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IU's eight most recent Big Ten Championships are on display behind one of the four baskets at the men's practice court. The other championship years are displayed around the gym, which is open to players 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.
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IU's eight most recent Big Ten Championships are on display behind one of the four baskets at the men's practice court. The other championship years are displayed around the gym, which is open to players 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.
Men's practice court at Cook Hall, IU's basketball development center. The Cook Hall dedication will be held here on Sunday at 3 p.m. and is open to the public
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In less than two days, IU lost two of its top recruiting targets, forwards Cody Larson and Will Yeguete, to Florida.While IU is still in pursuit of an additional big man for the 2010 recruiting class, it has an opportunity to add a former four-star guard in the coming weeks — as a walk-on.In 2008, Rivals.com rated Walter Offutt the No. 99 recruit in the nation, one spot ahead of then-IU signee Terrell Holloway. The Indianapolis native enrolled at Ohio State in 2008, nearly three years after giving an oral commitment to the Buckeyes.After recovering from knee surgery, Offutt had an uneventful freshman campaign and expected to receive more playing time in his second year in Columbus, Ohio.But Offutt found himself playing behind “four great guards” in Evan Turner, Jon Diebler, William Buford and David Lighty. To make matters worse, OSU coach Thad Matta rarely relied on his bench.“If I would have went anywhere else, I probably would have been playing,” Offutt said Thursday.Offutt did go somewhere else, and that was nearby Wright State. But after coach Brad Brownell took the job at Clemson, the Warren Central grad is back on the move and looking for a new home.It might be with former OSU assistant and lead recruiter John Groce, now at Ohio University. Or, it could be 45 minutes from his Indianapolis home, in Bloomington.“It just got public not too long ago that I was leaving, so possibly more schools might contact me,” Offutt said. “But as of right now, it’s between Ohio and Indiana.”Having already played in the Big Ten, should Offutt opt to enroll at IU, he would join the Hoosiers as a non-scholarship player.The 6-foot-3, 190-pound combo guard said he has been talking with IU coach Tom Crean for a couple of weeks and is trying to make it to campus with his mother to discuss the specifics of a potential transfer to IU.Offutt said he is “very familiar” with the school — he has many friends at IU; he played AAU ball with sophomore guards Matt Roth and Kory Barnett; and he knows the team’s academic adviser, Marni Mooney, who was previously at Warren Central.He also followed IU basketball when Bob Knight was the head coach, he said.The former Buckeye said the Big Ten is a “defensive-minded league” and it is “tough-minded individually.” Offutt possesses those qualities and has a strong work ethic, he said.After all, upon signing with OSU, Matta called him a “tough combo guard” and expected Offutt to be “an outstanding defender.”Offutt plans to finish the spring quarter at Wright State and anticipates having two years of eligibility left when all is said and done. However, he is unsure about whether he will be immediately eligible due to his second transfer.Regardless, the one-time Mike Davis recruit said he hopes to make his decision by the first week of May.While Offutt had a number of good things to say about Groce, he does have one major concern — the potential for the Bobcats’ coach to land another job.“I know he’s probably not leaving this year, but the possibility that he may leave the next year or the next year after that — I don’t really want to be in a position where I’m stuck like I am now,” he said. “It’s going to contribute to my decision on where I pick.”Perhaps this already had made an impact, as Offutt said he “might be a Hoosier” if things fall into the right place.“I don’t know quite yet, but we’ll see,” he said. “I’m leaning towards Indiana as of right now.”
As first reported by the Dayton Daily News, former Ohio State guard Walter Offutt is leaving Wright State and considering heading to Ohio University or being a walk-on at IU.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>While many fans are still holding out hope that IU might land another high-caliber recruit for next fall, one major offseason question was answered Wednesday.Confirming speculation from early this week, Steve McClain, former Colorado associate head basketball coach, has been hired to fill the vacant assistant coaching position on Tom Crean’s staff.“It means a lot to me to be able to bring in someone with the knowledge, experience and aggressiveness of Steve McClain,” Crean said in a press release Wednesday afternoon.The 47-year-old McClain spent three seasons as an assistant for the Buffaloes after serving as head coach at the University of Wyoming from 1998-2007.McClain was a favorite among many of the Colorado players and fans to land the head coaching job after Jeff Bzdelik was hired by Wake Forest. The Buffaloes instead opted to hire Northern Colorado’s Tad Boyle.During McClain’s nine-year tenure at Wyoming, the Cowboys went 155-117, including two Mountain West Conference championships and a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2002.In 1999, McClain brought the Cowboys to Assembly Hall, losing to the Hoosiers 99-80 in Bob Knight’s final season at IU.Prior to his Wyoming days, the Orient, Iowa, native served as an assistant at Texas A&M and TCU. His coaching career began at the junior college level, where he quickly established a strong name for himself.He was named National Junior College Coach of the Year in 1994.Though McClain has spent his entire coaching career a number of miles from Bloomington, he realizes the significance of basketball in Indiana and is looking forward to coaching at IU.“I am excited to have the chance to walk into a building with five banners and be a part of a program that believes that what is on the front of the chest means much more than what is on the back of the jersey,” McClain said. “That is what college basketball is all about.”McClain will join current assistants Bennie Seltzer and Tim Buckley, taking over for Roshown McLeod, who was dismissed by Crean in early March.On Tuesday, McLeod was named the head coach at St. Benedict’s Prep in his home state of New Jersey. In an interview with The Star-Ledger, the former IU assistant said he and Crean “saw the game of basketball differently.”IU’s head coach and newest assistant, however, appear to share the same beliefs.“Our philosophies are exactly on the same page in terms of how you ought to play and the toughness it takes to win a championship,” McClain said. “Whether it’s what you do in the office or what you do on the court that day, how you go about things determines how quickly you can reach that goal.”McClain’s hiring comes at a critical time, as the Hoosiers are trying to address recruiting needs during the current late signing period.Crean said McClain “brings a toughness” to the IU program, which he feels can pay off on the recruiting trail.Even with McClain now in the fold, Crean still has another opening to fill as director of operations Brian Barone will be leaving to take a position at Wisconsin-Green Bay.Wisconsin-Green Bay is now coached by Brian Wardle, Barone’s former teammate under Crean at Marquette.
Indiana University men's basketball coach Tom Crean has announced that Steve McClain, who boasts more than 28 years of coaching experience on the collegiate level, has joined the Hoosiers staff as an assistant coach, effective immediately.
With the news that Northern Colorado's Tad Boyle will become the new head coach at Colorado, there has been even more speculation that Colorado associate head coach Steve McClain could wind up on the IU bench.
Here's the press release:
It's been a while since Tom Crean dismissed Roshown McLeod from his position as assistant coach. More than five weeks ago, actually.
What's this - a basketball post?
Thanks to this Twitter post by the SportsCenter account, it has come to my attention that today is the 23rd anniversary of IU's championship-winning shot by No. 23 Keith Smart. On March 30, 1987, Smart's 15-foot pull-up against Syracuse lifted Bob Knight and the Hoosiers to a 74-73 victory and the program's fifth national title.
Two weeks ago, freshman guard Maurice Creek was made available to the media for the first time since his season ending injury in December. Apologies for the delay, but here is what he had to say:
If Moses Abraham chooses IU today (or tonight, or at 3:30 a.m. or next week), the Hoosiers will fill their last scholarship opening for 2010-2011 and should be done with the 2010 class.
It's a night late, but here is the transcript from yesterday's press conference following IU's season-ending loss to Northwestern in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament:
Just received a media statement on behalf of recently dismissed assistant coach Roshown McLeod:
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU closed its 2009-2010 campaign on Thursday.It was a year in which IU improved by four games and completed its second season under coach Tom Crean with a 10-21 record.There were highs and there were lows. But with each game, inch by inch, the team made progress.Freshman forward Derek Elston spoke about the players beginning the year as individuals but subsequently coming together as a team.Fellow freshman forward Christian Watford added that both individuals and IU as a whole improved during the course of the year.Following the 73-58 loss to Northwestern on Thursday, Crean spoke like the Hoosiers have another game on the horizon.“We’ve just got to continue to build our will on both ends of the court,” Crean said.There won’t be another contest for IU until November.But as one season comes to a close, another begins.Both Watford and sophomore guard Verdell Jones talked about adding weight, as well as focusing on other individual aspects of their respective games.Crean, meanwhile, will continue to provide instruction and eventually hire a replacement for recently dismissed assistant Roshown McLeod. But he will also hit the recruiting trail hard.“We’re not anywhere close to being done recruiting, and that will pick up again tomorrow in a big way,” Crean said of Friday’s potential trips to scout high school talent.Just like player development, recruiting is a process that spans the length of the calendar year.Certainly the other big-name coaches will also be hot on the trail throughout the rest of March and certainly into April and the late signing period.But Thursday’s end to the season marks a vital opportunity for Crean and his staff to log a number of miles, covering the entire Hoosier state, while also venturing out to a number of areas beyond state boundaries.He’ll probably be up east, down in Florida and in a plethora of other gyms throughout the country, continuing to try to outwork many of his peers in order to help get the IU program back on its feet.“There’s a lot of good young players that we’re recruiting that we want, and we’ve got to make sure that we get those,” he said.Crean stressed making sure his current players continue to get “stronger, bigger, better, more athletic.” He also spoke of the benefits of bringing injured guards Matt Roth and Maurice Creek back into the equation.But Crean also knows that nothing will come easy for him and his staff, even 23 months on the job.The second, going on third-year IU coach needed to field a team before he could actually rebuild the Hoosier program, he said.That was two years ago, and this past year Crean was able to capitalize on and sign guys with whom he had already built relationships while at Marquette — players such as Watford and Creek.But still needing to round out the 2010 class, while continuing to seek out the younger talent, has become a balancing act, Crean said.He has to address the short-term and also make sure the program doesn’t take any steps backward when his current players eventually graduate.A Tom Crean team can never have too many good guards, but the coach didn’t need to be probed for him to recognize the need for a big man.“We also need somebody that’s better at getting in the lane,” Crean said. “We need somebody that can get in the lane and create havoc; that can get into that paint and make decisions to get the ball to shooters.”Although the current Hoosiers are continuing to improve, the period between years two and three provides an opportunity for the players to make more serious strides.It’s also a chance — but really a necessity — for Crean to address future needs.The 2010 class has its share of talent, but 2011 and 2012 will be more critical with players leaving and even more talented high school stars emerging. With two almost default years of rebuilding in the books, one can more fairly assess the progress being made by Crean and the Hoosiers next season.Therefore, this offseason serves as a critical time for the Hoosiers to build for the future.Say hello to the 2010-2011 campaign, because it has already begun.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Twenty losses: see ya. A 4-14 conference record and 1-11 finish to the regular season: gone. An eight-point Saturday victory against today’s opponent: You can probably forget about that as well.IU’s body of work over the last nine weeks secured them the No. 10 seed in an 11-team conference tournament. It wasn’t a pretty season and certainly IU is not expected to make many waves up the road in Indianapolis.But a 30-game season ended last weekend and a new one begins today for the Hoosiers.The Big Ten Tournament bracket has the Hoosiers labeled with a big “10,” but team’s individual records don’t matter at this point.IU has a clean slate — a 0-0 record, if you will.When the Hoosiers tip off late this afternoon at Conseco Fieldhouse, the team will be starting the first of a potential four-game run towards a bid into the NCAA Tournament.While significantly easier said than done, anything is possible.Just look at Georgia in 2008, a team that was 4-12 in the Southeastern Conference and 13-16 overall, yet completed an improbable run to grab the SEC’s automatic bid into the big dance.Although the IU players might have a similar run on their minds, more than anything, the Big Ten Tournament presents the team with a chance to build off its recent 88-80 overtime victory against Northwestern.It presents a chance to show this team is continuing to get better and work hard to improve each day.IU coach Tom Crean wasn’t certain how much momentum his team actually had riding on a one-game winning streak that was preceded by 11 consecutive losses. At the same time, his approach to today’s game wasn’t any different than the strategies he used with his best Marquette teams.“It wouldn’t make a difference whether we’re the first seed or not, you’re going to do everything you can do give your team every avenue to be successful in your preparation,” he said. Due to its practice schedule the previous week, IU was forced to take two days off this week — the team opted for Sunday and Tuesday.Sophomore guard Verdell Jones said the team has been “really focused,” and the players still came into Assembly Hall to prepare for the Northwestern game.Unlike some of his teammates, Jones knows the pressure of playing well when one loss will send the Hoosiers back down State Road 37.“I know we’ve said that in the past, in previous games, but in the postseason everybody’s trying to play to get a berth to the NCAA Tournament,” Jones said. “You’ve got to play your best no matter what.”On Saturday, IU played the best it had in more than a month, but even that means only so much.Whereas the Hoosiers have tweaked its strategy following the recent win against Northwestern, the Wildcats have also corrected their mistakes and are looking for ways to disrupt Crean’s game plan.After all, Northwestern’s slate is clean as well, and they, too, have a lot at stake.Its no different for any other team at conference tournament time, whether they’re in the Big Ten, the Big East, the Big Sky or the Big West.All that will be on display today and throughout the rest of the week in Indianapolis. But it isn’t about which team is seeded what or which players were all-conference selections.“The postseason is a whole new season,” Jones said.
Covering recruiting last year and the prior spring semester and summer, I had a number of interviews with the Class of 2009 recruits (though I never had more than a text conversation with Bawa during the signing period).
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Saturday afternoon at Assembly Hall, Tom Crean’s wolf pack grew by three.It was a day honoring four seniors. It was a day in which IU’s one-two punch of sophomore guard Verdell Jones and freshman forward Christian Watford combined for 38 points and 16 rebounds.But it was also a day in which three other freshmen — guard Jordan Hulls and forwards Derek Elston and Bobby Capobianco — emerged as the other pieces that could eventually help turn around the IU basketball program.Crean already had a nice foundation set in Jones, Watford and injured freshman guard Maurice Creek.But if the trio of Hulls, Elston and Capobianco continue to play at the level they did on Saturday, the future is looking much brighter for the Hoosiers.Sure it was just one game, and certainly they could be eliminated in the first round of this week’s Big Ten Tournament. But collectively, IU’s young talent, maybe for the first time since the Pittsburgh win, truly lived up to its previous billing as “The Next Generation.”It was largely the joint effort of those four freshmen and one sophomore that won the game — especially down the stretch — scoring 81 of the team’s 88 points.Despite a blown eight-point lead to end regulation, those five outscored Northwestern 19-11 in the extra period.Crean was certainly pleased with the play from that group, but he didn’t dwell much on it either.“It hit me once when I looked out there on the defensive end, and I knew we had four freshmen and a sophomore, but other than that I didn’t think about it,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “I was just looking at a basketball team.”We saw that, too.A year ago, IU was essentially just a group of guys thrown together by Crean and his coaching staff. Throughout much of this season, especially of late, the Hoosiers hardly looked much different.Despite the occasional standout individual performances in recent weeks, the Hoosiers finally played and won like a team. That’s a huge positive move forward.It once seemed that the Hoosiers had no other direction to go but up. Then came the 11 straight losses, and it appeared that the Hoosiers were headed the other way.There was never much doubt about Crean’s vision for this program, but watching IU play, it was often hard to believe his players shared a similar passion and sense of urgency.But following another big loss Wednesday, the team made some changes.Crean started Jones at the point and pushed junior guard Jeremiah Rivers into a more limited role off the bench. He also played Watford more at the small forward position.So while it might be but a single victory and only the team’s 10th all year, it shows how much stronger this team is having experienced great adversity.It also shows what happens when a talented group of young players keep fighting.Hulls and Elston, a pair of in-state recruits, were especially sharp.Hulls, who went for a team-high and a personal career-high 24 points, hit 8-of-12 from outside. This included back-to-back triples after IU fell behind 54-51, as well as a big trey early in overtime.Elston, meanwhile, posted a career-high 17 points, including eight in the first half and seven in overtime. He added eight rebounds, one game after a 13-point, seven-rebound effort Wednesday.“They’re going to have a hand in turning the program,” Crean said. “You want to have program-turners, not just program guys. We’re really fortunate to have them.”The other less-heralded freshman who made significant contributions was Capobianco. Though his stats might not show it, he’s been one of the more consistent Hoosiers of late.Despite only eight points, the freshman big man scored six in overtime, had 7 rebounds and continues to defend well inside. Capobianco was also 4-of-5 from the free-throw line, after he was previously 6-of-17 from the stripe.Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, IU won’t be rebuilt on five-star recruits — at least not for now.If Saturday’s win was a glimpse into the future, it looks like a bright one.“It’s great. It gave us confidence. We’ll be ready for next year,” Watford said. “But first we’re going to be ready for the Big Ten Tournament coming up.”
With Michigan State's victory against Michigan on Sunday afternoon, the Wolverines locked themselves in as the No. 8 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.