2013 Recruiting Redux: Playing Dominoes

Written By Lloyd Ribner III (@Ribner3)

Since we were not around to breakdown the 2013 recruiting cycle we have decided to go back over the class in the coming days and give you our analysis of how the Hoosiers faired.  This is the first part of a short series
entitled “Recruiting Redux”, in which we will be taking a birds-eye view of how
the 2013 class came to be.  In the coming
editions of Recruiting Redux we will be breaking down individual position
groups, immediate impact players, and long-term prospects.  Enjoy!

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Throughout the last decade Indiana football has been far
from a recruiting juggernaut, to the point that the Hoosiers have never signed
a recruiting class ranked in the top-50 nationally.  The most worrisome indicator was that IU had
only signed one four-star ranked recruit in the decade preceding the 2013
class.

It was easy to explain away, as among BCS caliber teams
Indiana brought up the rear when it came to all-time losses and winning
percentage.  Why would top-level talent
decide to come to Bloomington?  In-state
there is always the presence of the powerhouse that is Notre Dame to contend with, not to
mention the fact that just two hours to the north lies Purdue, another Big Ten
member with a more prestigious history than that of IU.  Out-of-state there is a continuous war for the prospects coming out of the fertile Midwest recruiting grounds of Ohio, and the
Chicago area that previous Hoosier coaching staffs were seemingly always on the
loosing end of.

Despite the gloomy haze that had set over recruiting in
Bloomington, head coach Kevin Wilson and his staff were able to change the
outlook during the 2013 recruiting cycle.
Indiana hauled in their first top-50 class, sitting at number 46
nationally according to 247Sports.com.   The
class was loaded with talent, at least by IU standards, and included
commitments of four 4-star recruits, three of which were from the Indianapolis
area.

The domino effect can often play a large role in a schools
recruiting for a given cycle.  It is even
more prevalent now that prospects interact with each other seemingly daily via
Twitter, Facebook, etc.  In Indiana’s
case it helped to provide the biggest recruiting haul in the programs history.

Lets start back where it all began, as this was far from an
overnight process.  In fact despite their
eventual success, Indiana was one of the final two BCS level programs to stand
without a commitment for the 2013 class.
It wasn’t till June 11th, 2012 when Isaac Griffith from Fort
Wayne (Homestead HS) decided to take his talents to Bloomington, choosing the
Hoosiers over other Big Ten programs such as Wisconsin, Michigan State and
Illinois.  Domino One.

When asked why he decided to stay in his home state to play
college ball, Griffith replied, “I bonded well with the coaches, but I also
bonded well with the players.  That
really helped out with my decision.  It’s
a big family down there, and that was the main thing I was looking for in a
team.”

If that wasn’t departure in the attitude of recruits towards
the Indiana program I don’t know what is.
However, Griffith’s impact didn’t stop there, as he reached out to
fellow in-state prospect Antonio Allen, who to that point was an Ole Miss
commit.  While it wasn’t easy, the staff via an assist by Griffith was able to build a relationship with
Allen that eventually led to him decommitting from Mississippi and pledging to
Indiana.  Domino Two.

With Griffith and Allen on board for the Hoosiers in 2013,
along with the lesser-rated Chase Dutra, their recruiting effort shifted its
focus towards two other already committed players.
The two new targets were Darius Latham who was
committed to Wisconsin and David Kenney an Iowa commit.

The trio of already committed players jumped on social
media platforms and made it known that they wanted to play with both Latham and
Kenney in Bloomington.  They even
attended Hoosier games together and quickly a bond grew amongst
the group of in-state stars.

On October 14th, Kenney announced that he was
decommitting from the Iowa program.  Less
than 24 hours after his announcement Latham informed Wisconsin that he would be doing the
same.  Just a week later Kenney decided
to commit to Indiana, making him the second four-star recruit in the Hoosiers’
2013 class.  Domino Three.

As the in-state recruiting picture was coming into focus,
out-of-state players began to take notice that something was happening in
Bloomington.  Just over a week after
Kenney’s commitment 3-star athlete Rashard Fant, a Georgia native decided to
play his college football at Indiana while turning down an offer from southern
powerhouse Florida State.  When asked why
he would turn down a program that was so prestigious and close to home like
Florida State for Indiana he stated, “I wanted to go somewhere where I could
build a program, get a great education and make a difference.  I wanted to help a school not known for
football and put the name on the map.”
Domino Four.

Approximately a month after Fant’s decision to make the trip north to Indiana for college, Darius Latham made his decision that he too would
be joining the 2013 Hoosiers’ recruiting class.
Latham choose to stay in-state, while turning down offers from blue blood programs such
as Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan and Florida.  Latham was the third four-star pick-up for
Kevin Wilson and arguably the highest rated recruit to ever step foot on
Indiana’s campus.   Domino Five.

It is easy to see how the 2013 Hoosier class epitomizes the
modern recruiting domino theory that could have an impact on the future of
Indiana football.  While the obvious
excitement, and rightfully so, in regards to the 2013 recruiting class is that IU
has brought in the highest level of talent ever.  However, the more telling revelation is that
Indiana scored three of the top-seven recruits from the state of Indiana, while
Notre Dame and Purdue hauled in just one top-10 in-state prospect each.