Capobianco: ‘I’m not worried’

With the recent pledge from 6-foot-11 center Bawa Muniru, IU men’s basketball coach Tom Crean now has six commitments from the 2009 class, although he only has room to give away five available scholarships.

Muniru’s commitment last Thursday leaves 14 potential scholarship players in the fold for next year’s IU squad. But NCAA rules limit teams to 13 scholarships with the Big Ten permitting the Hoosiers to over-sign by one. Crean will be forced to make an adjustment should all six sign, but that hasn’t stopped him from recruiting for next year.

Despite Muniru’s commitment, four-star recruit Chris Braswell visited this past weekend.

Bobby Capobianco, the first of the '09 recruits to commit to IU after Crean’s arrival, was also on campus last Saturday and said he isn’t quite sure how it will all play out.

“That’s a whole lot of business that coaches have to deal with,” he said Sunday by phone. “Even with Bawa (committing), we don’t have enough scholarships. I definitely don’t see there being a spot for Braswell.”

The IU coaching staff hasn’t turned its shoulder on Braswell, though. The power forward told John Decker of HoosierNation.com that Crean wants him in an IU jersey.

Regardless of whether Braswell does commit and even if Muniru doesn’t sign until the spring – as rumors suggest might happen – Crean will have to plan how he wishes to allocate next year’s scholarships. That could mean parting ways with one of his current players or even telling an unsigned recruit there is no longer room for him.

Fans on the IU message boards have thrown around Capobianco’s name, on account of the three-star recruit being the only of the six commitments not ranked among the Top 150 recruits, according to Rivals.com.

“I’m not worried,” he said. “It doesn’t really upset me. The people who write those things on the message boards, they aren’t inside the program. They’re the people on the outside looking in. Let them speculate, it doesn’t offend me at all.”

Capobianco, who is ranked No. 100 by ESPN’s Scouts, Inc. rankings, was highly coveted by Crean long before he took the IU coaching position, and there are no indications that IU is planning to cut him loose.

Off the court, Capobianco said he shares the same enthusiasm and passion for IU basketball as his future coach.

If he had the choice to enroll at IU now, he said he would jump at the opportunity.

“It’s kind of one those things where (after the visit) if coach had asked me to stay and just go into my dorm room after, I would have,” he said. “I’m really excited.”

During his unofficial visit, Capobianco, the other recruits and this year’s team watched the first half of the IU football game before heading to Assembly Hall for an open gym.

Capobianco and fellow 2009 recruit Jordan Hulls teamed with current Hoosiers Verdell Jones, Nick Williams, Tom Pritchard and Malik Story while five-star sophomore recruit Marquis Teague rotated in a bit as well.

Capobianco, a 6-foot-8 forward, said he saw a lot of improvement from the IU players and noticed they are in “a whole lot better shape,” from working with strength and conditioning coach Jeff Watkinson. He was especially complimentary of transfer Jeremiah Rivers.