The Hoosiers and Boilermakers get national respect for their recruiting prowess.
Apr 12, 2012 -
The final signing day of the 2012 college basketball recruiting season passed quietly in the state of Indiana on Wednesday, but the final team rankings saw both the Boilermakers and Hoosiers finish with solid classes nationally. Depending on the source, the Indiana Hoosiers had a top 10 or even a top five class, while Purdue's four-man class was solidly a top 20 class.
Indiana Hoosiers
The Hoosiers have long had one of the top classes nationally led by McDonald's All-American Kevin Ferrell. Ferrell was a three-time state finalist and two-time state champion at Park Tudor in Indianapolis, and he brings elite point guard skills to Indiana as a player that will likely be a starter from day one. Ferrell was rated as the No. 19 rated player nationally by Yahoo, No. 34 by Scout, and No. 24 by ESPN.
Indiana's class as a whole finished No. 10 according to ESPN, and No. 4 according to Scout. 6'8 forward Hanner Perea and 6'7" forward Jeremy hollowell also boost Indiana's rating, as both players were considered four-star commitments by the big three services. Shooting guard ron patterson of Indianapolis Broad Ripple finished as the No. 131 recruit nationally, while center Peter Jurkin is regarded as the lowest rated recruit.
The biggest problem the Hoosiers now face is a scholarship one. There are currently 14 players, but only 13 available scholarships. Terry Hutchens at the Indiana has some speculation on how this will work:
1. One of the five incoming players goes to prep school for a year.
2. One of the current players opts to transfer.
3. One of the current scholarship players gives up his scholarship and becomes a walk-on.
With the departure of Robbie Hummel, the "Baby Boilers" class of 2007 that was rated among the nation's best is now completely gone. Purdue has reloaded, however, with its best class since then, as Hammer & Rails explains:
- ESPN has Purdue with the No. 16 class overall - Three of the four guys (Davis, Hammons, and Johnson) rate a 92 on their scale and Jay Simpson comes in as a three-star at 89. Davis, Hammons, and Johnson finish as top 100 recruits.
- Rivals has three of four guys in the top 100 as well - Their final class rankings are not posted yet, but A.J. Hammons moves to our No. 1 spot at No. 77 overall and gets his fourth star. Ronnie Johnson (No. 94) and Rapheal Davis (No. 96) are also four-stars. Simpson (#112) just misses out on a fourth star (#103 was the cutoff).
- Scout has Purdue at No. 18 overall - According to Scout, all four guys are top 100 players and have four stars. Hammons is again the highest rated player at No. 70, followed by Johnson at 80, Davis at 99, at No. 100.
The Boilermakers are also in a much better position from a talent standpoint than when the 2007 class arrived. Back then, only senior point guard Tarrance Crump was a returning four-star prospect. The 2012-13 team will have D.J. Byrd, Terone Johnson, and Anthony Johnson as 4-star recruits. Also in 2007-08 Purdue had only two true post players in JaJuan Johnson and Nemanja Calasan. The Boilermakers now have six.
Notre Dame's three-man class was quietly a solid one, with versatile big man Austin Burgett of Avon as the ony in-state commitment. Burgett was rated as a three-star commit by Rivals, but 6'10" forward Zach Auguste is the jewel of this class as a four-star. Cameron Biedscheid is also a four-star small forward at 6'7" that can have an immediate impact.
Burgett brings a nice shooting touch for a 6'9" forward. Beidscheid is the No. 64 recruit nationally according to ESPN, and is the only Notre Dame recruit in the ESPN top 100:
Cameron has great size for a wing. He has a solid handle and is a good shooter that can play either small forward or shooting guard. He has range on his shot to 20 feet and is able to shoot off the dribble.
Butler Bulldogs
Brad Stevens did some good work with his three-man recruiting class, getting one of the state's most prolific scorers in Kellen Dunham from Pendleton Heights. Dunham rates as the No. 78 player nationally according to ESPN, higher than any of Purdue's for signees. He should fit well into Butler's system as a pure jump shooter who can also use his 6'5" size to get to the basket.
Dunham will be joined by 6' point guard Chris Harrison-Docks, a three-star prospect from Okemos, MI and 6'3" shooting guard Devontae Morgan from Tampa, FL. Only seniors Ronald Nored and Garrett Butcher graduate this season, so the Bulldogs should have a lot more experience as they try to return to the NCAA Tournament.
Other Indiana Schools:
- The Ball State Cardinals add a 6'11' big man Mading Thok from Sioux City, Iowa and 6'5" shooting guard Michael Ramey from Sotuhport as their top players.
- The Evansville Aces grabbed a very nice player in Kokomo's D.J. Balentine, who finished as an Indiana All-Star and the No. 3 scorer in school history. Balentine was very impressive last summer player on the junior core all-Star team with several high profile recruits.
- The Indiana St. Sycamores bring in 6'11" JuCo transfer Mike Samuels as a big body to play in the post from Wabash Valley Community College.
- The IPFW Mastodons add 6'8" small forward Joe Reed from Center Grove High School south of Indianapolis.
- The IUPUI Jaguars lose one of the nation's most prolific scorers, but they add 6'5" Elijah Ray of Bowman Academy in Gary. Ray helped Bowman to the 2010 Class A state championship and a Class 2A runner-up finish this past season.
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