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(04/17/09 1:22pm)
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.
(04/16/09 12:29am)
A few weeks ago, IU had one too many scholarship players in the fold for next season. Now, IU coach Tom Crean has one more scholarship to give, following today's announcement that freshman Nick Williams is leaving the program.
(04/15/09 8:26pm)
The highly anticipated final Class of 2009 rankings have just been released by Rivals.com. Here's where the future Hoosiers checked in, with their previous ranking in parentheses:
(04/14/09 4:32pm)
DeShaun Thomas, a top junior class prospect from Fort Wayne, still is committed to Ohio State. IU coach Tom Crean's appearance at his Class 2A state title game on March 28 stimulated rumors that he might be considering the Hoosiers. But Thomas, an early 2010 Indiana Mr. Basketball favorite, recently told The Journal Gazette he is still committed to the Buckeyes (thanks for the tip Inside the Hall and basketblog reader Zach).
(04/13/09 4:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In November, Jordan Hulls officially signed to play for IU. In March, his high school team completed an undefeated season and won a state championship. On Sunday, he was named Indiana’s Mr. Basketball.“It’s a dream come true,” Hulls, a senior at Bloomington High School South, said. “Every Indiana kid growing up dreams of winning that award. Just being even on the same list with some of the other players who’ve won the award, it’s just an honor.”Each spring, Indiana high school coaches and media vote for the best senior basketball player in the state. Since South’s state championship win March 28, there seemed to be little doubt that Hulls would take home Mr. Basketball honors.That was confirmed Sunday, as Hulls ran away with the voting, getting 131 of the votes – more than five times as many as second-place finisher Bruce Grimm Jr. of Rochester High School, who had 26 votes.While Mr. Basketball is given to a single player, the point guard was quick to credit his teammates.“I never would’ve gotten this without my team this year,” Hulls said. “It’s a team game, and I play with four other guys out there on the court.”Hulls’ father, J.C. Hulls, a former all-state football and basketball player at Bloomington High School North, echoed his son’s comments, calling the honor a “total team effort.”“That’s how we always looked at it because of how well South did as a team and because he was one of the team leaders on that team, winning a state championship and going undefeated,” he said.The elder Hulls said his family is “extremely excited and thankful.”“It’s a little bit overwhelming, to be real honest with you,” J.C. Hulls said.Tipton High School senior and fellow 2009 IU recruit Derek Elston finished third behind Hulls and Grimm with 18 votes.“My coaches were telling me if I wasn’t going to be Mr. Basketball, I’d be No. 2,” Elston said Sunday. “But I guess I shouldn’t have that kind of attitude. I’m glad they chose me as a top three, and I’m honored to be up there with those guys.”But Elston said he is happy for his future teammate.“I’ve been telling all the other reporters, and even friends, ‘Even if I don’t win it, then I hope Jordan does,’” Elston said. “To see that he has won, that’s no problem to me. I’m glad that if I didn’t, he got it.”This weekend, Hulls spent time with two other incoming IU recruits, Maurice Creek and Christian Watford. The future Hoosiers played together at the Wazoo Sports Derby Festival Basketball Classic on Friday and Saturday in Louisville.While Hulls said he is looking forward to spending the next four years with Creek and Watford, he will forever be in the same company as past Indiana Mr. Basketball award winners.Hulls will become the 25th Indiana Mr. Basketball to continue his career at IU, joining the likes of college All-Americans Bill Garrett, Jimmy Rayl, Dick and Tom Van Arsdale, George McGinnis, Kent Benson, Steve Alford, Jay Edwards, Damon Bailey, Jared Jeffries and Eric Gordon.With a state title and now the Mr. Basketball award, Hulls has lofty goals for his four years at IU.“There’s a lot of things that I have set, just like I set goals for myself to be Mr. Basketball,” he said. “It’s going to take a lot of hard work, but we eventually want to win the Big Ten, then go to a Final Four and win a championship in those four years that I’m there.”
(04/12/09 12:55pm)
UPDATE (4/13 8:43 a.m.) - Here is our story in today's IDS with comments from Jordan Hulls, father J.C. Hulls and IU recruit and third place Mr. Basketball finisher Derek Elston.
(04/10/09 1:48pm)
Jordan Hulls, Maurice Creek and Christian Watford, three of Tom Crean's six-man recruiting class for next year, will be playing together on Saturday in the Derby Festival Classic in Louisiville. But that may not be the top story of the weekend, though I encourage you to click on the above links from InsideTheHall.
(04/06/09 12:36am)
Indianapolis Lawrence North junior Dominique Ferguson is a consensus five-star recruit for 2010, ranked No. 6 in the nation by Rivals.com and No. 9 by Scout.com. In late April, the 6-foot-9 junior brought big news to Kentucky, as he verbally committed to play for the Wildcats.
(04/02/09 4:18am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Christian Watford looks like a basketball player. He’s 6-foot-8, weighs 215 pounds and some say he resembles a young Tracy McGrady.But looks alone didn’t net him a scholarship to play at IU, nor did they help the high school senior average 26 points, 15 rebounds and five assists per game this year for Shades Valley High School, located in a suburb of Birmingham, Ala.“He’s put some work in,” his father, Ernest Watford, said in a phone interview last month. “He and I have put some long, long hours in. He’s put hours in by himself.”While IU’s highly touted 2009 recruiting class is more than one man, there is reason to be excited about Watford donning the cream and crimson next year. Just ask IU coach Tom Crean.“He is a matchup nightmare because if you go small on him, he can take you down low, and if you go big, he can take you to the rim,” Crean said in a statement following Watford’s official signing in November. “He can be an excellent rebounder, and what I feel, along with other members of this class, is that he will be able to hold his own defensively for many years to come inside our program. We are really excited to have a player of Christian’s caliber coming into Indiana.”The elder Watford, who played at Southern Junior College in Birmingham from 1982 to 1984, recalled a time when he took his son to the gym and watched him play from above the court. Seeing how his son handled himself and the way he went hard at “game speed” let him know the teenager could be something special one day.“That made me think, ‘He’s got a shot at playing Division I basketball if he continues to get better,’” Ernest Watford said.But Christian Watford’s father wasn’t the only one noticing his potential at a young age. Christian Watford was only in seventh or eighth grade when he began receiving mail from several college coaches.“Mississippi State, Alabama, Florida – you know, a couple SEC schools around here,” Christian Watford said.Though Watford was already receiving college letters and playing varsity basketball as a 13-year-old eighth-grader, things didn’t come as easily as one might guess, he said.“I’ve been to three high schools,” the Shades Valley senior said. “My family has done a lot of moving around just for me to be able to play basketball. A couple times at schools, I wasn’t able to play for whatever reason. It motivated me to do bigger things.”Today, Watford still strives to do big things. In fact, his ultimate goal is to make the NBA. “They’ve got to get a lot out of me (at IU), and they’ve got to push me to the next level,” he said. “But I feel like I’m willing to work for whatever it is for me to get to the next level. I feel like I’m going to do that.”For the time being, Watford is concentrating on what immediately lies ahead. Although Shades Valley was eliminated from Alabama’s Class 6A state playoffs on Feb. 20, the 17-year-old recently began working with a strength-and-conditioning coach five days a week. Between now and when he arrives at IU on June 17, Watford said he will continue to work on his basketball skills while focusing most of his energy on staying in shape. Though he plans to add 10 pounds to his frame, which he referred to as “nothing major,” his personal goals at IU are nothing minor.“Just winning Big Ten championships, go to the (NCAA) Tournament, do well in the tournament, compete for a national championship,” he said. “And I want to be Big Ten Freshman of the Year and next year just keep building from that.”Should Watford collect the Big Ten’s top freshman honor, he would become the fourth Hoosier to do so this decade, following the likes of Jared Jeffries (2001), D.J. White (2005) and Eric Gordon (2008). Watford is thought to be the Big Ten’s most versatile incoming freshman, yet his versatility isn’t limited to his on-court feats. He has excelled in the classroom, earning a 3.5 cumulative GPA to date, and is a member of the National Honor Society, he said. Watford also plans to shine on and off the court at IU. He says he wants to be remembered as a team player who “worked hard day in and day out, produced day in and day out, just gave it all to the University – athletically and academically.”As one of Crean’s top recruits, Watford realizes his potential role in bringing IU back to national prominence. “I want to leave a good legacy,” the four-star recruit said.
(04/02/09 4:16am)
On Nov. 28, a Rivals.com overview of the early Class of 2009 signings had IU recruit Chrisitian Watford as the Big Ten's most versatile incoming recruit. While Watford can pose a threat to both bigger and smaller defenders, he also excels in the classroom, despite transferring schools twice. Read more about Watford here, an article from Thursday's IDS.
(04/01/09 7:50pm)
Bloomington South guard Jordan Hulls and Tipton forward Derek Elston were each named first team all-Indiana by The Associated Press.
(03/31/09 1:31am)
Top Chicago point guard prospect Darius Smith committed to Connecticut on Monday night, ending any speculation that IU coach Tom Crean might add the 6-foot-2 senior to the Hoosiers roster.
(03/29/09 1:46am)
IHSAA Class 4A Championship: Bloomington South 69 - Fort Wayne Snider 62
(03/28/09 7:02pm)
IU recruit Jordan Hulls and Bloomington High School South are looking to finish a perfect 26-0 season in tonight's 4A state title game at Conseco Fieldhouse. Hulls, who many are saying is a lock to become the 2009 Indiana Mr. Basketball, will lead the 25-0 Panthers up against 25-1 Fort Wayne Snider. The Class 3A title game begins at 6:00 p.m., so expect a tip-off around 8:00 or 8:15 p.m. Click here to watch the game stream lived on the IHSAA Web site, or check out the list of Indiana channels that will be airing the games.
As I mentioned in the previous post (under comments), five-star junior Dominique Ferguson is likely to re-open his recruitment, according to his father, Deon. The elder Ferguson told the Louisivlle Courier-Journal that his son, a Kentucky commit and Indy Lawrence North star, "has a lot on his mind right now" and there is "a strong possibility" that he will open things back up. Ferguson, a 6-foot-9 forward, committed to UK just weeks after Tom Crean took the IU job, so he likely does not have much of a relationship with Crean. We will try to track down Dominique and his father should he decommit.
Coach Crean was spotted at the Class 2A state finals game this afternoon, according to InsideTheHall, a game in which Fort Wayne Bishop Luers came away with their second straight championship. What makes this interesting is that Luers is led by five-star junior and Ohio State commit DeShaun Thomas. Thomas, who had 34 points and 15 rebounds this afternoon, has long been committed to Ohio State, but multiple times has been rumored to be re-opening his commitment. Each rumor has been met with either no comment, or affirmation of being committed to Ohio State. Thomas is ranked No. 8 in the nation according to Rivals.com. Check out this report former IDS basketball beat reporter and current EIC Michael Sanserino had on him from a January 2008 IU-Illinois game.
(03/25/09 12:38am)
IU recruit Jordan Hulls has made a strong case for Indiana Mr. Basketball, an annual award given to the Hoosier State's top senior basketball player. The guard is averaging around 16 points, five assists and four rebounds this season for Bloomington South, the nation's third-ranked high school team.
(03/10/09 12:31am)
Maurice Creek, Jordan Hulls and Christian Watford are headed to play in the 2009 Kentucky Derby Festival Basketball Classic on April 11 at Louisville's Freedom Hall. Christian Watford's father, Ernest, told me last Thursday that his son would be heading up to Louisville, and reports have confirmed that he, Creek and Hulls will be among the Derby Classic competitors.
(03/09/09 5:45pm)
Bloomington South, the No. 1 team in Indiana's 4A class, advanced to regionals with two wins last week. In the most recent victory against East Central, IU-bound point guard Jordan Hulls was held to just four points. On Saturday, the 22-0 Panthers will face 23-0 New Albany, who is led by junior Donnie Hale. Hale was on campus for a home game several weeks ago.
(03/02/09 6:14pm)
Though Maurice Creek and Bawa Muniru both play for prep schools, four of the other six 2009 recruits entered their final high school seasons with hopes of a state title run. Christian Watford's Shades Valley High School (Ala.) is already out, losing in the third round/Class 6A Northeast Regional finals to Vestavia Hills, 53-50.
(02/25/09 1:02pm)
Tom Crean and his coaching staff did not make a single phone call to recruits for one week back in December. The reason? Crean "simply made a mistake," by unintentionally making an extra phone call to IU recruit Bawa Muniru in October.
(02/22/09 5:44am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The gymnasium at Bloomington High School South was filled Saturday afternoon for a contest between No. 4 Detroit Country Day and No. 5 South. For most of the crowd, they got what they paid for: a 73-67 win by the hometown Panthers.IU-bound Jordan Hulls led the way with 27 points on 8-14 shooting from the field (3-7 behind the arc), as well as a perfect eight for eight from the charity stripe. Hulls was certainly not a one-man show, thanks to an 18-point effort by sophomore point guard Dee Davis.Fellow sophomore Spencer Turner had a fairly quiet showing for the first 31 minutes, making two 3’s and sinking three of four from the free throw line. In the last 30.3 seconds, Turner hit five of six free throw, including the last three points of the game.South led by three after one quarter and jumped to its largest lead of the first half at 23-16.DCC cut it to two at the half, and took a five-point lead after three periods. The Yellowjackets went ahead 59-51, but Hulls found Davis for two, followed by a Davis steal and layup to cut it to four.On the next offensive possession, Hulls missed a three-pointer, got his own rebound and found Davis for another two points. A DCC dunk by DaShonte Riley was followed by a trey from Hulls, coming off a screen, bringing the score to 61-60 DCC.Hulls was fouled after a missed shot by the Yellowjackets the next time down the court, and sank two free throws to put South ahead, 62-61. A tough lay up by DCC’s Ray McCallum, Jr., put the visiting team up by a point, but South closed the game on an 11-4 run to seal it.South came in ranked as the top team in Indiana’s Class 4A, but had a lot to prove against the Michigan private school boasting five guys at 6-foot-6 or taller.Small forward Jordan Dumars (South Florida) had 14, including four 3’s, while sophomore center Amir Williams came off the bench for 11.Power forward Donnavan Kirk (Miami, Fla.) fouled out, was called for three traveling violations and only scored a few baskets. Center DaShonte Riley (formerly committed to Georgetown) was also held relatively quiet from an offensive standpoint, despite a crowd-silencing dunk late in the game. McCallum led the way for the visiting team with at least 17 points.South improved to 19-0 with the win, while DCC is now 18-1.