Rough Week

It has been a rough week for celebrities. First, it was the death of Ed McMahon then Farrah Fawcett and then the shocking death of Michael Jackson. Now the latest death of the week is the info commercial star Billy Mays.

Billy Mays was my favorite info commercial actor. He brought a ton of energy to the product. He had his own show recently where he searched for new products and that was very entertaining.

Sad week in the entertainment world!

Recruiting News

There have been some recruiting happenings in the last week or so. I have not confirmed any of these things myself, but are assumed to be true through good sources.

Dee Davis 5'10 PG Bloomington High School South committed to Xavier this past week. Davis should be a good fit into the Xavier system as long as Coach Mack plays the same style as Coach Sean Miller did in the past (and he is expected to).

Donnie Hale 6'7 PF New Albany committed to Purdue although Purdue has no open scholarships for the 2010 class...it is assumed that JaJuan Johnson will leave early for the NBA next year. Hale was offered by Purdue long ago, but others took the open scholarships.

Austion Etherington 6'6 SF Hamilton Heights has picked up a few scholarship offers recently from Oklahoma State (who is rumored to have never seen him play in person) and Indiana University. Those go along with his previous offer from Xavier.

Julian Boatner 6'3 SG Bloomington High School North recently committed to William & Mary. Jon Holmes, the son of Bloomington South, coaches at William & Mary and is trying to build a pipeline from Indiana to William & Mary.

Chris Welker 6'4 SF Zionsville committed to Jim Crews and the Army program. The Indiana product is always recruiting the state and Welker should fit the program well. Good commitment for both sides.

That is all the news I have read recently.

2012 Rankings

By no means have I seen enough of the 2012 class to be extremely confident in my rankings. I've tried to stick with guys I have seen at least 4 or 5 times against good competition. I did add Gary Harris because everyone I respect raves about him although I have not seen him myself. Most of the guys I have seen from the class are from the top AAU teams.

2012 Overall Rankings

1. A.J. Hammons 6’10 C Carmel H Runs well, rebounds aggressively, slight mean streak with is very good for big men. Weakness- conditioning right now.
2. Ron Patterson 6’4 SG Broad Ripple H Athletic as you can get for this age, good shooter…set and off the dribble, solid defender. Weakness-would like him to tighten up his handles.
3. Gary Harris 6’2 PG Hamilton Southeastern H Haven’t seen, but everyone I talk to that I respect say he is very, very good.
4. Austin Burgett 6’7 SF Avon H- Good shooter, ample ball handling skills, solid athlete. Weakness-Assertiveness…he is aggressive when he gets the ball but doesn’t demand the ball when he needs to sometimes.
5. Jeremy Hollowell 6’7 SF Lawrence Central H- Extremely long, good shooter from distance, drives the ball well. Weakness-struggles to finish at the rim at times…strength could fix that.
6. D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera 6’2 PG North Central M+ Crafty, strong as a bull, smart with the ball. Weakness-Needs to work on range and has been improving that.
7. Edward Seay 6’8 C Merrillville M+ Long, active in the post. Weakness-raw post skills
8. Yogi Ferrell 5’11 PG Park Tudor M+ Quick, very good with the ball i.e. change of pace, decision making. Weakness- outside shooting, but improving of late.
9. Rafael Davis 6’5 SF Fort Wayne South M Shooter, good length, strong for age. Weakness-early maturer
10. Kellon Thomas 5’11 PG Southport M Leader, good decision maker, solid shooter, strong, finishes well in the lane. Weakness- height.
11. Dejuan Marrero 6’6 SF Bowman M Solid athlete but not a freak, good rebounder. Weakness-perimeter skills if he is done growing.
12. Brent Calhoun 6’7 C Warren Central M Lefty (I love lefty post players), good shot blocker, developing jump hook. Weakness- very raw.
13. Rhett Smith 6’5 SF Sullivan M True inside/outside player, good post moves, drives the ball well. Weakness-no true college position yet.
14. Jared Drew 6’4 SF Lawrence Central L+ Solid athlete, long, gets to the rim easily. Weakness-shot selection
15. Nick Osborne 6’6 PF Muncie Central Haven't seen him because injuries early in the spring held him out of games, but hear good things about him.

2010 Centers

Indiana doesn't produce many true centers for the college game. Small in numbers, but the few centers are pretty solid. Ethan Jacobs is full of potential, it is just a matter of he ever realizes that potential.

2010 Centers

1. Travis Carrol 6’8 Danville H- The big fundamental, range to 17 feet. Weakness=Athleticism.
2. Ethan Jacobs 7’0 Tipton H- Long (obviously), good shot to 17 feet, developing post game. Weakness=Raw, not very aggressive.
3. Parker Staufer 6’6 Southridge L- Smart, tough, good motor. Weakness=height, not a great offensive skill set.
4. Enique Mason 6’7 Brownsburg L– Wide body, developing some offensive moves. Weakness=motor, skill set.
5. Jan Maehlan 7’0 Lawrence North L-Wide body getting in better shape, good touch. Weakness=Aggressiveness and athleticism.

2010 Power Forwards

The 4 spot in the 2010 class is pretty solid. Especially if you take some of those "tweeners" and place them in the power forward position instead of the small forward category.

1. DeShaun Thomas 6’7 Bishop Luers H Complete inside game, developing range, solid handles. Weakness=quicks as a 3 in the Big Ten, Height as a 4 in the Big Ten.
2. Erik Fromm 6’8 Bloomington South M+ Fundamental footwork, strong. Weakness=range.
3. Donnie Hale 6’7 New Albany M+ Quick, athletic, good rebounder. Weakness=right hand and perimeter shooting.
4. Jake Kitchell 6’8 South Central M- Good motor, solid athlete. Weakness=not super aggressive rebounding or offensively.
5. Greg Miller 6’6 North Miami L- Good motor, strong, smart, range to 16 feet. Weakness=Height.
6. DeArmond Davis 6’7 Mount Vernon L Okay motor, not a great athlete, raw. Weakness=Rawness
7. Thomas Anderson 6’7 Terre Haute North L- Solid frame, decent inside Weakness=athleticism

2010 Small Forwards

The small forward position is interesting for 2010 because again there are a lot of "tweeners" at this position. A lot of guys that are power forwards that need to be small forwards or shooting guards that need to be small forwards at the next level.

2010 Small Forwards

1. Dominique Ferguson 6’9 Lawrence North H Long, athletic, decent handles, improving shooter. Weakness=decision-making.
2. Russell Byrd 6’7 Blackhawk Christian H Long-range shooter, solid quicks. Weakness=handles.
3. Justin Martin 6’7 Lawrence North H- Streaky shooter, athletic, long. Weakness=motor and consistency.
4. Jordan Manual 6’8 Howe M+ Long, streaky shooter, decent athlete. Weakness=motor
5. Neal Beshears 6’6 Winchester M Slasher, good motor, rebounder, solid shooter. Weakness=strength
6. Daniel Turner 6’6 Mount Vernon L Strong, decent athlete, good touch around the basket. Weakness=range.
7. A.J. Adams 6’4 Jeffersonville L- Haven’t seen enough for a decent report.
8. Andrew Rudakas 6’5 Wheeler L- Strong, physical, good motor, decent set shooter. Weakness=quicks, handles.
9. Chris Welker 6’4 Zionsville L- Strong, good motor, fundamental in the post. Weakness=quickness.
10. Leland Brown 6’4 Noblesville L- Solid athlete, decent penetrater. Weakness=motor, range.
11. Scott Lascowski 6’4 Carmel L- Kind of long, decent motor. Weakness=handles, shooting.

Justin Coleman

Rivals is reporting that Justin Coleman is turning heads at the NBA Camp...I made this post about him in April after seeing him in the Pitt Jamfest.

I talk about him after I talk about Kyrie Irving in that post. I was impressed with both, but no one knew who Coleman was. You could tell he was a stud after watching that one game.

Here is the Rivals report where they talk about Coleman...http://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=957275

2010 Shooting Guard Rankings

Again there are some players that you would probably think are point guards or small forwards in this group, but I tried to project to what position they need to play in college basketball. I would say P.J. Hubbert is the best shooter in the group, but many are close like Terone Johnson, Andre Hampton, Jesse Berry, Chrishawn Hopkins, and Russell Byrd could all make an argument for the position.

2010 Shooting Guard Rankings

1. Terone Johnson 6’2 North Central H- Great shooter, strong, improving slashing game. Weakness=handles for PG or height for SG.
2. Chrishawn Hopkins 6’2 Manual M+ Athlete, quick, consistent shooter to 23 feet. Weakness=Decision-making.
3. Julian Boatner 6’3 Bloomington North M- Quick, long, solid shooter. Weakness=handles
4. Ronald Ross 6’3 Northwest L+ Strong, athletic, good finisher in the lane. Weakness= range and handles
5. P.J. Hubbert 6’5 Mount Vernon M- Shooter, long, solid one dribble pull-up game. Weakness=handles
6. Khristian Smith 6’3 Pike L+ Long, decent athlete, streaky shooter. Weakness= motor and handles.
7. Xavier Jones 6’2 Gary West L Solid athlete, slasher, decent handles. Weakness=finishing in the lane against bigger post men.
8. Kegan Clark 6’4 Jeffersonville L Haven’t seen much, but I remember being impressed with his defensive ability.
9. Jordan Weidner 6’1 Danville L- Slasher, strong, decent shooter from the perimeter. Weakness=handles, decision making.
10. Roddy Richardson 6’2 Lafayette Jeff L- Scorer, great motor. Weakness=consistency shooting.
11. Brad Karp 6’2 Valparaiso L- Shooter, motor, rebounds well for a guard. Weakness=handles, quicks

2010 Point Guard Rankings

This was interesting because 2010 has a lot of point guards, shooting guards, combo guards...guards basically. So, deciding where players should/will likely play at the next level was the tricky part which, of course, can change rankings a lot. I tried my best. I haven't seen a lot of some of the players, but for the most part I think I have a good feel for the players.

2010 Point Guard Rankings

1. Jesse Berry 6’1 Lafayette Jeff H Scoring PG, quick, good range. Weakness=decision making and defense although he has improved both areas lately.
2. Jack Isenbarger 6’2 Zionsville M Long, smart, solid shooter. Weakness=quickness to guard PG’s at high or mid-major level.
3. Kennis White 6’1 South Bend Washington M- Athlete, best post passer I have seen in class. Weakness=SG in PG body.
4. Andre Hampton 6’1 Howe M- Scoring/Shoot first PG that is basically a SG. Weakness=handles and motor
5. Jon Michael Jarvis - Terre Haute South L+ Penetrating PG, decent shooter
6. Aaron Bluitt 6’1 Bishop Chatard L+ Scorer, finishes well, shooting range. Weakness=handles, defensive intensity.
7. Mikel Harris 6’1 East Chicago L Haven’t seen enough for a true assessment.
8. Brandon Demmings 6’2 Washington L Slasher, good mid-range game, long. Weakness=shooting range
9. Brad Elam 5’10 Ben Davis L- Good range, solid pull-up game. Weakness=height and handles against pressure.
10. Taylor Wayer 5’11 Bishop Chatard L- Good range, strong, solid defender. Weakness=more of a SG in a PG body.

2010 and 2012 Rankings

I will publish my rankings for 2010 and 2012 next week. I'm going to talk to a few coaches and observers about any players that I do not have much information on. 2012 is a loaded class so far although it is very early. The spring action has been very good.

2010 is a weak class compared to 2011 and 2012. After the first few guys, there is a large drop off. The class is loaded with scoring point guards in my opinion and generally weak in other positions. Still a good amount of talent for the lower D-1 schools and D-2/NAIA which are very underrated. Division 2 and NAIA are both very competitive. They just don't have the size or quite the athleticism as the D-1 programs for the most part although D-2 and NAIA schools have beaten D-1 programs. Last year, IU-Northwest beat Eastern Kentucky on EKU's home court. That is a NAIA program...NAIA D-2 if I am not mistaken. That is just one example so do not stick your nose up at lower level college basketball. It is still very good and tough to compete at that level.

2011 Rankings

I've been debating if I wanted to make my rankings and scouting reports public. I decided to make the leap and do it. My rankings are a mix of potential and current ability just like college coaches have to do in order to determine who they want to recruit. So, here are my 2011 overall rankings.

2011 Class Rankings

H=High major H- = High major Stretch
M+ = Mid-major, higher possibly, M=Mid-major, M- =Mid-major stretch
L+ = Low major, higher possibly, L= Low-major, L- = Low-major stretch


1. Marquis Teague 6’2 Pike H One of the top players in the country for his class. Explosive, solid shooter, good handles. Can question his focus at times.
2. Michael Chandler 6’11 Lawrence North H Big man with solid hands, runs pretty well, aggressive for a young big man. Will he continue to work on his game or be happy for what he has got?
3. Mitch McGary 6’9 Chesterton H Great touch around the basket, good shooting form to 18 feet, quick/good feet. Grades are a question mark for him.
4. Branden Dawson 6’5 Gary Wallace H Athletic, good motor, okay shooter. Would like him to improve shooting.
5. Cody Zeller 6’8 Washington M+ A Zeller nuff said. Runs well, shoots well, passes well. If he adds a dribble game to his offense he will go high major.
6. Jeremiah Davis 6’3 Muncie Central H Power guard, athletic, solid set shot from the perimeter. Needs to improve his decision making.
7. Austin Etherington 6’6 Hamilton Heights M+ Shooter, long wingspan, still trying to get back to where he was before surgery. Lateral quickness is a question for the high majors.
8. Dee Davis 5’10 Bloomington South M+ Great decision maker, good handles, good outside shooter, quick but not lightning quick. Height might hold him back from being an elite PG.
9. Ryan Taylor 6’5 Lawrence North H- Strong and athletic right now. Needs to be more consistent from the outside.
10. Zac VanDeWater 6’5 Whitko M+ Good shooter, solid handles, good defender although not super quick. Some muscle might improve his game greatly.
11. Justin Gant 6’8 Terre Haute North M+ Solid set shooter from outside, good length, skilled. Needs to be more aggressive and improve handles.
12. Kendal Griffin 6’4 Avon M Good shooter, rebounds well from a SG/SF. Would like him to handle it better and make better decisions at times.
13. Tony Springmann 6’7 Fort Wayne Dwenger M+ Powerful big man, great motor and rebounder, solid shot to 14 feet. A face-up game would shoot him up the rankings.
14. Spencer Turner 6’2 Bloomington South M Best shooter in the class, strong, smart player. Would like him to develop into more of a PG unless he grows.
15. Rontray Chavis 6’4 Princeton M- Skilled tweener, quick, athletic, solid body. Gets a bit out of control at times.
16. Stevie Jamison 6’4 Broad Ripple M+ Long, streaky shooter, okay handles, good motor. More consistency from perimeter shooting would make him a great mid-major prospect.
17. Nic Moore 5’10 Warsaw M- Solid shooter, strong although small, finishes well in the lane. Needs to be a knock down shooter so he can run an offense and knock down 3’s if he is left open.
18. Jalen Packer 6’2 Princeton M Slashing point guard, long, leads well. Needs to get a little tighter with the ball and add a mid-range to long-range shooting game.
19. Kenny Enoch 6’3 M- Solid athlete, pretty long, good motor.
20. P.J. Boutee 5’10 Howe L+ Quick, flashy, decent shooter. Needs to make better decisions
21. Robert Pittman 6’7 Washington M- Athletic, can put it on the floor a little bit. Needs to improve all around game.
22. Tyler Greathouse 6’8 Columbus North M- Good outside shooter, good post moves. Needs to be more aggressive offensively and rebounding.
23. Isiah Hill 6’10 Howe M- Huge kid, doesn’t run too well. Has been out most of the spring
24. Chandler Thomas 6’5 Howe L+ Very good post player, good athlete, strong. Needs to become a wing.
25. Evan Blackmon 6’1 Fort Wayne Luers L+ Explosive athlete, streaky shooter. Needs to be better with the ball i.e. limit turnovers and run an offense more often

I do not want to make anything personal...these were just my observations.

Spring Recap Series-II

Continuing on with my recap from the spring season so far I will be listing my surprise players so far. Today will be from the class of 2010 in Indiana.

Chrishawn Hopkins 6'2 SG Indianapolis (Manual)-Combo guard that is a true combo and not just a shooting guard in a point guard's body. He can handle it efficiently, good quickness...laterally and first step, great springs (can jump out of the gym), consistent outside range. Very few people know about him and he doesn't play on good teams (high school or aau) so it's hard to criticize him for forcing things when he is the only option. He is a mid-major prospect in my eyes.

Brad Karp 6'2 SG Valparaiso-Consistent, good motor, does all the little things that help teams win. I don't think he is quite athletic enough for D1, but low D1's and D2/NAIA should take a look. Karp isn't flashy, but is a type of player I would want on my team.

Greg Miller 6'6 PF North Miami-Although I haven't seen him on the AAU circuit (I don't believe he is playing),Miller impressed me greatly at the Top 100 workout in April. Strong, skilled, good motor. Played very well against Travis Carrol at the work out.

Daniel Turner 6'6 PF/SF Mt. Vernon-Tweener, but strong and athletic enough to play the 4 spot at the low D1 level I believe. Good touch around the basket, worker, good rebounder.

Ronald Ross 6'3 SG-I like what I have seen from Ross so far but would like to see more of him before I have a good grasp on his capabilities. Strong body, athletic, finishes well in the lane, unsure of his range and ball handling...that's why I would like to see more of him.

Aaron Bluitt 6'1 PG Indianapolis (Chatard)-Flashes of a great player, but also will be lackadaisical at times and make poor decisions. Bluitt is more of a SG that can handle the ball right now and I would like him to get to the point where he is a PG that can score when he wants to. Ball handling against pressure and decision making against that pressure are my concerns about him being a PG at the D1 level. I think he can make that improvement if he works at it.

Erik Fromm 6'8 PF Bloomington South-I'm putting Fromm on here because I had not seen him a bunch before this spring and I'm really impressed with his footwork and skill around the basket. I rank him slightly higher than Donnie Hale which is crazy in some people's eyes but he is just so fundamental he rarely makes mistakes. He should fit into Butler's system very well.

Donnie Hale 6'7 PF New Albany-Athletic, solid motor. I wish he had a right hand (he is left handed) if he was able to score with his right hand then he would be higher than Fromm in my opinion but at the next level he will get a lot of shots blocked if he can't use both hands around the rim. He looks to be transitioning to more of a 3 but in order to do that he needs to be able to use both hands equally and he cannot right now. Other than that, I have no complaints about his game.

Ethan Jacobs 7'0 C Tipton-Jacobs was having a solid spring in both school work outs where college coaches were coming to watch him and on the AAU circuit. 7 footer with a good stroke is hard to find. He could be a star at Ohio before his career is over...it literally is up to him how hard he wants to go after making that a reality.

Spring Recap Series

With the break from AAU in the month of June, I wanted to recap some of the happenings that have transpired so far. I'm hoping to get to a team camp or two during June but my schedule may not allow that.

I'll start with some recruiting recap and news.

Dee Davis 5'9 PG Bloomington South has been picking up some solid offers early in the AAU season from Xavier and Purdue. He continues to impress me with what he accomplishes despite his small frame.
Justin Martin 6'5 SG Lawrence North has de-committed from the University of Louisville. He is a top 50 ranked player nationally and rumor is he may be looking at Arizona now although all options are open.
Donnie Hale 6'7 PF New Albany has reportedly picked up interest from Oklahoma State according to Jody Demling of Courier-Journal.com. I think that would be a stretch by Oklahoma State but not a crazy move if they were to offer.
Dominique Ferguson 6'9 SF Lawrence North de-committed from his verbal to University of Kentucky after the coaching change. Ferguson is a top 10 player nationally in his class and might have one and done potential.
Ethan Jacobs 7'0 C Tipton made a somewhat shocking commitment to Ohio University. Shocking because it was quick and his stock was really starting to rise. Plus, he had the July evaluation period coming up and big-time offers may have been there.
Marquis Teague 6'2 PG Pike has pushed back his decision date after originally saying he was going to decide by June. He says he will now wait until the July evaluation period to decide.
Jesse Berry 6'1 PG Lafayette Jeff picked up an offer from Kentucky after rumors were starting to appear that he was close to committing to Butler.
Rafael Davis 6'4 SG Fort Wayne North became the first 2012 commit from Indiana and he chose Purdue.
Erik Fromm 6'8 PF Bloomington South made his decision to go to Butler. Should be a good fit in the Butler system.

Officiating

Officiating is always a topic at AAU events for a number of reasons. For the most part, it is usually bad. I'm not blaming the refs though because they work so many games in a weekend...how could they be good when they are so tired. Some work 8-10 games in a day and 15-20 games in a weekend. I understand they can make some extra spending money by going to all the events. Secondly, the refs don't have to be licensed by anyone although most are licensed by their home state. That is not a huge concern to me though. Most have a fair amount of experience if they are licensed or not. One of the big points is that some tournaments have different rules concerning fouls and time-outs and a few other minor things that can throw off a referee. Some tournaments say they do not want to turn games into a free-throw shooting contest. I understand that tournament directors do not want games running over and messing up the court schedule because then a lot of people get restless waiting to play their games.

I rarely complain about officiating because of the things I stated above. I basically just want them to work hard, be in decent position, and not to mail in their performance like I wouldn't want one of my players going through the motions. I hate when refs come with attitude after I say one thing after being quiet for a quarter or a half or some decent amount of time. I see a lot of anticipation on the refs' part that they believe I am complaining just as much as all other coaches and won't hear me out. They need to be observant on how the coaches and players are acting in each game separately.

The main reason I do not complain much about officiating is that I do not want my players to complain and lose focus on the game. Officiating rarely decides a game unless you let it by focusing on the refs instead of controlling what you can control. Why get bent out of shape on something that you cannot control? It is a waste of time and energy and most importantly focus. I would rather just concentrate on what we need to do to adjust to the game and how we can play better as a team.

Control what you can control!