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Darrion Brooks-2023


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11 hours ago, Hoosierdave said:

Izzo spent over 5 years recruiting Keion and building a relationship with the Brooks family only to see all that time and effort result in Keion committing to another out of state program by a staff that spent about a 1/4 of the time recruiting him in comparison. Izzo has more of a justification to hold a grudge over the Brooks' than literally any other coach/person on this planet and yet here he is being the first one to reach out to the Brooks family about Darrion. 

Does Keion going to UK leave a bad taste in my mouth? Sure. I just don't understand why we are putting Darrion in a bad light over a decision that wasn't his. I don't think it's a poor reflection of Justin Smith when his father goes on an epic twitter rant about Archie and the team. 

My point with the Zellers is that it's not like the decision that Tyler and the family made about going to UNC should have prevented Coach Crean from seeing what Cody's own interests were.  

Keion has literally said that Trayce is his best friend. Trayce and Armaan consider Keion a "close" enough friend that they drove to his commitment ceremony for support. I see Mrs. Franklin interact/support Keion, Mr. and Mrs. Brooks on twitter regularly (even after Keion committed to UK). Lets just all take the high road and not be immature about what a high school kid thought was best for his future. 

Would be a lot easier to let bygones be bygones if the family had not talked sh-- about the IU fanbase right after the commitment.  They did not do that about MSU...so you are not comparing apples to apples.

It would have been harder for Izzo to get involved ic they had said, "Well, we felt that UK would get him to the pros quicker and oh yeah, the Spartans fans are a-holes" which is basically how it went down for Indiana.

The staff can do what they want and if the kid comes to Indiana, I will root for him because of the jersey.  I could leave the family though...and we have kids commit elsewhere all the time, it was the way the family handled it that leaves me in the "no thanks" mode.

Also, I am from Ft. Wayne, so this kills me, but I cannot think of the last player we got from that area of the state who has worked out.  And many times we miss out on kids from that area because of their hanger's on.  Not sure why that is the case up there, but I have heard in the past that it had to do with who runs one of the AAU programs up there.

Recruiting NE Indiana kids rarely pans out for Indiana.

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9 hours ago, The Daily Hoosier said:

The whole ugly fan thing was never really a meaningful part of the decision.  They might have been aware of a few bad apples, but you don't send your kid to Kentucky if your overarching decision is based on the fans.

Then the family should have shut up about it.

The coaching staff will do what it wants, if it were me, I would hard pass on him.

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1 hour ago, IUCrazy2 said:

Would be a lot easier to let bygones be bygones if the family had not talked sh-- about the IU fanbase right after the commitment.  They did not do that about MSU...so you are not comparing apples to apples.

It would have been harder for Izzo to get involved ic they had said, "Well, we felt that UK would get him to the pros quicker and oh yeah, the Spartans fans are a-holes" which is basically how it went down for Indiana.

The staff can do what they want and if the kid comes to Indiana, I will root for him because of the jersey.  I could leave the family though...and we have kids commit elsewhere all the time, it was the way the family handled it that leaves me in the "no thanks" mode.

Also, I am from Ft. Wayne, so this kills me, but I cannot think of the last player we got from that area of the state who has worked out.  And many times we miss out on kids from that area because of their hanger's on.  Not sure why that is the case up there, but I have heard in the past that it had to do with who runs one of the AAU programs up there.

Recruiting NE Indiana kids rarely pans out for Indiana.

Here’s the actual tweet. If I’m interpreting this correctly, Mrs.Brooks was saying it wasn’t directed at any particular program but of course an IU “fan” takes it personally and attacks her over it. Also take whatever Brian Snow says with a grain of salt, this is the same guy that created the rumor that Lander and Kaufman don’t want to play with each other. 

At the end of the day, I still don’t get what this has to do with Darrion. 

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26 minutes ago, btownqb said:

If you guys can't see why we're hesitant with this family, I'm not sure what to tell you? We have every right to not be interested. 

Agreed. Sending one kid to La Lumiere and then UK are enough red flags for me. I do give him a little bit of credit for sticking it out at UK for another season. I fully expected a transfer.

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3 hours ago, IUCrazy2 said:

Then the family should have shut up about it.

The coaching staff will do what it wants, if it were me, I would hard pass on him.

See that's the whole problem here.  Where did the family just go on and on about it?  They didn't.  For reasons I cannot understand one of the recruiting sites tried to suggest over and over that a few trolls in the IU fan base influenced the decision.  That is just patently false.

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1 hour ago, The Daily Hoosier said:

See that's the whole problem here.  Where did the family just go on and on about it?  They didn't.  For reasons I cannot understand one of the recruiting sites tried to suggest over and over that a few trolls in the IU fan base influenced the decision.  That is just patently false.

That is only one piece of it.  I will withhold comment on the kid from here on out.

My opinion is that I don't want to deal with that family again.  I obviously have no say, that is all the coaching staff.  But this is one kid I have no interest in and that is 100% because I was not a fan of his parents when we were recruiting his brother.

You are free to disagree.

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I’m just not a negative person in general...I support everyone having an opinion. Guess I just hate to see people being so negative towards a potential recruit but I am not going to argue. I trust Archie is a big boy...he can handle the family...who imo are far from the worst we probably could be involved with when it comes to 5* recruiting. A family that has basically a lottery ticket in their hands is always going to be a different mentality and different process then your typical recruit. Archie has proven he can handle himself and proven he takes kids with their heads on straight...high character...so if he thinks that of this young man...I’ll take his opinion over everyone else’s on the board.
 

Sure Archie will probably make a mistake or two eventually on the recruiting trail but to me going through the steps necessary to gauge this kid and his fit for us is not a problem. Nothing says Archie might not let off the gas if he gets the feeling otherwise. I’ll just wait and see...hopefully things will be different this time around but if not...we are in a much much better place with the program if we don’t land him.

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Maybe it has just been a while but I don't see how the Brooks family is that terrible.  Yeah it sucks that Keion went to Kentucky but it isn't like he was disrespectful in how he did it like a say Darius Garland.  The family was deciding between a school that he would enjoy, in state, friends, etc. or a school that they viewed would help him develop more and get to the NBA and I hate to break it to you but that is most recruits goal, especially 5 stars.  Now whether or not that was the right decision we may never know but like others have said Archie clearly feels it is beneficial to recruit Darrion and I think he would be more hurt than us if they did indeed burn him like some are portraying.

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5 hours ago, dgambill said:

I’m just not a negative person in general...I support everyone having an opinion. Guess I just hate to see people being so negative towards a potential recruit but I am not going to argue. I trust Archie is a big boy...he can handle the family...who imo are far from the worst we probably could be involved with when it comes to 5* recruiting. A family that has basically a lottery ticket in their hands is always going to be a different mentality and different process then your typical recruit. Archie has proven he can handle himself and proven he takes kids with their heads on straight...high character...so if he thinks that of this young man...I’ll take his opinion over everyone else’s on the board.
 

Sure Archie will probably make a mistake or two eventually on the recruiting trail but to me going through the steps necessary to gauge this kid and his fit for us is not a problem. Nothing says Archie might not let off the gas if he gets the feeling otherwise. I’ll just wait and see...hopefully things will be different this time around but if not...we are in a much much better place with the program if we don’t land him.

Lottery ticket? What the pick 3 game at noon? Some on the board have a much larger capability of seeing the bigger picture. I swear it's almost my next to last comment on this family. I think I have one more.

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https://www.insidethehall.com/2020/05/05/q-a-former-indiana-forward-collin-hartman-part-two/

 

ITH: On Romeo’s season … to this day if I tweet something about him, there will be a certain set of comments I’ll get that say he was a bust … I don’t know if it is just because the expectations were ridiculous, but do you think any of that is unfair? The way people, in a lot of ways, kind of ripped him for how he played at IU. The dude averaged 16 points with a torn ligament in his wrist. What did you think about that, especially as someone who is from Indiana, to see how some fans bailed on him?

Hartman: That’s the Indiana fanbase, in my opinion. You’ve got a bunch of people who never played the game, especially at this level. And you got a lot of people who didn’t even go to the university. That’s what makes Indiana fans so great is they are so passionate. But they are also very irrational. You have to put it in perspective. This kid is 18 years old. The thing is, he’s so young and when you get put on a pedestal like that and you have such high expectations and the stress … when fans turn their TV off, the game is over. But the dude still has to live with whatever the result was. He’s gotta go back to his dorm room. Not an apartment, not living on his own … he goes to a dorm room because he’s an 18 year old kid.

My freshman year, I almost transferred because the Indiana fanbase said I was a wasted scholarship, I didn’t deserve my scholarship, I shouldn’t be here, I’m worthless … I internalized that stuff as a freshman because I didn’t know any better. And my sophomore year on, I didn’t care what the fans thought or said. Because none of them had been in my shoes, ever. I stopped reading your guy’s (message) boards because people would comment and say whatever. I stopped reading all of that stuff. Because none of it was positive.

And so as a kid, it is hard to stay off of those platforms and it’s hard to not internalize those things because you are not emotionally mature enough to do it yet. I was blessed and lucky enough to have a support system that reinforced that I belonged there and that I could do it and that I was doing the right things and that it was going to take time. A lot of kids don’t have that.

Think about it this way. I always ask IU fans, do you have kids? Just imagine if you had thousands and thousands of people just destroying that person’s personal identity not just as a player, but them as a person. Destroying them on the most public of platforms, how would you feel for that person? It’s hard because people are irrational and don’t understand that. Yes, you can be passionate, but you have to be passionate in the right way. You can be critical, but you have to be critical in the right way. You can’t just throw out insults and throw out irrational comments when you have nothing to back it up. And you have no perspective because you are not in their day-to-day.

Even you guys in the media room have more perspective because you are at least talking to the coaches and having interviews with us. You guys turn off the recorders and we have a personal relationship like I do with you and Zach (Osterman) and Kyle (Neddenriep) and all of those guys, it’s different. You guys know us on more of a personal level than fans do. So they don’t understand that kids read that stuff. And they take it to heart. And their parents take it to heart and it pisses them off, too. And it really accomplishes nothing.

Because I’m going to tell you right now, all of these fans tweeting at the coaches tweeting at the coaches saying ‘you need to play so and so,’ they’re not reading that. (Laughing.) Coach Miller is getting paid a lot of money. Do you think he’s not going to do his best? Do you think he’s going to listen to some guy on some message board or tweeting him that’s never played the game before at this level? Do you think he’s going to listen to that? No. So you are literally wasting words. Wasting your time and energy and all of that. I just think it is comical that people think they’re going to make a difference by doing that. All you are doing is bringing negative energy to the program, the players, to the coaching staff, everything. You’re not accomplishing anything. I always thought it was comical how people truly think they’re making a difference when you say things like that. It’s not for the better, that’s for sure.

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16 minutes ago, goonaha said:

https://www.insidethehall.com/2020/05/05/q-a-former-indiana-forward-collin-hartman-part-two/

 

ITH: On Romeo’s season … to this day if I tweet something about him, there will be a certain set of comments I’ll get that say he was a bust … I don’t know if it is just because the expectations were ridiculous, but do you think any of that is unfair? The way people, in a lot of ways, kind of ripped him for how he played at IU. The dude averaged 16 points with a torn ligament in his wrist. What did you think about that, especially as someone who is from Indiana, to see how some fans bailed on him?

Hartman: That’s the Indiana fanbase, in my opinion. You’ve got a bunch of people who never played the game, especially at this level. And you got a lot of people who didn’t even go to the university. That’s what makes Indiana fans so great is they are so passionate. But they are also very irrational. You have to put it in perspective. This kid is 18 years old. The thing is, he’s so young and when you get put on a pedestal like that and you have such high expectations and the stress … when fans turn their TV off, the game is over. But the dude still has to live with whatever the result was. He’s gotta go back to his dorm room. Not an apartment, not living on his own … he goes to a dorm room because he’s an 18 year old kid.

My freshman year, I almost transferred because the Indiana fanbase said I was a wasted scholarship, I didn’t deserve my scholarship, I shouldn’t be here, I’m worthless … I internalized that stuff as a freshman because I didn’t know any better. And my sophomore year on, I didn’t care what the fans thought or said. Because none of them had been in my shoes, ever. I stopped reading your guy’s (message) boards because people would comment and say whatever. I stopped reading all of that stuff. Because none of it was positive.

And so as a kid, it is hard to stay off of those platforms and it’s hard to not internalize those things because you are not emotionally mature enough to do it yet. I was blessed and lucky enough to have a support system that reinforced that I belonged there and that I could do it and that I was doing the right things and that it was going to take time. A lot of kids don’t have that.

Think about it this way. I always ask IU fans, do you have kids? Just imagine if you had thousands and thousands of people just destroying that person’s personal identity not just as a player, but them as a person. Destroying them on the most public of platforms, how would you feel for that person? It’s hard because people are irrational and don’t understand that. Yes, you can be passionate, but you have to be passionate in the right way. You can be critical, but you have to be critical in the right way. You can’t just throw out insults and throw out irrational comments when you have nothing to back it up. And you have no perspective because you are not in their day-to-day.

Even you guys in the media room have more perspective because you are at least talking to the coaches and having interviews with us. You guys turn off the recorders and we have a personal relationship like I do with you and Zach (Osterman) and Kyle (Neddenriep) and all of those guys, it’s different. You guys know us on more of a personal level than fans do. So they don’t understand that kids read that stuff. And they take it to heart. And their parents take it to heart and it pisses them off, too. And it really accomplishes nothing.

Because I’m going to tell you right now, all of these fans tweeting at the coaches tweeting at the coaches saying ‘you need to play so and so,’ they’re not reading that. (Laughing.) Coach Miller is getting paid a lot of money. Do you think he’s not going to do his best? Do you think he’s going to listen to some guy on some message board or tweeting him that’s never played the game before at this level? Do you think he’s going to listen to that? No. So you are literally wasting words. Wasting your time and energy and all of that. I just think it is comical that people think they’re going to make a difference by doing that. All you are doing is bringing negative energy to the program, the players, to the coaching staff, everything. You’re not accomplishing anything. I always thought it was comical how people truly think they’re making a difference when you say things like that. It’s not for the better, that’s for sure.

Been saying this for years about how our fans can be an asset and a negative.

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7 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

Been saying this for years about how our fans can be an asset and a negative.

I have yet to come across any fanbase, anywhere, that is always positive about all aspects of the program.  It does not exist.

Additionally, the players have done some dumb crap that tends to blow back on them too.  From Sampson's drug runners to Crean's pot heads and alcoholic, drunk driving, teammate flatteners.

I will somewhat agree right now that the kids should be shown a little deference in that they tend to be semi-pro.  However, once this monetization thing hits, watch how much of a "negative" IU fans are thought to be when these players are looking to cash in.  Not too many fanbases are going to be there with cash to support these guys like ours does...and guess what kind of strings will be attached to that cash grab?

Hope these kids are ready to get treated like pros when they get a bigger cut of the money.  Because that is what is coming.

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27 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

Been saying this for years about how our fans can be an asset and a negative.

I don't disagree with you, and I don't think too many do in terms of your point here about fans being an asset and a negative, but where I still can't see the connection is in how it's different anywhere else? You can say the same thing about UK fans, Duke fans, MSU fans, Michigan fans, Ohio State fans, UCLA fans, Illinois fans, UNC fans, Purdue fans, etc., etc. 

I'm not saying I agree with the negativity and I find it absolutely ridiculous when fans send messages directly to players and/or get personal on message boards, etc., especially when we as fans have probably less than 1% of the actual information. 

But again, how is it different for any of IU's competitors? Fans are fans. There's great ones in every fans base and bad ones.  

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6 minutes ago, BGleas said:

I don't disagree with you, and I don't think too many do in terms of your point here about fans being an asset and a negative, but where I still can't see the connection is in how it's different anywhere else? You can say the same thing about UK fans, Duke fans, MSU fans, Michigan fans, Ohio State fans, UCLA fans, Illinois fans, UNC fans, Purdue fans, etc., etc. 

I'm not saying I agree with the negativity and I find it absolutely ridiculous when fans send messages directly to players and/or get personal on message boards, etc., especially when we as fans have probably less than 1% of the actual information. 

But again, how is it different for any of IU's competitors? Fans are fans. There's great ones in every fans base and bad ones.  

I don't care what other fans do and I never want our fan base be compared to UK'S fans.  I would hope our fans are above going on social media and ripping the players and coaches personally.

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6 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

I don't care what other fans do and I never want our fan base be compared to UK'S fans.  I would hope our fans are above going on social media and ripping the players and coaches personally.

Sorry to break it to you but IU fans are not above ripping players and coaches on social media. What makes you think a group as large as a fanbase is any different than any other group of fans simply because they root for another team. People are people. In any large group of people you're going to have people that can conduct themselves appropriately and people that can't. It's just life. 

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5 minutes ago, BGleas said:

Sorry to break it to you but IU fans are not above ripping players and coaches on social media. What makes you think a group as large as a fanbase is any different than any other group of fans simply because they root for another team. People are people. In any large group of people you're going to have people that can conduct themselves appropriately and people that can't. It's just life. 

So when other programs cheat to get players then you think it is alright for IU to do the same.

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I understand and agree with Hartman's opinion. He said what he had to say from a player's perspective. Can't even imagine the pain and agony of teenage college kids who chose to play for a college basketball's blueblood. The mental burden would be insurmountable for some kids and may end up transferring. That's why a lot of people say playing for bluebloods is not for everybody even if you're academically and physically qualified. However, for every player who was not able to adjust and adapt to this harsh environment, there were many more players who successfully finished their journey and earned their valuable college degrees. Of course, a kid would never know if he'd have mental fortitude and aptitude to survive at schools like IU/UK/Duke/UNC/KU/UCLA, but in my opinion it's a gamble worth taking if a kid is ambitious and wants to be in spotlights. Even when kids end up transferring because they can't bear the mental burden or they're simply not good enough, or both, they would learn their lessons, recover, and grow. And in fact, big time basketball schools offer so much more benefits (facility, coaching staff, fame, access to more information especially current and former NBA players, etc.) than small programs. Good things come with a price. 

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