Gordon signs IU letter of intent

For months, IU coach Kelvin Sampson has dealt with questions regarding recruit Eric Gordon. For months, Sampson has given the same response: "I can't comment about that."\nWith Gordon signing a national letter of intent with IU Wednesday morning, Sampson is finally able to talk about his prized recruit.\n"Gordon is a dynamic player. Offensively there's so many different ways he can score the basketball," the first-year Hoosier coach said at a press conference Wednesday evening. "This kid scores really high on the 'wow' scale. He's good. He's an impact guard."\nGordon was one of four recruits to sign with the Hoosiers Wednesday. Many scouts are already labeling the group a top-10 recruiting class. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound guard from North Central High School is ranked as the No. 1 shooting guard in the nation, according to Rivals.com. He averaged 26.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.8 steals his junior season, while also shooting just over 50 percent from the field.\n"I watched him play at an event in April, and the thing that stood out to me was his swagger," Sampson said. "He walks onto the court, and he knows that he belongs there. He wants the ball in his hands, and he can really score. The challenge with him when he gets to IU is getting better. It's challenging him to improve and get better. And I think he will."\nSampson explained that having a player as talented as Gordon is not always easy.\n"One of the things you learn to do with really talented kids is don't overcoach them, don't put him in a box," Sampson said. "But at the same time, we're gonna play as a team. The thing I like about Eric, and talking to him the past couple of weeks, is how much he embraces that. He wants to win."\nSampson's recruitment of Gordon has been surrounded by controversy ever since the coach's hiring in March. Gordon made his original verbal commitment to coach Bruce Weber and Illinois; however, Oct. 13, he switched his commitment to the Hoosiers. Sampson said the initial interest and contact came from Gordon and his family in April, not from him or his coaching staff.\n"Bottom line is that this kid grew up in Indiana, he's an Indiana kid and he wanted to come to IU," Sampson said. "There was just a request made to sit down and talk. And then it went from there."\nWhile Sampson spoke at length about Gordon and his family, he did not divulge many details about the recruiting process of the star player.\n"(Gordon) and his family made it clear to us that (coming to IU) was something that they really wanted to explore. But there's no guarantees in that," he said. "A lot's been said about it ... I mean think about a kid that's committed to another school. We don't do that. Coaches don't recruit kids that are committed to other schools. If that was the case, then you could do that a lot. But I think that this situation was certainly unique, and I hope it doesn't happen again"