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(05/29/08 1:47am)
Statistics be damned.\nJeremiah Rivers, a 6-foot-4-inch, 205-lb. guard from Winter Park, Fla., may have put up less than impressive numbers in his two seasons as a Georgetown Hoya, but he isn’t worried about the doubters who might have questioned IU coach Tom Crean’s decision to extend him a scholarship offer.\n“Honestly, I could care less what they think,” Rivers said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “I’m just here to play. Y’all will have to see for yourself.”\nAlthough not all of the paperwork is in, the point guard told Crean on Tuesday that he is planning to transfer to IU.\nRivers, the son of current Boston Celtics coach and former NBA player Glenn “Doc” Rivers, is best known as a defensive specialist.\nThe junior guard said he is very fast, can get to the basket well and is quick and athletic, even though his numbers might not show it.\nAs a sophomore this past season, Rivers averaged just 2.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 18.6 minutes per game. He notched a career high nine points against Fairfield last December, while in 40 career contests against Big East competition he never tallied more than six points in any game. In two years, he hit 52.3 percent of his free throws. His career high of seven assists came as a freshman versus Belmont, while he topped out at just five this past season.\nAlthough he said he left Georgetown on “very good terms,” Rivers is hoping that playing for IU will allow him to put his strengths on display more.\n“Not a lot of people ever see (those strengths) addressed given the way (Georgetown) played, so I guess y’all can watch and see,” he said.\nRivers visited IU the weekend of the adidas May Classic, which took place May 9-11. That weekend, the Washington Times reported that Rivers was planning to enroll at IU, although the guard only recently chose the Hoosiers over Georgia Tech and Central Florida.\nIn what was his first trip to Indiana earlier this month, Rivers said he “really liked” Bloomington and IU, although he wasn’t able to meet many players due to the depleted roster, which at that point still included recently dismissed forward Brandon McGee.\n“I’ve been able to meet Devan Dumes and a few other players. They’re really great guys and I’m looking forward to developing a relationship with them,” Rivers said.\nAs players like Dumes get the chance to shine at Assembly Hall next season, Rivers will have to sit and watch on game days. Due to NCAA rules, any player who transfers is obligated to postpone their playing careers for one season. Nevertheless, he says he will contribute by providing the Hoosiers with leadership, as well as his experience playing for a winning team at Georgetown, which made it to the Final Four his first year.\n“I’ve won,” Rivers said. “...I can bring that to Indiana, most definitely, because I’ve been there,” Rivers said.\nAlthough he said he has to improve on “a lot of aspects” of his game, Rivers said he doesn’t have many goals.\n“I really just want to come and have a good team environment with Indiana and win, man,” he said. “That’s all I really want to do is win. Just come in and go to the Final Four and win Big Ten championships like everybody else.”
(05/22/08 6:21am)
Tijan Jobe has only been in the United States for four years. The Banjul, Gambia native hasn’t fully mastered the English language and he isn’t always the easiest to understand. But the latest Hoosier commit has made one thing clear: “I’m very excited,” Jobe said in a phone interview Wednesday. “I’m ready to play for IU.”\nJobe, a 7-foot, 255-lb., center from Olney Central Community College in Illinois, came to the United States through the African Hoop Opportunities Providing an Education (A-HOPE) program. The foundation is run by Mark Adams, a Bloomington native, so when Jobe and Olney Central coach Mike Burris visited IU on Tuesday, it wasn’t Jobe’s first time on campus.\nJobe was considering UAB and Auburn, but the 22-year-old said he liked what he saw on his visit with the coaching staff, and thus decided to commit to IU. IU coach Tom Crean expressed his excitement about the latest addition to IU’s 2008-09 squad, in a statement on Wednesday.\n“We are excited to be able to sign a player with the defensive ability and rebounding presence that Tijan has,” Crean said. “We feel he has a lot of room for growth in the sense of improving on both the defensive and offensive end and we love the fact that he plays extremely hard. His height and wingspan (7-5 1/2) is something that our team was in great need of.” \nJobe scored just four points and four rebounds in thirteen minutes per game last year at Olney Central, and also found himself in lots of foul trouble, his coach said. Burris didn’t seem too concerned, however, and expects the 7-footer to do well in Crean’s system.\n“I think he’s got a lot of upside to continue to develop and continue to improve his offensive and defensive abilities, but body-wise I don’t know if there’s going to be a better body in the Big Ten,” Burris said. “He’s cut, he’s ripped (and) he’s very, very physical. A lot of times with foreign kids at the junior college level, for whatever reasons, they seem to be better at the four-year level.”\nJobe won’t be the first African to play under Crean. The past four seasons at Marquette, Crean coached 6-foot-10 Senegal native Ousmane Barro. Barro averaged 2.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 10 minutes per game as a freshman, but continued to develop and recorded eight double doubles in his last two seasons with the Golden Eagles. \nJobe, whose father is from Senegal and speaks the same language as Barro, said he doesn’t know the former Marquette big man, but has seen him play on television. \nBurris said that he and Jobe watched a highlight film of Barro and they saw similarities between the two.\n“Ousmane was kind of a screener and rolls to the basket, catches things off penetration, defends really well on the block (and) runs the floor,” Burris said. “I think Tijan’s got some of those same abilities that Ousmane possessed at Marquette that will make him successful at Indiana.”\nJobe, who said he first picked up the game of basketball two or three years prior to coming to the United States, shares one goal with most other college basketball players.\n”My goal is to win a championship at IU before I graduate,” Jobe said.\nWith only two years of eligibility left, he recognizes the hard work that will take, but said he is ready for the challenge. In fact, Burris said he talked to Jobe this morning shortly after the 7-footer had returned from a four-mile run.\n“I know that he’s going to do everything in his power to be ready to step in there and help in Indiana,” Burris said.
(05/09/08 8:43pm)
Editor's Note:\nIn the print version of this story, a pull quote was incorrectly attributed to Verdell Jones. It should have been attributed to IU recruit Bobby Capobianco. The IDS regrets this error.
(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.”
(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.
(04/23/08 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.
(04/21/08 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.
(04/18/08 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.
(04/10/08 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.”
(04/03/08 5:16am)
Before accepting the IU head coaching position, Tom Crean knew of the many challenges he’d have to tackle in Bloomington.\n“We’re going to have to embrace them because there is no other way to look at it,” Crean said of the obstacles during his press conference yesterday.\nOne of the biggest hurdles the former Marquette coach will face during his first few days in office is recruiting. For next season, Matt Roth and Tom Pritchard are still bound to the letters of intent they signed in November, but recruits Devin Ebanks and Terrell Holloway have been released from theirs and have yet to sign elsewhere.\n“We’re going to get into that process quickly,” Crean said. “I don’t want to comment on recruiting as much right now except that we’re going to do everything we can to study and to get to know the four young men that have committed or signed to this University and also to continue to recruit.”\nJere Quinn, Ebanks’ coach at St. Thomas More (Conn.), said he has not been in touch with either Ebanks or Crean since the coach was hired Wednesday.\nQuinn did say Ebanks will be playing in the April 19 Jordan Brand Classic game and will be visiting four schools – Memphis, Texas, Rutgers and West Virginia – prior to and following the ESPNU-televised game at Madison Square Garden.\nHolloway, meanwhile, has a new list of college choices, according to the recruiting service Rivals.com. Holloway told the Indiana Daily Student in January he was considering St. John’s and Virginia, but the point guard is now also considering Kentucky, Ohio State, Oklahoma, USC and possibly Marquette.\nOn Tuesday, Holloway said he did not want to comment much on the hiring but did say he has already spoken with Crean and would like to speak more with him.\n“(In) the past 24 hours, I can say a lot of things have changed,” Holloway said.\nHolloway confirmed that Crean had recruited him while at Marquette and said he likes the way guards are utilized in his system.\n“Over there with Marquette with (guards such as) Jerel McNeal and Dominic James, the guards were able to play and get out there and run,” Holloway said.\nDespite the chaos surrounding IU basketball this year, Pritchard said he has been set on IU since the moment he committed and is “excited that IU has found a coach.”\n“I’m not really familiar with him, but I’m sure he’s a great coach, and I’ve heard a lot about him, and I can’t wait to meet him,” the center said.\nRoth echoed that sentiment, saying he’s “pretty excited” about the hiring.\n“He had a pretty good record at Marquette, and he had some good players there,” the shooting guard said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
(03/21/08 4:58am)
Devin Ebanks will be released from the letter of intent he signed with IU and will reopen his recruitment, Adam Zagoria of the Herald News in West Paterson, N.J., reported Tuesday. \n“He’s spoke to the people at Indiana, and they’re apparently going to be sending him his release,” Jere Quinn, Ebanks’ coach at St. Thomas More (Conn.), told Zagoria on Tuesday.\nOn Thursday, Quinn told the Indiana Daily Student that Ebanks still has the Hoosiers on his recruiting list. Ebanks is expected to look at Memphis, Texas, Rutgers as well as a possible fourth school, Quinn told Zagoria.\nQuinn also confirmed that the small forward, rated No. 13 in the class of 2008 by Rivals.com, “is going to take a few visits,” but is awaiting his release papers from IU.\nAlthough Quinn and several media outlets have reported Quinn’s release, IU spokesperson J.D. Campbell had no knowledge of the situation.\n“I cannot confirm (that) because I haven’t talked to anyone,” Campebll said Thursday afternoon. “I’m busy with the basketball team (in Raleigh, N.C.).”\nOn Nov. 27, Rivals tabbed former IU coach Kelvin Sampson’s four-man 2008 recruiting class, headlined by Ebanks, as the 15th best in the nation. Also signing with IU in the fall were three-star recruits Tom Pritchard and Matt Roth, both still bound by their letters of intent, as well as Terrell Holloway, the No. 100 recruit according to Rivals.
(02/14/08 9:54am)
With the revelation of the five major NCAA infractions allegedly committed by IU coach Kelvin Sampson and his coaching staff, any lingering IU recruiting questions have exploded to a new level.\nFour players have signed letters of intent to play for the Hoosiers next year, one high school junior has verbally committed to IU and numerous other recruits have been on IU’s radar. They are now faced with a dilemma and are unsure of what their college basketball futures may hold.\n“I just called (IU assistant coach Jeff Meyer) today to talk about it,” said Derek Elston, the 6-foot-8 small forward who verbally committed to IU for the 2009-10 season. “They said that I’m still part of the family and I still love all those guys down there. I made a commitment and I’m going to stay with it. No matter what, I’m going to stick with it.”\nElston’s father, Darrell, a former North Carolina guard, said he was unaware of the “impermissible recruiting contact” when it happened but was sure that a high school player would not realize it was a violation. As for the overall situation with Sampson, Elston’s father hopes the situation doesn’t become too severe. He said the recently announced violations will have some impact on his son’s college decision.\n“I just hope that this is not real serious because Derek really enjoys this coaching staff and is pretty much set on going to IU,” he said. “If it becomes a little bit bigger, then I would hope he doesn’t change his mind. I hope it isn’t anything major.” \nTerrell Holloway, one of the class of 2008 signees, said he is concerned about any possible postseason sanctions or coaching changes, but said he does not know much about the situation. \n“I have to be concerned with the situation, because it has to do with me,” he said.\nWhen Holloway signed his national letter of intent in November, he said he was aware of Sampson’s October violations, but “this is obviously something new.” \nHolloway said he was not in a position to comment on the possibility of a new coach prowling the sidelines of Branch McCracken Court next season or the prospect of wanting to opt out of his letter of intent. He did say, however, that he is not looking at any other schools at the moment.\n“As of right now, I’m looking forward to being an Indiana Hoosier in the fall,” Holloway said.\nOf the five major violations listed in the NCAA report released Wednesday, one involves Derek Elston. The report revealed that Sampson and Meyer “engaged in an impermissible recruiting contact” this summer at a camp at Assembly Hall, when they gave the Tipton High School star “at least one T-shirt and a drawstring backpack.”\nAbout three weeks ago, members of the NCAA visited Elston at school and asked him several questions about the incident. While he said he did not want to talk about the situation, he said the NCAA went over the rules with him, discussed what happened and what went wrong, and asked him to be honest about the situation.\nElston’s father said he has noticed a drop in his son’s game performances lately, most specifically with his shooting, and he related it to the Sampson situation and the NCAA visit to Tipton.\n“I think the whole thing has really affected his play in high school; he hasn’t shot well the last three or four games,” he said.\nDerek Elston dispelled his father’s comments, however, citing two 32-point performances following the NCAA visit.\n“We just lost one of our point guards and that’s kind of got me down,” Elston said. “Nothing really with IU.”\nWhile Elston plans to stay committed to the Hoosiers, he is the only player who has pledged to play at IU for the 2009-10 season or beyond. And though Sampson’s future might currently be up in the air, so is recruiting, and thus the future of IU basketball.
(02/13/08 4:58am)
Two of IU’s four November signees, Devin Ebanks and Terrell Holloway, hail from New York.\nDespite the October resignation of assistant coach Rob Senderoff, IU’s former New York recruiting connection, the Hoosiers might still be in a “New York State of Mind” come 2010 if they sign sophomore standout Tobias Harris of Long Island.\nLast summer, Senderoff helped attract Harris to IU’s summer Elite Camp. It was there that Harris, a 6-foot-7 15-year-old, met the Hoosiers’ coaching staff and spent three days learning about the basketball program. \n“He’s very interested in Indiana,” Tobias Harris’ father, Torrel Harris Sr., said. “We flew down (to Bloomington) and we got to talk to all the coaches. He just thinks the world of Indiana.”\nOn Jan. 24, IU coach Kelvin Sampson became the first collegiate coach to offer a scholarship to Tobias Harris. Since then, Tobias Harris has picked up an offer from Connecticut, and said he is also interested in Arizona, Maryland, Rutgers and Florida.\nHarris has been labeled a major prospect in the class of 2010 by several recruiting services. On Monday, the sophomore exploded for 52 points, improving his average to 31.0 points per game for his 18-0 Half Hollow Hills West High School team. Though he can play any position from point guard to power forward, Harris said he is most comfortable at shooting guard.\nThe sophomore said his strengths are shooting and “just playing in the flow of the game.” He also said he hopes to improve on his defense and overall quickness. \n“I think that his agility is not up to par is because he is growing so fast,” his father said. “This summer he was 6-4; now he’s 6-7, so he hasn’t grown into his body. He’s probably going to be 6-10 the way he’s growing.”\nHarris’ high school coach Bill Mitaritonna said Harris has not only grown, but has also gotten stronger. When the season ends, however, he said Harris will begin to work hard in the weight room. \n“Once he gets that under his belt, he’s going to be extremely dangerous, already more than he is,” Mitaritonna said. \nDespite the early interest from several college basketball powerhouses, Harris isn’t ready to make up his mind.\n“I want to be patient on it and I don’t want to rush any decisions,” he said. \nHarris, already his high school’s all-time leading scorer, said he is mostly considering academics and coaching staffs when it comes to choosing his future school. After their trip to Bloomington this summer, both Harris and his father gained a lot of respect for the entire Hoosier program, as well as the school.\n“Indiana is great,” his father said. “The tradition at Indiana is unbelievable. The campus is unbelievable.”\nOf the other schools Harris is considering, one that stands out is Arizona. Harris’ cousin, Portland Trail Blazers center Channing Frye, played for the Wildcats and was instrumental in their 2005 run to the Elite Eight.\nThe Harris family saw Frye’s success, but Tobias Harris wants to do things differently from his cousin. He wants to win a national championship.\nOffering a scholarship to the talented sophomore shows that Sampson wants one badly, too.
(01/30/08 7:02am)
Wait, Tom who?\nThat was the reaction of most Hoosier fans this fall when virtually unknown Tom Pritchard pledged to play basketball next season for IU coach Kelvin Sampson. Sampson had never heard of the 6-foot-8 big man when he first saw him play this past summer.\n“As is the case a lot of time in recruiting, you go to watch one kid and wind up coming back asking about another kid,” Sampson said at a press conference in November. “I can’t remember who I went to see, but early in the game against a very high level team, I said ‘Who is this kid?’”\nPritchard, an unranked, three-star center, according to recruiting services Rivals.com and Scout.com, hails from Westlake, Ohio. Playing high school ball alongside five-star forward and Michigan State-bound Delvon Roe, and being a part of the same IU recruiting class as highly-touted Devin Ebanks, it is easy to understand why Pritchard has been slapped with the “unheralded” label.\nBut on Dec. 6, Hoosier fans began to take notice of Pritchard. That night, Pritchard’s high school, St. Edward, opened its season at home versus consensus top-five recruit Jrue Holiday and the Campbell Hall Vikings of North Hollywood, Calif. In the ESPN2-televised game, Pritchard scored 23 points, pulled down 14 rebounds and blocked five shots in St. Edward’s 78-73 victory. \nThat night also marked the last time Pritchard took the floor with Roe and senior guard Alex Sterba, both of whose high school careers ended due to serious knee injuries. The following night, when St. Edward hosted Western Reserve Academy, the Eagles became Pritchard’s team. \nSt. Edward coach Eric Flannery said Pritchard really had to adjust to his new role after Roe and Sterba went down. Since the injuries, and as of Jan. 18, Pritchard has averaged 16.5 points and 10.6 rebounds.\n“What’s interesting to see now is how Tom is expanding his game and going on without Delvon,” said Flannery, a 2007 AP Division I Coach of the Year. “I think that’s only going to help him down the road as a player.” \nFlannery, who has coached Pritchard since his freshman year, said the senior star has come a long way, “improving tremendously over four years.”\n“I think in many ways – and I’ve said this to many people – \nhe could go down as our biggest success story,” Flannery said. “We’ve had great players go through our program, and Tom has really gone down and developed. He’s going to be a great piece to a big puzzle at Indiana.”\nPritchard’s 240-pound frame will really help the Hoosiers inside, said John Decker of Hoosiernation.com. He said Pritchard is a very skilled passer for someone his size and will be a solid role player for four years in Bloomington.\nJoining a frontcourt that will boast 295-pound junior DeAndre Thomas as well as lanky and inexperienced freshman Eli Holman, Pritchard will have an opportunity to make a big impact as a freshman. \n“The opportunity is definitely there and I’m willing to take it with necessary improvements in the offseason,” Pritchard said.\nThose improvements, he said, are shooting, finishing around the basket and getting stronger – each a necessary element in becoming a better post player. No matter his progress, Pritchard said he will embrace whatever role Sampson assigns him.\n“I’ve never been concerned with playing time,” he said. “I’ll sit on the bench and cheer the team on if it helps the team win.”\nPritchard said he chose the Hoosiers over Penn State, Miami (Ohio), Virginia, Virginia Tech and Providence. Pitchard cited Sampson and IU’s basketball tradition as two of the primary factors that led to his signing.\n“A big key was coach Sampson and all his knowledge and being a great guy,” Pritchard said. “Also just the basketball; it’s a basketball state and everyone likes basketball (in Bloomington).”\nOff the court, Pritchard says he is “very laid-back, shy and just easygoing.” \n“Quiet” was the first word that his high school coach thought of, but Flannery isn’t expecting him to play quietly at IU.\n“On the court I think he’s going to make a huge contribution,” he said. “I think over the next four years he’s going to surprise a lot of people.”
(01/23/08 6:12am)
The Jan. 13 Illinois game marked the first time this season all scholarship members of IU’s backcourt were available. Nobody was academically ineligible, no one was suspended and no guard sat out with an injury.\nBut with the anticipated graduation of senior A.J. Ratliff and the likely departure of freshman phenom Eric Gordon, IU’s backcourt won’t look the same next season. On Nov. 14, however, Sampson added a pair of guards who he is confident can fill the holes in IU’s depth chart.\nOne of them is sharpshooter Matt Roth, who recently broke his high school’s career scoring record and set the Illinois high school record for career 3-pointers made.\nBut for all of the sharpshooters the Hoosiers have had in recent memory, Terrell Holloway will provide something IU has sorely lacked during the Sampson era: a pure point guard.\n“He is not a shooting guard that we are converting to point guard or a scorer point guard,” Sampson said after receiving Holloway’s letter of intent in November. “He is a true point guard and always has been.”\nAs a senior, Holloway led Hempstead High School to the Nassau Class AA title. Poor grades led to his prep school enrollment at Harmony Community School in Cincinnati, the same school at which former IU recruit Bud Mackey recently enrolled. \n“The basic attraction (to Harmony) more than anything is the academics,” Harmony coach Rodney Crawford said. “Basketball is secondary.”\nHolloway said he “definitely” will qualify to play for the Hoosiers next year.\nHolloway, the 100th-ranked prospect in the class of 2008 according to Rivals.com, was ranked the No. 14 fifth-year player in the country by Hoop Scoop Online in September.\nHolloway is best known for his playmaking ability, leading Harmony in assists and doing his scoring on the side, said Crawford, a former Cincinnati Bearcat basketball player.\nAt a press conference following the Nov. 14 signings of Roth, Holloway, Tom Pritchard and five-star forward Devin Ebanks, Sampson praised his future guard in describing his basketball assets. \n“(Holloway) is extremely fast with the ball,” Sampson said. “He is strong too, even though he is listed as 175 pounds, he is more like 185 pounds. He is a great on-ball defender and a tough kid. He gets people involved and can create off the dribble.”\nOff the court, Crawford said Holloway is genuine and always answers questions with a polite “yes sir” or “no sir.”\n“He’s a quality kid,” Crawford said. “Real respectful.”\nHolloway, who said he is averaging about 14 points and nine assists per game at Harmony this season, said he chose IU over Tennessee, Gonzaga, Oregon State, Virginia and St. John’s.\n“I definitely liked the tradition at IU and I felt like it was a good opportunity for me to play,” Holloway said. “Coach Sampson, I know he’s a good coach, and I knew that Indiana was a good fit for me.”\nJohn Decker of HoosierNation.com said Holloway’s presence will let sophomore guard Armon Bassett and freshman guard Jordan Crawford look for their shots a little more than they have been able to this season.\n“Having a guy like Holloway will allow Sampson to play Bassett and Crawford at the wing,” Decker said.\nWhether or not Holloway makes an immediate impact as a freshman, the point guard is looking forward to becoming a Hoosier.\n“I’ll be pretty excited when I put the (IU) jersey on for the first time,” Holloway said.\nAs for the candy-striped warm-up pants? He laughed, and said he likes them too.
(01/17/08 5:00am)
From "Sex and The City" creator Darren Star is a dramedy about four women in New York City who try to juggle their professional and personal lives. Sound familiar? Fans of Carrie Bradshaw's fashion sense will be happy to hear that Patricia Field, costume designer for "Sex and The City's," is also on board for "Cashmere Mafia." But the show is less sex and more business, as it focuses on the careers of each protagonist.
(11/29/07 5:00am)
Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline":
(11/08/07 3:09am)
The IU men’s tennis team will conclude its fall season this weekend at the Big Ten Singles Championship against some of the nation’s best. Up to 16 of the nation’s top 125 men’s tennis players will be in action this weekend at the tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich., and the Hoosiers are hoping to end the fall season on a high note.\nA 32-player qualifying draw will take place Friday with the top eight players advancing into the 64-player main draw, which begins Saturday.\nAmong the top players in the main draw are Ohio State’s Steve Moneke and Bryan Koniecko and Illinois’ Ryan Rowe, each of whom was a preseason Top 10 player. The player to watch, however, is Ohio State sophomore Justin Kronauge who, although entering the year ranked at No. 104, won last month’s Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Regional tournament, which included a quarterfinal victory over IU’s Thomas Richter.\nRichter, ranked 51st and the eighth seed in the tournament, fell 7-5, 6-3, to the 13th-seeded Kronauge, but hopes to do better if their paths cross this time around.\n“I was trying to be very aggressive; (I) hit probably five more winners than him, but also made all the mistakes,” Richter said. “So next time I would play him, I would try to force him to make the mistakes and let him miss the ball and not me.”\nRichter, a senior, is playing in the final fall tournament of his career before the team turns to head-to-head competition in the spring, and said it is important to him to do well.\n“I tried to win the last one, got to the quarters (and) had a shot of making the final,” Richter said. “I want to do better this time and try to win the tournament this time.”\nThis fall, six Hoosiers have been playing in tournaments while the others have been recovering from injuries. But all have been working hard, said IU coach Randy Bloemendaal.\nAt Michigan this weekend, Bloemendaal said he believes every one of the six traveling players is capable of playing deep into the tournament, and nothing can replace winning to give his players confidence.\n“The guys on the team have been doing all the right things, but we need confidence to get us to the next level of being a legitimate contender for the Big Ten Championship next semester,” Bloemendaal said. “This tournament is a great opportunity to be a vehicle to get us to the next level.”\nOne player especially looking to do well this weekend is senior Dara McLoughlin, who is just 1-2 for the fall, but is a two-time semifinalist at the Big Ten Singles Championship. The Dublin, Ireland native said he is excited to start competing and always enjoys playing this event. McLoughlin said he is not just concerned with his own game but hopes to see every Hoosier do well this weekend.\n“I think it’s really important for everybody to start winning individual matches,” McLoughlin said. “It will give us a lot of confidence that we can go out and compete with the rest of the Big Ten teams.”
(10/18/07 4:00am)
When redshirt freshman Phillip Eilers joined the IU men’s tennis team last January, then-head coach Ken Hydinger knew he had brought in a special player. He was excited about Eilers and fellow newcomer Lachlan Ferguson and their potential to lead the Hoosiers. Last month, new head coach Randy Bloemendaal said Eilers and Ferguson would be “impact players.”\nOn Friday, Eilers will get a chance to prove himself worthy of the praise as he and seniors Thomas Richter and Dara McLoughlin will head north to Minneapolis for the ITA Midwest Regional at Minnesota’s Baseline Tennis Center. Eilers said he is excited for the event and hopes to improve his game while there.\n“I hope I can prove myself (and) get even more wins,” Eilers said. “I’m looking forward (to) a good tournament.”\nEilers made his debut three weeks ago at the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships in Tulsa, Okla. \nEilers was the ninth seed in the Prequalifier, where he won three straight-set matches to advance to the Qualifier. In the first match of the Qualifier, Eilers knocked off the 14th seed and No. 62 player in the country, Roy Sichel of Charlotte, 6-4, 6-1. In the second round, however, Eilers fell 6-1, 6-4 to the 94th-ranked player in the country, Dalibor Pavic of Drake University. \nBloemendaal said he is pleased with how Eilers has played so far, but since Eilers has not won any championships, he is not getting too excited about the former Top 10 junior player from Germany. Nevertheless, his results at the All-American tournament seem to back up at least some of the hype. \nBloemendaal said the singles event will be a 64-player draw, consisting of men from Big Ten schools, Louisville, Notre Dame and top mid-major competition. He said he expects Eilers and Richter to be seeded, while there is an outside chance for McLoughlin. \nRichter, who entered the season as the likely No. 1 player for the Hoosiers, had a setback at the All-American event. Despite being the fourth seed in the Qualifier, Richter fell in the first round to Wake Forest’s Steven Forman 6-3, 6-4. \nAlthough he won a consolation match against the NCAA’s 53rd-ranked player from LSU, the 51st-ranked Richter was obviously let down. But he’s optimistic about the Midwest Regional this weekend.\n“I was a bit disappointed with how I played,” Richter said. “(I) didn’t expect to lose the first match, but I’m looking forward to the Minnesota tournament. I’m trying to improve ... just trying to keep the ball in and play more balls.”\nWhile Richter was in the lineup for most of last spring’s competition, this tournament will mark the first time Eilers will go up against Big Ten competition.\n“Since I’m new at college, I don’t know my opponents,” Eilers said. “(It will be) good to get my first view at them, to play against them, to get more experience against them and maybe learn some tricks on how to play against them in the spring.”\nRichter, meanwhile, is familiar with much of the competition and has plans to win it all.\n“Of course, if you go to a tournament you want to win the tournament,” Richter said. “I’m planning on winning the tournament.”
(10/11/07 3:47am)
College tennis is broken into two seasons: fall and spring. In the fall, coaches send players to various tournaments to get them match experience as they prepare for the spring. When January rolls around, teams begin head-to-head competition with the best 64 teams competing in the NCAA tournament at the end of the spring season. \nFor two Hoosiers, that journey continues this weekend. IU coach Randy Bloemendaal will be traveling with junior Peter Antons and freshman Santiago Gruter to the 10th annual Louisville Fall Invitational. Bloomendaal selected Antons and Gruter citing the need for them to have more matches under their belts.\n“We’ve got some guys that are on the verge of being ranked, and then we’ve got some guys that just need a lot of matches,” Bloemendaal said. \nTwo weeks ago at the Tom Fallon Invitational at Notre Dame, both Antons and Gruter posted 3-1 singles records and 2-1 doubles records. Antons said he was pleased with his play, which included a victory over a player he had lost to this summer. Gruter said he felt good ending the tournament with a win in both singles and doubles.\n“I had a bit of a rough start in my first matches in college, but progressively got better during the tournament,” Gruter said.\nBloemendaal said that Antons and Gruter competed well, but he said they hadn’t done anything special and he knows they can improve.\n“They made a big jump in the last tournament because they got a lot of matches in, and this should be a very similar thing,” Bloemendaal said. “We’re expecting them to make another step forward.”\nThe Louisville Invitational will be a good opportunity for them to take those strides forward. Antons and Gruter will be playing in the flighted tournament, which consists of three divisions. Players from 16 schools are in the field, including Illinois, Kentucky and Louisville, as well as other teams from the region such as Bradley, Cleveland State, Eastern Kentucky and Toledo. \nDoubles play will begin at 9 a.m. Friday and both singles and doubles competition will last through Sunday.