Thursday August 31, 2000

Purdue Recruit JaQuan Hart Favors Michigan and Michigan State
The 6-5 perimeter phenom from Flint Michigan is not shy about favoring in state MSU AND UM He also is quick to point out that ," I am open to the entire Big Ten .Only Indiana has not recruited me because I am a natural wing." Inbnews.com was fortunate to catch Mr. Hart Wednesday evening as he returned from the barbershop..
"I also like Wisconsin because they were the first to recruit me.They say that I will receive many screens in their system," Hart further stated...He visited Purdue and came away thinking The Boilers were in his words, "Excellent."
His lengthy visit at Iowa was also impressive as he mentioned how Coach Alford and the reloading Hawkeyes were, "Outstanding in all areas."
He also is strongly considering former Michigan State assistant coach Tom Crean's program at Marquette.
Hart tells Inbnews.com that he also wanted to consider Cincinnati but they thought that he would never leave The State Of Michigan..
We also believe that Hart will stay in state because of his rearing so close to The University of Michigan..
We believe The Wolverines will win Hart's services in the same manner that we predicted Dennis Coutee to Louisville..Michigan is close to family and The Big Ten is his favorite conference...
"I want to make more visits and make a late decision ," Hart tells Inbnews.com..Yet, he also is very tired of the entire recruiting process from coaches and fans to the endless recruiting publications....
" Since I have become tired of the 7 AM phone calls and the constant questions ,I will probably announce early ," JaQuan tells Inbnews.com...
Expect the talented Flint North High School All American to announce soon for Michigan State or Michigan.....
Stay Tuned !!!

Wednesday August 30, 2000

These Two "Tweeners " Will Beat You And Take Your Lunch !!
The Tweener label is given to those prospects that prognosticators of prep talent do not think have a clear cut playing position at the next level...Too small for their natural position and too slow for their height...Famous "Tweeners " that overcame that label include 6-4 Adrian Dantley and 6-4 Mark Aguirre of the NBA.Current Indiana preps living that label are both football tight ends in the fall...6-5 Ken Lampley/Gary Roosevelt and 6-6 Jackson Atoyebi/ Culver Military Academy are both catching or throwing touchdowns at this time...
They define the "tweener" label in that players their size are too weak down low and larger players are too slow to stop their relentless "glass pursuit."
Lampley is considering football visits to Bowling Green, Indiana and Purdue...
Akron, IUPUI,Youngstown State,Tennessee State,and San Jose State all want a home visit with Kenneth Lampley for his lefthanded power Basketball Game....

6-6 240 pound Jackson Atoyebi is a BIG TEN Football prospect but he solely wants College Basketball.. He now is entertaining offers from Home visit suitors Youngstown State, Elon, Winthrop, and possibly IUPUI..Token interest has come from Indiana State, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Bradley...The entire NCAA D2 GREAT LAKES VALLEY Conference has offered Jackson Atoyebi..We believe Elon and Winthrop lead because Jackson prefers the South...
We expect both of these outstanding prospects to committ late in April... Stay Tuned and Catch Their Game on Sunday September 10 at The Spiece Fieldhouse in Ft.Wayne...Click on flashing Icons for Details and Directions

Tuesday August 29, 2000

Kyle Hankins and Leon Petty Recruiting News
Hankins and Petty both played well in the NCAA July open evaluation period..Hankins was superb in the AAU State Championship Win over Municipal Gardens..Both shooting guards share a common trait..They have the ability to be exceptional and also have a tendency for inconsistency...When their game is on, they are as good as any prospect in the country..They both have the tools to play each end of the court at a high level...Hankins of Bloomington South is currently scheduling home visits with :Valparaiso,North Carolina-Wilmington,Akron,Bowling Green State University,Marquette,Morehead State, and TulaneKyle states, "I have no favorites at this time .I look forward to meeting all the coaches.."

Cathedral High School's Leon Petty has a home visit scheduled with Bowling Green and he also will officially visit The University of Houston September 24 ..Both BGSU and Houston are betting that Petty has a big Academic school year in order to meet the NCAA Qualifying Standards...We expect the mega athletic Petty to achieve the necessary core GPA and SAT score in order to photo finish academically in June...
BGSU and Houston certainly are predicting that Leon will qualify..
Both Kyle Hankins and Leon Petty can be found firing treyballs this September 10 (Sunday) at the new Ft. Wayne Spiece Fieldhouse ..Click on the flashing Icons for updated information...
More Senior Recruiting News Wednesday...

Monday August 28 ,2000

Where is Purdue's Wing player Coming From In The Class Of 2001 ??
Talk about available recruits in 2001 that are worthy of recruiting and you must start with 6-5 Dennis Coutee/Jeffersonville.. Dennis has never considered The Boilers and will decide between Iowa and Louisville..
Just two hours away at Whitney Young High in Chicago is arguably the best wing in the nation in Najeeb Echols...Najeeb tells IBN that ," Illinois,Michigan State, Missouri, and Houston all have offered and all have an equal chance " for his November decision.... That leaves Purdue as a hopeful for Michigan prep 6-5 JaQuahn Hart. Boilers are involved but the seriousness from Hart is token...The Boilers are in good with 6-5 Darmetries Kilgore/South Bend Washington/ Tyler JC, but ; why have the Boilers not signed Kilgore early since he is from South Bend??? C'mon, Kilgore did not learn about Purdue yesterday.. He only grew up living their every junper from nearby South Bend... Sure, the Marcellus Sommerville athlete from Peoria Central is a possibility but his stock has also risen to the point where Purdue is an also mentioned...
Stay Tuned....After being The Second Choice of many wing players, Only Time Will Tell if Purdue will sign a High Major Wing..Sure they will sign one-but let's see if that player is worthy of The Big Ten.. Past failure David Lesmond was not and many past Indiana wing preps like Calbert Cheaney/Indiana/Washington Bullets did not even consider The Boilers...Cheaney's High School Coach was a Purdue Graduate and he wanted Calbert at Indiana....(The Big Tens All Time Leading scorer)Calbert Cheaney is a perfect example of ," What if ?" - in the world of Purdue recruiting.

Sunday August 27 , 2000
Jeffersonville's Dennis Coutee Has Made His College Choice!!.

The 2001 leading Mr. Basketball Candidate tells inbnews.com on Saturday Morning that ,"I know where I am going to college..I am not saying now but it will be public soon enough." He confirmed that Louisville and Iowa were his final two choices but he gave no indication who the winner was..He was also considering Nebraska and former Butler coach Barry Collier's program..His former Jeff coach Mike Broughton was recently named Nebraska Mens Basketball Administrative Assistant...That factor also made The Cornhuskers appealing but Iowa and Louisville were his final two selections ....
When asked about Iowa he did say that they were outstanding in all regards.."They certainly are going to be a program on the rise,"Coutee remarked. Southern Indiana's sole Mr.Basketball candidate has decided between tradition rich Louisville and Hoosier Legend Steve Alford's Iowa Hawkeyes...Whoever has won his services will be receiving Southern Indiana's Tallest, most athletic, deep shooting marksman since Calbert Cheaney/Evansville Harrison/Indiana University/Washington Bullets.
With continued work on all facets of his game, the explosive Coutee may very well follow the career path of Mr.Cheaney...
We can only speculate as to what choice Dennis Coutee has made, but we believe he has chosen the two time National Champion Louisville Cardinals..Let's face it-Jeffersonville is ten minutes across the river from Louisville...The Coutee family is a strong,close knit group that is very important to Dennis....With his decision made without ever visiting Iowa , most people would assume that Dennis has chosen The Cardinals..Undoubtedly,he has unofficially visited Louisville several times..His High School teammate Bryant Northern has chosen to walk-on there as has New Albany friend Michael Flynn, Jr. The Cardinals pressing ,uptempo ,transition Philosophy perfectly matches Coutee's game...Dennis is at his best when he can freely pull his 25' treyball or slash to the rack for a rim rattling dunk...No where in America is there more player freedom to take quick shots (as long as they are good shots) than at Louisville..The system is hard to argue with when Coach Crum has disciplined people like Coutee to execute it...
Steve Alford's Hawkeyes are quickly becoming a National force in recruiting .They are involved with the best recruits in the nation and we expect in two years for The Alford led Hawks to be in NCAA FINAL Four contention..
Shooters like Coutee undoubtedly are afforded "Green Lights" or you can bet our favorite shooter Brody "Bomber "Boyd/Union-Dugger would not have matriculated that far North ..
Who understands shooters better than Steve Alford ?? He never saw a shot that he didn't like and he understands a gunslingers mentality... They cannot hesitate or look over their shoulder for approval.. They must be able to relax and pull the trigger...
So, we believe that Dennis Coutee is a perfect match for both Louisville and Iowa...We just think that the 10 minute trip to Louisville versus the 10 hour drive to Iowa is going to be the decisive factor in his announcement for The Cardinals...
As always, only time will tell..Stay Tuned !!

In the meantime ,Indiana prep fans can catch Dennis Coutee's game at 10:30 AM Sunday September 10 at The inbnews.com Top 100...Other Jeffersonville players participating that day include :Victor Powell,Matt Pait, and Andre Jones. Click on the flashing icons for event information and for other selected athletes...

Saturday August 26 ,2000
Peegs.com is reporting that Huntington North's Sean Kline has been suspended for the first five games of the season.."Conduct Unbecoming to Huntington North Viking Athletics" is apparently the reason for his suspension.

Bloomington Heat....A Summer Of Excellence!!
After winning the freshmen division state championship , The Heat then finished third in the 120 team AAU Nationals...A first quarter injury to 6-5 Bil Duany/ Bloomington all but ended their chances versus the eventual champions--New York City Gauchos...
Previously mentioned Duany has emerged from the Class of 2003 as possessing the most potential.. At this time he can guard anyone on the court while offensively possessing pure perimeter skill..Doctors tell him he should reach at least 6-7..Bil is the younger brother of NCAA D1 Duany Duany (Syracuse) and Kueth Duany (Wisconsin ).He also has two sisters that played NCAA D1 hoops...Big Time Hoop Genetics are in the Duany blood ..If he reaches 6-7 then he will be the best of the talented family..
6-5 Brandon Crone/ Frankfort was the team anchor as his steady play was the reason for the 45-2 summer record...A solid small forward now with all the tools, Crone has a chance to be a high major shooting guard prospect...
6-7 220 lb. Sam Pharr/Rockville has played out of position all his career ..At this time their are few posts in the national age group with his strength... However, Pharr runs the floor well and already possesses small forward skill with a nice treyball...We expect The Heat to go out of state next year ,if necessary, to find a post that will allow Sam Pharr to play wing/big forward...
6-6 Clay Crick/Boonville is a leaping forward that has a work ethic that will refine his raw offensive game..A banger that plays hard, his great attitude is a solid prediction of his high level potential...Heat guards Chris West/Speedway and Jared Speers/Bedford North Lawrence both started for their high school teams as freshmen..West will score from everywhere with a slick court moxey..Speer playmakes and plays with unmatched INTENSITY !!....The Heat players are obviously all now Sophomores.. Their skills and potential will be Showcased Sunday September 10 at the inbnews.com first annual Top 100 College Exposure Workout...Click on the flashing icons for that news and all daily updates...

Friday August 25 , 2000
Michigan State Now Targets Chris Hill /Lawrence North

The "A" plus student that plans to give up football for a NCAA D1 basketball scholarship has now recently been receiving a great deal of attention from the National Champion Spartans..Many calls a week to the school and as many calls daily to significant others all point to a real need for a shooter... We do however remember that Warsaw was also being called constantly by MSU for recruitment of Chris Wiggins...You never know the seriousness of the interest... Hill has an offer from Marquette and serious interest from Indiana State, Bowling Green with lukewarm interest from Xavier and Kansas State...Hill's scholarship stock rose this July with his sniper long range shooting..He has proven that no one in the midwest can drain jumpers like he can....Stay Tuned and catch Chris Hill's game at The Top 100..Just click on the flashing icons for daily updates...

Thursday August 24 ,2000
Indiana University Hoosier Michael Lewis signs with Germany
After travelling the NBA tryout circuit, Lewis has taken his playmaking skill to Hamburg, Germany. He arrived on Wednesday and the season will go thru March..Lewis father Denny reports that, "Michael is excited about the opportunity to embark on a professional career. "Oddly enough the Country is Germany because Lewis's native Jasper is a German community.. Anyone who has been fortunate to dine at the Schnitzlebank restaurant have tasted the best that Southern Indiana offers..6-9 Andrew Olynik /Jasper would have been only a sophomore but was eligible for private school as the only option..No one had the ability to help him remain in this country so the potentially talented post was forced to make a return to Russia....
The Sunday September 10 College exposure workout has become a huge task to say the least.. A labor of Love for inbnews.com because for 15 years we have realized that college prospects must play during the open evaluation period...The players must be showcased in their natural position in order to receive optimal recruiting...Click on the flashing Icons because that is where all updates each day can be found..

Wednesday August 23 ,2000
The First Annual Top 100 inbnews.com College Exposure Workout
Originally, we planned to showcase the top 100 from every prep class ..Since then reality of scheduling has entered into the picture for the one day event so we are now limited to 250 or 300 participants.With 236 currently invited athletes, we will either add 14 top freshman prospects with plenty of potential or we will add 64 of these exciting freshmen prospects..This determination will be done by September 5..
We do not care for this last minute call from parents and coaches ,but the eager waiting list is so huge that we will make every attempt to accomodate the list.Our nomination board was public for 4 months...Few had the "mouse saavy " to click on the flashing icons and type in a nomination..Yet, once lists of invitees became public, the whole state of Indiana coaches wants their favorites involved..No more than Ten percent of High School coaches have ever respectfully responded to our questionnaires , but since our lists have been made public, over 100 of the state association coaches have responded with attempts to add their heroes...Why ?? Because coaches are trained to respond in the last quarter ...They are admirably loyal to their players.. That is all good but we must plan the events that we host...We have kept the event free for participants with hopes that the $10.00 parent/fan/High School coach admission price will meet the event's mounting expenses...College Coaches must purchase their admission through inbnews.com by calling 219-392-1586.

Tuesday August 22 ,2000
Big Time Foreign Exchange Student Enrolls At Clint Swan's Andrean Program !

The necessary forms have long been completed and accepted from the IHSAA . The senior foreign exchange student is flat out high major in all regards..At 6-6 200 lbs. he has been the starting point guard for The Puerto Rican 21-under National Team..His name is Miguel "Ali" Bierdiel . With an Ali nickname, you can expect a great deal of verbal floor leadership from the playmaker...One thing is sure for Andrean coach Clint Swan, he now has a legitimate "go to guy " that can "walk the walk while talking the talk ." Miguel will not be the over hyped underachieving Andrean player of the past.He will not be proclaimed Superman and then have excuses made for him when "the cape is weak and torn ".We seriously do not believe that Excuses of any kind is part of his personality... He is the athlete that is hungry to earn an Education in America...His potential is huge-- not spent after his sophomore year.. Miguel will be exciting for all regionites to follow... Andrean has tremendous young talent in6-5 Mike Mcdonald,6-8 Drew Barron,and 6-2 Pete Trgovich..Upperclassmen Elliot Boarden and Rashad Pace will also figure big in the plans at Andrean... With Miguel running the team at point guard, we expect to see the 59'ers to once again reach the final four of Class 3A..His moxey and swagger is what the 59ers lacked last year..Can you diagram a 1-4 low play ? Few Hoosier 3A teams will be able to matchup with "Ali" regardless of the set play.. He truly is a man now amongst boys.... Quite possibly with his strength and experience, "Ali" may chip in at many playing positions....Did inbnews.com discover Miguel "Ali "Bierdiel from the Island of Puerto Rico ??No ! In spite of what some morons tell people, we have never claimed to discover a player..What we are proud to have done is to be first at reporting Nationally on the merits of a player...Grade school coaches discover players.. We simply report on the special ones and this foreign exchange student is Large in that CategoryNo one has reported first on top Indiana preps any better than our chief associate Jim Kasberg
The past 20 years he has been the best and the past three years he has helped inbnews.com be the first to report on Indiana Preps..No, we may not discover but we will be elbow and elbow in reporting first on Indiana prep recruiting.. "Ali" was discovered by UMASS,Louisville, Loyola and Valparaiso because our sources now tell us that they have been all secretely recruiting the all world playmaker for a year...The private party is now over as "Ali" will participate in the Sunday September 10 Top Prospect Workout at the Spiece Fieldhouse in Ft. Wayne ,Indiana ..All the information anyone would ever need that day can be accessed by clicking on the flashing icons that are all over inbnews.com. See you all hopefully September 10 ,2000. ..300 of Indiana's Best will be competing so-- You Be The Judge !

Eric Bush returns to Barton Junior College
In spite of heavy family and community pressure to accept a Fordham offer, Bush finished summer school requirements and has returned to Ryan Wolf's Kansas JC powerhouse.
Bush tells IBN that, "I want to be recruited one more year. I want to end up at a place that will let me be me." Averaging 15 ppg. and 9 apg. last season at Barton, Eric is particularly excited to play another year with Carlton "oudie" Baker/East Chicago and Eric Washington/Lafayette Central Catholic.
Both Baker and Washington recently played exceptionally well at Gerry Mullen's Junior College camp. Stay Tuned for Bush, Baker and Washington updates...

Monday August 21 ,2000

Will Caudle/ Warren Central Commits To Xavier University !
Warren Central Coach Scott Heady tells IBN that 6-9 Will Caudle has announced for Skip Prosser's Xavier program."Will liked the small size of the campus and also the fact that Xavier is a high major program," Heady stated." Will just liked everything about Xavier, he even cancelled his visits to Big Ten Purdue and Iowa,Heady continued." Both Purdue and Iowa had offered Caudle without him even visiting their campus....Heady remarked that ,"I am surprised that he committed so soon without making the official visits; but, he is very happy with his decision and totally comfortable with Xavier."
Caudle still must qualify academically but a solid senior year in the classroom will make him eligible his freshman year at Xavier.Caudle averaged 13 ppg. , 10 rpg. and 4 blocks per game as a junior last season at Warren Central...With playmaker Terren Wilson, last season Caudle helped the Warriors to their first Marion County championship in thirty years.. Xavier may now also be in the running for Wilson.. Terren has drawn a great deal of interest since starting all summer for Bob Pryor's high profile Bloomington Red Nike Team...
The uptempo Xavier and Will Caudle are a good match..Few national post preps in the Class of 2001 can run the floor and be as versatile as Will Caudle..IBN applauds Xavier for their recruiting performance and we "tip our hat" to Will Caudle for his decision making--- when many thought he would wait until late September for a final decision...The Recruiting game is unpredictable at best...Stay Tuned !!

Sunday August 20, 2000
Class 3A runnerup Lathaniel Staten/Andrean enrolls at Olney Junior College
The multi talented Staten wooed college recruiters this past year with his huge upside and court saavy...The long armed defensive maestro and no look playmaker was the catalyst behind Andrean's Title Run..Everybody is quickly drawn to "Late" because of his likeable leadership qualities..
The University of Illinois /Chicago was drawn to Lathaniel Staten because of his combo guard skills..They now must find another playmaker because of Staten's defection to Junior College...Academics and physical development are the usual excuses for Junior College enrollment and apparently Staten needs academic work..Truly, Staten is two years from coming close to physical maturity so the JUCO route may be the best avenue for his next two years..Staten is embracing this turn of events and we predict that he will be a high major after two years at Olney Central.Stay Tuned for future Staten Updates...

St. Francis College Hires Mike Carpenter and James Blackmon as assistants
Carpenter has been assisting at Danville Area Junior College and has been familiar with St. Francis Head Coach Jeff Rekweg .(also a former DACC asst.) Blackmon is the Marion High School legend and All American at Kentucky..He is a great addition to their staff as he would be on any collegiate staff. Time will tell if Blackmon is happy in this situation..As much as he could do on the court, his achilles tendon has recently been stretched off the court...The St.Francis staff certainly has added two quality assistants in Carpenter and Blackmon..If they can now land a quality recruit of the caliber of last year's Steve Smith(transfer from Ball State)they will return to the National Tournament...

Saturday August 19, 2000
T.J. LUX To play Professionally in Italy.
Indiana prep fans will remember Lux leading Merrillville High School to the 1995 State Championship game vs. eventual state champ Ben Davis...His stellar senior season resulted in being selected to the Indiana All Star team and also in being named The Trester Award winner for Mental Attitude.
Collegiately at Northern Illinois, Lux finished his career as the school's all-time leading scorer and rebounder...Earning a Bachelors Degree in Math Education ,Lux is also close to meeting requirements for a Masters Degree..
His teaching and coaching career will be a future endeavor because his energy and focus is now directed towards a Professional Basketball career.. Just when it appeared that a torn ACL would end that dream, Lux has courageously rehabbed the knee and is close to beginning full court scrimmage workouts..The Italian Professional League has been so impressed with Lux, they have signed him to million dollar contract during his rehabilitation..
In a few years we expect to see Merrillville's Lux in a NBA jersey contributing quality minutes from the small/power forward position..Why?Because TJ LUX just achieves and accomplishes with a good old fashion work ethic..Stay Tuned for Lux Updates.

Major Changes in The "Works" at inbnews.com
This website is now at a crossroads in it's development. Inbnews.com will either remain free with daily viewer patronage of our advertisers ; or ,the site will convert to a paid password situation..If the paid password situation develops then all clients will be notified by December 1 ,2000.The paid password would not go in effect before January 1 ,2001..A subscriber section for college coaches is also under development ..All paid clients will receive the hardcopy issues that they were promised..You must remember that August is our only month where we are able to relax and rejuvenate..Stay tuned for the best in player news.

Friday August 18, 2000
Cincinnati Bearcats Pro Style Offense remains in the Hunt for South Bend's Darmetries Kilgore
Early indications with Kilgore have exclusively pointed toward UNLV or Purdue..We have learned though that Tyler Junior College athletes are encouraged to play their Sophomore season and then explore their options..Kilgore has visited UNLV and he will also officially visit Purdue in October..The Bearcats are in need of a wing in 2001 and Kilgore is at the top of their list..They primarily do not bother recruits with contacts.. What they do is maintain contact with the athletes immediate coach- and go from that position in the recruiting process..Tyler Junior College assistant Matt Javit maintains that Kilgore has always been open to many schools...Time will tell if Darmetries is headed early to Purdue or UNLV..Both Purdue and UNLV have been "full court pressing Kilgore," but now that he will return to the school that he must perform for--who knows what direction his recruiting may take..
Darmetries Kilgore recruiting has apparently gone from a final two to now at least a consideration for Cincinnati..If he signs late like his coach desires, anything is a possiblity.. The NBA is still closely monitoring his progress..Many things can change in a year's time....6-7 Justin Johnston and 6-10 Chris Hunter of Merrillville and Gary Westside respectively are Cincinnat's top recruit targets in 2002..The Bearcat coaching staff will be in full force this September 10 at the inbnews.com Prep workout..Currently Cincy is in the Jason Parker sweepstakes. The 6-8 UNC signee will not be attending UNC.. With one grant remaining for the 2000-2001 season, anyone with a brain would expect Cincy to bring a player of Parker's presence to the program..They need post players Right Now !! The Parker derby will include the entire country that has academic standards acceptable of this 6-7 monstrous post...Academics are the only item in need of certification....
Eric Bush news is Soon...Bush is finishing summer school at Ivy Tech in Anderson , Indiana ..If he qualifies for NCAA D1then Bush may very well sign with Fordham. That is his family and H.S. coach choice..He truthfully wants to play JUCO another year and then be re-recruited..
Announcement is eminent..

Thursday August 17, 2000
Indiana Prep Recruiting News
Iowa Head Coach and Indiana legend Steve Alford has offered 6-5 Dennis Coutee/Jeffersonville and 6-8 Will Caudle/Warren Central. Caudle also has offers from Xavier, Purdue, Bowling Green, and Indiana State.
Coutee has interest from Louisville and an offer from Nebraska.Indiana University has not recruited Dennis Coutee for quite sometime...Of course, any program that annually receives the transfers that Indiana does-- will possibly have a scholarship for the sweet shooting Coutee if someone transfers...Time Will Tell....
Valparaiso has offered Kyle Hankins/Bloomington South and they are close to committments from two high major prospects that are listed on every national top 125 recruiting list. Time will tell if Scott Drew can sign the big timers.
We have also learned that Bowling Green State does want 6-9 Jared Adler/Adam Central but their only other recruits in the class of 2001 are 6-4 Leon Petty/ Cathedral and Kyle Hankins/Bloomington South....With a serious need for quickness, only Petty and Hankins are wing quick enough for the Falcons.

Wednesday August 16, 2000
The University of North Carolina at Wilmington has NCAA D1 Scholarships for 6-1 Lonnie Randolph/ Merrillville and 6-2 shooter Kyle Hankins/ Bloomington South.. Both Indiana preps are expected to committ late in April so their college choice is not expected for some time.. Valparaiso has also offered Hankins so mid-majors from the South understandably may have trouble plucking Hankins from the midwest..If anyone can pull Hankins South it would be Wilmington assistant Mike Wienecke.. Only Pete Trgovich rivals "Big Mike " as the nicest guy in college basketball..Loyola and "trg" are also working hard to stay involved with Indiana preps..
Indiana State has four scholarships for The Class of 2001
The Sycamores have granted their first scholarship to 6-7 power forward Jake Sams/Mt. Zion (Ill.)They are also offering 6-9 Jared Adler/Adams Central at the post position. Adler's decision is also expected late..September is the official visit time of their choice at point guard and quick forward.. 5-11 Jeff Hawkins of Kansas City ,Kansas and 6-6 Chris Jackson of New Mexico is The Sycamore's choice respectively at point and wing forward...The recruiting process is difficult at any institution but there is never more honesty and integrity than is found at Indiana State.. Royce Waltman clearly identifies the prospects that he wants and he then recruits his offered athletes relentlessly until they give him an answer..Unlike many programs that offer 10 at each position until someone jumps at the offer--Waltman recruits many but offers only one at each position..
When Waltman receives a committment at a position, he even calls others that were being recruited at the same position to tell them that they were no longer being considered...We saw this first class recruiting this summer and must say this is the exception to the rule..Many NCAA D1 Schools will offer many and not even contact the losers in the process...A veteran in NCAA D1, D2, D3 and also a National Champion at Indiana in 1987--Royce Waltman is the only coach in NCAA history to coach NCAA # 1 rated teams at all those levels of NCAA Basketball..
Indiana State University recently signed Royce Waltman to a seven year contract for one reason.Royce Waltman is a winner in all regards and he believes that Indiana State is capable of a National Championship.Indiana State Basketball is on the verge of National Prominence ..Pay special attention to Sycamore Basketball this 2000-2001 season...
Tuesday August 15, 2000

6-7 Luke Zeller of Washington, Indiana
The only reason for the existence of Indiana Basketball News since 1997 has been to evaluate and report on prep talent to our 429 college clients. Sure we serve many more fans but college coaches were the market that asked us to organize a news source...Since then we have prided our service on reporting first the talents of a deserving prep.. We are proud to have been first to report on the talent of Brody Boyd,Sean Kline, Chris Thomas, Carlton Baker, Ricky Wright, Jason Gardner,Zach Randolph, Robert "Darth " Vaden, Kenny Harris,Deandre Peyton and now Luke Zeller..
Who is Luke Zeller you ask ?? Well, he simply is a strong but slim 180 pounder that has small forward offensive skills . His range is comfortable to three and he runs the floor like a deer.Defensively he contests the passing lanes and ferociously battles for rebounds..Springy at both ends of the court, Luke blocks shots and tosses down putbacks with ease..His natural position is power forward because his scoring forte is on the block.. The kid has a sweet left and right hand baby hook in the lane..His feet are size 18 and Doc's are not sure how tall he may finish at..Don't remember him from Hatchet coach Dave Omer's Washington team last season ?? That is because Luke was in 7th grade !! Yes, this middle school phenom that is developing in leaps and bounds is only 13 years old.. He has emerged through our scouts middle school reports as the best Indiana 8th grader in the 2000-2001 season..Playing in the Evansville Basketball camp, Luke has also participated in the Ben Davis shooting camp..He tells IBN that ,"Basketball is my first love but I enjoy a variety of activities including Cross Country ." His father is an Iowa State graduate and his mother played college basketball at Coe College.. Luke has lived in Washington since he was born and he looks forward to playing for Washington High next school year.. Uncle Al Eberhart played for the Detroit Pistons in 1975... We hope Luke and his parents will choose to travel and develop the next few years within the Mike Thomas disciplined Evansville Basketball Club..No one is a better fundamental coach than Dave Omer and no one promotes players to colleges better than Mike Thomas... Indiana's next tremendous prospect from the pre-prep ranks is 8th grader 6-7 Luke Zeller/ Washington, In.You read it here first !! Catch his game at the September 10 Top 100 workout..

Monday August 14, 2000
Who Will Bob Knight Scholarship at Indiana University for the 2001-2002 Season ??
Talk about speculation, the more we comment on Hoosier recruiting for this class-the more we receive inquiries concerning who will be relinquishing their scholarship..
Now that 6-8 Kei Madison has reconfirmed his original committment to IU , There are no grants to give for the 2001-2002 season..Yet, we know that Louisiana playmaker Donald Perry has been offered (and courted as we report) by The Hoosiers..
Do not forget that 6-5 shooter Dennis Coutee/ Jeffersonville is also reporting to those that can reach him that Indiana is in his final list with Iowa and Louisville. His recruiting and it's entirety is another story unique in itself..So... Perry will receive a scholarship when and if he committs...When that happens, who will lose a scholarship because none will be available..No, we are not taking in consideration practice player Tom Geyer.. The Hoosier unofficial Public Relations representative is not and will never be on scholarship.. If Coutee at that time is also committing to IU, both he and Perry will need a scholarship..Where will Perry's scholarship come from and how will Coutee be able to be continually recruited to Indiana ?? You be The Judge as Anybody's Guess is Valid at this stage of the game..
Indiana Players on Scholarships in 2001-2002
Seniors
6-10 Kirk Haston
6-8 Jared Odle
6-2 Dana Fife
Juniors
6-8 Kei Madison
6-0 Tom Coverdale
6-4 Kyle Hornsby
6-8 Jeff Newton
Sophomores
6-11 George Leach
6-2 Andre Owens
6-2 A.J. Moye
6-9 Jared Jeffries
6-9 Mike Roberts
Freshman
6-7 Sean Kline.
This scenario certainly is intriguing since Perry has a firm offer from Indiana. If Coutee receives an offer then the situation is Twilight Zone caliber..In the wake of Newton, Fife and Coverdale problems- a possible team vote may be in order to see if they deserve to return..If that vote occurs, and similar votes in the recent past have taken place -what Hoosier would be most likely to be voted off ?? Quite possibly a new standard for Academic scholarships will be implemented..Certainly there must be a John Pont, Branch McCracken or Bob Hammell scholarship that is academic in nature for athletes...One thing is for sure, Donald Perry or another capable point guard will be receiving a scholarship for the 2001-2002 season...Where that scholarship comes from is open to much speculation.. Certainly a program of Indiana's integrity would never compromise their committment to athletes that have been promised a scholarship..
Time always answers questions as it will in this cream and crimson instance.
Stay Tuned as we will be following this situation closely....
After The General Persuaded IU Boss Myles Brand to over turn his firing by The Board of Trustees, we now are convinced potential scholarships at Indiana are the least of his concerns..
The Perry Scholarship will be available and all involved parties will be satified...
More Later..

Sunday August 13, 2000
Cris Brunson reconfirms commitment to the University of Southern Indiana After playing very well in the NCAA July evaluation period, The Evansville Reitz combo guard received offers from Akron, Elon, David Lipscomb and Bowling Green
Cris tells IBN that he will honor his freshman year commitment to Bruce Pearl's Great Lakes Valley power. "The recruiting interest was nice but I have always felt comfortable with USI", Brunson remarked.
6-8 Jake Howe/Evansville Harrison has serious interest from Western Kentucky and Akron, Marist, IUPUI, West Point and St. Louis are also calling Howe.
6-6 Andrew Laird/Penn nixed an early No.Illinois offer but still has Bowling Green, IPFW, Cornell and Lehigh interest.
6-8 Scott Bushong/Ft. Wayne Carroll has interest from Morehead State, Cornell, ISU, Harvard, Western Michigan.The multi sport Bushong high jumped 6-8 in the State track and field tourney last spring--finishing 8th. In the Fall, Bushong was named to the Junior All State Volleyball team. Possibly envisioning another Olympic/Pro star in the making like son Lloy, IPFW athletic Director and Volleyball Coach Arnie Ball is recruiting Scott to his National Volleyball power.
Stay Tuned!
Click on the flashing IBN Icons for Sunday September 10th Top 100 updated information.
We understand that several of you have accessed the sophomore page with a blank page as the result. We are in the process of investigating the root of this problem but we suspect it is in your internet provider.We believe this to be true because of the dozens of comments we have received concerning the Sophomores..Stay Tuned....

Friday- August 11, 2000
Ball State Steals Playmaker From High Majors
We have learned that New Cardinal Coach Tim Buckley has received a verbal committment from 6-2 Matt McCollom of Mt. Zion in Illinois..The Cardinal office refuses comment but this committment is solid and for real..Our sources close to the situation tell us that just last week, McCollom visited Missouri and Utah ,St.Louis,Michigan State all have sought visits from Matt with the possibility of signing him late... Mo Valley Illinois State has also offered Matt and the entire MAC Is now trying to get involved in his recruiting..
Indiana prep fans that follow Bob Pryor's Nike program will remember McCollom as the guard who hit the game winner against them at The Nike Peach Jam...
McCollom is blessed with talented 'mates at Mt. Zion Prep Academy as Jake Sams has committed to Indiana State and Neil Plank has committed to Wisconsin..
The transfer of Scorer Chris Williams from Loyola was huge news for the Cardinals in 2001 !!
With the addition of Matt McCollom in 2001, Tim Buckley has flat out started his regime with the necessary talent that may be capable of achieving his dream of building a National Power at Ball State..
With many scolarships to give in class of 2002, both Buckley and top assistant Scott Bunnell have been following Indiana's top Amateur Summer programs... Former Cardinal mentor and new Houston Head Coach Ray McCallum is also hoping Indiana natives Leon Petty and Carlton Baker will matriculate to Texas.. With the current recruiting prowess in Muncie, Coach Ray must be proud of the manner in which he developed both former assistants Buckley and Bunnell.
Talk about programs on the rise and you must mention in the first breath- Ball State .
We expect Muncie Central star Johnny Miller to also be a Ball State Cardinal..

Thursday- August 10 ,2000
Terre Haute North's Alan Goff signs with NCAA D1 Lehigh University
The 1999 North grad spent last season at Vincennes University as a freshman where he averaged 14 ppg. and 4.5 assists per game..He academically qualified out of high school but chose Vincennes to open up his NCAA D1 recruiting..Starting every game at Vincennes, Goff helped The Trailblazers to a 34-6 record and a 5th place National Finish...At Terre Haute North, Goff was an Indiana All Star his senior year averaging 17 ppg. ,5 rpg., 5 apg. , and 3 steals per game..Goff scored 1200 points in his career at Terre Haute North but IBN will always remember Goff as the best passer in the class of 1999..Alan has always had the ability to thread passes through crowds and from the length of the court with pinpoint accuracy..Lehigh coach Sal Mentesasna will find that he has signed not only a good player in Goff but also a tremendous leader ..Alan Goff was reared under the tutelage of Indiana Legend Jim Jones..Historians will remember Jones as the coach who taught Larry Bird the game of Basketball..
Goff's 1999 teammate at Terre Haute who also matriculated to NCAA D1 was 6-7 Bryan Reed/Miami(Ohio). Reed played sparingly last season as a freshman but now that he has bulked up to 215- he is expected to contribute as a Sophomore..
Another High School teammate playing College Basketball last season was Clint Weddle Weddle now has transfered from South Dakota to Oakland City College to be rejoined with yet another 1999 North teammate- 6-8 Jacob Cummings .All these 1998-1999 Terre Haute North team members played on the 1999 Hinkle Fieldhouse Semi-State runnerup team...

Selected Sophomores for the Sunday September 10 College Exposure Workout have now been listed. Simply click on the flashing Top 100 button for easy access...

Wednesday- August 9, 2000
National Top Point Guard Travis Deiner wants Indiana University
The 6-0 Diener told IBN Tuesday evening that he would like to be recruited by Indiana University.." I know they have seen me play but I have never heard from them, "Diener stated.." I think Bob Knight is a great coach and I want to play for a proven winner that has his competitive intensity," Diener continued..Currently the scoring playmaker has firm offers from Utah, St.Louis, Marquette and Wisconsin. Illinois is also being entertained without offering- which leads us to believe that no decision is in the near future..Diener is willing to unofficially visit Indiana and also officially visit Bloomington if they want to recruit him.. That is strong interest from a prep with the ability to tomorrow accept a scholarship from four other High Major programs..With Utah and Ole Miss also strong with Donald Perry, most onlookers would expect Indiana to maintain contact with a point of Deiner's value that has such great interest in Indiana.The Goodrich High School prep Diener lives in Font De Lac, Wisconsin...The Hoosiers are desperate for a point guard and Time Will Tell if "putting all their eggs in one basket " with Donald Perry was a wise move...

Purdue Will Probably Sign South Bend Washington Graduate Darmetries Kilgore.
If you are a freshman in the Junior College ranks and NBA scouts tell your coach that you are close to having "game for the league ", what do you do after your second and graduating year from Junior College ?? Do you matriculate to Conference champion Purdue that has had recent NCAA Tourney success or do you attend UNLV That simply produces NBA PLAYERS ???
KILGORE is now faced with that decision now that he has visited UNLV .Since he now realizes that Shawn Marion, JR Rider, Stacey Augmon and Keon Clark are all NBA players from UNLV with similar skill to him, we now think that Purdue must lead..Purdue has no wing players in the PROS the past 20 years so home proximity is determining Darmetries Kilgore's College choice.. Anyone that has unofficially visited Purdue, then visited UNLV -yet still wants an official visit to Purdue is all but signed to Purdue... Darmetries Kilgore is all but signed to Purdue University...Stay Tuned Tuesday August 8 ,2000
Indiana University Now Leads For Donald Perry
Just when we thought the Hoosiers were out of the picture for the mega talented Louisiana playmaker,Perry himself tells us nothing is further from the truth..At Adidas Big Time, Perry would not even mention IU to us but apparently he was frustrated with his New Orleans Jazz playing role.. In high school he is asked to do so much but with the Jazz he basically rotated every 5 minutes in a limited role.."Indiana is my top priority right now" Perry told IBN Monday afternoon..Utah and Ole Miss also are on Perry's final three list.."I could not make my unofficial visit at the beginning of this month but I will officially visit Bloomington in early September," the 6-1 playmaker stated..When asked what the determining factors would be in his college choice-Perry stated,"I want to play for a great coach that will develop my skills. I do not need to start as a freshman but I want a situation where I must contribute a bunch of minutes."No one is more desperate for a playmaker capable of many minutes than The Red Army of Indiana University.If Perry chooses IU ,he had better be prepared for thirty minutes a game his frosh year in the point depleted program...He wants a great coach to develop his skills ?? Who is better than the "zero tolerance " General at developing players?? At least two dozen IU players have had successful stints in the NBA ..Only new Pacer coach Isaih Thomas had the quicks and ability for the NBA before he entered Indiana University..He is the only Knight player that would have made the league without Knight's tutelage
With that in mind, we believe Indiana has a great opportunity to sign the hugely talented Tallulah, Louisiana gazelle...IU assistant Mike Davis has done a tremendous job of recruiting Donald Perry...When the playmaker visits Bloomington in September, the ball will now be in The General's court to sign Perry..Son of a medical Doctor, Perry will now need to be sold on the Hoosier program from the man who prides himself on having the "Buck stopping at his desk."No one is better at closing deals than Bob Knight- as long as he is interested in the process .. Time will tell .. For Indiana's sake, we hope Robert Montgomery Knight is interested in much needed point guard Donald Perry/McCall High/Tallulah,La.

Monday-August 7 ,2000
Chris Hill/Lawrence North Interview
Talk about a busy guy ! After three weeks of travelling and playing basketball, Chris returned to Indianapolis for a week's lodging in the Lawrence North High School Wrestling room... Not the Ramada or even Motel 6,The LN football team kept the two a day footballers together in hopes of obviously developing a team bond.He might be answering out of a crick in his neck but Chris told IBN that this will be his last year of football..He plans to take his 3.9 core GPA to the best possible basketball academic school for his talents.. He tells us that Marquette is the only solid offer and Xavier and Kansas State are not firm offers...They are his leading favorites but several are involved including :Indiana State, Bowling Green, Vanderbilt, Pennsylvania,Ball State and Evansville.. With the responsibility of leading a major football program like Lawrence North, we expect Chris to worry more about throwing spirals the next few months instead of making college choices.. Sunday September 10 he is scheduled to participate in the Top 100 Workout..

Sunday-August 6,2000
Warrick County wins Basketball Congress International Championship.
The 30 year international tourney was founded by the late sportsman Larry Walker..Walker truly loved Indiana teams to participate in his BCI tourneys..Annually in the eighties and nineties, he would pay the travel expenses for any Indiana team that would enter his West Coast tourneys..Conducted in Lubbock, Texas and Tempe Arizona-BCI has now moved their prep tourneys to The Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colorado..If Mr. Walker was still alive, he would have adopted the recent Junior To Be International champion...The Indiana state champion Warrick County was the first Indiana High School Division team to win the prestigious BCI tourney....Slick shooting and disciplined "good old fashioned" Indiana Basketball has been the Championship backbone all spring/summer for Warrick County..
Dedrick Finn/Castle,Matt Keifer/Evansville Mater Dei, and Bryan Mckain/Boonville all were named to the 12 man BCI All American team..
The 6-1 pure shooting combo guard Bryan Mckain was named MVP of the Tournament..Mckain at 180 pounds strong is the prototypical Gym Rat as he loves the game and plays 4-6 hours each day..Quick to the rim off the dribble, Mckain's triple threat extends to 26'..A solid Jami Bosley /Akron type MAC/Mo Valley D1 prospect, Mckain has unbelievably received little NCAA Division One interest thus far..With another Championship performance September 10, a great high school season and another strong July (2001)-we expect Mckain to have several D1 offers by this time next year..Warrick County winning BCI is definetly the Highlight of Indiana Basketball this summer...

Spiece Central Stars finish Fourth at BCI Sophomore Division.
The AAU state runnerup finished fourth after winning 8 of 10 tourney games..They lost in the final four to the AAU national champions New York City Gauchos...Highlighting the Central Stars trip was defeating twice the Perennial National power-New York City Riverside Church..Top performers for Spiece were Kristoff Kendrick/Lafayette Catholic,Parnell Smith/Pike,Zach Decatur/Cathedral,Austin Montgomery/Perry Meridian and Brandon Evans/Lawrence North..
The state runnerups finished the spring/summer season with an outstanding 55-12 winning record...

Bloomington Red finishes 7th at BCI..
Led by future star prep posts 6-3 Nate Ashworth/Roncalli and 6-6 Jordan Coffey/Center Grove, Bloomington Red finshed 5-2 in the double elimination tourney enroute to the 7th place finish..The team finished 45-6 for the spring/summer season including a 53-46 win over Freshman Phenom Robert "Darth" Vaden's Indy Panthers...The Red are actively in search of Quality Post Players for the 2001 spring/summer campaign..

Indy Metros III win Bobby Korsen's Shootout
In spite of the confusing ,last minute, loosely operated organization of this tourney and Columbus Ohio Amateur tourneys in general- The Metros made the trek East for the competition...Led by tourney MVP MIKE CRAWFORD/Pike The Metros emerged Tourney champions..Also playing well for Indy was Junior Jared Reeves/Brownsburg,David Logan/North Central and Donald James/Brownsburg..
The Indy Metros finished the spring/summer season with a solid 29-12 record...

Saturday-August 5 ,2000
Leon Petty emerges with Chris Hill as one of Indiana's top shooting guard prospects..
While the Lawrence North shooter is contemplating offers from Kansas State, Marquette and Xavier--Cathedral's 6-4 Leon Petty has received July offers from Wichita State, Bowling Green and St. Josephs of the Atlantic 10...Illinois State, Weber State,Cleveland State and Houston are also serious contenders for Leon's services...Leon realizes if he does the academic work his senior year, he will write his high major basketball ticket...Recruiters that view Leon go away wondering- What other prep can do the things he can do ??He breaks his man off the dribble to the paint as well as anyone in the Midwest..When his treyball is warm, no one is able to rise and pull the trigger better than Leon..At 6-4, he is capable of guarding the opponents best player..Truly no other prep has the whole package that Leon Petty possesses.. Yet,If he is in his over dribble mode, everyone in the gymnasium wonders why in the world does he do that!! As his game progresses and matures, we predict Leon to "drop the ball massage routine."....Knowing Wayne Radford's nephew since he was age 14 , we believe and also know Leon is the perfect selection for all high major programs that need a point guard -small forward.. Petty defines the word versatile...

Ball State will receive 6-2 Chris Williams as transfer from Loyola
No it is not official but write it down that Loyola's second leading scorer last season at 12 ppg. is transferring to Ball State..Williams played at Fenwick High with Corey Maggette ..Coach Ken Burmeister recruited him to Loyola so he never was truly on the same page with Larry Farmer...Taking a scholarship in 2001, Williams is the guy that can make plays ala Duane Clemons when there is not a clean look...Williams went to BSU assistant, Angres Thorpe when he was unhappy at Loyola..Thorpe is also a Fenwick graduate..We could not receive a comment from either program but we decided to make the announcement after receiving this report from more than one reliable source...

Stay Tuned for results of Indiana Preps at the Basketball Congress International...

Friday-August 4 ,2000
Class of 2002 Incoming Juniors Recruiting News
August is the time of year for Juniors to begin planning unofficial visits to those colleges and Universities that have shown serious interest.Recruiters cannot verbally contact them but they can write and verbally communicate through the High School coach and summer coach.
As we have said before, this class of 2002 is especially deep with NCAA D1 Prospects..
Thursday we interviewed six outstanding Juniors in regard to their present recruiting.
6-4 Allen "Deuce" Miller/Marion
Deuce tells IBN that he plans to repeat as State champion next year at Marion..He is excited that former teammate Bobby Pittman has returned to Marion after a year in Texas.Besides Bobby and himself, he says Marion will start Issac McClung,Kevin Cates and Josh Peterson..Deuce has already visited Ball State unofficially and he also plans to unoficially visit this year :Cincinnati,Marquette,Notre Dame, Iowa State, and Iowa.All those schools will be in attendance September 10 at Spiece Fieldhouse to view the "Deuce " wheel and deal from his favorite wing position..
6-2 Antwan "Bookie" Alexander/Arlington.
The rim sitting -deep treyball piercing Golden Knight has been rehabbing a deep thigh pull as of late. No one in the class has the skill or tools of "Bookie" but he also could take a few lessons from some in regards to focus and intensity..When his game is "tight", no one is more fun to watch or more impossible to contain. His legitimate 25' range and 42 plus rise spells major matchup problems..Lay off him and he" busts your head. "Guard him close and his jet step is by you and your post team mates get dunked on..He plans to visit this fall unofficially: Ball State,Iowa and Purdue.
6-3 Tyler Clevenger/Winchester
No one in the class was better in July except for phenom Sean May.Tyler was scoring very well in Las Vegas and also when he joined Cambridge City in the end..Smarts, strength, skill-Clevenger has all the tools for a brilliant mid to high major career.Ohio State,Kentucky,Iowa,Purdue,Ball State and Indiana State are the schools he will unofficially visit this school year...
6-8 Matt Kiefer/Evansville Mater Dei
The big man with the most potential is now 100% recovered from the severe sprain he incurred at Nationals..Taking the recruiting attention in stride, Matt has already unofficially visited The sleeve wearing Purple Aces of Evansville with no future plans to visit other Colleges..With serious interest from Purdue and Iowa, we foresee possible unofficial visits to the Boiler and Hawkeye campuses..
6-4 Anthony Winchester/Austin
Scoring 27.5 per game at Austin, Anthony's forte is the jumper off the dribble or pass-- from virtually anywhere.Yet, the long armed talented guard can playmake with equal ease..Just a winner,Winchester does what he must to help his team win...Weber State now leads since they have offered.Weber Head coach Joe Cravens grew up in neighboring Scottsburg..
Ball State and Indiana State are interested but they have not offered at this point even though a fellow mid- major school like Weber State has offered .Winchester also plans to unofficially visit the interested high majors :Iowa,Indiana,Purdue and Kentucky. Anthony Winchester will have a new coach next season in Scott Matthews. Formerly, The Madison Shawe coach,Scott is the son of Southern Indiana Coaching legend Jim Matthews of New Washington High School.. Twin Brother Jamie Matthews is the Head Coach at Northern Indiana Manchester College..Jeff Embrey was an outstanding coach at Austin before he was fired..Off the court was his achilles tendon as record wise -no one in the south could duplcate his success..Expect Jeff Embrey to once again lead a strong High School program...
6-8 Milos Mirkovic/Seymour
The offensive gifted exchange student has always had a soft touch in the paint but now Mirkovic is telling IBN that he is a shooting small forward...He has played some with AAU Ohio Valley but mainly has been lifting weights and playing open gyms...
Wide open to all schools is his reply to our inquiry for favorite schools..But, the big guy could not stop talking about Butler University.Bulldog head coach Thad Matta is related closely to the host family of Mirkovic's..He has unofficially visited Butler and he likes the campus,academics and the Bulldog basketball program under new coach Thad Matta...Mirkovic is a lock for Butler..Much More Saturday !!

Thursday-August 3,2000
Bloomington Red finishes third in the Nation !!
Indiana Basketball News salutes the Bob Pryor Bloomington Red program for finishing third in the National Tournament..No other Indiana program finished anywhere respectively in the mix...Indiana teams rarely ever have championship teams in the High School age groups for one reason...Indiana is the state with the most teams and our teams are always" watered down"..The tremendous talent pool is filtered erroneously through many programs....No time soon will anything change since all participants have their community telling them that they are Mr.Basketball or that we need to beat this kid on the court in order to be an Indiana All Star...Silly ?? Yes !! But, Indiana will always be a community pride situation where the town Barber may always be the man with the most influence over preps...The Barber may have scored 1000 points him self at the same school and he or other community members may want the preps to follow their same paths...With Sean May, Chris Hunter and Brandon Cameron all returning to the "red" next year, all they will need is a few top players to win the National Championships next year..Time will tell..
IBN spoke with Kyle Hankins and Jared Adler upon their return from competition...Hankins was truly despondent as he blamed himself for not hitting the shots that they needed to defeat Cincinnatti Black in final four action..We certainly do not see how he can blame himself when Sean Kline,Sean May, Chris Thomas and Terren Wilson were his teammates..Not to mention the long bench that should have been able to step up and deliver for the Red..Regardless, The Red once again represented Indiana Basketball in Grand Fashion... Hankins has one offer from Valparaiso and only phone calls from Utah and Dayton.No other schools have made recent contact...
Bowling Green,Southern Illinois and Indiana State have all now offered 6-9 Jared Adler/Adams Central.
"I expect a few more offers soon ",Adler tells IBN.."In the meantime ,I must catch up on three weeks of neglected farm work"-stated Adler. He plans to visit schools before his school starts but he has no definite plans at this time..He did say that he was pleased with the July court time he received with the team.."As much as I sat in May/June, I played plenty in July when the college recruiters needed to see me play, " stated Adler.
Lawrence North shooter Chris Hill.
Marquette and Xavier with Kansas State all reportedly lead for the marksman who also throws pigskins with NCAA D1 ability..We tried to reach the top prospect but he will not be home from Football camp until Saturday....
Johnny Miller/Muncie Central played little in July due to a sprained back.. Rehabbing now, we expect the skywalker to be flying by September in the inbnews.com college exposure workout...
Indianapolis Arlington 2000 graduate Sean Gillespie.The wing scorer finished all NCAA D1 requirements this summer in hopes of a scholarship..Gardner-Webb had the chance to sign him on the spot and they passed..Gillespie is capable of much more scoring than Indiana recruit Andre Owens.Sean truly has the off dribble potential of an AJ Guyton...We expect Sean to play one year at Owens Community College in Toledo,Ohio....Speaking of Gardner-Webb,they just lost their assistant Eric Richardson to fellow North Carolina NCAA D1 Elon. After delivering Indiana preps to the Gardner Webb program, GW was still not able to make Eric a full-time coach..Coach Simons of Elon was able to easily hire Eric Richardson away from Gardner-Webb...A Scottsburg native, Richardson was instrumental in recruiting no less than seven Indiana preps to Gardner-Webb..
We expect many more preps to join Marion state champion Matt Backs at Elon..
Stay Tuned! JUNIOR NEWS is forthcoming.

Wednesday-August 2, 2000
Eric Washington/Lafayette continues to beat all odds
Remember the state champion had to sue and beat the IHSAA tyranny before he could play his senior season at Lafayette Catholic...As a sophomore to be at Barton JC in Kansas , the only thing he has to beat off now is college recruiters..Purdue,Kansas State ,UAB and a dozen other programs now are recruiting his game .At 6-7 he has extended his offense to the small forward position...
Purdue recruit 6-5 Darmetries Kilgore/Tyler JC has revisited UNLV in order to reach some conclusions..Kilgore tells IBN his decision will be before the early signing period...He truly is not leaning one way or the other..
Indianapolis Senior Preps Soar through IBN Rankings !!
David Teague/Pike,Tony Weeden ( now Pike via Indpls.Manual),Keith Borgan/Pike,Jay Jones/Ben Davis and Bryant Dillon/Tech have all leap frogged to the front of their Class of 2001..IBN ranks players only for college potential and this quintet has proven their potential in July...They were not able to hide behind a school system versus mediocre competition..They played against the nation's best and they proved that they belonged...
At 6-4 David Teague is a cannott miss MAC, MO VALLEY type player and with work he could play Big Ten..What he does that others do not is make plays while others cannot or when they have an excuse while they cannot make a play.."Coach yells at me or I do not have thirty two minutes to get in the flow...I was fouled is a good excuse when they cannot finish a shot or the coach is just not using me right..."Disenchanted in July playing four man, he contacted Spiece so to play his natural wing position in the final two days of the NCAA evaluation period...Play wing he did !!In five games barely knowing his 'mates names-Teague scored 23.5 ppg on threes off the dribble and pullups in the paint with people in his face..He will academically qualify with a current "c average and 900 SAT. " Weber State, Bowling Green,IPFW, Central Michigan,Ball State and Tennesse Martin hope Teague does not develop high major interest....Pike move-in Tony Weeden at 6-1 180 lbs. is the strongest guard in the Class and the best one off the dribble.. His pullups and power jumpstop moves are no where to be found in High School hoops.Illinois State,Butler,Eastern Illinois and Florida A and M have the sense to recruit this late riser.
5-10 Jay Jones/Ben Davis will qualify with his current 2.3 GPA ..Jay exploded in the Adidas Las Vegas tourney and at the AAU Nationals..Nebraska now leads but Central Michigan and Weber State will also be in the chase for Jones combo/scoring/playmaking/pressure defensive services...6-5 Bryant Dillon/Tech has all the midwest NCAA mid majors asking where he came from..The academic qualifier has been overlooked in the IPS inner city school system..Dillon is long,versatile and capable of all perimeter positions in College..His game has attracted interest from Butler,Bowling Green,Indiana State and many others..He will be playing wing September 10 at the inbnews.com workout...
5-8 Keith Borgan/Pike is the untrappable point guard..His scoring is off pulls and a consistent treyball..Strong at 160 lbs.,Keith is a magician throwing spells in the open court-transition game...Averaging 14 ppg. at Pike,Borgan's combo scoring/playmaker game has attracted interest from Texas-El Paso,Northern Illinois,USC,Loyola, and Ashland...Stay tuned for the latest prep recruiting news and committments..