Euroclydon

Great addition. Congrats to Malik and his family. Congrats to CMW and the staff for another big time recruiting accomplishment. The funny thing is, when other programs land a top level recruit they don't seem too worried about who that may impact and cause to leave. I never read anything from Duke, Kansas, UNC, etc. fretting over who may decide to leave if they add another five star recruit. The question I ask is - if a current player decides they can't stay on the team if IU adds a great player, does IU really need them? Another question would be, what Power 5 conference team will you transfer to where you can just step in and be a starter getting lots of minutes with no competition for other great recruits if you don't think you can compete at IU?

I did see where Jefe Jabrohns put out an update saying it was a "very good official visit". Of course, you have to subscribe for that kind of insight but I'm sure it's worth it. As you know, it's rare for a recruit to take an official visit and then suggest it was good after the fact.

Great news about Race. As someone noted, if he can develop a reliable 15 - 16 foot jumper it goes a long way toward making his life easier and the team better. He struggles scoring over size with his back to the basket and that's not likely to change. Huge news for IU though. Now instead of needing to add multiple bigs they can likely get away with adding just one more and being somewhat competitive even if TJD goes pro. TJD 6'9, Duncmb 6'9, Race 6'8 and Banks 6'8. Would like to add one more 6'9 or better who can really battle inside but I believe they can compete with this group for the most part. If they lose TJD and fail to add a legit player to at least defend and rebound it's gong to be a lot tougher sledding.

Shooting is needed but scoring is a necessity and there is more than one way to score. But in a situation where your team does not shoot and does not score at a high level, you better have defenders who can shut down the other team if you want any chance to win. Reminds me of the Bob Huggins teams of the late 80's and 90's. Several years they could not score very well but their D carried them and they scored a lot in transition and off that D. Of course they would press and he used a lot of grown men thugs to make it work but they could play defense. Lots of assumptions but if you have TJD, Race, Geronimo, Galloway, X, JHS, and a guy like Dexter, it's going to be tough to score on IU. Lots of ugly low scoring games would be likely.

Last one that felt like virtually a lock would be Ziesloft. Two years at IU he hit 63 (45%) and 65 (42%). Compare to IU last season where Parker hit 53 (39%).

Not seeing a lot of weave handoffs to get the offense going.

Watching the championship and it is striking how much faster both teams play. Constant movement and the ball does not get stuck in one spot. Both teams force the defense to chase and react constantly. The other thing that stands out is UNC and Kansas both have multiple scores. It's not just a couple guys that can get their own shot.

Trying to figure out if the law even matters any more. He could have told the officer he was on his way to burn down the police station to protest his oppression and been fine. Maybe a celeb or our VP would have bailed him out. In reality, I'm not sure how CMW handles this one. He suspended five for the same game when the season and the tournament were in doubt apparently over a curfew rule. It's X's second strike that we know of, so being dismissed shouldn't be considered off the table.

Still not entirely sure what Matta did for IU but glad he was able to get back into coaching. Interested to know what changed about his health issues to allow it. Agree, it's pretty clear CMW wasn't thrilled with the setup. I don't see it as coincidence Fife was let go and now Matta is out. You drop Fife, a respected and experienced assistant at a high level, to hire someone that's never done the job. That's makes a statement on how that was going. What will be more telling is if they do not fill the open position left by Matta. There is no other way to read it. CMW wanted them out.

Takeaways from today's games: 1. Defense is elite at this level. You can't have three guys guarding and two guys watching their man go right by them. 2. You need several guys who can score - meaning they can get their own shot and knock them down. IU has a lot of work to do.

Believe I heard or read CMW is on vacation. Besides waiting to hear if anyone else is leaving the current team they may also be waiting until the coach is back to announce possible additions. It would be great to learn more about how the coaches go about looking into the transfer portal. Do you wait as long as possible to see who else is jumping in? Do you ID someone quickly and hope to convince them ASAP? Do the players going into the portal ever reach out to the school and say, I want to go there? Do the assistant coaches go on vacation or is it portal and recruiting 24/7 after the season ends?

Highlights suggest he has a nice jump shot. I know, highlights. Still, when he gets the pass he's ready to shoot and there is no hesitation. Banks may end up being the stretch four CMW needs moving forward. At 215 lbs it's likely he is more effective outside and in transition than posting up inside. What I can't tell is how athletic he will be in B1G play. On video he looks very deliberate when he moves. Not slow necessarily but under control. I'd contrast it to Trey Galloway's frantic or herky jerky style where he looks like he's trying to run out of his skin. If IU can land more of a bulldozer type who can match up with the other monster in conference it would make a great combination with Banks. That way you don't end up with another situation where the 6'8 215 kid has to bulk up and still gets mauled inside guarding the 6'10+ 250+ lb monsters.

Will Smith is either looking for an assistant coaches position at Michigan or he is preparing to play Juwan Howard in an upcoming movie.

I was hoping IU would land a recruiting guru or a coach that can teach/develop shooters. Seems like more of a recruiter but I'm not sure 'guru' is the right word at this point. Let's hope that's what he becomes. If he was someone that could help coach shooting he was vastly underused this season.

I've been calling out the "experts" for years now. It started with the recruiting gurus who sell their insights for a price and then one minute before a decision is made they switch predictions. Never explaining why they were wrong on their predictions for weeks or months prior and suddenly gaining this new information. Complete frauds. FYI - you can get the same information within second of a recruits decision without paying a dime. That includes the alleged insiders who want you to pay for their content regarding team news. Most of what they write these days appears to be stolen from message boards and rewritten, in my opinion. I read some great input from the fans on here and other sites but then the same thoughts show up from an expert and is written in a way that suggests they got it from a source close to the team. Don't believe it. Sure, if they have been doing this for some time they likely have some contacts. But if you step back and really read or listen to what they say, it's a con game. They hedge everything. They make comments in such a way as to imply something but never really saying anything. They refer to sources but you never hear the name of the source and maybe you shouldn't, but it seems very convenient for the experts. When they are wrong.... crickets. Specifically, one such fraud this week tossed out a lot of accusations about Dane Fife in a weak and shameful attempt to get some attention. Alleged conversations and insights but nothing concrete. I suppose if you are going to throw someone under the buss to get attention you want to make sure you do not cut off your relationships with the wrong people. Fife is gone so he became an easy target. If you want to continue to suck up to the head coach and those who remain in the program in order to continue your fraud 'career' it is an easy way to make a headline to two. It doesn't make them a legit writer/journalist or an expert in anything. And if you pay for their services, you may be too naive to figure any of this out.

One of my favorite IU players. Great having him back in the state as a head coach but crazy that while this happens Dane is currently on the outside looking in. It would be kinda cool if Dane ends up at an Indiana school as the head coach at some point and we can watch them develop. I could see either one of them leading IU down the road.

Until this season I believed Rob was going to be the key to IU's success and create the kind of change we were looking for on this team. Whether it was injuries or something else he never turned into the player he was expected to be and that's probably more to do with expectations being too high. He seemed like the type of physical guard that would be able to get his own shot and make life terrible for the other team's offense. It just never happened. A solid defender but he was injured a lot, his shot was never strong, and he couldn't put more than a couple good games together at a time. More important - he couldn't stay on the court. Best of luck to Rob and his family.

Never a dull moment with IU basketball. This off season is no different. We knew three players had to leave just to bring in the next class of Banks, JHS and Gunn. Losing Parker, Durr and Lander fulfills that requirement. Now it's a question of who is next? CMW has mentioned several times they will be working in the portal. So, if you add anyone it's going to require someone to leave. It's just a matter of where they can improve. He also mentioned the wings specifically. Seems obvious they need to add a more talented wing who can shoot/score and/or defend, and they need more size that can really play. That suggests two more additions and obviously at least two more will be leaving. My guess is they can't announce additions until they know who is leaving but it will need to happen sooner rather than later.

I guess if we can throw out any name let's go with this kid Mike Krzyzewski. I hear he will be available soon and he has ties to IU. In reality, I think there are some good recruiters out there that have become free lately or currently work on lower tier teams. Chad Dollar is at UC now as an assistant but he did a really good job recruiting while at Georgia where he landed Anthony Edwards (#1 pick in the 2020 NBA draft) among others. Tony Barbee is the coach at Central Michigan but they had a terrible first season. If he were to become available or want to move back as an assistant he's had a lot of recruiting success at uk and been a head coach multiple times. He's from Indianapolis.

Recruiting is the life blood of the game. You cannot have enough elite level recruiters with key contacts. Beyond that, if you can find someone with an ability to coach shooting it would be most helpful. If we take all the speculation we heard yesterday as true, it has to be someone loyal who is not looking step beyond their role and someone CMW feels comfortable with, which suggests someone he has known for a while and trusts. There can only be so many of those but I'm not sure any of them will fall into the category of elite level recruiter.

The Rabjohns interview confirms what I've thought for many years now. These 'insiders' are full of crap. He could have just as easily said, "yes, lots of rumors but i don't really know anything for certain or would rather not make any definitive statements so nobody can fact check it or call me out, but please keep considering me an insider 'cause I'm Raby."

Good luck to K Lander. Really hoped it would work out long term at IU. You can't teach this kids quickness. Unfortunately, he doesn't appear to have added an ounce of weight since he arrived in Bloomington and in his very limited time on the court it was clear he would struggle to defend virtually anyone. Hopefully he lands in the right spot and he can develop into a great player. Nothing but respect for him and his family. Additional thoughts - this may suggest X and or Rob is back - could be that JHS is going to play point - a transfer is coming in that can play PG - G Cupps is looming in '23. My hope is he spoke with CMW and they mutually agreed this is best.

I guess the rumors were true. Unfortunate, but only because I thought Dane was the future leader of this program. It seemed a natural fit seeing as CMW is older and unlikely to coach IU for 10+ seasons. At this point, it's all speculation. It did seem like Dane became very quiet as the season progressed. He was doing all kinds of interviews and then it really trailed off. Figured he was just too busy as conference play came around. Maybe he was told to stop. It could be that CMW didn't like anyone else being out there talking? Could be he didn't like having his potential replacement sitting on the bench? Is it possible Dane over-stepped his role at some point? One thing is certain, when it comes to IU basketball nothing is hidden. This will come out. Drama seems to live within this program regardless of the coach. Let's see if other coaches and/or Thad move on in the next few weeks for positions that are not really promotions. That would be a red flag. Prediction: If this off season goes south with more transfers than expected and the coaching staff appears fractured, CMW will not last too long.

Playing overseas is not as simple as it once was. Can't imagine anyone is excited about going to play anywhere in Europe right now. Take your NIL deal(s) and hang out with your friends one more season. Develop a semblance of a jump shot. Move up on the draft board.

The portal is a complete mess. Hopefully IU is already on it and ahead of the game because depending on who leaves, it's going to be important to land the right guys. There seems to be several guards lined up on this team but few shooters. Something has to give and that means some will have to go. The only way they add another guard is if it's a proven scorer/shooter, and I don't mean another one dimensional guard that can sometimes shoot but can't get their own shot and struggles to defend. The more important need is legitimate size. It could be ugly if TJD and Race leave. Even if one of them stays they need more than Durr and LD off the bench. Adding Banks helps but at 6'8 215 he is more of a perimeter option than an inside option. CMW mentioned needing to improve on the wings. That and adding a post option is likely where it is headed. But rather than settling for projects that can't help it may be best for IU to add as many defensive stoppers as they can find. If you can't shoot you better be able to defend at the highest level. IU improved on D but they have a long way to go to compete with the elite teams and the top tier of the B1G.