Initial79

11 hours ago, IUfaninIllinois said:

I have a guy who I’ve used for stuff before… he’s not an insider by any means but knows tons of insiders who are and has been pretty reliable for me in the past. 

Great insight there. 

15 minutes ago, SawatchHoosier said:

To me the reason KU insiders on a discord had the information 2 hours early is because the KU staff is total garbage at keeping information to themselves. Woodson and staff would rather give the information to someone like Osterman who provides a benefit to IU basketball. If I'm a KU coach you gotta be aggravated that someone on the staff has a side hustle involving a discord chat for $70 a month.

Ding ding- look the Mike Vernon discord is a joke. It is a pure con and he just makes things up. He has had 7 or 8 “facts” been proven wrong and he just keeps changing the story.

now, is someone on KU staff giving him info. Sure. I bet Rabby knew too but kept quiet because he knew it would be on Instagram within the hour from MM. Zach was almost in unison with instagram post. 

The issue with Kansas staff leaking is they only know what they know. They probably did believe he was done after visit, told Vernon that and he gave that out. But we were told Ledlum was too. 

the difference is they believe Vernon like the Bible and just keep running with his newest “theory” Their entire confidence is because he told them MM committed on the visit and was not doing more visits. They have stuck with that from day one because “we are Kansas”

The worst part, they will think it was right if they land him but he was not decided as of today. Multiple people with different sources have said that with first hand info. 

Going to try and go at this one more time. Not to be right. Don’t care. I am trying to help those fans that believe we “match up” - we don’t. Does that mean we can’t win recruits, he’ll no. But our staff fights a very up hill battle and it is not just Kansas. Pick an SEC school, etc 

I don’t believe this affects this recruitment much but I would sure like it to stop being an issue. Sounds like the athletic department finally realized this. 
 

Watch this at about 8 min in 

11 hours ago, IUfaninIllinois said:

I’ve heard that Dingle is going to St. John’s. He’s making an announcement soon and hasn’t even visited IU so think he’s unlikely 

Where did you hear this because other than St John’s guys believing it to be the case (like they did MM) I haven’t seen anything like that.

I have yet to read anything pro KU that wasn’t fabricated and easy to prove where it came from. Ironically, I think KU crazy fans have repeated this crap so much the Rivals guys and any “smoke” for them was from pure lies. 

it is funny to me how so many of them can’t see if the original rumor was true then why do they need 5 news ones? Now the are excited because a fake leak? But he already committed in Lawerence? 

Every time I go back over this, every single sign points to IU for me. Every time there is another tidbit of verifiable info, it seems to point to IU as well.

so I am 99.9% IU. That is where logic leads me. 

1 hour ago, Bowhunter said:

So how many Kansas players does MEC follow in comparison to Indiana players?

Believe it is 4 IU guys and zero Kansas. 

3 hours ago, OGIUAndy said:

Have we considered that maybe this is literally just a recruiting tactic? Like the team asks guys to do this when possible? So far this hasn’t meant much in previous recruitments. I don’t think it’s a bad thing obviously, but Ledlum had a lot of people follow him. Guys are probably not under any obligation to do so, but it hasn’t been an indication of much, other than the obvious, IU is recruiting this player etc. 

it for sure is but when they follow back, like Ledlum did Tenn guys the morning before he committed, that is little different. Really surprised to see him follow back this late in the “mystery phase”

11 hours ago, KDB said:

After Slater tweeted his final 2 she liked a couple Kansas tweets and one a picture of Bill Self that said "He's coming" on it. May mean nothing but it's not super encouraging. The recent IU tweet she liked was after that Kansas account leaked the screenshot of her likes. IDK. Could all be irrelevant.

So I looked at this a little more. 

she never liked any of the Kansas visit pics. Liked a few of the IU ones. Then yes, 2 Kansas replies likes followed by another IU one today. If this was something, honestly, she might have been trying to “balance” things as she never liked any Kansas posts to date.’

also, and found this even more interesting, guess who she just very recently followed on Twitter - Carmelo 🤔

yes, none of this could mean anything but just as much positive IU stuff there. 

1 hour ago, Hoosierdave said:

It pains me to admit Ive become way too invested in this recruitment. But I actually feel much better about this after doing some digging:

-It seems the common denominator in terms of confidence from Kansas fans is this guy Mike Vernon. He’s objectively a giant d-bag desperate for clicks and attention (see his twitter profile pic if you don’t believe me). 

-He speaks in giant generalizations and positions himself where he can never be wrong. He was clearly wrong when he said he doesn’t think he would take the trip to Indiana. He even says “guessing with recruiting is a dangerous game” and then writes an article today saying “my best guess…I like where Kansas stands”. Yea no duh dude, you have a 50/50 chance as of today lol. I actually cringed when I read the part where he basically says I’ve never been wrong in recruiting but at some point will. Like I said earlier, he’s positioned himself where if he’s wrong he can say this is the first time it’s ever happened, and if he’s right, we’ll he can claim he knew all along. 

-I’ve yet to find any social media that Hunter and Mack are friends on. FWIW, Mack is friends with Elmarko Jackson on IG(current KU player). That makes me skeptical that Hunter knows anything, and would be very on brand for Hunter to jump at a chance to get more attention.

-I’ve dealt with Mike Vernon’s of the world. Projecting confidence and being the loudest person in the room doesn’t make you right, it just forces other to be a prisoner to your stupidity. All it would take is a guy like Rabby or The Daily Hoosier to just start posting positive cryptic tweets to make Kansas fans start to question their sources. 

 

Didn’t see your post before my other reply, yes, that guy is a mess. He was wrong all last week on Hunter and MM but he just uses general excuses to reposition it and acts like he knew. He isn’t even good at it. Low- rent con artist who charges for his info.

Just last week on MM

- he committed on the visit

- won’t go to IU- commitment Wednesday announced 

- wants his own day, will now commit day after Dickinson

- didn’t commit but still won’t visit IU- Kansas full lock 

- he is only visiting IU because he handlers want to get more NiL out of Kansas 

Yes, you are 100% right- their entire fanbase believes they are good here because of him. It is crazy to watch. 

1 hour ago, IUskim said:

Supposedly a Kansas insider guy tweets that when a commit is about to happen. 

That guy is so far from an insider it is sick. He is a weird Kansas fan who charges people for his info. He is wrong all the time too. 
 

Just this past week the k-state assistant basically threatened to kick his ass for taking feet pics. No, not joking 

2 hours ago, IUCrazy2 said:

I think you can extrapolate that out though...

You can’t. If you believe that then Bradon Smith was top 10 amoung all NCAA players 😂

IU does fine here. This is not an issue for this guy but this doesn’t really help sell anything. 

1 minute ago, btownqb said:

This was just a liked tweet by her? 

And she liked plenty of IU ones too. Means nothing 

fyi.. the whole staff is following his mom now and jsut happened. Could just be a push but usually they don’t follow parents until done 🤷‍♂️

2 minutes ago, IUCrazy2 said:

https://247sports.com/college/indiana/Article/Five-Indiana-IU-Hoosiers-mens-and-womens-basketball-players-among-top-NIL-March-Madness-earners-208887677/

This might be pertinent....

That is only 1 store. Not relevant unfortunately 

9 minutes ago, Initial79 said:

Since I can still see good old Indy when people quote him. This is soooo far from how most top recruits decide. Relationship is the given and required.  You are not going anywhere without the relationship built. But once you have 3 or 4 schools you feel comfortable with…. Then it is about - 

How he fits, playing time, how can you get me to NBA fast, how will you develop me, NIL beyond what I can already do myself or any school and yes facilities, etc are 1 part of all these factors.  See Kentucky going nuts over Hunter comments in another thread (it ALL matters) 

In this case, personal feeling, I think everyone is overthinking it. It was always Louisville in the beginning but he added more visits when things didn’t go well with them (missed visit or something) however, I truly believe IU outdoes Louisville on all fronts for this particular recruit. 

Apparently relationships, NIL, playing time etc don’t matter. The agent is deciding so 🤷‍♂️

3 minutes ago, Artesian_86 said:

Totally agree! Let's hope that Ya and Coach Woodson have done their best to establish that strong relationship with MM, far better that others. I hope that TJD, JHS and others were able to weigh in somehow on MM's recruitment this past weekend.

Since I can still see good old Indy when people quote him. This is soooo far from how most top recruits decide. Relationship is the given and required.  You are not going anywhere without the relationship built. But once you have 3 or 4 schools you feel comfortable with…. Then it is about - 

How he fits, playing time, how can you get me to NBA fast, how will you develop me, NIL beyond what I can already do myself or any school and yes facilities, etc are 1 part of all these factors.  See Kentucky going nuts over Hunter comments in another thread (it ALL matters) 

In this case, personal feeling, I think everyone is overthinking it. It was always Louisville in the beginning but he added more visits when things didn’t go well with them (missed visit or something) however, I truly believe IU outdoes Louisville on all fronts for this particular recruit. 

Exactly, this is 100% what he said he would do. We have same shot as beginning and only improved odds with a great visit.

i will say, if you are searching for something to make you feel better about it. Slater is only posting what family wants. They sent him all that stuff and he sent 4 tweets on IU visit. That is way more than the other 2. Just saying, they were loving it and told him to send it out. 

6 minutes ago, 13th&Jackson said:

Sounds like his HS coach has St Johns and Kansas above IU

I didn’t read it that way but I am sure some of those quotes were before this weekend. Doubtful they spoke to the HS coach on Sunday. He also didn’t even say much. 
 

St Johns is Nike right? Don’t see how they fit. 

2 hours ago, Between2Halls said:

I’ve always assumed he would take all visits. Just seems like that type of recruitment.  

Agreed, he said he would all along. 

maybe I am crazy (likely) but feel he whole recruitment has actually been easy to read 

still think IU has always made the most sense on this one and they sure didn’t hurt themselves.

3 hours ago, SawatchHoosier said:

 

I might be wrong but I thought it was Mgbako's family that sent these to Slater not Mgbako himself. 

I mean, same thing. Point was, it wasn’t the school. 

19 minutes ago, bluegrassIU said:

They donit at every visit. And it's usually the school, not the student that makes them public.

I may be wrong here, but I don't think MacKenzie actually made these public.

they do some form of them every visit but not this deep but that is IU staff trying to make it special. 

He sent them to Slater who did. 

However, these guys are not Google. They don’t get paid for clicks. It is just to make them feel special etc. try recruiting without doing that. The kids enjoy them and everything matters in a tight fight. 

Just now, Tru123dt said:

What Kansas insider is he referring to?

 

 

Probably Mike Vernon or their 247 guy. Who by the way have been wrong all week on this. First they said he wouldn’t visit IU and already committed. Then it was he will announce Thursday, then it was he wanted his own day apart from Hunter D and would Friday. Then it was he is just visiting IU for fun. Then it was he is committed but his “handlers” want him to visit IU. 

They know nothing. Slater is the only guy who probably does. 
 

if they are right by a guess, that doesn’t bode well for them. He set Lousville date during or right after Kansas. If he visits IU and now he is deciding 🤔

On 5/5/2023 at 11:11 PM, MoyeCowbell said:

While I don't disagree that there will always be players (and fans) who want the best, most state-of-the-art stuff, I think there will be a saturation point. As you've said, when previous "also rans" are able to build incredible facilities, the whole market becomes saturated. And then it becomes more difficult to differentiate all of those bells and whistles.

There's only so much supple leather you can put on a player's lounge recliner; how many hot and cold tubs are too much?; is 90,000 sq ft of designated "basketball" space necessary, or must it be 90,001?

And so everything will revert, and it will come back to the basics. The core reason all of this exists: the game of basketball. Ultimately, will the player learn, grow and have success under the guidance of the coach and staff? Who knows the game and are they capable/elite at communicating that in an effective way that delivers results? Everything else is superfluous and simply window dressing.

I think we agree on some of this but no, I strongly feel they will need to address this. I don’t think it eventually becomes “they are all good.” You can’t have those schools far outclassing IU. You need to be equal to them and then you sell why IU is different. 

it is sales 101, eliminate the reasons for them to say no. Maintain what makes you unique. It is like selling high end luxury goods, exotic cars etc. you have to maintain the unique brand imagine that makes you distinct. There is actually a great book on this called “The collapse of distinction” - brands and companies can’t allow themselves to fall into sameness. 

This is how you compete for the top talent moving forward consistently. All areas that matter you want to be considered the best at. Those that feel “how much is enough” We have too many advantages to let this even be a conversation. 

11 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

Not you in particular... The whole process and the "froth" as @MoyeCowbell so eloquently put it...

Some of the stuff you post I think could have some truth to it, some I take with a grain of salt...I do think you're a bit dismissive when people present alternative info or views, and I also think you're too sensitive to people posting those views or making light of the overall process.

But to be honest, the day anyone can read the mind of an 18-22 year old (and having 3 grown children, I'm kinda aware how difficult that is) they need to write a book... 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey, trying to be more well rounded for guys like you with different opinions. Just wanted to check you a little as you seem just as hardened as my views but just polar opposite. 

I am just of the opinion some of it matters and what is the point of this board during the off-season if not to speculate. I think we all know many don’t believe much of it but do we need that reminder they don’t after every post with “news, rumors, tweet, etc” 🤷‍♂️

edit and add - appreciate the response 

17 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

Understand it quite well... @5fouls uses it very effectively...

You use it to try to disparage someone with a different opinion...

There's a difference... 

I’ll let you 2 argue that (don’t feel he was doing that) but is that not exactly what you were doing with your M&M joke? Disparaging me because I choose to read into things? 

1 hour ago, KDB said:

Slater is very connected to this recruitment apparently. He has posted much more about Indiana than he has for Kansas or St. John’s.

Yes, that might be the biggest tea leaf you can read here if you want to read into anything. They are sending him this stuff. It even says “from the Mgbako family.” 

yes, he is very connected but on this one he is connected specifically to his family. He even went off on Adam Z.?  for posting the visit list as the family didn’t want it public. So he posts 4 tweets today only with their blessing. 
 

he is also connecting with more people on social than the zero he did at Kansas fwiw