Nick Williams and Malik Story may be on their way out of Bloomington, but it does not take away from what IU coach Tom Crean did last spring. In less than three months on the job, Crean received nine commitments---three Class of 2008 recruits, three Class of 2009 players, two junior college transfers and Jeremiah Rivers from Georgetown. In September, Crean added Christian Watford and Bawa Muniru to that list, giving him 11 commitments since taking over April 2.
Sure senior Kyle Taber, returning walk-on Brett Finkelmeier and incoming freshmen Tom Pritchard and Matt Roth were in the fold, plus high school recruit Derek Elston was still committed to the Hoosiers, but with the rest of the players dropping like flies, it sort of puts in perspective what Bobby Capobianco did on April 17, 2008.
It was one year ago today that Capobianco did what most recruits would have been afraid to do -- commit to a program struggling to recover from a recent season collapse that was stained by serious NCAA infractions, academic and character issues from many of the players and a major coaching change, not to mention the serious possibility of the NCAA handing down a postseason ban or other major sanctions.
Nevertheless, Capobianco showed what really mattered to him and committed to the Crean and the Hoosiers. One year ago, the big man may have set the tone for the other future Hoosiers, including those who committed within the next 18 days: Devan Dumes, Nick Williams, Maurice Creek (2009) and Verdell Jones.
I spoke with Capobianco on Wednesday about this, and you can read what he had to say below the jump.
His perspective on the 365 days
"Wow, that's actually crazy. I hadn't even thought that it had already been a year... It's been a really good year. It's been a year of just really breaking out my game and just figuring out what I need to do to be the best prepared freshman coming into IU and what's best for me and what's going to help the team most. It's been a lot of fun. It's kind of also been a pain in the butt having to wait this long to get there."
What the last year has been like with his college decision already made
"It's been nice to be able to enjoy it. It's still been a lot of work and I've still felt like I have to perform just from a personal standpoint. It's been nice to kind of have that already in the bag and just know what I'm working for."
Biggest improvements since last April
"I think the biggest improvement I've made is really understanding how to use (my perimeter and mid-range game) and kind of figuring out what it's going to take for me to fill my role at IU. I'll have it more clearly spelled out when I get there. Just kind of learning more of an inside-out game and really getting used to playing that so that I'll be ready to use that when I get to IU."
The wait to finally get to IU
"It's been tough having to sit back and wait for so long, but at the same time it's really been fun being here with a lot of my friends (many of whom also will be playing college sports). We know it's coming, and I know I'm going to have all I can deal with once I get there, so I'm enjoying my time here, but definitely looking forward to start work over there."
Significance of his and other early commitments
"I certainly think that committing early not only showed people what a good coach Coach Crean was, that we were willing to play for him no matter who was there. At the time I committed, all the guys that were on the team last year were starting to trickle out. It didn't bother me who was there or what it looked like. I know I wanted to play for him and I wanted to be in Bloomington. It's also given all the guys who've committed a lot of time to really get to know each other, so I think we'll have the benefit of coming in and really being a tight group. I think that will help us tremendously in the long run."
