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