Indiana Hoosiers
Does the Indiana coaching staff have difficulty recruiting top talent to Bloomington? Let's put it this way - a recruit (who shall remain nameless so as not to embarrass Hoosier fans) recently placed Tennessee-Martin in his top five over Indiana. Not the Tennessee Volunteers, mind you, but the Tennesee-Martin Skyhawks of the Ohio Valley Conference. No offense to the legions of Skayhawk fans out there, but honesty, I didn't even know that you all had a football team until I read that update. But I see from your team's official website that you won your conference last season, which is something that Indiana isn't going to accomplish any time soon, so maybe that recruit is onto something.
Seriously, everyone knows that Indiana is not a football school, but former head coach Terry Hoeppner, who recently succumbed to brain cancer, was starting to move the program in the right direction, having signed solid (if not spectacular) classes in each of his two seasons as head coach. However, with Hoeppner's passing in June, new head coach Bill Lynch now has the unenviable task of trying to sell recruits on a program which has just lost its chief selling point.
To date, the Hoosiers have netted verbal commitments from 12 recruits (which is good) who have an average "star" ranking of only 1.83 according to Scout (which is not so good). By comparison, Ohio State's recruits have an average star ranking of 4.11, Notre Dame's have a 3.94, Michigan's have a 3.90, and Penn State's have a 3.50. While it's still early in the process, IU is clearly behind the midwest powers, and is fighting just to keep up with the rest of the Big Ten (Illinois's recruits have an average star ranking of 2.83, Wisconsin's have a 2.73, Michigan State's have a 2.67, and Iowa's and Minnesota's both check in at 2.50). Even lowly Northwestern has managed to crack the 2-star "Mendoza line", with a 2.17 star average for its recruits.
So what are the strong points for the Hoosiers' class of 2008? Well, you win games in the trenches, and IU has stocked up on plenty of OL and DL prospects so far this year. Leading the way is defensive tackle
Nick Sliger (Cicero (Indiana) Hamilton Southeastern; Scout 3*, #48 DT), who is generally considered to be the best DT prospect in the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers also have a pledge from another strong defensive tackle prospect,
Larry Black (Wyoming, Ohio; Scout 2*, NR), a fast-rising player who was named to the All-Combine Team for the Scout Cincinnati combine. Rounding out the Hoosiers' DL class are a pair of 300-pounders,
A.J. Thompson (Marion (Kentucky) Crittenden County; Scout 1*, NR) and
Mick Mentzer (Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger; Scout 1*, NR). Along the offensive line, Indiana has nabbed a trio of potential stars from the state of Illinois, offensive tackle
Marc Damisch (Buffalo Grove; Scout 2*, NR), offensive guard
Justin Pagan (Chicago St. Patrick; Scout 2*, NR), and center
Will Matte (Wheaton Warrenville South; Scout 1*, NR).
Elsewhere, the Hoosiers have landed a pair of exciting "skill position" prospects, namely running back
Cortez Smith (Detroit Cass Tech; Scout 3*, #65 RB), who rushed for 1,150 yards and 19 TD's as a junior; and wide receiver
Tandon Doss (Indianapolis Ben Davis; Scout 3*, NR), who plays for one of the state's top high school programs. In addition, the Hoosiers have received verbal commitments from three other "skill" players: wide receiver
Marquelo Suel (Ft. Wayne Harding; Scout 2*, NR); running back
Chad Sherer (Cicero (Indiana) Hamilton Heights; Scout 1*, NR); and running back
Alex Hunt (Duluth, Georgia; Scout 1*, NR).
The Hoosiers are still in the running for several quality prospects, including
MarQueis Gray (Indiapolis Ben Davis; Scout 3*, #22 QB), who is one of the top quarterback prospects in the midwest, and one of the top overall prospects in the state of Indiana. At 6-foot-4 and 204 pounds, and with verified times of 4.66 in the forty and 4.38 in the shuttle, MarQueis reminds some people of superstar QB prospect Terrelle Pryor. Getting a commitment from Gray would be a recruiting coup for the Hoosiers, and would go a long way toward putting their program back on course. The Hoosiers would also like to sign at least one impact defender in the back seven; some reasonable possibilties are
Steve Gardiner (Dublin (Ohio) Coffman);
Brett Nagel (Lemont, Illinois);
Justin Staples (Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edwards);
Fred Craig (Cincinnati St. Xavier);
Dexter Heyman (Louisville Male);
Donnie Fletcher (Cleveland Glenville);
Tommie Thomas (Oak Lawn (Illinois) Richards);
John Lejiste (Delray Beach (Florida) Atlantic); and
Quincy Quetant (Orlando Timber Creek).
Indiana is never going to be a football powerhouse, but in order to build and maintain a winning program, the Hoosiers need to keep the local talent at home (MarQueis Gray would be an excellent start), and they also need to build strong pipelines into their talent-rich neighbors on either side, Ohio and Illinois. If Indiana can accomplish those two goals, then they should be a perennial bowl-eligible program. If not, then Hoosier fans can always try rooting for Tennesee-Martin....
Get the latest Hooisers recruiting info by visiting the Indiana forum on Recruiting Planet:
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