Sunday afternoon, Indiana received its second commitment of the 2014 recruiting class from Wilbraham and Monson (Mass.) forward Max Hoetzel during his official visit to Bloomington. Later Sunday evening, Inside the Hall spoke to the Hoosiers’ newest commit on what ...
When 2014 forward Max Hoetzel made the decision to transfer from Calabasas (Calif.) High School this past August, he wanted to get more exposure heading into his senior year of high school. So, he chose to attend Wilbraham and Monson ...
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.
One of Indiana's top recruiting targets in the class of 2014 will soon make an announcement on where he'll play next season. According to Evan Daniels of Scout.com, Christchurch (Va.) forward Devin Robinson will announce his decision on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 3:30 p.m. Robinson's AAU coach, Tony Squire, confirmed the announcement plans in a text message to Inside the Hall. Robinson, the No. 21 recruit nationally in the 247Composite, is considering four schools: Florida, Indiana, Notre Dame and Oklahoma State. Each of his his finalists received an official visit.
The Indiana coaching staff was on the road Tuesday, making stops at Huntington Prep in West Virginia and at Wilbraham and Monson Academy in Massachusetts. At Huntington Prep, the staff stopped in to see 2014 guard JaQuan Lyle, the former Evansville Bosse guard who will finish his high school career against an aggressive national schedule. Huntington Prep is also home to other top prospects like Miles Bridges (2016), Thomas Bryant (2015) and Montaque Gill-Caesar (2015). Lyle, the No. 22 prospect nationally in the 247Composite, told Inside the Hall recently that Indiana is a school he's considering in the aftermath of his decision to de-commit from Louisville. He's taken unofficial visits to Connecticut and Memphis this fall, but won't be able to take any official visits until taking the SAT next month. On his Twitter account, Lyle posted the following late Tuesday afternoon: "Shoutout to Coach Crean for coming in after school today."
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.
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.
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."
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."
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.
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.
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.
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 ...