Despite coaching the Fighting Illini to the national championship game in St. Louis in his second season as the head basketball coach, the common feeling was that Bruce Weber did it with inherited players from former coach Bill Self.

Since that 2004-05 campaign, Illinois has progressively seen the wins get harder to come by. In the years since that 37-2 finish and heartbreaking loss to North Carolina in the title game, the Fighting Illini have gone 26-7, 23-12 and then 16-19 last season when the Illini failed to make the Big Dance or the National Invitational Tournament.

Now Weber is coming off what many think has been his best recruiting class as he begins his sixth season at Champaign.

Rivals.com ranked the Illinois’ early-signing period haul 10th in the nation. Scout.com rated Weber’s work 13^th nationally. ESPNU had other thoughts, instead ranking the group at No. 23.

The Illinois backcourt should have a different look in 2009-10 and recruits Brandon Paul, D.J. Richardson and Joseph Bertrand could play a part in it.

Paul, Richardson and Bertrand are all shooting guards and hail from the Land of Lincoln, giving proof that Weber can indeed get the state’s best to come to Champaign. They could stir memories of when Dee Brown, Deron Williams and Luther Head were running wild for the Illini during their 2004-05 run. Those three were wooed by Self, who would win the elusive title at Kansas last season.

Richardson, the marquee player of the class, toiled at Peoria Central before transferring to a Nevada prep school for his senior high school season. He has shown that he can take defenders to the rim while being able to connect from long distance if defenders lay off.

Weber said Paul, Richardson and Bertrand can play either point or the off-guard, giving him much flexibility with his lineup.

The Fighting Illini went across the Mississippi River into Missouri to get their lone big guy from this recruiting class. Tyler Griffey, a 6-foot-8 forward from Lafayette High in suburban St. Louis, is a player who can face up to the basket, hit mid-range jumpers and set picks for the new guards. The last time Illinois got a player from Lafayette, they nabbed Robert Archibald, who started at center under Bill Self, graduated in 2002, and was a second round pick in the NBA draft.

Bruce Weber might be able to fill one more slot for the 2009-10 class with a true point guard and it appears he has already gotten off to a rocking start for his 2010-11 recruiting class.

Weber has three verbal commitments for that group, including one from 6-5 Jereme Richmond from Waukegan. Richmond is considered one of the top juniors nationally. Crandall Head of Chicago Crane and the younger brother Luther Head, has also giving a verbal commitment.

Illinois will get a boost from the arrival of sophomore guard Alex Legion in January. Legion transferred from Kentucky to the Illini last season after the first semester and per NCAA rules, Legion has had to sit out. Legion came from the Oak Hill (Va.) Academy basketball factory and signed with Michigan, but backed out when Tommy Amaker was fired and went with Kentucky.

Earlier tonight, reserve guard Malik Story sparked the Hoosiers off the bench with 15 points en route to a 72-54 victory over Division II Bemidji State. Malik Story was one of the three players in double figures, along with freshmen Nick Williams and Tom Pritchard, both of whom scored 12 points. Follow the link to view the box score from tonight’s game between Indiana and Bemidji State played at Assembly Hall in Bloomington.

Thanks to the Big Ten Network I was able to catch some of the 2nd half of tonight’s game online. The much maligned network has fallen into my extreme good graces so far this year. First, when I found out that the Big Ten Network was being carried on Verizon in Dallas; and second, when I learned that even when games are not on TV, they can be streamed live.

And guess who does the play-by-play for the live streaming games on the BigTenNetwork.com? That’s right, the incomparable Don Fischer and and his trust sidekick Todd Leary.

Leary made a couple of interesting points during the part of the game I was able to see. Vincennes transfer Devan Dumes and freshman Verdell Jones did not play a great deal in the 2nd half. According to Leary, both were making too many mistakes in the first half and Tom Crean was using the bench to send a message that they needed to bring more focus to the floor. Leary was also impressed with the rebounding of Nick Williams and Tom Pritchard, who grabbed and 9 and 7 boards a piece, respectively.

Obviously there is not a whole lot that can be ascertained this early in the season with such a young team in a game against competition that is not comparable to what the Hoosiers will face once the regular season starts; but, from what I saw there was one very noticeable positive and one very noticeable negative:

• Positive: Ball movement. I liked the ball movement on display during the period I watched. There was some interior passing that led to layups for Tom Pritchard and Kyle Taber, and Malik Story had one drive-and-dish in particular that was very nice. The Hoosiers only had 10 assists against 13 turnovers for the game, but I thought the pacing and movement on offense was solid for this early in the year.
• Negative: Shooting. At home, you always expect to shoot well. But the Hoosiers struggled from the field tonight, shooting just over 41%. More ominously, we only made 56.3% of our free throws. With such a young team, the home court advantage of being comfortable with your own gym probably has not had time to set in yet, so I’ll give the Hoosiers a pass on this one. Hopefully as the season goes along we will be able to make shots at home. Wins will be hard to come by this year and with our undersized lineup it will probably be hard for us to win games that we do not shoot well.

The main feeling I took from the 2nd half of tonight’s game against Bemidji State was just excitement that another season of Indiana basketball is right around the corner, and optimism at the energy and style of play under new coach Tom Crean. I have never tempered my expectations so much heading into a season, but as Mike Davis was famous for saying, “help is on the way.”

The other big Indiana basketball news from today is that November 12th marks the beginning of the early signing period for college basketball recruiting. Tom Crean has received verbal commitments for next season that have many people ranking Indiana’s incoming recruiting class for 2009 among the best in the country. All of the recruits who have verbally committed are expected to sign on the dotted line tomorrow (or today I guess, since it’s now past midnight.)

But that’s for next year. First, we have to get through this season. The games start counting for real on Friday and despite the tempered expectations of Hoosier fans everywhere, I know that I cannot wait for the first step of the Tom Crean era to begin.

[tags]indiana hoosiers, tom crean, college basketball[/tags]

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.

Hey sports nerds. I have gone through a couple of years in my dynasty with The Ohio State Buckeyes and I think I have a grasp on the new recruiting in EA Sports’ best effort to date. Recruiting is overly comprehensive and unless you want the computer AI to do everything for you, you should keep reading. By the way if you let the computer recruit for you it also means you will not get the best class possible. Note: This is a “strategery” that will work for a powerhouse, since I have time for one dynasty at this point. My examples will be based off of being tOSU out of Columbus, OHIO.

Setting up your success in the preseason:

In your preseason you have many tasks before week 1 of the college football season. One of them is filling your recruiting board (up to 35 slots) with players that you will want to recruit this year. Your team will have a few positions listed as immediate needs so make sure you get someone good (or someone) because placing a walk-on high in the depth chart is a recipe for failure.

Find guys who are already highly interested in you. Keep out the guys who maybe a blue chipper but do not even list you in their top ten and already have high interest in another BCS school. I only do that if I need an immediate starter at kicker or punter and he needs to be a bad ass to compete next year.

Also, don’t worry about being perfect with your recruiting board in the preseason, because at any point in the season you can remove prospects and add other high school players. This is beneficial when a player commits to another school, or you can see the inevitable when, for example, that one blue chip defensive end from California won’t budge on his top three and you cannot crack it. Just let them have him, you can’t win them all.

Other preseason jobs will be to redshirt players on your depth chart and setting up your schedule. Schedule as many home games as possible. It will help in the long run when setting up campus visits with those high school seniors. Also be careful not to redshirt a lot of true freshmen already on your roster because that will discourage a high senior in the recruiting process if early playing time is important to them. Offensive and defensive backs and receivers seem to be the positions where playing time is important.  

Executing in the Regular Season: Each week before you play your game you will have to go through recruiting via telephone. Again make sure your computer help settings are turned off, as this is a manual recruiting guide. You get 10 phone call hours per week. The columns next to your players provide information like your position and interest level on the player’s list of schools, how many schools his list is down to, gain/decline in his interest in your school, ready or scheduled campus visit, and how many schools have offered this player a scholarship and if you have or not. If a player shows a lot of interest in you early on and resides in one of your “pipeline” states (Ohio State: Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Florida) it is a good idea to offer a scholarship right away. Or if this player is an immediate need on your next year roster.

You have 25 scholarships open to offer per season but try to get them early. Unlike past seasons of NCAA Football, it will always be 25 since you cannot get hammered by the NCAA for violations and behavioral problems.

The options in calling a recruit is a quick call or call recruit manually. These are like sales calls. Quick call provides the option to call for 5 to 60 minutes and offer a scholarship, if you have not already. The computer will then get info during the duration you call, including their priorities or if any interest was gained on a sway pitch. The goal of calling manually should be to find out what the player prioritizes from “Most” to “Very High”. If you see a pad lock icon next to that subject do not waste time trying to “sway” that player with your pitch. Watch the icon of the face on the football because its reaction is what you want to base your pitches off of. If you talk too long or about a subject they don’t care about or a subject your school has a bad rep for, then they will get mad and hang up the phone. In turn, you will probably see your school drop on his leader board the following week. Keep that football face smiling! You do that keeping it short and sweet, and by pitching about a subject that is of Most or Very High importance to the prospect.

If it is the first time you’ve called a recruit you must find the importance of a pitch to the player so quickly go to a subject your school is strong in. QBs and offensive lineman seem to enjoy a school that is a pro factory and have high coach prestige. Once you find out the prospect’s three Most, Very High and High importance categories, schedule a visit and try to get them early. Set up the player’s three activities based on their priorities and your reputation. If your school is Elite or Excellent in the category (and you beat the shit out of the team you play that week), you have a really good shot of landing that prospect.

After the visit the prospect will grade A through F how their visit went based on everything above. If you grade A with the prospect and were already #1 on their list it will probably turn into a hard or soft commitment to your school. This will free up phone call minutes in the following weeks for players who have not made a commitment yet.  

Experience Notes:

1. Don’t forget to look at the other teams in the prospect’s top 5. This is an indication what the player places as important to his decision on a school so you don’t have to waste time finding the most important pitch. Example: If you are recruiting a kid from Ohio but his top schools are Florida, LSU, and USC, then obviously proximity to home is not important to him. He may just be looking to leave his home state for school and you might want to take him off your list. Another example: If the kid has the likes of you (Ohio State), Miami OH, Akron, and Ball State but is looking for a school with conference prestige and a shot at a national title, you better hammer that home with your pitches. It works both ways.

2. Don’t ever expect more than ten hard commits to your team during the regular season. Also, don’t get scared if you only have 4 or 5. You probably have several soft commitments at that point. “Those are I.O.U.’s sir, just as good as money.” Dumb and Dumber

3. I have not found a way to steal a soft commit from another school, but it is supposed to be possible. But I have noticed late in the season that if you need to fill spots on your depth chart and keep losing players on your prospect board to other teams, go out and get someone. Try searching for a player (not blue chip) with no offers from one of your pipeline states and just offer them a scholarship with additional talk minutes. Sometimes they hard commit to your school that day. I’ve gotten at least 6 players to commit that way. Better than chasing all the 5 star guys and ending up with a walk-on on signing day. In same way I like to play football with no turnovers, I like to recruit with no walk-ons because they will never improve and always be dead depth chart weight.

4. Scheduling Visits. It seems you should schedule your prospects based on availability, your ability to play a good game against a top team, and of course win it. For example I had a couple prospects visiting a game against USC and won 17-14 in a great game. But those players graded their visit as a B just because we only won by three. Shooting for A’s and A pluses is the goal and it didn’t work there.

The Offseason:

After your bowl game, there are offseason recruiting jobs before national signing day arrives. This will be in-home visits you make to the non committed players on your prospect board. This is new and easy especially if you used your phone call minutes well during the season. Players who have you 1^st on their list don’t need to hear much before they sign with you. The in-home visit will have subjects you can promise to the prospect that will happen in their first year on campus. As you get deeper into your dynasty (and you have fulfilled your promises) your integrity will go up and unlock other crazy things to promise on in-home visits. You can promise up to three things but make sure you can keep all of them. With Ohio State, a winning record versus rivals (Illinois, Penn State, Michigan) and winning conference championship first year on campusâ are pretty safe promises. Look at the depth chart and see if you can guarantee the prospect will NOT redshirt their first year on campus. You can guarantee a national championship and a starting position and a spot on the freshman All-American team and more, but not until your integrity rises after a few promise fulfilled years at head coach.

Move on to signing day and see what you got. You can see how well you did nationally and with-in your conference. Keep in mind I have probably gotten 23 players each year as it is not imperative to use all 25 scholarships. They don’t roll over to your next recruiting season, but as long as you have a top ten class and your position needs are filled, these guys will give your program some pretty awesome years to come. Championships. With or without a Tyrelle Pryor.