Mike Woodson has made it clear that 3-point shooting will be a point of emphasis in his program, and Indiana is keeping a close eye on one of the best from long range in the class of 2022.
Indiana has joined virtually every other Big Ten program when it comes to the recruitment of Yorkville, Ill. based shooting guard Jaden Schutt. The Hoosiers have leveraged time spent by a new assistant at another Big Ten foe to jumpstart the process.
“Dane Fife is a guy that I talked to at Michigan State, and obviously he is a new assistant at Indiana, so he has been the guy I’ve been talking to,” Schutt told The Daily Hoosier of Indiana’s recent entry into his recruitment.
Schutt is a 3-star prospect according to the 247Sports Composite, currently ranked No. 153 overall in the class of 2022 and the No. 21 shooting guard.
While Schutt does a lot of things well, 3-point shooting is his calling card. He has made 40 percent of his attempts from long range on 537 attempts during his 68 game high school career at Yorkville Christian. Schutt averaged 26.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 3.6 steals per game for his 11 game pandemic shortened junior season. He averaged 22.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game as a sophomore in 2019-20.
The 6-foot-5 Schutt is plenty good enough of an athlete for the Big Ten, although like most high school athletes he will need to get stronger to survive the physicality of the next level. But Schutt’s quickness and skill allows him to do more than shoot, and he is a player who would seemingly thrive in an up-tempo and well spaced offense like what IU hopes to implement.
Schutt plays for the Illinois Wolves on the Under Armour AAU circuit, and it is his play this spring and summer against top competition that will help still undecided programs like IU complete an evaluation. In any event, the Hoosiers are making their interest clear.
“Since Dane Fife got the job, he is just saying ‘hey you are on our radar, we are going to be recruiting you hard,'” Schutt said.
He currently has offers from nine of the 14 Big Ten programs, with Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State, and Wisconsin all entering the mix. Virginia, Louisville, Butler, Oklahoma, Michigan and Notre Dame are some of the other key schools involved. Schutt said on Saturday that he was working on visits to Michigan State, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Notre Dame.
Schutt said he wants to take visits this summer and perhaps into the fall. With new schools still entering the mix, it doesn’t sound like he will make a decision until into his senior year of high school. That should give Indiana time to gain traction if they decide to make Schutt a priority.
Schutt said while Indiana has entered his recruitment a little late, it is a school he would “for sure” consider visiting in some capacity, whether official or unofficial, and if the Hoosiers push hard, they’ve got a shot.
“I wouldn’t count them out,” Schutt said of Indiana.
Schutt’s junior season highlights are below.
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