When Tom Crean walked into the interview room after the Ohio State game on Wednesday, he wore a scowl on his face. Among the many disappointments of the game were the fundamental errors committed by his team.
"We were even in here last night working on footwork things - simple, basic stuff my son Riley does with footwork," Crean said.
Riley Crean, a member of the Class of 2016 or 2017, won't be the answer for the Hoosiers any time soon. But with team slowly progressing midway through the second year of rebuilding, Crean would definitely like to find someone that can bring in maturity, leadership and instantly make his team better.
A five-star recruit such as Josh Selby still seems very unlikely to choose IU, but don't be surprised if Crean tries to snag a junior college player.
One guy the Hoosiers are already looking at is Central Florida Community College's 6-foot-9 Ricardo Ratliffe, rated the top junior college player in the nation.
IU, Kentucky, South Carolina, Texas Christian and Charlotte are among programs recently looking at Ratliffe, a JuCo all-American who scored 26.8 points per game last year.
Ratliffe's Central Florida squad is 15-4, and during the course of their current three-game win streak, Ratliffe is averaging 25 points. Most recently, the Hampton, Va., native put up 32 points and 12 rebounds versus Tagg Academy and he has not been held below 15 points all season.
Like it or not, if Crean can nab a top JuCo big man prospect like Ratliffe, it could give the team a major boost.
While things did not go as planned before the Sampson/Dakich fallout, Jamarcus Ellis was a major player for IU a couple years back. Earl Calloway is another junior college player who comes to mind that was a good addition for IU.
