@tjinman1987 makes sense, hope Aiden plays his way in to getting drafted! And I hope Wabbington is good enough to do similar things with his spot, if he chooses IU.
Kiehlneker looks like a true post guy, so the Kiehleker/Wabbington duo has the same look as Samet/Sherrell.
Would be a great get. I don't like DeVries, but I can get over it if he starts producing.
Once this becomes official (I think Arizona is three hours behind Indiana right now so I think it will be 6 pm EST but I could be wrong about that), there will be an article on the home page. I have watched quite a bit of Wabbington (more than just highlights) preparing for a possible commitment and have some thoughts on his game: strengths, areas for improvement.
The short version: I'm excited about him. He's a really skilled big man (the most skilled in the 2027 class) and a duo of Wabbington and Chase Branham is an outstanding recruiting class. Add in a lottery ticket big guy like Kiehlneker and I think DeVries and his staff will have done excellent work. Wabbington is a really good ball handler and passer (not just for a 6'11" guy) and his perimeter shooting is developing really well. There's a whole lot to like about his game.
Cig needs to get a second title first. Then Indiana can divert money to basketball. 🤣 These rosters are going to be ungodly expensive to build and then retain. But need to bring them in first... So far so good! Retention will be a nice problem to have. 😎
I forgot about Kiehlneker. Great fit with Wabbington and our promising mid-size athletes.
@tjinman1987 Any of our younger guys "hitting" this year, would be enormous for our program. Obviously for the play THIS year, but just as importantly, for the future.
Guys of note on our roster that will have 2 or more years of eligibility, after this year: Manhertz, Harris, Mustaf, Moody, Sisley, Sokolov, Yiggy, Sherrell, Karvala. Meaning potentially 2 years to play with Branham and Wabbington (if he chooses IU).
Branham and Wabbington are going to be high level players, I think that's a very safe assumption to make. If a guy or two or three from the list above shows any sort of All B10 level play... the 28 and 29 teams could be the teams we've all been waiting for. And that's without adding portal guys the next couple offseasons, which we will as well, I'm sure.
Would've liked Purdue commit Isaiah Hill from Indianapolis Pike. 7' , ranked top 20 nationally about like Wabbington. He could cause us problems in the future. Purdue was on him since 8th grade he says, before he was very good.
DeVries will lock down more and more of the regions best players, he hasn't been here long enough to have been on a 'local' guy since the 8th grade.
Going national and getting Wabbington and also getting Branham from Missouri shows great recruiting chops, plus a good first year judging by what we've seen of our frosh.
Would've liked Purdue commit Isaiah Hill from Indianapolis Pike. 7' , ranked top 20 nationally about like Wabbington. He could cause us problems in the future. Purdue was on him since 8th grade he says, before he was very good.
DeVries will lock down more and more of the regions best players, he hasn't been here long enough to have been on a 'local' guy since the 8th grade.
Going national and getting Wabbington and also getting Branham from Missouri shows great recruiting chops, plus a good first year judging by what we've seen of our frosh.
Exciting times!
So how much credit does Ryan Carr get in all this? Has he even had enough time to make an impact?
I'm 1 who holds a belief Devries is a good coach. His recruiting is part of the equation. Can't yet say B1G championship level or Final 4 nor NC. But I hold much more faith of the possibility with him than I saw the final 3 seasons of Woodson. Initially the Woodson hire because it came out of the blue I was pretty pleased with but as the 2nd season was playing out and the body language of Woodson became status quo concrete it became apparent he couldn't develop the program to get anywhere lofty. Pretty confident Devries and staff work as hard coaching as they do recruiting. Their ceiling is definitely higher.
So how much credit does Ryan Carr get in all this? Has he even had enough time to make an impact?
I don't know. I asked the same thing in the High School recruiting thread a day or two ago. Nobody chimed in yet.
I don't think Carr was even hired yet when Chase Branham committed. And the full court press to get Wabbington was the coaches, flying out there and things like that.
But, surely figuring out the NIL and future NIL availability has some role. Also, Carr when hired had felt his NBA connections would count with recruits who want to get on NBA radars. But I don't know what Carr actually does, if he talks to recruits at all, or none. No idea if he spoke with Wabbington, on NIL, NBA, or anything.
@openwheel I mean... its pretty unlikely a recruit that's visited IU, went through a fairly extensive recruiting process the last few months to a year, with IU, and then committed to IU... its unlikely he wouldn't have interacted with Carr, and whatever role Carr is filling. My son knows the equipment managers from various schools that were recruiting him, let alone one of the primary leaders of those programs, as Carr is at IU.
@unclemark None! - Maybe some credit for international guys. Carr isn't a recruiter - he is here to to manage finances and help ID players that are or could be worth the money being spent.
@ge-off Pre Carr, with this staff at IU... no NBA level players signed. Post Carr... 7 months on the job... Sherrell and Wabbington. Could be coincidence?? I suspect he's a part of the reason we got those fellas, though. Whatever that role and reason might be.
