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    Wednesday, December 25

    IU Basketball Recruiting: Archie Miller’s Priority Targets Emerging During Live Period

    Mike SchumannBy IU Basketball 7 Comments

    Fire up the private jets.

    After a lengthy college basketball recruiting dead period during which off campus contact was not permitted, the restrictions have been lifted this week.

    And who a college coaching staff chooses to go watch and visit during the early days of a live period says a lot about where their priorities are.

    It came as little surprise that one of the first stops for Archie Miller and his staff was to the state of Minnesota on Monday.

    Dawson Garcia is likely the top player on Indiana’s board in the class of 2020 at this point.  If there was any doubt, Miller’s stop in Prior Lake, Minn. on the first day of the live period made that clear.

    With three shooting guard/wing type players committed in the class, a versatile 6-foot-10 big man like Garcia is just what the doctor ordered.

    In a recent national 247Sports report ($), recruiting reporter Brian Snow indicated that Indiana is one of the top schools with buzz when it comes to Garcia.

    IU 2020 commit Anthony Leal told us that both he and Trey Galloway would be focusing their efforts on Garcia, and that might be paying off.

    Indiana wouldn’t invest heavily here unless they thought they had a chance, and the fact that Garcia allowed IU in the door on the first day is not insignificant.

    A top 30 player nationally, Garcia should be setting up official visits soon.  An October 5 visit to Bloomington for Hoosier Hysteria would not be a surprise.

    Another player that the IU staff saw on Monday was a new name.  Class of 2020 top-30 point guard Cam Hayes hails from Greensboro, N.C., the same place new IU assistant coach Mike Roberts worked for the last eight years.  Along with the offer of N.C. based point guard Carter Whitt, Roberts is clearly delivering some early connectivity.

    We’ve written extensively about the loaded in-state class of 2021.

    Miller and his team recognize what they have in their own backyard, and they have been directing a significant portion of their time this week on that group of high school juniors.

    Yesterday Miller and assistant coach Bruiser Flint stopped in South Bend to check in on dynamic guard Blake Wesley.

    Wesley is going to be pushing 6-foot-6 by the time he enters college — and he has point guard handles.  Miller highly values length and versatility which is likely why Wesley is being prioritized right now.

    Speaking of point guard handles, of course this week wasn’t going to be complete without a visit to Evansville to visit with top 20 and five star Khristian Lander.

    Lander is rated as the 2021 top point guard in the country according to some recruiting services, and the competition will be intense for the 6-foot-3 Reitz High School product.

    One such example is a planned official visit to Louisville on September 27.

    Similar to Garcia, don’t be surprised to see Lander attend Hoosier Hysteria the following weekend.

    Perhaps no one has received more attention this week from IU than emerging Sellersburg, Ind. product Trey Kaufman.

    The class of 2021 forward is ranked as high as the top 30 by 247Sports, and is a consensus top 100 recruit that Miller is clearly prioritizing.

    News broke on Monday that Kaufman would be taking a junior year official visit to IU.  With Ohio State in town for football and beautiful weather in the forecast, it should be a good time to have a top target on campus.

    Before that visit, 247Sports reported that IU was at Kaufman’s Silver Creek High School yesterday for an open gym, and the staff was back today for more one-on-one time.

    Update:  According to a report by Andrew Slater, IU head coach Archie Miller watched 2020 guard Hassan Diarra on Wednesday night.

    CALEB LOVE CANCELS OFFICIAL VISIT THIS WEEKEND (UPDATED)

    247Sports’ Evan Daniels reported that Caleb Love has cancelled his visit to IU this weekend.

    ESPN’s Jeff Borzello confirms that Love has cut Indiana from his list.

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