Tom Crean was on campus, and he wanted to see Hoetzel work out. Crean and Johnson were originally on campus to watch Goodluck Okonoboh before he travelled to Ohio State and UNLV, but Sparks had convinced Crean to watch Hoetzel. After all, Sparks knew IU had needed a shooter for the 2014 class. And he had one in the 6-foot-7 Hoetzel. Sparks and Johnson had cleared Hoetzel to practice with school administrators by the time they confronted him at study hall. He then left for the gym and practiced under Crean's watchful eye. It was the first contact Hoetzel had with IU's coaching staff. "It was such a humbling experience, I mean, coach Crean is a big deal," Hoetzel said. "But on the other hand, you can't really think about it. You just gotta do what you do."

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 redshirt sophomore Austin Etherington. In a season in which Austin Etherington appeared to be finding his way into Indiana's rotation, it came to a screeching halt all too early. With 2:28 remaining in the Hoosiers' first half of a game against Central Connecticut State on Dec. 8 last season, Etherington collided knees with Terrell Allen and collapsed as Allen went for a layup. Etherington, who was carted off the court, was soon diagnosed with a broken left kneecap. His season was over. As Etherington watched from the bench, his teammates went on to win IU's first outright Big Ten title since 1993. Seven months later, as he and the Hoosiers are preparing for the 2013-2014 season, Etherington is the only remaining member from IU's 2011 recruiting class. He's now a redshirt sophomore. And as he is back at 100 percent, Etherington again has a chance to find playing time, especially if he can prove himself as a reliable 3-point shooting threat. It's been well-documented that Indiana lost 77 percent of its 3-point shooting production from last season, and Etherington is one of only four returning players to have made a 3-pointer from that team.

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 Peter Jurkin. In his first season at IU, perhaps the only thing more telling about Peter Jurkin than his raw skills was his health. As someone who had battled injuries during his entire high school career, Jurkin came into his freshman year with an undisclosed foot injury, which severely limited his minutes. In fact, he had a total of seven minutes of action all season, playing in only the Florida Atlantic, Jacksonville and Penn State games after returning from a nine-game NCAA suspension. However, Jurkin didn't face much pressure coming into his freshman season to come in and play immediate minutes, especially with an All-American center ahead of him on the depth chart in Cody Zeller. Now, Zeller's gone. And heading into the 2013-2014 season, Jurkin is one of only two centers on Indiana's roster, the other being freshman Luke Fischer, who has battled injuries this preseason as well.

Late Thursday night, as 2015 Plainfield East (Ill.) guard Aaron Jordan and his father explored the scene around Cook Hall and Assembly Hall, Jordan found his lasting memory from the visit. On his first-ever unofficial visit to IU, Jordan saw dozens of fans camped out outside of Assembly Hall watching television and eating pizza, anticipating Hoosier Hysteria the following day. Jordan had never seen anything like it. "I was just like, 'Wow'," Jordan said. "The fans of the whole school are basically about basketball, and that's what I like. Everything is surrounding basketball. It's a great environment to be in." Two weeks earlier, Jordan had been playing open gym at his high school when Indiana coach Tom Crean arrived and offered him a scholarship. He said the offer immediately put IU "right near the top," and in the days leading up to his visit, friends were hyping the school up to him. After arriving Thursday night and watching a practice and Hoosier Hysteria on Friday, Jordan said he now sees what they were talking about.

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 freshman Luke Fischer. Before he has even stepped onto the court for a game as an Indiana Hoosier, Indiana coach Tom Crean has referred to freshman center Luke Fischer as a "year-round winner." Crean's bold critique is justified, though: In Fischer's final two years of high school basketball at Germantown (Wis.), he led his team to a 52-0 combined record and back-to-back state titles. Now, the 6-foot-11, 230-pound Fischer is on the defending Big Ten champion squad. And though there certainly is no expectation he will come in and immediately help IU to an undefeated season, his winning experience will certainly help, according to Crean. "He's played in a lot of big games at the high school level," Crean said at his "State of the Hoosier Nation" address on Oct. 2. "He knows what it takes. He knows how to score. He’s not afraid. He comes in there and battles."

Update: Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com reports that Robinson is expected to miss 7 to 10 days. Crean also said that Luke Fischer (shoulder) is still a couple week away while Stan Robinson (knee) likely to be out 7-10 days. — ...

Add Stanford Robinson and Noah Vonleh to the list of injured Indiana Hoosiers. In the waning seconds of Friday night's scrimmage at Hoosier Hysteria, Robinson went down, clutched his knee and limped off the court after a collision in the paint.  Indiana coach Tom Crean said after the scrimmage that early word is Robinson has a bruised knee. "I say that hopefully. I say that as what was said in there," Crean said. "It looked like everything was intact and I hope that's what it continues to be. Dr. (Steve) Ahfeld was on it right away. "He was in a lot of pain, but I mean, those hurt like that. Hopefully everything will be good there. We don't need any more guys missing time that are gonna play." After competing in the 3-point contest earlier in the evening, Vonleh sat during the scrimmage. Crean said that Vonleh hurt his ankle during a practice on Wednesday and held him out of the scrimmage as a precaution.

Wednesday night, Indiana coach Tom Crean gave his annual "State of the Hoosier Nation" address to an assembled crowd of about 500 people at the IU Auditorium. During the speech, he spoke in depth about this season's roster, and selected thoughts about each player are gathered below: Will Sheehey "Will Sheehey has had an up-and-down offseason because he has had a couple different injuries. He's still coming back, but he had his first full practice yesterday. He's still trying to come back from a groin injury and put himself in position. Today was a Will Sheehey level practice. The leadership was strong. He was very active. Will Sheehey is one of the most gifted, smartest players that I've ever been around in my entire life. Will Sheehey is the kind of person that he understands what it takes. He understands how to win. He understands what's going on on the floor. He's a tremendous teacher for somebody that's his age of helping his teammates." Evan Gordon "He's got to come in here and he's got to see his game go to another level. He's got to see his game rise on both sides of the court — offensively and defensively — and see that leadership rise. He's got to get out of whatever comfort zone has been acceptable for him — because he works hard, now — and step above and beyond that. He's got to bring a pitbull, junkyard dog mentality daily. He's got to take people with him. And that's one of the biggest things that will show: is he going to have that kind of year? Here's a guy that's a great young man. He works hard, comes from a great family, spends a lot of time at the game. But he can do more."

Wednesday night, Indiana coach Tom Crean spoke for more than an hour to an assembled crowd at the IU Auditorium for his annual “State of the Hoosier Nation” address. Below is audio from Crean’s entire speech, including his thoughts on ...

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 freshman Stanford Robinson. Following the departures of Victor Oladipo, Remy Abell and Maurice Creek this past offseason, Indiana has been left thin at shooting guard. Along with it, 77 percent of the Hoosiers' 3-point production from 2012-2013 is gone. Enter freshman Stanford Robinson, a 6-foot-4 Landover, Md., native, who is the Hoosiers' only scholarship player at the position this year. What that means is that Robinson could get on the court early as an Indiana Hoosier, filling a void left by those multiple departures.