Indiana Hoosiers: 2009 Recruiting Class Draws Rave Reviews

by Jerod Morris

For the first time in a while, news regarding Indiana basketball is starting to become consistently positive.  Crean and Crimson indeed.

According to the Indianapolis Star, Indiana and Tom Crean recently received a verbal commitment from Christian Watford, a 6-8 small forward out of Birmingham, Alabama.  Watford is ranked anywhere from No.12 to No.34 by various recruiting services.  According to recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons, the commitment of Christian Watford moves Indiana into a tie for the top 2009 recruiting with North Carolina.

All I have to say is…hell yes!

The Indianapolis Star article compares the composition of IU’s 2009 recruiting class to that of Purdue’s 2007 class, which as far as I’m concerned is an outstanding compliment.  The main difference is that Purdue’s class was comprised of all kids from Indiana high schools (or at least all but one, I’m pretty sure).  However, like the 2007 Purdue class, IU’s incoming class for 2009 includes players at every position who have played together during summer tournaments.  That ability to build rapport and camaraderie before stepping on campus is invaluable.

Currently, Indiana’s 2009 recruiting class looks like this:

Jordan Hulls, 6’0, PG, from Indiana, 3 Star

Maurice Creek, 6’5, SG, 4 Star

Christian Watford, 6’8, SF, 4 Star

Derek Elston, 6’8 PF, from Indiana, 4 Star

Bobby Capobianco 6’8 PF/C, 3 Star

In addition, Indiana is high on the list for 6’11 center Bawa Muniru from Ghana, who has risen into the Rivals top 150 after improving immensely from the raw prospect he was when he moved to the U.S.
The members of the 2009 class should, theoretically, all have a chance to step right in and play as freshman.  As we all know, Indiana has only one holdover from the Kelvin Sampson debacle: former walkon Kyle Taber.  To simply field a team, Tom Crean did an outstanding job of acquiring 5 3-Star recruits, and a 7-0 center who is raw…but is still 7-0.

The 2008 class includes Nick Williams, Malik Story, Verdell Jones, Devan Dumes and Sampson recruits Tom Pritchard and Matt Roth.  I cannot wait to see all the new guys this upcoming season, but none come to Indiana with the reputations of guys like Watford and Creek.

Recruiting rankings can obviously be flawed, and just because a class is ranked high does not guarantee success.  But being ranked high is certainly better than being ranked low (as I nominate myself for the Mr. Obvious award).  Most importantly, the success that Tom Crean is having assembling his 2009 class is bringing positive news to an Indiana fan base that has been consistently beaten down over the past year or so.

Thank you, Kelvin Sampson, for coming in and pissing all over the wonderful tradition of IU basketball that its fans treasure.

I have become a natural skeptic after the Sampson debacle, but Tom Crean is definitely instilling hope and confidence in IU fans everywhere that the page can be quickly turned, and that within a few years IU can be back to competing for Big Ten titles and making deep runs in the NCAA tournament; and, most importantly, doing it ethically and legitimately.

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