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."

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 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.

Hanner Mosquera-Perea entered his freshman campaign with jump-out-the-gym athleticism and a whole heck of a lot of promise. He was part of Indiana's initial "starting eight" at this time last year, and seemed well on pace to spell Cody Zeller and Christian Watford in the frontcourt as a reliable first big off the bench. But as the season hit, things changed. First, fresh off a partial summer he spent in a walking boot, the NCAA spanked Mosquera-Perea and fellow freshman Peter Jurkin with a dubious nine-game suspension. He lost valuable non-conference playing time, time he could have spent building confidence against inferior opponents.

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.

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.

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 ...

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. — ...