Logan Duncomb never took his official visit of IU.
It was called off twice. His basketball games got in the way at first, and COVID-19 canceled it again. The pandemic also ended his basketball season before he had a chance to win a third straight state title.
But Duncomb had made up his mind anyway.
He received offers from all the schools he wanted. IU, Ohio State, Xavier University and Stanford University were among his favorites.
IU stood out above the rest.
“I felt comfortable making my decision. I took my time with the decision, I wasn’t rash or quick,” Duncomb said. “I knew everything about all the schools.”
So on Monday, Duncomb and his father called Carl Kremer, his head coach at Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. Kremer wanted to make sure Duncomb had thought it all through because it was early in his process. He’s still a junior and not even 17 years old yet.
“Everything in our country is a little strange. I knew that recruiting wears on guys and guys always get called all the time by these coaches,” Kremer said. “I just wanted to assure him to make sure you had done the process the way you want to do it. Don’t end it short.”
He asked Duncomb if he had thought everything through. He didn’t want him to end his recruitment too early because there was no risk if Duncomb held off his commitment for longer.
“Look, some guys get pressured into decisions because they very well may lose a spot,” Kremer told Duncomb. “A 6-9 rising senior like you, you’re not going to lose your spot. You take all the time you need.”
But Duncomb knew IU was where he wanted to go to school. By the end of the phone call, Kremer was convinced Duncomb was ready.
“He just said make sure you’re sure,” Duncomb said. “Make sure this is really where you want to go to school. After telling me stuff he thought I should think about, I told him I’d thought about all of that and I know it’s where I want to go to school.”
Duncomb was completely sure.
When Kremer first met Duncomb, he had just moved to the Cincinnati area from Chicago. He was playing at a camp, and Kremer noticed him quickly. He wanted him to play high school basketball for him at Moeller, but he didn’t fully know then the extent of the player he was getting.
“He’s a big kid, and you saw that potential,” Kremer said. “But if someone would have told me at that moment that that kid’s going to end up playing at Indiana someday, I wouldn’t have thought that, but by his sophomore year at Moeller I knew he was destined to be a big-time player.”
Duncomb had grown into a player that defenses had to focus their game plan around by his sophomore year. His team went 29-0 and won the state title. He’s now 6-feet-9-inches tall with a 7-foot-4-inch wingspan, size that has made him appealing to high major coaches.
What separates Duncomb in the eyes of both Kremer and Mark Adams — who coaches Duncomb with Indiana Elite — is the intensity and energy he plays with.
“The kid never got tired,” Kremer said. “He went after every single rebound. And yet in the whole time I have seen him at Moeller since freshman, you really see him get better every week. Part of that is just because is his work ethic. He goes at it every day. Never takes a rep off in practice, never looks to take a rep off.”
Adams said Duncomb plays with a very high motor — playing with higher intensity and effort than most for every second of the game — something he rarely sees in players of Duncomb’s size. He said that while most players want to go outside the arc and shoot 3-pointers, Duncomb is relentless going for rebounds. He said Duncomb would go through a wall to get the ball.
Both Adams and Kremer said there is no specific trait about Duncomb’s game that makes him a major prospect, but instead the culmination of his whole skill set. He’ll wear opponents down with his energy on the boards and his intensity. Adams said intensity makes him a good fit for IU head coach Archie Miller. And Adams said he thinks Duncomb will play right away.
“I think it’s going to be hard for him to not play right away,” Adams said. “If he’s not playing right away, they got somebody awfully good in front of him.”
Duncomb too sees himself as a good fit with Miller. He said he thinks they’ll get along right away, largely because they have one key thing in common.
“He’s a winner and I’m a winner,” Duncomb said. “And I want to play for winners.”
