Wednesday, August 11, 2010

IU Basketball Needs This Guy In Its Class of 2012

So who would you say is Indiana’s absolutely must-get recruit for the super-talented Class of 2012?

Is it Hamilton Southeastern’s Gary Harris, who seems to get better every day?

How about Indianapolis Broad Ripple’s Ron Patterson, who has been on the national radar since he was 3 (at least that’s what it seems like)?

And what do you think of power forward Hanner Perea, who is rated the nation’s No. 13 player by Rivals.com?

There are others, of course, all great players who would thrive wearing the Cream ‘n Crimson. Yes, 6-11 Peter Jurkin is already committed. But when it comes to the guy likely to make the biggest difference, it should be a true point guard, a guy who can score and pass and handle the ball and defend. A guy who has a non-stop motor and who knows how to lead, especially in big moments.

That guy, is Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell.

Let’s qualify that. It needs to be the Ferrell who thrived at the adidas Nation’s event in Chicago. The one who scored 17 second-half points to lead Team 2012’s upset of Team 2011 while driving and dishing and defending (locking up on heralded guard Quinn Cook).

If that has become his norm, look out.

Some critics say the 5-11 Ferrell is too small and he even joked to Mike Pegram of peegs.com about needing to join the 6-foot club. Here’s an easy solution we once used:

Wear platform shoes.

Look, whether Ferrell is 6-foot or 5-foot, he can play. He’s quick, can handle the ball and runs the show. IU needs that. Every team needs that. It’s why, every year, when coaches are asked what’s the No. 1 thing necessary for postseason success, they mention good guard play. Specifically, good point guards.

A point guard sets the tone on offense and defense. At one time, good point guards were mostly passers. Now, they’re top-notch scorers as well.

Ferrell did that at the high school level, averaging 23.4 points last season to lead Park Tudor to the state 2A runner-up finish. Can he do it at the major college level? Who knows, but Hoosier fans hope he tries it while wearing the Cream ‘n Crimson.

So how likely is that? For one thing, Ferrell wants to play right away and on a team that features an uptempo style. The Hoosiers would seem to fit both criteria.

IU has all sorts of recruiting competition with Purdue, Butler, Florida, Notre Dame, Illinois, Michigan, Virginia and Washington.

One name not on the list is Kentucky, which seems to lock up every superstar it goes after these days. A secret HH investigation revealed how coach John Calipari does it:

Hypnosis. Calipari has a hypnotist on staff who takes recruits into Rupp Arena and …

Sorry. Anyway, IU coaches have gone after Ferrell hard. They and Michigan saw him the most this summer.

Yes, Ferrell noticed.

Will it make a difference? Who knows? Ferrell is 16. Does anyone REALLY understand what a teenager thinks?

We don’t have a clue.

But our hypnotist does.

6 comments:

  1. I think Ferrell is really likely.

    I dont think there is any chance for Harris.

    And,I think Patterson will eventually revert back to his long-time favorite, Tennessee. There has to be a reason he favored them for almost two years, I would imagine that Pearl will be able to resell him on those things when he visits again.

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  2. Totally agree! Yogi is the kind of spark that the Hoosiers have been missing. The team has some talent but lacks a quick floor leader to make their offense work. Yogi is bright and seems to have that nack for seeing the whole floor. Really believe he's the key to bring the Hoosiers back to being a top 20 team!!

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  3. Agreed. I thought even though Lewis Jackson was a big miss for us even though he was undersized he was a true point. Farrell has about 4-5 inches on Lew Jack so I think he will be fine.

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  4. Who ever said UTenn was Patterson's favorite. I have heard several people say this, I know Buss very well and this is flat out not true. He wants to stay close to home, he is very close to his family. He will most likely end up at Ohio State, IU, or Xavier. He joked around once about wanting to get out of state, it was a joke. Please know what you are talking about.

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  5. We have gotten some shooting guards and combo guards but what we need is a top flight true talented point guard that can run the team and not make a ton of turnovers. "Yogi: would fit that critia. We need to get B.J.Young, and Cody Zeller in 2011 and it will open the floodgates for 2012. A lot of talented options; Gary Harris SG, Yogi Ferrell a true PG, should be the top priorities, then D'Vantes Smith Rivera SG, Jeremy Hollowell SF, Ron Patterson SG, and Austin Burgett PF, all from Indiana and out of state talents Hanner Perea PF, Daleb Tarezewski C, J.P.Tokoto SF, A.J.Hammonds C, Jaylan Beckham PG, and Mitch McGary PF all with Indiana on their list of schools.

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