Where we are in recruiting

IU is still at 15 committments, so with at least 5 more ships to give, let's take a look at where IU is leading and who is talking about IU. A 4 and 1 start has brought IU into the for front again and more and more talk shows and of course, ESPN are talking IU up, which is a very good thing.

The prime target right now is Darius Willis the RB from Franklin Central. Michigan, Tennessee, and Notre Dame are getting involved using the same startegy they always have. Basically "bullying" their way into the picture because they are who they are. However, Willis has stated for sometime that he likes the State of Indiana and would love to be close to home. His HC graduated from Purdue and went with Darius last weekend up to West Lafayette. However, I expect him to do the same at IU when they come down as well, so don't read too much into that. Right now, it's a pretty close race it appears and ultimately I expect him to choose between IU, Purdue, and Notre Dame (assuming they offer).

IU leads for William Lowe a 5'10" 170 RB from Cleveland, OH Glenville (Fisher's and Thomas's school). This kid can scoot and he's a DB as well. Probably would be a CB at IU, but we'll see. Lowe visited IU as a part of Ted Ginn's bus tour. He's appears at least at this point to be a MAC RB, but a Big Ten CB. We'll see what happens.

IU also leads for Santuan McGee a 5'8" 160 WR/RB/CB from Tallahassee, FL. Not much competition for him, but he's a 4.4 guy, so you never know. As with any Florida kid, we'll not hear much from him until late December/early January at the soonest.

I've had several people ask about Jewel Hampton and whether IU is recruiting him. IU has picked up there interest here and is trying to get Jewel down to campus as soon as this weekend. Right now, the 2 schools mentioned most are Iowa (already visited earlier this season), Cincinnati and Western Kentucky.

Gerald Brown asked to be reassigned to the Tennessee area to recruit instead of Texas earlier this season. While some questioned, it's obvious that Gerald has some amazing contacts in and around the entire state. He has come into Memphis and Nashville and began to get kids extremely interested in IU. Throughout this blog, you'll see that Gerald has been very busy, especially in Memphis, but Jackie Seward a 5'10" 180 RB from Nashville, TN has IU at the top of his list after IU has just recently gotten involved. A true scatback in the mold of RBs that IU likes to recruit, this kid is one of, if not the best, offensive threat in the entire state of Tennessee. He's a little small for Fulmer's standards, but he's athletic enough and fast enough to be a Big Ten RB or DB.

Contrary to an article in a Fort Wayne, IN publication, IU hasn't offered Ray Byers a 5'10" 180 athlete. While his 4.43 speed is intriguing, look for Ray to end up at Ball State.

2 St Louis high school teammates that both play DE apparantly are looking to Missouri, instead of IU. James Moore and Hulas King, both good sized DEs have the Tigers leading the pack right now. IU would still like to add one more athletic DE to this class, but it doesn't appear to be either one of these 2. Though it's conceivable that Marcus Harmon could end up here, though he's currently listed by Rivals as a TE prospect, but after watching him against Terre Haute North last week, he's a kid that can play DE at the next level. He's listed at 6'2" and 210, so he'll need weight, but he's quick played pretty much the entire game on Defense and rarely saw the field on offense.

Another kid from Lawrence North that IU is after for Football is Anthony Oden. As you know, Greg has been down to IU several times already this season to check out Will Patterson and some other kids that he knows from Lawrence North and Anthony has also came down a couple of times. Anothy is huge at 6'8" 300+ and he's a TE, but could really be a great OT/OG/DT as he develops. He's extremely raw at this point, but IU is actively sending him stuff.

Another kid that IU is stepping up it's interest in is Berchard Hines a 6' 190 CB/DB prospect from Cleveland, OH Glenville. A true 4.5 guy, he's receiving a lot of IU interest. He also participated in the Ted Ginn bus tour and performed well during his stop at IU. Like his teammate Lowe, IU is pretty good shape here, but both will wait until the season is over to decide their futures.

Here are the names of some other Tennesse kids that Gerald Brown is recruiting. All these kids have IU in their top 3 or 4. Marcus Hightower a 6' 180 CB, Deante Mason a 6'4 180 WR, William Martin a 6'2" 220 LB, DeAndre Jones a 6' 225 LB, Aaron Trent a 6'3" 230 LB/DE, Matt Arent a 6'3" 220 QB/TE, Marcus Rucker a 6'3" 190 WR, Tray Law a 6'4" 260 DE, and Jabarie Trent a 6'1" 240 LB/DE

And finally Nick Freeland a kicker from Lawrence North. He's listed at 6' 200 pounds and I got to see him kick last Friday. Good hang time on kickoffs and got a touchback and all the kicks were inside the 10 on kickoffs. Good leg. Really likes IU and was down for the Illinois game. As of now, I don't think we have offered, but we are engaged in recruiting him heavily. I think the offer will come, but other than sending letters, this staff is concentrating mostly on one thing: Play 13!

Also, besides Darius Willis, there appears to be some Indiana kids that IU is still keeping close tabs on. I've mentioned Harmon and Freeland from Lawrence North and Byers from Fort Wayne Wayne. Also, IU is actively after David Alexander from Griffith, Bob James from Hobart, Adrian Spencer from Fort Wayne, and Jeff Baker from Lowell.