-Updated to reflect Jahmius Ramsey Offer on Tuesday Afternoon-
The Indiana coaching staff continues to maintain a hectic pace as it seeks to finalize its 2018 class and formulate the 2019 class. There have been several reports in the last few days with respect to both classes.
First, let’s recap the activity of the past couple weeks.
- For the 2018 class, of course there is Romeo Langford, with an announcement set for April 30.
- You may recall our article on South Dakota 2018 graduate transfer Matt Mooney as a potential target. Although the Hoosiers expressed interest initially, some reports indicated that IU may have backed down on those efforts. Mooney has narrowed his list to five schools:
South Dakota grad transfer Matt Mooney is down to Creighton, Northwestern, Texas Tech, Utah State and Arizona State, he tells ESPN.
One of the best available grad transfers. 18.7 PPG this past season. @MoonSwag13
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) April 17, 2018
- Evansville graduate transfer Ryan Taylor has committed to Northwestern
- Two weeks ago IU went in-home with three different class of 2019 big men — Keion Brooks Jr., Trayce Jackson-Davis and Trendon Watford. By all accounts Indiana is in good shape with all three, including this promising quote from Brooks.
- This past weekend IU also went in-home with 2019 targets Armaan Franklin, D.J. Carton, Matthew Hurt and Isaiah Stewart. Indiana offered a scholarship to Carton at the conclusion of the visit.
CLASS OF 2018 UPDATE
The main update for the class of 2018 over the last couple days is the report (paywall) of an in-home visit with Old Dominion graduate transfer big man Trey Porter. Beyond the fact of the in-home visit itself, the report shouldn’t be read into, as recruits all generally say the same canned flowery and positive things after every visit. Hoosier fans are just going to have to be patient with this one. As Porter has stated, this is going to be a long process:
Spoke briefly w/former @ODUMBB F Trey Porter last night at the @PITourney He said he's "not even close" to picking a transfer destination. Expressed surprise much was made of his unofficial visit to Maryland. Said it's close to his home in Md.
— Ed Miller (@edmillerva) April 13, 2018
The good news as it relates to Porter is that he is apparently not locked-in on Maryland, and interested enough in IU to take the in-home visit. Porter would seem to be a good fit at IU next year, as the Hoosiers do not have a natural post-presence to share minutes with De’Ron Davis. With Davis historically not able to stay on the floor for long periods of time and coming off injury, the opportunity is there for Porter to come in a play a big role.
The other nice aspect about Porter is that he excels on the defensive end. The Hoosiers could certainly use a strong defensive presence on the block next year. We discussed the 6-10 Porter in greater detail here.
CLASS OF 2019 – NEW NAMES TO WATCH
Jahmius Ramsey
Ramsey is a 6-4, 180-pound combo-guard from Arlington, TX. The top 100 4-star currently plays at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, after starting his high school career at Mansfield Summit in Arlington, Texas. Reports had IU planning to watch Ramsey workout today, and apparently Archie Miller liked what he saw:
https://twitter.com/newanimprovedJR/status/986312851030716417
He also has offers from Florida, Illinois, Maryland and others. With the offer extended to Ramsey, it will be interesting to see whether the Hoosiers also offer Indianapolis based target Armaan Franklin. Ramsey and Franklin are similar in size and both are combo-guards.
Alex Hemenway
A name to keep an eye on is in-state guard Alex Hemenway. He attends Castle High School near Evansville. Indiana and the other local college programs let another Castle product slip away last year as 2017 forward and Indiana All-Star Jack Nunge escaped to Iowa.
While IU hasn’t been too visibly active with Hemenway to date, that could change as the 2019 process evolves. He averaged 20.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game last season at Castle.
His offer list includes Butler, Clemson, Creighton, Nebraska and Xavier. The Indy Star did a brief story on Hemenway here (paywall), and suggested that the Hoosiers have been in contact.
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Photo Credit – ODU Athletics/Rick Voight
