EasyEJay

They are a lot of fun to watch no doubt and I'd imagine will have a massive following if they make the tourney with IU sitting at home. I'm the only person in my family who did not attend ISU. (delusions of grandeur through D3 Football) mom and dad ventured back a couple of weeks ago to watch them. Hard not to compound this success into a bigger paid day for coach, it does stink to think the roster will probably be decimated by the portal . Though the avid IU fan in me smiles at the idea of a Swope and Conwell (two Indiana kids) in back court in Bloomington next winter ........ one can only hope.

Update just finished season 2 absolutely hooked watched s3 episode 1 last night and you know when Neal McDonough shows up in a show or movie your watching it’s about to hit the fan ! Haha

Need a new show to binge watch and I love me some Timothy Olyphant (he was awesome in Deadwood and Santa Clarita Diet) and Walton Goggins. Thinking Friday night at about 8:30 is a perfect time to start!

I know what I said last time BUT I say a lot if things haha no in all seriousness I think tonight is a massive turning point in the tenure of Mike Woodson one way or the other...… reality regardless of what people say about the conference this year, a win tonight puts Woodson 4-1 vs the Boilers (and a dumb Xavier Johnson half court shot with 8 secs left away from being 5-0) and his arguably least talented roster in sole possession of 2nd place in the Big Ten. Lose tonight and ? 3-2 vs Purdue will be 3-3 by the end of the season and jammed in the middle somewhere with 0 quad 1 wins in late Jan and NET ranking that could slip into the 100s OUCH. I like Coach and want him to succeed but I feel like his ego is a little exhausting something I didn't realize he had (but then again anyone willing to coach the NY Knicks has to have an ego tbh) . In the coaches show last night he decided he wanted to play the martyr by saying " I Love the fans at Indiana, and I hope they love me too." fair enough BUT less than 24 hours earlier he gets crappy with reporters when asked about his rotations? Come on Coach look you fired your best assistant coach because you didn't like people talking about him as the next HC an him questioning your methods. You've been back to the tourney but absolutely embarrassed in 2 losses and constructed a roster of guards in the age of NIL that would ride the bench at any other power 5 school. Answer the tough questions you haven't earned that right yet. He's finding out the hard way IU fans don't really care how many points you scored in an IU uniform in the late 70s and early 80s. For better or for worse I think we could look back on tonight as that pivotal moment FWIW Archie's - Home loss to Purdue in Coach Knights return should have fired in in the locker room ! Crean's - Don't think he had anyone one moment really, extreme disappointment of 2013 coupled with the inconsistency of missing the tourney all together after Big Ten title seasons

Likely my final IU basketball discourse, in the age of NIL , and when donors have paid almost 40 Mil to tell a FB and BBALL coach to go away. Their is 0 excuse for this poor of guard play for poor roster construction. Indiana has had 1 basketball coach since Bob Knight capable of elevating the program to the level of sustained success it should have (Winning multiple Big Ten titles, making the tourney every year, and talented enough for a possible Final Four run some years) His name was Kelvin Sampson and he had the shortest tenure of any coach. In an age before the transfer portal or NIL Sampson finished with 20 + wins, 3rd in the Big Ten and Tourney berth/ Tourney win (took #7 UCLA to the wire in round 2) IN YEAR 1. In year 2 he signs Eric Gordon to pair with another All American in DJ White a roster of solid role players. They were 22-4 when Sampson was fired........... Now at 68 years old Sampson has built non power conference Houston into a top national program with a final four. Bill Self, Rick Pitino, Sean Miller, Jim Harbaugh in Football, heck Bob Knight himself. Just win that's it just win and you don't have to do it with a bunch of choir boys

Well been as sad couple of performances keep all the analytics out of it, I just don't think this team is very tough or tough enough to win games against great teams (Home, away, neutral, close games , blowouts, and everything in between). If this was last years Big ten I may say time to focus on 2024, BUT clearly the Big Ten is down down this year especially in consistency outside of Purdue at applies to every team. at 7-3 (2-0) Here's just a gut feeling. Win Loss +/- (Could win or lose) Moorhead St @Nebraska @Neb North Bama @ Rut @ Rut OSU Pur Pur Minn @ Wisc NW Iowa @ Illnios Wisconsin Penn St OSU MSU NW @ PUR Nebraska @ Penn ST Wisconsin @ Mayrlaynd @ Minn MSU Ceiling 24-7 ( 16-4) (Ncaa tourney yes) Projection 21-10 (13-7) (NCAA Tourney maybe : First four again) Floor 18-13 (10-10) ( hello CBI) LOL Time will tell

Well been as sad couple of performances keep all the analytics out of it, I just don't think this team is very tough or tough enough to win games against great teams (Home, away, neutral, close games , blowouts, and everything in between). If this was last years Big ten I may say time to focus on 2024, BUT clearly the Big Ten is down down this year especially in consistency outside of Purdue at applies to every team. at 7-3 (2-0) Here's just a gut feeling. Win Loss +/- Moreheas St @Nebraska @Neb North Bama @ Rut

Tayven Jackson has been trolling IU fans by posting Gruden memes on Social Media pretty funny stuff! From Gruden to Brad Stevens to Billy Donavan's Wife House shopping in Bloomington and all the ridiculous names that get floated in between IU coaching searches are at least entertaining !!! 🤣

Announced that IU Donors just gave another 3 mil to the NIL fund for the next Football coach to work with, leads me to believe this could be a real interesting hire. I don't think the donors are shelling out 20 Mil to get rid of Allen followed by another 3 Mil to give to players for a MAC HC/ Or Unproven Coordinators. I think they have/have had their guy for a while now just had to get the money squared away. I'm betting an announcement tomorrow afternoon , before all IU fans shift their focus back to basketball with the Big 10 opener at SSAH Friday vs Maryland.

Mullen and Fyre would be interesting get me a little excited I reckon. Hart or Moore could be high level especially in recruiting the Midwest. Chryst is Vanilla Ice Cream as a FB coach Don't care what his record is. Even if you don't like Rees he's an OC at Bama I just don't see anyone leaving that spot for IU even a midwest guy. I just don't see a MAC or Mid-Major coach being the first option for a job that just paid almost 20 mil to fire a guy doesn't really move the needle. At the end of the day my money would be on Wommack, after a couple if bigger names say thanks but no thanks. Programs ties decent HC record / Experience don't think it'll get fans THAT excited but who knows , the expectation is just win 6-7 games and maybe make a bowl maybe he could bring that ? IDK like most IU fans whatever happens happens at this point sort of numb too it

Well here we are a week later , Hoosiers have not really looked the part in two games vs Army and Wright St (without their leading scorer) Better on Offense but lack of defensive intensity at times has kept them from blowing either team out. Also the 3pt shot and inability to close out on switches as led to team feasting on 3s so far at SSAH. Oh and 3 sure things in life Death, Taxes and a kid from Indiana coming into IU goes unconscious against them from 3 for no reason at all 🙃. With many questions and concerns nothing says get right like a date with the defending national champs in NYC YAY! oh and 6th year senior PG got hurt, bright side is we should come away from NYC at least 1-1 with U of L in the 4 team field though Id imagine it will be a rather close game based on our first 3. On a positive Note , I do love what I've seen from Ware for a guy that has "motor Issues" at Oregon he been solid through the 3 games also good for Queen to see another big guy flourish at IU. Reneau has been the 16 and 8-9 guy I thought he would be. Love the hustle of Cupps off the bench PG is in good hands for 3 years (Boogie who?). Gallow and Johnson have been pretty good as well just have some let downs . Mgbako has been as disappointment ok on offense and dreadful on defense often not on the floor in crunch time. Walker who I thought might be a big piece off the bench has proven why Miami was fine to let him go from a Final Four team. And CJ Gunn is suppose to be a shooter but Airballs a 15 footer on the baseline...… He does some nice things at times but too often forces the issue let the game come to you dude. Banks looks the same , and just not enough of a sample size to register an opinion on Sparks yet. 1-1 in NYC , beat Harvard in Indy and Maryland at home and could head into the first road trip to UM at 5-1 might have this team feeling a playing at a higher level. TBD

Also 5-Star Teammate Derik Queen will now NOT make his decision during the early signing period. Most reports say this is a good thing for all finalist besides presumed favorite Maryland. At one point it was thought to be a two horse race between the Terps and Hoosiers , with Houston in a distant 3rd but Kansas was also added to the list of finalist. I think the Hoosiers are in a good spot if this recruitment goes into the spring obviously Woodson as a track record of grabbing 5-stars off the board late (Reneau and Mgbacko). As for Tuesday night Hoosiers were tested vs a very good FGCU team, Iu should have little trouble with Army on Sunday then an uptick on competition before heading to NY to play the defending Champs and UCONN BUT can't afford to over look Wright State this early in the season. regardless of the outcome against UCONN , Hoosiers should leave NYC with a W (most likely getting in shambles U of L if they lose to UNCONN game 1 ). Then Harvard in Bankers Life could be a nice 4-1 before Conference play sneaks a couple of early ones in.

Update: Mgbako will face one misdemeanor count of criminal trespass , typically a fine in the state . Meanwhile in the world of recruiting IU continues to make a push for 5-star C Derik Queen (teammate of IU committ Liam McNeely) original reports said Queen was down to IU and Maryland and would announce Friday, this was reported before Maryland and Houston had a last chance to pitch to Queen causing many to wonder if IU had swept in a stolen Queen from the terps. No date is set as of now and honestly I thought of the 3 priorities IU stood the least chance with Queen but obviously as we saw with Fland things can change quickly If IU ends up with a one man class for 2024 , it could be a very INTENSE portal season for the Hoosiers next spring ! With that said excited to see what the new look Hoosiers are all about Sunday in the first exhibition match up with Uindy at SSAH .

What didn’t age well ? A college kid being charged with 2 misdemeanors ? I’m totally shocked 😮! dumb? Yeah. a big deal ? Probably not fine and community service maybe a suspension for a game or 2 from Woodson . Learn your lesson take your punishment and move on . when he drops 18 6 and 3 with 4-7 from 3pt range against Kansas the manger of that Taco Bell will probably apologize to him and offer an NIL deal . but here are some hilarious social Media posts about the incident .

IU swings and miss on 5-star Boogie Fland who commits to UK over the Hoosiers . that’s the world of national recruiting while IU seems to be just about done only left is 5-star Derik Queen whom most believe is Maryland bound despite being a teammate of McNeely . it’s a little concerning with only 1 signee in ‘24 but also important to keep in mind that 3 of IUs 5-stars under Woodson were previously committed elsewhere at some point . With the transfer portal as well roster construction is a totally different animal these days . with Hoosier Hysteria just hours away it’s time to shift the focus to this season unknown and excited to see how this season plays out !

5- star Liam McNeeley commits to IU over Kansas . attends Montverde Academy in Florida (HS of JHS and Malik Reneau) .

Ill admit I'm not an encyclopedia of Recruiting history, and I know there is a pre-rankings era to consider, BUT id love to be filled in about how many times IU was able to land 3 top 30 recruits in a single class, had to be rare even in the peak of Knight days. I'm also well aware recruiting ranking don't by any stretch relate to success at the college level as well. Just a pretty impressive feat for any college coach regardless of program.

Mike Woodson continues to blaze the recruiting trial. Well known College basketball recruiting insider on social media who goes by the name Trilly Donovan (96% prediction rate) made it known today that he believes Woodson's Hoosiers will land 2024 5-Star Guard Boogie Fland (over Uk and Bama) and 2024 5-star SF Liam McNeely (over Kansas) . Woodson and his entire staff are heading to New York (for Fland) and Florida ( for McNeely) today and also remain in the hunt to land McNeely's 5-star C teammate Derik Queen. If Woodson pulls off the Trifecta on these 3 or even just 2 of the 3 it will be one of the biggest single classes IU has landed in its History. It clear that Woodson continues to move towards putting IU back on the national map and this program is 1 late March run away from exploding like it hasn't seen since the early 90's . (Ok I'll pump the brakes) - Just an excited Millennial IU fan!

I've talked about IUs recruiting ventures in the IU thread. Its hard not to trust Mike Woodson and his staff right now. Since arriving back in Bloomington he has put IU on the national recruiting stage and gone toe to toe with top programs in the nation for 5-star recruits and won more than his fair share. While the effort for IU was there with Flory hard telling the reason why IU didn't land in the finalist for him but were talking about the inner working s of the mind of a 17 year old who knows . IU has a lack of 24's commitments but has made plenty of list for top 100 talent (now I know that means nothing if at least a few don't land in B-town) . Again right now you have to trust Mike Woodson and his staff to do their thing and previous recruiting cycles an indicator that you should. As far as the Boilers I think its most likely a mutual understanding of stylistic play. Clearly the way Flory game works is nothing like the way Painter uses Big men in his offense for better or worse both probably realized early on that wouldn't be a good fit. Honestly fans of both programs really shouldn't be that sad IMO its happened before with plenty of recruits when both IU and PU were on solid footing as a program. Both have really solid incoming classes / Transfer with a sprinkling of in state talent combined with guys that fit they way they want to play. Purdue being that favorite with MSU to repeat and write the wrongs of last year. IU with new faces but plenty of talent to show what Mike Woodson can do and I think they will surprise people and finish in the top 5 of the Big 10 this year. Best of luck to Flory I think he will have a solid college career at any of the 4 programs he chooses .

I've talked about IUs recruiting ventures in the IU thread. Its hard not to trust Mike Woodson and his staff right now. Since arriving back in Bloomington he has put IU on the national recruiting stage and gone toe to toe with top programs in the nation for 5-star recruits and won more than his fair share. While the effort for IU was there with Flory hard telling the reason why IU didn't land in the finalist for him but were talking about the inner working on the mind of

Unreal honestly Mike F-ing Woodson man ! Huge get doesn’t even begin to describe this wow . Much needed addition and this roster starts to look like one that might be fun to watch in February and March *fingers crossed*

I thought the same initially , until I read an article that IU fans should consider Walker and 1 for 1 trade for Geronimo. From that prospective I like the addition he adds front line depth. I watched Highlights from COVID season he was a solid contributor (think more athletic Race) averaged 10ppg 5rpg . Seems good enough to guard positions 3-5 which is HUGE for IU. Kopp got Much better in that aspect this season BUT I thought that's where we struggled against teams with guys like that (i.e. Kris Murray) In other Portal/recruiting news , IU joins a host of Schools (St. Johns, Kansas, and UofL) as a new group of finalist for 5-Star Duke Decommit Mackenzie Mgbako Lights out shooting swing man is EXACTLY what IU needs on this roster, man if IU could land this kid I would NEVER questions the recruiting ability of Woodson and his staff again LOL. Also IU was one of first in contact with Dingle 6'3 transfer guard from Penn. Love this kids game after watching Highlights, and when Penn played power 5 conference teams? he average 22ppg to go along with his 2nd in the NCAA 23ppg for the whole season. with NBA goals hopefully IU can sell him on look what he did for JHS .

Johnson does indeed receive his hardship waiver he will be IUs starting PG come October/November. Polarizing at times sure BUT beats all other alternatives at this point, and I have confidence he will be able to lead whatever team gets put together over the next month. Also preparing for Dexter Dennis 2.0 as IU announces its hosting Miami (FL) grade transfer Anthony Walker. Came off the Bench for the Hurricanes this year , saw his productivity decline over the course of 4 years in Coral Gables. less than 3ppg this year and but is 13 ppg for a career (had 7 in 16 min in sweet 16 win vs Houston) for a career 6'9 forward also shot around 20 percent from 3. Not really sure the staffs thinking behind this guessing they have seen something through the tape and have done their due diligence but lets be honest no where near the portal news IUBB fans were hoping for .........

Well it seems that transfer portal mania has come to a dead stop for IU basketball. Many seemed to think that the commitment of Kel'el Ware was going to start a domino effect of inbound transfers for the Hoosiers that has yet to materialize based on vague by grad assistants and analytics of targets social media follows........... 🙄 While IU still seems to be in the lead for Harvard Transfer Ledlum , but IU has yet to get traction with any other recruits. Wild rumor that Purdue commit instate Brownsburg player Kanon Cathchings was prepared to announce his de-commitment from PU and flip to IU, while it is intriguing that he took "Purdue commit" out of his social media bio and re-uploaded to Instagram his IU visit pictures nothing as been made public. Again I get tis still early but IU needs desperate help in the back court especially considering Johnson has not officially received his hardship wavier. I will admit I'm not a Peegs subscriber so I'm sure Rabjohns has been peddling names left and right to fill this void right now but as we move towards the month of May Hoosier fans will continue to get anxious myself included

Big time get that probably seals up the front court Sparks , Reneau , and Ware. Ledlum from Harvard seems to be a done deal just waiting to announce (knock on wood) . leaves IU to focus on Knecht and/or other back court pieces . I would love for them to make a strong run at El Ellis from U of L if he doesn’t stay in the draft . Really solid combo guard who would look nice in a Mike Woodson offensive . solid job so far of Woodson and the IU staff hopefully they can get the new pieces to gel nicely over the summer