@hoosiers94 if a guy like this is the 5th or 6th signee, after a few legit studs, maybe. But if someone like him is the first guy they get, alarm bells will be ringing loudly.
Hard pass dude is slower than Tucker
I took a little look at Vaaks and Fiegen highlights and stats....here are a few comments.
Neither is very athletic. Fiegen is 6 4, Vaaks 6 7.
To me, jmo, Vaaks looks like a less physical Tucker. Not quick. Not a jumper. Pure shooter. Loves long 3 point attempts. He's not a guy who takes the ball to the basket much. Does have some shooting and passing skills.
His per 40M #s this year were: 3.7/10.7 on 3s (35%); 2.5-4.9 on 2s (51%); 3.9-4.6 on FTs (83.9%); 3.2 rebs; 4.1 assists; 1.1 steals; .3 BLs; 2.4 TOs; 2.2 fouls; 20.1 pts.
2 #s are alarming to me: 3.5 rebounds per every 40M (for a 6 7 guy); 2.2 fouls committed every 40M. 51% on 2 pointers isn't great either. Not a guy who sticks his head into the action.
He'll only be a Soph, which will increase his price, but is not something particularly valuable to us, I would think, as we've got 2 more athletic (but thin) freshmen sharp shooters coming this year, and a third pure shooter next year.
Fiegen played in the Ivy v. Vaaks in the BE, so keep that in mind as far as stats go......This was his 3rd year, which works for us, I think.
His per 40M #s this year were:3.5/8.5 on 3s (41.4%); 5.9/8.7 on 2s (67.6%); 2.5/3.3 on FTs (77.2%); 7.8 rebs; 3.3 assists; 1.4 steals; .6 BSs; 1.8 TOs; 3.5 fouls; 26.2 pts.
I think I like Fiegen more, for the $ (I assume he'll be $1M less). I like the rebounding, and the 50-50 split on 3s/2s. He's not quite the pure shooter Vaaks is (78% career FTer v. 84% for Vaaks last year). Discounting his scoring and rebounding for the league he played in, he still looks like as good a scorer and a better rebounder. Biggest stat concern is only 3.3 assists per every 40M.
I wouldn't lose sleep over either recruitment. I'm much more interested in getting a stud 5 and PG.
@hoosiers94 if a guy like this is the 5th or 6th signee, after a few legit studs, maybe. But if someone like him is the first guy they get, alarm bells will be ringing loudly.
that's where i'm at too.
fiegen was able to get to the rim off the dribble at a decent clip in the ivy league (only 53% of shots at the rim were assisted) where he made 70% of his shots. those are similar numbers to lamar wilkerson (63% at the rim / 50% assisted)...except lamar did it in the best league in the sport and the ivy league simply isn't close to the B1G in terms of talent. going into adai mara is a bit of a different animal.
if he and garland are bench guys, iu is cooking with gas. if both are brought in as starters? i guess we'll see who is around them but i'm not sold on either being an impact starter at the high major level. contributors? absolutely.
apparently there is mutual interest in stefan vaaks from providence. he'd be a very good start as a guy with 3 years left who already put up good numbers in the big east as just a freshman (even though he's like 20).
@mushroomgod Good analysis! If either Fiegen or Vaaks starts for IU next year, the Hoosiers are in for a disappointing season. They don't compare well with the higher quality guards of the Big 10.
@bigmike Vaaks is going to start wherever he goes (IU included). He's a 35% three-point shooter on a large volume as a freshman and had the following performances against high-major quality competition: VT for 17 points with a +3.3 BPM, Penn State for 15 points with a +9.3 BPM, St John's in a win 16 points with a +24.5 BPM, Xavier for 21 points with +1.7, Villanova for 21 points with +3.2, Creighton for 24 with +9.7, Marquette for 26 with +2.7, Villanova again for 25 with +16, Butler for 20, Seton Hall for 20, St. John's for 20, Butler for 28, St. John's for 23 in the Big East Tournament.
He's not a perfect player but he had a successful first season of playing ball in college (while adjusting to the United States as well) and has proven production as a scorer against legitimate high-major teams. Vaaks is a quality piece. Do I want him to be IU's best player? No. Could IU be a good team with Vaaks as a second option and good pieces around him? I absolutely think so.
@tjinman1987 I want Michigan, MSU, St Johns, Arizona, Illinois, type players. Obviously we'd have to see who the entire class brings, but Vaaks is going to be expensive, and DeVries focusing on a guy like him, early... Maybe an unfounded concern as lots of programs would love to have him, I'm sure. But I just want a bunch of dawgs. And I think DeVries would kill it with a bunch of dawgs. And Vaaks is NOT a dawg, in any way, shape, or form. Nor is the Cornell kid.
If you get Vaaks, he'll start, as you said. And that creates a weakness on defense. Why settle for that? The teams I mentioned have zero weak points like Vaaks defensively in their main rotations, let alone starting lineup.
been reported that there might be some guys from nd leaving...even though his shooting wasn't ideal, i'd still take jalen haralson, but i'd love markus burton. he was hurt this year but what are your thoughts? smallish but elite ft shooter and can get to the rim.
@iureactionary I wouldn't love Burton in DeVries offense. VERY ball dominant. He'd make Conerway look like John Stockton. And he's not a great lead defender.
Haralson is an interesting one. Many people in the Indy area view him as not the best teammate. Fishers exploded AFTER he left. This ND team was talented, but awful. Lots of smoke around the chatter about him not being a great teammate.
I basically want to see what DeVries can do with a bunch of athletes that want to defend, rebound, get out and attack in transition, and that are coachable enough to run his offense consistently.
Tom Izzo has done just fine with his dawg recruiting strategy: 28 consecutive trips to the NCAA.@tjinman1987 I want Michigan, MSU, St Johns, Arizona, Illinois, type players. Obviously we'd have to see who the entire class brings, but Vaaks is going to be expensive, and DeVries focusing on a guy like him, early... Maybe an unfounded concern as lots of programs would love to have him, I'm sure. But I just want a bunch of dawgs. And I think DeVries would kill it with a bunch of dawgs. And Vaaks is NOT a dawg, in any way, shape, or form. Nor is the Cornell kid.
If you get Vaaks, he'll start, as you said. And that creates a weakness on defense. Why settle for that? The teams I mentioned have zero weak points like Vaaks defensively in their main rotations, let alone starting lineup.
@iureactionary If Haralson was open to coming to IU, Indiana should absolutely try to make that happen. He's a fantastic talent and he doesn't have the elite athleticism NBA teams typically covet so there's a real chance he's in college for another 2-3 seasons (making him incredibly valuable). Haralson would be awesome. Burton has never really been a part of what I would call "winning basketball" but he's probably a more talented player than whoever IU will ultimately end up with at point guard.
@tjinman1987 I can see Haralson... he's 6-8, willing passer, athletic enough, versatile... Burton is obviously very gifted offensively, but I've not ever seen him run an offense, or even be apart of an offense that would ask him to move the ball around, pass cut, etc... He'd be a glaring example of chasing talent that doesn't fit, in my opinion.
@iunorth Do Michigan, St. John's, Arizona and Illinois all have the same kinds of players? I don't really think they have much in common stylistically, other than being talented, to be honest. Illinois shoots a lot of threes and looks for players that can do that, mainly focusing on the international market. Michigan and Arizona both have a ton of size so there's that. St. John's is super athletic and play incredibly hard but they can't shoot it like Illinois does.
I see a lot of comments on a bunch of different sites about players that "have that dawg in them" and I get the general sentiment but still don't really know what it means. Is it a really good athlete? A tough player? A guy that does what he can to win? A really talented player?
I don't want to place limitations on what IU could accomplish next season without even knowing the roster but I really don't think the Hoosiers will assemble a roster filled with guys that would routinely compete with Illinois or Arizona or St. John's or Michigan in 2026-2027. If the bar is set at reaching that level next season, I think the odds of "success" are incredibly low. If the bar is set at "make the tournament without a ton of stress and establish a foundation to build on", I think "success" becomes much more attainable.
Hard pass dude is slower than Tucker
I took a little look at Vaaks and Fiegen highlights and stats....here are a few comments.
Neither is very athletic. Fiegen is 6 4, Vaaks 6 7.
To me, jmo, Vaaks looks like a less physical Tucker. Not quick. Not a jumper. Pure shooter. Loves long 3 point attempts. He's not a guy who takes the ball to the basket much. Does have some shooting and passing skills.
His per 40M #s this year were: 3.7/10.7 on 3s (35%); 2.5-4.9 on 2s (51%); 3.9-4.6 on FTs (83.9%); 3.2 rebs; 4.1 assists; 1.1 steals; .3 BLs; 2.4 TOs; 2.2 fouls; 20.1 pts.
2 #s are alarming to me: 3.5 rebounds per every 40M (for a 6 7 guy); 2.2 fouls committed every 40M. 51% on 2 pointers isn't great either. Not a guy who sticks his head into the action.
He'll only be a Soph, which will increase his price, but is not something particularly valuable to us, I would think, as we've got 2 more athletic (but thin) freshmen sharp shooters coming this year, and a third pure shooter next year.
Fiegen played in the Ivy v. Vaaks in the BE, so keep that in mind as far as stats go......This was his 3rd year, which works for us, I think.
His per 40M #s this year were:3.5/8.5 on 3s (41.4%); 5.9/8.7 on 2s (67.6%); 2.5/3.3 on FTs (77.2%); 7.8 rebs; 3.3 assists; 1.4 steals; .6 BSs; 1.8 TOs; 3.5 fouls; 26.2 pts.
I think I like Fiegen more, for the $ (I assume he'll be $1M less). I like the rebounding, and the 50-50 split on 3s/2s. He's not quite the pure shooter Vaaks is (78% career FTer v. 84% for Vaaks last year). Discounting his scoring and rebounding for the league he played in, he still looks like as good a scorer and a better rebounder. Biggest stat concern is only 3.3 assists per every 40M.
I wouldn't lose sleep over either recruitment. I'm much more interested in getting a stud 5 and PG.
One other thing I found odd with Fiegen.....his per minute #s look a lot better than his per game #s because he didn't play starter minutes at the beginning of the year. He never played 30 or more minutes in his first 10 games this year. Then he played over 30 minutes something like 10 of the last 15 games.
I wondered if he had an injury early in the year, but if so, I didn't find it.
So they gives me some pause....but he ended up being all Ivy League and all IL Tournament. and some other nice schools are recruiting him.
His #s did significantly improve over each of his 3 years at Cornell. For example, his 3 pt %s went from 30.6% to 38.3% to 41.4% and his pts/per 40M went from 10 to 17 to 26.2. He shot 70.1% and .676 on 2s his last two years. Since year 1 he's been at 77%+ as a FT shooter. I also like that he rebounds.
So I'm pretty enthusiastic about this guy as a 6th or 7th player. He's not a guy I would 'guarantee' starting time to, I could see him playing 15-20M/game. Then he's out and this year's freshmen are in.
@tjinman1987 I want Michigan, MSU, St Johns, Arizona, Illinois, type players. Obviously we'd have to see who the entire class brings, but Vaaks is going to be expensive, and DeVries focusing on a guy like him, early... Maybe an unfounded concern as lots of programs would love to have him, I'm sure. But I just want a bunch of dawgs. And I think DeVries would kill it with a bunch of dawgs. And Vaaks is NOT a dawg, in any way, shape, or form. Nor is the Cornell kid.
If you get Vaaks, he'll start, as you said. And that creates a weakness on defense. Why settle for that? The teams I mentioned have zero weak points like Vaaks defensively in their main rotations, let alone starting lineup.
I hate to say this......but I agree 100%. If you get Vaaks you need to have a real stud like Bidunga to rebound and protect the basket. Vaaks looks like a luxury get for a team with 4 other gamers. He's not a quick, springy guy like some of the Duke sharpshooters of the past. He looks like a 2-time MVC MVP.