Thursday Quick Hits: Around the Big Ten
Posted by kj on Thursday, August 21st, 2008
CBS Sportsline has a well-crafted round-up of offseason basketball events around the conference. A particularly apt analogy regarding the Hoosiers:
Remember when the original Cleveland Browns skulked out of town to become the Baltimore Ravens, then a few years later the NFL granted Cleveland a brand-new franchise that retained the Browns’ name, colors and history?
That’s essentially where Tom Crean and the Indiana Hoosiers stand.
Speaking of Indiana, Inside the Hall and the Hoosier Report break down Tom Crean’s new 10-year contract. Executive summary: Lots of money, no breathing room whatsoever when it comes to NCAA violations.
The Illini Basketball Fans Blog projects next season’s lineup for Illinois: McCamey, Frazier, Brock, Keller, Tisdale. He’s less than excited about Chester Frazier playing shooting guard until Alex Legion (hopefully) becomes available in January.
Moving up the projected conference standings, the Boilermakers have returned from their tour of Australia. They finished just 2-3 on the trip, but they played without two of their point guards (Keaton Grant and Lewis Jackson). Reportedly, big man JaJuan Johnson showed some newfound tenacity on the boards.
Finally, our friend at UMHoops notes that new recruiting rankings are out:
- Rival.com’s new 2009 rankings have Garrick Sherman up to #63 on the strength of his AAU play this summer, with Derrick Nix at #117. For unknown reasons (to me, at least) Jamil Wilson and Roger Franklin have both fallen into the 90s (#93 and #90, respectively).
- Scout.com’s new 2010 rankings have new MSU commit Keith Appling at #42. Other likely MSU targets in the top 75 are Trey Zeigler at #27 and Russell Byrd at #68. More top 75 guys list Michigan than Michigan State; should we be concerned?
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2 Responses to “Thursday Quick Hits: Around the Big Ten”
Rewertson 22 Aug 2008 at 3:32 am 1I do not think there is any reason to worry whatsover. Beiline is all over the country, casting lines, hoping that he can get a nibble from someone, anyone. Izzo on the other hand has the opportunity to be very selective with recruiting, therefore does not cast out nearly as many lines. The fisherman with the most lines in the sea will get the most nibbles, but it takes a good fisherman to land the trophy fish everybody covets. Izzo lands the trophy a lot more often than not.
GBBoundon 22 Aug 2008 at 9:21 am 2I’m not even going to even begin to bat an eyelash until Beilein actually wins a head-to-head battle with Izzo over a recruit both are after. Even then, it’ll will be a mere blip in the larger picture of success.