Hanner Perea commits to the Hoosiers

[Truth Detector]

Top 10 pick in the 2012 class.

Tom Crean is slowly bringing back the shine to Assembly Hall.

[Coyote]

Yep, that's a good recruit. Crean has to fight off for one more year (until official signing is allowed) all the other big name schools who will be after him.

Those who worried me by saying Crean was going to continue his Marquette approach of mostly getting small guys look to be wrong. He's picking up a bigger man or two in every class. At first he couldn't get any who were highly regarded, because Indiana's rep had dropped too far. But he's got athletic bigger guys signing up now.

[Doyouloveit?]

One and done guy??

[Truth Detector]

One and done guy??

I've never seen him play but at 6'8" I wouldn't expect him to be but 18/19 year-old athletes have rarely been accused of being smart.

[Coyote]

Read an NBC sports article on the signing. Says Crean is doing well at "building a wall around Indiana" as far as convincing instate kids to play for IU. Perea plays on the same AAU team as two other Indiana recruits. They say he is "raw" offensively, with scouts "drooling" over his atheletic running, jumping, and wingspan, so I wouldn't think one and done. But they say he does have a half decent midrange jumper. Perea is the kid a Baylor assistant was after and that coach got in trouble with the NCAA for sending Perea's coach in Columbia text messages making promises to the coach that broke the rules. Perea changed his mind from Baylor and chose IU.

Here's a video of what must be his go-to offensive move. The dunk followed by a pullup on the rim.

[Truth Detector]

Baylor coach apparently threatened to have Perea deported if he didn't agree to go to Baylor. Lots of bad smell in the air around Baylor. Who wouldda thunk it from a Drew?

[Coyote]

Seeing as Baylor suddenly began getting commits from each top recruit they went hard after, I began to think it coming from Drew. I mean, it's BAYLOR. Usually when a school goes from middling to all of a sudden the hot destination there's a reason. Surprising. But I didn't think Todd Leary was a crook either.

[Danny Noonan]

This is a big recruit for IU in more ways than one. First it sheds the image, as mentioned above, that Crean can't land talented big men and/or highly ranked Indiana prospects. Second, IU is on the verge of possibly getting commitments from Yogi Ferrel, a highly rated PG from Indianapolis for the 2012 class and Cody Zeller, a highly rated big man from Washington, IN for the 2011 class. This will certainly help IU's chances of landing these top 40 talents. Third, this guy is a prototypical Big 10 stud. He is not super polished offensively but he is a rebounding and shot-blocking machine.

IU's recruiting class this year was a disappointment, but their 2012 class could be one of the best in school history. And Zeller is a top-20 player who would have an immediate impact next year. They also have 2 recuitments for the 2014 class from 2 Indiana guys who are ranked in the top 10 of their class.

It's been a very difficult and humbling experience after Sampson screwed the program and we basically lost the entire team. But Crean's hard work is finally paying off. There is an article on ESPN.com about Indiana's strong ties to the Indiana Elite AAU team which is the team that all the guys above have or will played for. Indiana has been producing really top shelf talent in recent years which has been heavily raided by Ohio St, UK, and other out of state teams. It appears this trend might be ending.

After a decade of complete turmoil it finally appears Indiana Basketball is going to be a national powerhouse again.

[Coyote]

It's been a very difficult and humbling experience after Sampson screwed the program and we basically lost the entire team.
...
After a decade of complete turmoil ...

[Truth Detector]

Dude has a wingspan of 7'4".

[Danny Noonan]

No doubt Greenspan was a horrible hire. But IIRC, it was IU President Herbert who made the call on hiring Sampson.

[Doyouloveit?]

IU fans resorting to the, bank of the next big recruiting class to save Indiana Basketball mantra, gotta love it.

Also, I wouldn't shoe-in both Yogi Ferrel and Cody Zeller just yet. From what I've heard, it could be a package deal and don't rule out Butler or UNC. However, I do think it will come down to Butler and IU.

If IU doesn't get Zeller or Ferrel next season, then what?? Will IU fans be patient enough to wait for an unpolished 6'8 big man to save Crean's job and IU basketball??

[mds24]

I think it is hard to call this year's class as disappointing. It filled in pieces in a puzzle. GMM is a JC big man, looks like he is better than Jobe or Bawa and fills the gap until Jurkin comes in in 2012. His recruit basically shows Zeller if he comes to IU he will not paly center, which word has been he does not want to play.

Victor and Will are very athletic and can fill in different spots off the bench. From what I have heard Will is kind of a Randy Wittman type, maybe jumps better, Good shooter on wing. Victor is very athletic, good rebounder for his size and for several years IU has had trouble competing on the boards, Victor probably helps there and will light up the crowd with some break-aways. They are 4 year players who will get more time each year. I have not heard anything like this but I would fear one might transfer as they see their playing time going down when that 2012 class comes in. I think Victor stays because he is pretty close to Creek,


As far as Hanner goes, I fear he is a one and doner. I hope not, think he needs to improve his outside shot. I saw him over the summer in some games and he is a freak of nature. He gets up so fast, so explosive. He and Jurkin played well together near the basket, will give the ball up to the one who is in best position to score.

That 2012 class potentially is the best class I can ever recall at IU. And then in 2014, you add the 2012 pieces with Lyles and Blackmon and IU could be a national contender again.. They will make noise in the national tourney after 2012 but you add Lyles and Blackmon to what will be there and it is tough to imagine that team.

And there is no evidence Crean is doing it with any help from someone like World Wide Wes or some agent directing players there. Get IU back to where it should be and Crean will have a better chance to cherry pick top national talent in years the state of Indiana does not have the talent coming out the next 4 years.

One more tough season but Indiana fans can see over the mountain top.

[Danny Noonan]

IU fans resorting to the, bank of the next big recruiting class to save Indiana Basketball mantra, gotta love it.

Also, I wouldn't shoe-in both Yogi Ferrel and Cody Zeller just yet. From what I've heard, it could be a package deal and don't rule out Butler or UNC. However, I do think it will come down to Butler and IU.

If IU doesn't get Zeller or Ferrel next season, then what?? Will IU fans be patient enough to wait for an unpolished 6'8 big man to save Crean's job and IU basketball??

Well after having the equivalent of the death penalty in terms of losing an entire roster post-Sampson and losing out on 2 plus years of recruiting momentum, the recent plethora of IU recruiting success has been great for the fans. Talent doesn't always equate to wins, but it is certainly easier when you have really good players. The impact of one class can completely turn around a program as evidenced by Purdue's Senior class.

IU fans I know have been very pessimistic the past 2 years (obviously), so we mostly are still in a glass half-empty state. Yogi and Cody certainly could still go elsewhere, but IU's verion of Trackside Online (Peegs) has had quite a bit of info indicating that IU is the team to beat for both players. Zeller's brother currently plays at UNC and Roy has been recruiting him heavily, but Cody has made a half-dozen official and unofficial visits to IU in the past few months. Yogi has been down even more. The only way they play together is at IU, as UNC isn't recruiting Yogi and Butler has given up on Cody.

That said, IU already has 3 solid commitments for the 2012 class (Jurkin, Patterson, Perea) all of which are ranked in the top 150 for their class. There are also 2 other top-40 ranked Indiana players (Harris, Holloway) that are seriously considering IU. If IU lands Yogi and either Harris or Holloway it would have the #1 recruing class in the country with 3 or 4 five star players. This isn't just a best case scenario, it is a very real possibility.

I'm still very cautiously optimistic on Zeller, but he would make an immediate impact next year for IU. IU has a fairly talented class of Sophomores now, the most talented of which (Creek) got hurt midway last season and is still recovering. On paper, IU should be good next year if they get Zeller.

It's a longway away at this point, but IU also has recruits from 2 top-10 Indiana kids for the 2014 class. One of which is the son of former Marion/UK great James Blackmon.

The point to all this is IU has finally regained some serious recruiting momentum in the state of Indiana which bodes well for the future. This is something that hasn't been the case for well over a decade. The end of the Bob Knight era saw many great Indiana kids go elsewhere. Mike Davis had no idea how to recruit Indiana (lost Sean May from Bloomington North! and son of IU great Scott May) and Kelvin Sampson self-imploded after landing Indiana's best recruit in 15 or 20 years.

I won't be talking any smack to Purdue or Butler fans for quite some time, but neither program has really capitalized on their on-court success from the past few years in terms of recruiting. Instead somehow Tom Crean is getting great kids to commit to a program coming off it's worst 2 season in decades. It's a fairly impressive feat.

[Danny Noonan]

I think it is hard to call this year's class as disappointing. It filled in pieces in a puzzle. GMM is a JC big man, looks like he is better than Jobe or Bawa and fills the gap until Jurkin comes in in 2012. His recruit basically shows Zeller if he comes to IU he will not paly center, which word has been he does not want to play.

Victor and Will are very athletic and can fill in different spots off the bench. From what I have heard Will is kind of a Randy Wittman type, maybe jumps better, Good shooter on wing. Victor is very athletic, good rebounder for his size and for several years IU has had trouble competing on the boards, Victor probably helps there and will light up the crowd with some break-aways. They are 4 year players who will get more time each year. I have not heard anything like this but I would fear one might transfer as they see their playing time going down when that 2012 class comes in. I think Victor stays because he is pretty close to Creek,


As far as Hanner goes, I fear he is a one and doner. I hope not, think he needs to improve his outside shot. I saw him over the summer in some games and he is a freak of nature. He gets up so fast, so explosive. He and Jurkin played well together near the basket, will give the ball up to the one who is in best position to score.

That 2012 class potentially is the best class I can ever recall at IU. And then in 2014, you add the 2012 pieces with Lyles and Blackmon and IU could be a national contender again.. They will make noise in the national tourney after 2012 but you add Lyles and Blackmon to what will be there and it is tough to imagine that team.

And there is no evidence Crean is doing it with any help from someone like World Wide Wes or some agent directing players there. Get IU back to where it should be and Crean will have a better chance to cherry pick top national talent in years the state of Indiana does not have the talent coming out the next 4 years.

One more tough season but Indiana fans can see over the mountain top.

These are all good points. It is too early to call this year's class a disappointment. I do think GMM will make an immediate impact in terms of rebounding and blocked shots, plus he is able to finish down low. These are all things IU has been greatly missing the past 2 years. VO and Will should provide some depth and competition, something else that's really been lacking. This year's team will be much more athletic and should play better defense.

My only point was that last year's class was very impressive given that Crean had basically just arrived and inherited a program with an atmosphere of nucliear fallout. I expected more out of this year's class, but we just missed on a few really good players (Irving who went to Duke and Abraham who went to Georgetown) as Crean had to put all his eggs in a few baskets out of desperation. IU had basically no chance of getting of the really good Indiana players who graduated in 2010 as they were so far behind in recruiting.