Just perusing players that are still available (of which there are still plenty of good players out there): Eric Reibe (UConn) is intriguing. He played limited minutes as a freshman but has three years left and visited IU before committing to the Huskies. Again, I really like Jake Hall...he's an absolute flamethrower of a shooter. Bryson Tiller from Kansas (three years left and I am skeptical IU can get involved there).
Elsewhere: Neo Avdalas committed to UNC and I'd guess that takes them off the Jalen Haralson train (leaving Tennessee and OSU...does anyone actually want to meet his asking price?).
@tjinman1987 No matter if we land Sherrell and Harris, or not... I'd love to get in on Reibe, and Hall. I suspect competition for both of them will be ridiculous though. A guy like Reibe might be better served to slow play his recruitment a little bit. If a program like IU whiffs on impactful bigs for the next few weeks... Reibe's value could climb considerably.
What happened with the center/big man from UofL? Fru???? Did he sign somewhere and I missed it? Obviously, Sherrell is the big fish here and I hope we pony up the cash and make it happen, but I wouldn't mind Fru alongside him.
iu is pursuing sherrell over fru.
the way i look at it is that the number thrown around for fru (reportedly 3m+) doesn't make sense given his film, production and iu team needs when you can get a much more skill big who can shoot 3s, block shots and is a much better post scorer like sherrell for ~4m+ (reportedly).
sherrell seems to think he's a 4 (i don't think he is). if you pair the guys already committed (burton, mustaf and harris - just haven't announced) with sherrell and say eric reibe, you're looking at a top 25 starting group. you'd need to add a back up pg and a back up big, probably, but that's a hell of an upgrade from last year.
have to close though and from what i've read, iu has already "dropped the bag" on sherrell or he wouldn't be on a visit.
hall and reibe would be massive.
hall is going to want to start and i'm just not sure that would happen at iu given how they're constructing the roster.
i just think iu is trying to spend big on bigs and a pg and then (i know, i know...broken record) are finding "distressed assets" like mustaf (came on down the stretch but on a bad team with blah metrics) and harris (top 40 hs kid but blocked by pros at duke) who they can get a "discount" on to save for their big money adds.
i think its a smart way to build a roster but they still need to land guys.
@iureactionary I think both Sherrell and Reibe are kind of slow footed, especially defensively. But obviously that would be a fairly "sizable" upgrade over what we had this past season, bigs wise. A starting lineup of Burton, Mustaf, Harris, Sherrell, and Reibe... should be a lot better than this past year's was... but it would have quite a few question marks that would need to be answered, namely on the defensive side. It sure would give CDD and his staff the chance to prove they can develop bigs though, as how those two guys would play on both ends would be hugely impactful to what our ceiling could be.
I love Hall... but I agree, he'll be looking for a starting role... and I think we need our starting and main core wings to be more versatile and athletic. We also have potentially a better, and more versatile version of a Hall type player coming in the 27 class, in Branham. So part of Hall's value, his 3 remaining years of eligibility, wouldn't be quite as important to us...
I like the early approach as well... And while landing a guy like Burton is a good sign on many levels, and probably realistically about as good as IU could have hoped for at the lead guard position... I'm very luke warm on him as one of our marquee, expensive, portal guys. I think there have to be less expensive guys (maybe a Derek Dixon type guy), that wouldn't be as flashy, but would be a better overall value... All of this is implying that Burton is a high dollar guy (20 ish percent of budget).
@iureactionary Regarding your last comment... I hope he isn't using IU's "bag" as leverage to get a similar sized one out of MSU... though that's my pessimistic vibe I'm getting from this one.
Do you have to be bipolar to be on btwon banners. These guys are pure comedy they went from sherrell is done to deal to now he is gone in the matter of a day. LOl!
Great now MSU has a definite number they know they need to beat.
Mat Ishbia is probably on speed dial.
Seems pretty clear he always preferred MSU and we were just a bargaining chip. Not sure what else DeVries could've done other than throw a crazy number like $6M at him.
Aging Izzo, UM just won a title, local kid. Sherrell is too good of a fit in East Lansing
It's a seller's market and they have the upper hand in the portal game. Can't blame the players shopping for the best deal. The Carr - DeVries buying team has their work cut out. Seems like to field a competitive team they need 3 bigs in that 6'10" and above range. Count me in the highly concerned group if a big is not signed by the end of the week.
Indiana appears to be used by agents as a bargaining chip to move the price up. I would be amazed if Sherrell signs with IU. Looks like the ship has sailed on.
I am gonna bet his agent is using the IU price to get that nice check written by the Spartans,@iureactionary Regarding your last comment... I hope he isn't using IU's "bag" as leverage to get a similar sized one out of MSU... though that's my pessimistic vibe I'm getting from this one.
@arioznahoosier4554 It is what it is... but with each of these BTown Banners "done deal" then backtracks... it cements my view that they're in over their head. and they really don't have all that many good, credible sources when these things come up. Its hard not to get your hopes up when you read "done deal" on a player that's an impactful as a Sherrell, or a coach like Stevens... but I'm officially putting BTown Banners info in the "grain of salt" category, going forward.
I have many thoughts on what IU basketball needs to do, to no longer be used as a leverage piece, but ultimately, its pretty simple... we need to overspend, and then we need to win. We've been up and down on the spending part, it seems, of late. But the one constant since the portal and NIL dynamics took root, was we haven't really won like we need to.
Its early, it sounds whiny and defeatist... but when Sherrell commits to MSU in a few days, I hope our staff and NIL people have the stones to pony up for a couple guys like Reibe and Fru. And then CDD needs to get his ass moving on coaching them up. Because he sure has hell didn't coach up his first group very well.
@arioznahoosier4554 It is what it is... but with each of these BTown Banners "done deal" then backtracks... it cements my view that they're in over their head. and they really don't have all that many good, credible sources when these things come up. Its hard not to get your hopes up when you read "done deal" on a player that's an impactful as a Sherrell, or a coach like Stevens... but I'm officially putting BTown Banners info in the "grain of salt" category, going forward.
I have many thoughts on what IU basketball needs to do, to no longer be used as a leverage piece, but ultimately, its pretty simple... we need to overspend, and then we need to win. We've been up and down on the spending part, it seems, of late. But the one constant since the portal and NIL dynamics took root, was we haven't really won like we need to.
Its early, it sounds whiny and defeatist... but when Sherrell commits to MSU in a few days, I hope our staff and NIL people have the stones to pony up for a couple guys like Reibe and Fru. And then CDD needs to get his ass moving on coaching them up. Because he sure has hell didn't coach up his first group very well.
I just read it for the comedy they quote from a random dude named David Lee ( roth) from twitter as some source of inside information. Half these twitter guys are simply trolls. They also hang on every single word that rabjohns says like it is gospel. Those guys really are bipolar it seems. But if I recall that was the site that was pushing Stevens is a done deal too. It is possible Sherrell comes to IU but if he goes to MS nobody should be surprised its simply a better program right now.
@iureactionary I think both Sherrell and Reibe are kind of slow footed, especially defensively. But obviously that would be a fairly "sizable" upgrade over what we had this past season, bigs wise. A starting lineup of Burton, Mustaf, Harris, Sherrell, and Reibe... should be a lot better than this past year's was... but it would have quite a few question marks that would need to be answered, namely on the defensive side. It sure would give CDD and his staff the chance to prove they can develop bigs though, as how those two guys would play on both ends would be hugely impactful to what our ceiling could be.
I love Hall... but I agree, he'll be looking for a starting role... and I think we need our starting and main core wings to be more versatile and athletic. We also have potentially a better, and more versatile version of a Hall type player coming in the 27 class, in Branham. So part of Hall's value, his 3 remaining years of eligibility, wouldn't be quite as important to us...
I like the early approach as well... And while landing a guy like Burton is a good sign on many levels, and probably realistically about as good as IU could have hoped for at the lead guard position... I'm very luke warm on him as one of our marquee, expensive, portal guys. I think there have to be less expensive guys (maybe a Derek Dixon type guy), that wouldn't be as flashy, but would be a better overall value... All of this is implying that Burton is a high dollar guy (20 ish percent of budget).
Reibe was abused by Michigan's bigs in the championship game. He is a massive guy tho, and probably the best the IU crew can hope to land. I doubt Sherrell can find Indiana on the map. but he knows a bunch of rubes when he sees them.
@arioznahoosier4554 It is what it is... but with each of these BTown Banners "done deal" then backtracks... it cements my view that they're in over their head. and they really don't have all that many good, credible sources when these things come up. Its hard not to get your hopes up when you read "done deal" on a player that's an impactful as a Sherrell, or a coach like Stevens... but I'm officially putting BTown Banners info in the "grain of salt" category, going forward.
I have many thoughts on what IU basketball needs to do, to no longer be used as a leverage piece, but ultimately, its pretty simple... we need to overspend, and then we need to win. We've been up and down on the spending part, it seems, of late. But the one constant since the portal and NIL dynamics took root, was we haven't really won like we need to.
Its early, it sounds whiny and defeatist... but when Sherrell commits to MSU in a few days, I hope our staff and NIL people have the stones to pony up for a couple guys like Reibe and Fru. And then CDD needs to get his ass moving on coaching them up. Because he sure has hell didn't coach up his first group very well.
I also do not get the hype on Harris I am reading online. I get the he was at Duke but he averaged 3 points a game and is not even ranked. Sounds like a role player to me. But I guess that is where we are at as a program.
i don't think msu has the "bag" iu does. there was also talk of how msu could try to slither into big name portal guys with big money offers and not give their home grown guy raises. like, if they gave sherrell 4m (round number), jeremy fears or coen carr might also want a raise.
if it truly is between iu and their money or msu and their "tradition" but a pay cut, i like iu's chances. but it's wide open! at least he's on campus.
sherrell and reibe are not flory bidunga but they are very good rebounders, shot blockers and, in my opinion, just as importantly, shot alterer's. i saw first hand at the b1g title game what having adai mara out there can do. purdue just made a ton of tough shots and 3s. neither are mara but reibe especially knows how to alter shots around the rim.
@arioznahoosier4554 I think Jamie Jordan is on to something... he's a guy you get as hopefully a solid filler, amongst 1-2 more elite guys, same as Mustaf. Solid main rotation guys, on a good team, IF, there are a couple studs leading the team.
At this point, and its really early, but at this point, the concern is we get Burton, Mustaf, and Harris... but whiff on any other elite, all B10 level guys. At THAT point, Harris, Mustaf, and even Burton, will be very, very heavily scrutinized. It will be similar to this past year's team... where basically all players will be compared with guys on other teams that are just better than they are, and shouldn't really be compared to. But since they're the best players on our team, and we all have lofty expectations... not a great recipe.
Long winded way of saying Harris is probably good as a 4-6 type option. If we need him to carry any sort of major role, we're phucked.