According to the Indianapolis Star, 2010 prospect Dominique Ferguson will not return to Indianapolis Lawrence North for his senior year.
The former Wildcat and Kentucky committ evidently stuggled both in the classroom and with off-court basketball issues. The 6\0x20329" forward's father, Deon, said staying at North would have made it difficult for Ferguson to be eligible come his freshman year. Ferguson will attend Hargrave Military Academy, the prep school in Chatham, VA which was once home to former IU guard and Terre Haute native Armon Basset. Ferguson was once rated a top-10 forward by Rivals.com, but his stock has since slipped to the 23rd slot.
Lawrence North coach Jack Keefer, who has coached Indiana high school legends like Eric Montross, current IU hoops analyst and former guard Todd Leary, Greg Oden and Mike Conley, said "workouts, the classroom work and the discipline were not what he was looking for."
I think Ferguson is a huge talent. As a junior, he led North to a sectional title and a 25-3 record, while averaging 15 and 7.9. I was not impressed with his work ethic at the Adidas May Classic in Bloomington. At times he showed little interest in getting back on defense and staying involved on the weak side offensively.
There is probably some bitterness on Keefer's part, but I'm believing Jack on the committment issue. If Ferguson's dad even admitted grades were a pressing issue, there's got to be a good amount of truth behind Keefer's comments.
In other news, Matt Carlino is not the only new addition to the Bloomington South basketball team for the 2009-'10 season. 6\0x20327" forward T.J. Bell has also joined the Panthers, according to Rivals.com. The former Charleston (IL) player has formally been offered by Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State and Virginia. Bell's name started to surface after a Nike Elite Camp earlier this spring. There is a lot of talk regarding a possible offer from Illinois in the coming weeks, but that's it for now.
Have a good week. Also, a special shout-out to Johnny McNulty.
