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(05/06/08 8:32pm)
I spoke with Maurice Creek and his AAU coach, Keith Stevens, on Sunday night. Here are some more quotes and info that didn't make it into Monday's story:
Creek likes how Coach Crean lets his players play: "He's going to let you do what you do best," Creek said. "Seeing how he let Dwyane Wade go off, (I thought that) if he can do it, I can do it...He says he's going to let me do that. I'm looking forward to it."
Creek said the aspect of his game he most needs to improve upon is his rebounding, but in his defense he said he is usually the one "trying to push the (fast) break." He said his solution to getting better on the glass is simply playing more: "That's why I play AAU, so I can work on it."
Other than playing AAU ball this summer with D.C. Triple Threat, Creek says he will be attending "a couple of camps." One of those camps will be the CP3 Backcourt Skills Academy, put on by New Orleans Hornets star Chris Paul. The CP3 camp runs from June 6-8 and is "by invitation only," according to ChrisPaul3.com.
Keith Stevens, Creek's AAU coach, said that Creek is "very talented" but he has "just got to get stronger." Creek knows that too, and plans on hitting the gym next season: "My senior year, I'll just get a personal trainer, try to work with him all summer and try to get ready for college," Creek said.
Stevens also talked about Creek's strengths as a player, which include great shooting and on the ball defense: "He'll be ready to play when he steps on campus and be ready to contribute."
I asked Creek if he models his game after any pro or college stars, past or present, and he gave a a bit of a surprising answer: "I love Eric Gordon," he said. "He's the main factor to me. He goes and does his thing and he's doing what he does." When Gordon declared for the NBA Draft last month, Creek wanted to continue where Gordon left off. "That's my goal, to follow behind (in) his footsteps."
Creek confirmed that he has never been to Indiana, but he plans on making the trip in the near future: "I will be coming soon though," he said.
(05/06/08 1:06am)
Upon the news that Armon Bassett and Jamarcus Ellis will not be returning to the IU basketball program, three-star guard Verdell Jones again became a hot name in IU recruiting chatter. Jones picked IU on Monday, although many were nearly certain he would choose Minnesota. The Champaign, Ill., native also considered UK.
(05/05/08 2:23am)
At Saturday’s graduation ceremonies, thousands marched into Assembly Hall and left as alumni. That same day, high school junior and Oxon Hill, Md., native Maurice Creek pledged to become a future IU student.\n“I looked at IU, they got all these championships,” Creek said. “A great school overall, a great basketball school, why not? Why not go to Indiana?”\nCreek, a 6-foot-5 195-pound shooting guard and student at South Kent School (Conn.), pledged to join the IU basketball team in the 2009-10 season. Creek is ranked the No. 12 shooting guard and No. 63 prospect nationally in the class of 2009, according to recruiting service Rivals.com.\nLike recent class of 2008 signee Nick Williams, 2009 commit Bobby Capobianco and most of IU’s current recruiting prospects, Creek was a past recruiting target of new IU coach Tom Crean.\n“He’s a good person,” Creek said. “We built this relationship when he was at Marquette.”\nAlthough the short list of schools pursuing the 17-year-old included Pittsburgh and Texas, his college decision ultimately came down to IU and Miami (Fla.). He and his parents loved both schools, but the main difference was that, unlike IU, Miami is a football school trying to build a basketball program, he said.\n“(Indiana) is a basketball school in a basketball state,” Creek said. “It was a tough decision, but it’s over now.”\nJoining forwards Derek Elston and Capobianco, four- and three-star recruits, respectively, the addition of Creek to next year’s recruiting class continues to show that with Crean at the helm of the program, help seems to be on its way.\n“I’m just ready to come and do what I do best and make Indiana what it was when they were winning the championships,” Creek said. “That’s my goal.”\nCreek said the best part of his game is shooting. When asked if that meant his mid-range shooting or his three-point game, he said “all of it.” His game does not stop there, however.\n“I can do a little bit of everything,” he said. “I love to pass (and) play defense. I can work on my rebounding a little bit, but that’s not a problem.”\nAlthough Creek has yet to visit Bloomington, the 2009 recruit is ready to be at IU as a student-athlete.\n“I’m excited right now,” he said. “I really want to leave right now and go to Indiana.”
(05/04/08 7:36pm)
How about some good news for a change?
(04/29/08 10:24pm)
Lawrence North sophomore standout Dominique Ferguson is headed to play for Billy Gillespie at UK.
Juco big man Josh Harrellson has chosen Kentucky over Saint Louis. The St. Louis-native had also considered IU among and a few others before narrowing it down to UK and SLU.
Verdell Jones will announce his decision Monday. He doesn't appear to be headed to IU either. IU's initial interest in Jones did come prior to the signings of guards Devan Dumes and Nick Williams, however.
Back in March I posted a link that former IU forward Xavier Keeling would be headed to Creighton. Contrary to some reports, Keeling never signed an LOI and he actually just signed with Detroit-Mercy, joining former IU assistant Ray McCallum. The 6-foot-6 forward is only the No. 176 ranked Juco player in the nation (Dumes is No. 29).
Ben Hansborough, a Mississippi State transfer and brother of UNC's Tyler, will be transferring to Notre Dame. Tyshawn Taylor, a former Marquette signee, has signed with Kansas.
I briefly caught up with Tobias Harris online. The sophomore from Dix Hills, N.Y. had high interest in IU, in part due to his relationships with Kelvin Sampson and McCallum. The 2010 recruit, ranked No. 39 in his class according to Scouts, Inc., told me that he has been following the situation at IU. He attened the Elite Camp here last year, and he said he "hopefully" will return to Bloomington for this year's camp. Harris, who has a large list of schools looking at him, said he will be working to improve his speed and defense this summer. He also said he plans on attending many college's Elite Camps and will play in "all the big tournaments" this summer, including one in Las Vegas.
(04/27/08 4:46pm)
Seven IU basketball books lay stacked in two piles on the coffee table of new IU head coach Tom Crean’s office. He said he is trying to brush up on his history.\nBut among monitoring his team’s academic situation, recruiting prospective Hoosiers, spending what little free time he has with his family – still in Wisconsin – and trying to buy a home in Bloomington, the past will have to wait. \nAddressing the future, the upcoming final exams and the open spots in the 2008-2009 roster, just a few things are on Crean’s mind. \nThe coach has made it clear that the academic situation, something he once called “not good,” is his main priority. IU is already down one scholarship for next season due to the infractions committed by former head coach Kelvin Sampson. If the team falls short of the 925 bar set by the NCAA’s Academic Progress Report, Crean could lose more.\n“I hope we’re not losing more scholarships; recruiting with 12 is (already hard),” Crean said. “We’re very conscious of what we’re trying to get done here so that our point total APR is at a workable area, but (we’re) with no real knowledge of that yet.”\nThe futures of sophomore Armon Bassett and junior Jamarcus Ellis returning to the team, as well as the number of scholarships Crean can still offer, both rely on the Hoosiers’ academic standing. \n“The APR is at the front of all this,” Crean said. “You can’t make quick decisions, rash decisions, things like that. We don’t want to be in a tough situation.”\nThis week, the team isn’t allowed to hold workouts, as the players are preparing for next week’s final exams. Crean said most of the players are consistently going to Assembly Hall and working hard academically.\n“The ones that are trying to do the right thing school-wise are in here every day taking care of what they’ve got to take care of academically,” Crean said.\nThe former Marquette coach said there were “very few” players who didn’t have to significantly turn things up academically, but he said “a lot of them are.”\nIn regards to Bassett and Ellis, he did not indicate whether he has spoken with either of them, but he did say the two have “made (him) aware” that they would like to be back. No names have been mentioned, however, as far as who has been struggling in the classroom this semester.\nAs for recruiting, Crean is not yet allowed to recruit on the road, but he is still doing whatever it takes within the rules to round out next year’s squad. \n“We’d love to have another inside player or two but for sure one if we can get the right guy,” he said. \nCrean also would like to get “one more really good player,” perhaps a point guard. \n“We’ve addressed some needs so far, real needs I think, with more to come,” Crean said.
(04/25/08 1:50pm)
I was going to post some more quotes from yesterday's interview with Coach Crean but Hutch has posted the entire first half of the interview, with more to come.
(04/24/08 8:09pm)
Along side the Indianapolis Star's Terry Hutchens and Bloomington Herald-Times' Chris Korman, I had the privilege of meeting with Tom Crean this afternoon in his office. In the 40-minute interview, a lot of ground was covered, from the academic situation and recruiting to his housing search and his campus experiences.Nothing earth shattering was said, although he gave us a lot of insight about what has been going on within the basketball program. Look for an article tomorrow in the IDS, but here are some random interesting things that were said in the interview: "We'd love to have another inside or man or two (on next year's team)." IU's 2008-09 schedule is nearly done. With the exception of one possible neutral or off-site game, the Hoosiers won't be away from Assembly Hall for any other games outside of the Maui Invitational, the Kentucky game and the Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchup at Wake Forest. Crean has won two Great Alaska Shootouts at Marquette, and was also on the coaching staff of a victorious Michigan State squad. The Hoosiers will be returning to the Shootout in the 2010-11 campaign. Crean did not confirm or deny that he has spoken with Armon Bassett or Jamarcus Ellis. He did say, however, that both have "made (him) aware" that they would like to be back on the team.By next week, Crean's coaching staff will be complete. Crean has been in touch with many former Hoosier players, in person and over the phone, including Kent Benson and Damon Bailey. Three 40-minute workouts were held last week, but none are being held this week due to upcoming final exams. Crean said that most of the players are working hard on their academics. "They're over here (at Assembly Hall) a lot."
(04/23/08 5:17pm)
Rivals.com has released its lastest class of 2008 rankings today. Nick Williams is now down a spot to No. 146. Other notable recruits, including former IU targets and 2008-09 opponents:
(04/23/08 5:17am)
Convincing recruits to join the 2008-09 IU basketball team was not supposed to be this easy for Tom Crean, but IU’s new men’s basketball coach has struck again.\nOn the heels of receiving a verbal commitment from Indianapolis native Devon Dumes – he is expected to sign a letter of intent today – Crean announced that Alabama guard Nick Williams will be joining the Hoosiers next season.\nWilliams, a 6-foot-5, 205-pound combo guard out of LeFlore High School in Mobile, Ala., originally signed to play for Marquette in November. After Crean accepted the IU head coaching position, Williams requested and received his release from Marquette. Now, the Alabama High School Player of the Year has chosen to follow Crean to Bloomington.\n“Nick really addresses a need for us and gives us a big, strong presence in the backcourt,” Crean said in a press release. “He is a winner who is tough and physical, and he boasts a work ethic that has helped him improve his game in a variety of ways each year.”\nWilliams is the ninth-best shooting guard and No. 35 overall prospect in the class of 2008, according to Scouts, Inc. The guard attended the Real Deal on the Hill tournament on the University of Arkansas’ campus this weekend. \nAfter narrowing his college choices down to IU and Arkansas, Razorback fans hoped his presence in Fayetteville would be a sign he would opt to play for the SEC team. Although they fell to the Razborbacks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Hoosiers won the recruiting battle for Williams’ services.\nRecently hired IU assistant coach Bennie Seltzer received much of the praise for signing the Hoosiers’ latest recruit, a player who could see a lot of minutes as a freshman.\n“Bennie Seltzer deserves a lot of credit for being the one who recognized that Nick was a player who would be a great fit for our system,” Crean said. “I think Bennie’s efforts and his relationship with everyone involved proved instrumental in Nick becoming a member of the Hoosier basketball family.”\nWilliams averaged 21 points per game and earned All-State honors as a senior, according to the press release. \nNeither Williams nor LeFlore coach Otis Hughley returned calls from the IDS on Monday.
(04/23/08 2:43am)
I finally got in touch with Maurice Sutton, the 6-foot-10, 210-pound Largo High School (Md.) senior who was recently offered a scholarship by IU coach Tom Crean. It was too late to get anything into Wednesday's paper, but this is what I found out:
(04/22/08 9:15pm)
Tom Crean is at it again. On Tuesday, the IU head coach reportedly offered a scholarship to 6-foot-10 class of 2008 recruit Maurice Sutton. Sutton, who is a three-star recruit and the No. 31 center in his class, according to recruiting service Scout.com, hails from Upper Marlboro, Md. Despite being listed between only 190 and 210 pounds on various recruiting Web sites, Sutton's potential presence on the IU roster would boost the Hoosiers' size in the post, following the recent commitments from two guards.
(04/21/08 7:16pm)
Nick Williams, a 6-foot-4 guard from Mobile, Ala., has signed to play for Tom Crean...again. After getting out of his letter of intent to play at Marquette, Rivals.com's No. 145 class of 2008 prospect has committed to play for IU.
(04/21/08 7:14pm)
On Nov. 18, 2006, freshman Devan Dumes scored 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor – in just 18 minutes. Despite the 16-point effort, Dumes and his Eastern Michigan teammates fell to Tom Crean’s Marquette squad, 95-62.\nSeventeen months and one day later, Crean, now the head coach at IU, welcomed the current Vincennes University sophomore to campus on Saturday for an unofficial visit. \nDumes liked what he saw and he verbally committed to play for IU next year. On Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., the 6-foot-2 guard will sign his letter of intent at the Wheeler-Dowe Boys and Girls Club in Indianapolis. \n“We set up a visit and got down there and made magic happen,” Dumes said in an interview Sunday. \nJoining a recruiting class that features high school seniors Tom Pritchard and Matt Roth, the combo guard will have two years of eligibility remaining after spending a year each at Eastern Michigan and Vincennes. \nDuring his freshman year at Eastern Michigan, the Indianapolis \nDecatur Central product scored 8.1 points per game and shot nearly 34 percent from behind the 3-point line. This season at Vincennes, Dumes led his team in scoring, averaging 16.9 points per game, while his 40-percent 3-point shooting paced him along the way to setting a single-season school record of 109 3-point shots made.\nAlison Evans, Dumes’ mother, said her son planned on visiting other schools, but opted not to take any more visits. Dumes considered Ohio State, Colorado, South Alabama and UTEP.\n“It was definitely a dream (for him to come to IU) and he’s very excited,” Evans said.\nDumes, who calls himself “a well-rounded player,” is the first Vincennes Blazer to transfer to IU in more than 20 years. As of now, he will be one of just eight scholarship players on the 2008-09 roster. The NCAA allows a maximum of 13 scholarships to be awarded, although the Hoosiers lost one because of self-imposed sanctions in the midst of the Kelvin Sampson saga.
(04/20/08 2:59am)
According to the H-T's blog The Hoosier Scoop, Vincennes University's Devan Dumes has committed to play for the Hoosiers next year. Dumes is a 6-2 guard who shot just a hair under 40-percent from behind the arc, on the way to setting Vincennes' single season three-point record with 109. The former Eastern Michigan Eagle averaged 16.9 points per game in his one year at Vincennes. A simple Google search shows that Dumes made the Dean's List at EMU, which Tom Crean and Hoosier fans have to love.
(04/18/08 11:16am)
Bobby Capobianco has long wanted to play for Tom Crean.\n“I was probably going to play for him at Marquette,” the high school junior said Thursday.\nWhen IU hired Crean a little more than two weeks ago, Capobianco’s interest in the Hoosiers shot up, and on Wednesday night, the 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward spoke with Crean and verbally committed to play for the Hoosiers.\n“With him (at IU), it seemed like a perfect situation for me,” Capobianco said.\nCapobianco has lived in Loveland, Ohio, for just two years, but as a sophomore last year, the big man quickly emerged as one of the top prep players in the Cincinnati area.\nThis season, Capobianco averaged 20.9 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game for the Loveland Tigers, according to the Fort Ancient Valley Conference Web site. The junior also hit 31.2 percent of his 3-point shots, and shot nearly 75 percent from the free-throw line.\n“I’m a big guy who can play inside and out,” Capobianco said.\nCapobianco, a three-star recruit, according to the Scout.com recruiting service, is the second player slated to join the Hoosiers in the 2009-10 season. Derek \nElston, Scout’s No. 57-ranked recruit, verbally committed to play for Kelvin Sampson and the Hoosiers in September, but Capobianco is Crean’s first pick-up at IU.\nCrean, hot on the recruiting trail for both next season and years to come, will welcome Capobianco in Bloomington next Tuesday night for a visit, the player said.\nCapobianco chose IU over West Virginia and St. Louis, but he said he also had interest from Boston College, Virginia, Bowling Green, Iowa and Miami (Ohio).\nJohn Decker of HoosierNation.com said Capobianco’s greatest strength is rebounding, while he can also run the floor well. Decker said with his size and speed, Capobianco has the ability to both defend centers, and play out on the wing.\n“I would think the way college basketball is today, he might be a little more of a four (power forward),” Decker said in a phone interview. \nTim Partin, Capobianco’s coach at Loveland, said some of his star player’s other strengths are his good hands, his passing abilities and his understanding of the game. When he first arrived at Loveland, Partin said, Capobianco was “just a big kid,” but he has become a much better athlete.\n“He’s put a lot of work into his game,” Partin said.\nCapobianco, who plays AAU basketball for the Bloomington-based Indiana Elite team, said he has played at Assembly Hall “at least 15 to 20 times.” Not once, however, has the forward played with the end zone bleachers out or with more than 17,000 fans on hand.\n“I know he’s really excited,” Partin said.
(04/17/08 1:33am)
Eli Holman has yet to reveal his plans on whether he is staying at IU, and little has been mentioned as far as the possible reinstatements of Armon Bassett or Jamarcus Ellis. Additionally, academics are a serious concern for some of the players, and IU still has a June date with the NCAA Infractions Committee.
(04/10/08 5:42am)
Terrell Holloway is staying put.\nHolloway, a senior at Harmony Community School in Cincinnati, will remain in the same city to play collegiate basketball.\nThe class of 2008 recruit, who originally committed to play for IU and Kelvin Sampson, verbally committed to play for Xavier on Tuesday. \nDustin Dow, a Xavier beat writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer, wrote on his NCAA blog that Holloway “said he had planned on transferring to Xavier since he decommitted from Indiana, but that he was trying to keep it quiet until one of Xavier’s players (likely Charles Bronson) transferred out.”\nIn a phone interview Wednesday, Holloway said that wasn’t quite true.\n“It wasn’t so much that I was just trying to keep it quiet, I was just thinking that,” Holloway said. “I made a list of eight schools, but then later in the last couple of days, they (Xavier) kind of just jumped in front \nof everyone.”\nAlthough the Musketeers weren’t a part of Holloway’s top eight teams last week, the point guard cited Xavier’s outstanding graduation rates and head coach Sean Miller as two of the main reasons he chose the Atlantic 10 school over USC, Virginia, St. John’s and IU.\n“I just felt that (Xavier) is the best fit for me,” Holloway said.\nIn January, Holloway said that exact thing about IU, but he now notes the rebuilding process in Bloomington and said there is “a lot of things going on at IU,” and that his original choice might not be the best one for his college career.\nThe 5-foot-11 guard enrolled at Harmony in the fall to improve his academics in hopes of playing Division I basketball next year. When former IU coach Kelvin Sampson revoked a scholarship offer to Bud Mackey, Holloway quickly committed to play for the Hoosiers.\nHolloway signed a letter of intent in November but was able to get his release from IU along with five-star forward Devin Ebanks after Sampson’s contract was bought out.\nUpon the hiring of Tom Crean last week, Hoosier fans had reason to be optimistic that Holloway, also a Marquette recruit, might re-commit to IU and play for Crean.\nCrean will now begin the rebuilding process of the IU program, with at least two scholarships available for the next season. \nDespite losing out on Holloway, Crean has his eyes on one of the next best point guards in the class of 2008, 6-foot-4 Verdell Jones. Jones, a three-star recruit from Champaign, Ill., has recently been offered scholarships from Georgetown and IU and is said to be closely considering Minnesota, Kentucky and Texas. \nIU is also is in the mix for 6-foot-9, 270-pound big man Josh Harrellson of Southwestern Illinois Community College, the same junior college IU senior Lance Stemler attended. Harrellson, who originally committed to Western Illinois, is also considering Kentucky, Purdue, Illinois and St. Louis.\nHarrellson told John Decker of HoosierNation.com on Sunday he was planning on sending his release papers to IU on Monday, which would allow Crean to begin recruiting him.\nDecker said it sounds as if Harrellson will give IU some “serious consideration” and might be the one player IU has the best chance at landing. While the Hoosiers have plenty of open roster spots, Decker said IU should not get “marginal guys” who will fill the roster but use valuable scholarships.\n“Honestly I think IU fans need to be patient; I think it’s just what it is,” Decker said. “Next year is probably going to be a tough year. I think it’s going to be a pretty thin roster.”
(04/09/08 3:46pm)
While it has appeared in recent weeks that Devin Ebanks is unlikely to stay with his original decision to come to IU, Hoosier fans were a bit more optimistic about point guard Terrell Holloway. Well, chalk him off the board. Holloway, the No. 100 recruit in the class of 2008 according to Rivals.com, verbally committed to play for Sean Miller at Xavier University on Tuesday night.
(04/03/08 1:22pm)
One question that Hoosier fans have asked is whether any Marquette signees will try to follow Tom Crean to IU. The Golden Eagles' top recruit Tyshawn Taylor, ranked No. 101 in the class of 2008 according to Rivals.com, has already requested his release from Marquette.