Chester, Lewis, and Finch

Jamonne Chester became the 8th member of the 2009 recruiting class this week. A 6'2" 195 WR, he runs a reported 4.5 and who caught 35 passes last season. His strength are his hands and his size/speed ratio. In the spread offense, he'll be a guy that can work the deeper route areas and use his height and hands well. After loading up at WR last season, it appears IU will try and take at least 2 or 3 WRs this season as well. I suspect some will switch positions once they get here, especially from last year's class, but as we learned earlier this week, Marquelo Suel didn't qualify, so we needed a replacement this year, so maybe the 2 or 3 we pick up will stay at WR also.

Chester is also aquainted with Gainer and Watkins from the Detroit area camps, and they had a part in his committment to IU as well. It's great to see these types of athletes committing. Last season, IU secured 5, 3-star (by Rivals rankings anyway) committments. This season, we already have five 3-star kids in our first 8. While that will probably be their peak, if some of these kids were committed to some other Big Ten Programs, their rankings would rise.

It appears now that the 2 other WR canidates the coaches are really looking at are Jeff Duckworth from Cincinnati and Duwyce Wilson from Columbus, Indiana. I suspect the staff will wait for their decisions before moving on to other prospects, if they don't commit. As it stands now though, Duckworth is down to IU and Wisconsin, and Wilson has IU right there in his top 3. Both have stated they want to commit by the end of July, but Duckworth is much closer in my opinion to choosing a school than Wilson.

Now, for our 2 unknowns, well kind of.

I was told during the first week of June that Kellen Lewis would be reinstated to the team by the end of June if he completed a couple of things. As of now, both of those things have been completed and I'm a little befuddled as to why an official announcement has not been made. In fact, everything that was laid out to him to achieve has been achieved, so all that is left is the official announcement. It's a foregone conclusion now that he'll be reinstated to the team and compete with Chappell for the starting QB position in Fall Practice.

Also, Finch is still waiting on word from the NCAA. His case is still being reviewed and it will probably be early August before IU knows anything for certain. Right now the best guess that I have gotten is 50/50, which is down from close to 100 % sure that he'd get to play next season. No word on what has changed the minds of those I talked to, but I think they are just being optimistic at this point in the process.

Jerimy has been working out and appears to be, from what I've seen/heard, pretty much recovered from his big knee injury last year against Tennessee. In my own opinion, I would love Jerimy this season, but I want him at 100%, so if he's not there, then another year to get back to normal and stronger and more familiar with the IU scheme will benefit all involved.

Hope all are well and had a safe and happy 4th of July! God Bless!