Out of State Transfers

Indiana has avoided prep school transfers better than most states. Indiana for the most part have kept their players in the state. This year it seems to be a little bit different. Dominique Ferguson will attend Hargrave Academy this year. Ferguson is one of the highest rated players in Indiana and recently committed to Isiah Thomas' (or Thompson as his President knows him by) Florida International. Last year, Evan Gordon transferred out of North Central to attend prep school as well. Most will remember Robert Vaden leaving Pike to attend prep school...a move that received him and Mike Davis a lot of flack from the Indiana fan base.

Xavier Jones of Gary West Side announced that he will not be returning to school there because of a lack of recognition. I find that hard to believe especially since he played for SYF this past summer. He has offers from multiple D-1 programs. He will not be transferring to a prep school though but instead just a school somewhere in Ohio.

Jan Maehlen, formerly of Lawrence North, transferred to Arizona but I believe that is less basketball related than the other transfers. Lawrence North lost a lot of height with Jeff Robinson (Xavier) graduating, Chris Read graduating, Ferguson and Maehlen transferring. It should be an interesting year and LN like it is most years.

Enique Mason, formerly of Brownsburg, is also said to be transferring out of the state. He is rumored to be attending a school in Ohio. An interesting note, all the players listed in this article (Mason, Maehlen, Ferguson, Jones) all played on SYF this past summer. It may very well be a coincidence but it is interesting to me.

2010 Small Forward Rankings

I have Dominique Ferguson still ranked although he is going to go to prep school next year. I will probably take him off the rankings once school starts and everything is official. Other than that, just minor changes to the small forward rankings.

2010 Small Forwards

1. Dominique Ferguson 6’9 Lawrence North(Prep School now) H Long, athletic, decent handles, improving shooter. Weakness=decision-making.
2. Justin Martin 6’7 Lawrence North H- Streaky shooter, athletic, long. Weakness=motor and consistency.
3. Russell Byrd 6’7 Blackhawk Christian H Long-range shooter, solid quicks. Weakness=handles. Verbal commit to Michigan State.
4. Jordan Manual 6’8 Howe M+ Long, streaky shooter, decent athlete. Weakness=motor
5. Daniel Turner 6’6 Mount Vernon M Strong, decent athlete, good touch around the basket, good motor. Weakness=range.
6.Khristian Smith 6’4 Pike L+ Long, decent athlete, streaky shooter. Weakness= motor and handles
7. Neal Beshears 6’6 Winchester L+ Slasher, good motor, rebounder, solid shooter, very long. Weakness=strength and finishing strong in the lane.
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. Verbal commit to Army.
10. Leland Brown 6’4 Noblesville L- Solid athlete, decent penetrater. Weakness=motor, range.
11. A.J. Adams 6’4 Jeffersonville L- Strong body, solid athlete. Needs to improve offensive game.
12. Scott Lascowski 6’4 Carmel L- Kind of long, decent motor. Weakness=handles, shooting.

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.

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.

AMC Report-Part 3

Dominique Ferguson SYF-Handled the ball a lot as he wants to become a SG and he handled it ok, but he never just takes the pass and makes an explosive move. He dribbles the ball forever before making a move although when he did finally go somewhere he was effective with it.

Andre Hampton SYF-Streaky shooter that was hot for most of the weekend. He is athletic enough to play SG but he is small for that position at the mid-major and higher levels. I'm not sold that he could play the point.

Jesse Berry SYF-Did more distributing of the ball this weekend and less scoring. He made solid plays down the stretch against EG10. A Butler commitment might be coming soon is the rumor I am hearing.

Xavier Jones SYF-Athletic, but didn't show much else. He drove a lot and came up empty on most attempts. Jones did not do much vs. Eric Gordon All-Stars.

Terrone Johnson Eric Gordon All-Stars-He was very good this weekend. Johnson drove a lot more than I had seen from him in the past which would be a good option to go with his shooting ability. Very strong.

Jake Kitchell SYF-Athletic big man, but not a super athlete. Not enough of an athlete to make up for his lack of offensive skills set. He was not a threat offensively from any range this weekend. Could be a good low to mid-major player.

Enique Mason SYF-Mason has lost some weight and moved a little bit better than he did in the past. He has a lot of work to do to make the D-1 level. He plays too soft at this point.

Jan Maehlan SYF-Jan also looks to be in better shape. He has some skills although they are limited. He could be a good low to mid-major player if he keeps working like it appears he is.

Roddy Richardson Eric Gordon All-Stars-Roddy is a shooter at a strong 6'2 with a great motor. He is the type of guy I want on my team. He does whatever it takes to win.

Johnny Marlin Indiana Elite One-Smart, steady, small, shooter when open, sneaky...okay I only put sneaky because I wanted more alliteration in the description. He is undersized, but looks like a low major to D2 prospect right now.

Matt Carlino Indiana Elite One- Carlino defended Irving really well. He is quicker than he looks. He penetrated the ball very well and made great passes by the seeing the floor really well. He definitely needs to improve his shooting at least to the mid-range. A lot of IU fans were on hand to see him play this weekend and most left disappointed in his game. He should be pretty darn good by the time he arrives on campus if he keeps working hard and stays focused.

McDonald's Game

The McDonald's All-American game is about to start. It is a little strange to have zero all-americans going to The Big Ten. I know the ACC and Big East are the hot conferences right now, but you would think a couple would chose the Big Ten. I think the game has dropped off a little bit recently due to a few factors. I think now it is based more off of potential and in the past decades it was based off of accomplishments first and then potential if they have some recommendations.

Another thing is there are no players from Indiana in the game this year. Mason Plumlee did make it and he technically lives in Indiana but spent his high school career at prep school in North Carolina. So, he really does not count. I think Derek Elston would have made a run at it if not for his knee injury last summer. I'm guessing the selections are based off of summer play more than high school seasons for good reason and he missed all last summer.

Next year, I would hope DeShaun Thomas and Dominique Ferguson make it from Indiana. I think both should be locks unless they get injured or do something stupid off the court. The 2010 class in Indiana is definitely better than this year's class and 2011 should potentially be better than both of them. 2012 class is also looking strong early in their high school careers. There is hope for the Big Ten and state of Indiana in the near future.

First Time

Tonight I saw something that I don't think I have ever seen in my life. Justin Martin of Lawrence North, who is verballed committed to Louisville, missed a dunk and his teammate Dominique Ferguson, who is verballed committed to Kentucky, tip dunked the miss. I think that is the first time I have ever seen that. The play was definitely interesting to see mainly because Ferguson pounded the dunk too.

Always something new to see in the game of basketball.