IU recruiting target Emmanuel Negedu committed to Tennessee and coach Bruce Pearl Tuesday, choosing the Vols over three other schools.
Negedu, ranked as the No. 40 prospect in the class of 2008 by recruiting service www.rivlals.com, narrowed his list of schools down to four – IU, Georgia Tech, Memphis and Tennessee – after de-committing from Arizona in May.
The 6ft 7in forward made a quick decision after visiting each of the final four schools in a 10-day span earlier this month.
Three future Hoosiers – Matt Roth, Danny Moore and Kory Barnett – are friends of and were AAU teammates of Negedu's for the Bloomington-based Indiana Elite. Any hopes of a reunion in Bloomington were dashed Tuesday when Negedu committed to Tennessee.
Mark Adams, who helped bring Negedu to America from Nigeria as part of the Bloomington-based A-HOPE Foundation, said he was with Negedu during his visit to IU but was not involved much in his recruitment. However, Drew Adams, Mark Adam's son, works for the Tennessee program and was a former assistant coach for Indiana Elite, so Negedu is familiar with some part of the Volunteer team.
The Hoosiers put the full-court press on Negedu trying to add another player to a depleted roster after the departure of former coach Kelvin Sampson. Junior forward Kyle Taber is the lone returning scholarship player for coach Tom Cream and the Hoosiers after 10 players were dismissed, transferred, graduated or went to the NBA since the end of the season.
Crean still has two available scholarships remaining for the upcoming season, however, it seems unlikely that any additional players will be added to the roster as the 2008 recruiting is all but over. Only two players of Rivals' top-150 prospects remain un-committed and neither one has IU on his final list of schools.
Junior college players may be available to fill the final two spots this season, but Crean has repeatedly said that he will only offer players that can make an impact on the team. Because of the unique restructuring done this off-season, Crean may want to save the two scholarships to balance the classes number-wise. Additionally, the Hoosiers are currently high on the list of two top prospects – Christian Watford and Rodger Franklin – in the class of 2009.
