Indiana is starting to cast a wider net for its 2019 class as the spring live evaluation period rolls on. After focusing its early 2019 efforts on the front court, the Hoosiers have pivoted lately to the back court. It continued that trend on Thursday, extending offers to two extremely athletic and talented point/combo guards.
KIRA LEWIS
Indiana offered its second class of 2019 target from the state of Alabama, Kira Lewis. The Hazel Green, Alabama 4-star is an EYBL teammate of fellow Alabama native and IU target Trendon Watford. Given the clear mutual interest between Indiana and Watford, could the Hoosiers be going for the package deal here?
Lewis opened a lot of eyes at the Nike EYBL in Dallas last weekend with impressive statistical averages of 21.0 points, 4.0 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 3.2 steals.
According to Rivals, Lewis is a top 100 prospect and has 17 offers including Alabama, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma State and Baylor.
For his junior season at Hazel Green, Lewis averaged 28.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 3.9 steals and 1.3 blocks and was named the Huntsville area player of the year.
His junior season high school mix tape is below. What really jumps off the page is his elite athleticism along with an impressive stroke from distance and a strong off hand.
At 6’3″, Lewis is a taller point guard that would be able to effectively defend the perimeter in Archie Miller’s pack line system.
JALEN LECQUE
Lecque, a 5-star prospect, is ranked No. 12 overall in the 2019 class by the 247Sports Composite and is being recruited by virtually all of the major programs.
It should be noted that Lecque is considering reclassifying to the class of 2018. He recently characterized that decision as 50/50 at this point. As it stands right now, Indiana has two available class of 2018 scholarships. Those open slots could potentially be filled by Zach McRoberts and Romeo Langford however.
Originally from The Bronx, New York, Lecque was originally a member of the 2018 class. He transferred from Monsignor Scanlan to Christ School in Arden, N.C. last spring and reclassified down to 2019. Lecque says he’ll likely make a final decision on 2018 or 2019 after the July evaluation period.
If Lecque ends up reclassifying to 2018 and the Hoosiers end up with an open scholarship, it could be interesting to see if that gives IU an opening to sneak in late and get another 2018 commitment.
There is also an IU connection with Lecque. He played for Al Durham, Jr.’s Dad last year on the Nike EYBL circuit for the Southern Stampede.
Lecque is a 6’4″ combo guard whose game has drawn comparisons to Russell Westbrook. Similar to the NBA star, Lecque averaged nearly a triple-double for his high school season, finishing with 20.1 points, 9.3 assists and 9.1 rebounds per game.
He is being recruiting by the likes of Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, Villanova, Syracuse, UCONN, Oregon and Florida, and he has more than 35 offers.
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