This week in IU basketball and football recruiting – June 7, 2020

It was another interesting week in the world of IU Athletics recruiting.

From commitments and offers to other intriguing stories, each week we summarize the top news from the trail.

Here is the latest edition of This week in IU basketball and football recruiting.

COMMITMENT:  TRENTEN HOWLAND GIVES IU WELL-ROUNDED 2021 BACKFIELD

Fire and ice?  Thunder and lightning?  Indiana’s backfield mates in the class of 2021 might one day be worthy of a nickname like that.

Joliet, Ill. running back Trenten Howland verbally committed to IU on Friday, joining David Holloman as an IU backfield commit in the class of 2021.

Also a talented basketball player, Howland averaged 7.9 yards per carry as a junior and found the end zone 16 times.

At 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, Howland projects to be a big physical back like Stevie Scott.  With Holloman’s 4.3 / 40 speed, the Hoosiers should have a dynamic duo for years to come.

2021 FORWARD SITUATION GAINING CLARITY

Three class of 2021 forwards have been at the top of the basketball board for Indiana for a few months now.

IU appears to be in the best shape with in-state Gatorade Player of the Year Trey Kaufman.  The recent cancellation of the Nike EYBL AAU circuit (with Adidas and UAA likely to follow) would seem to make it less likely that Kaufman will stay on the market much longer.  The unfortunate reality for the players this spring and summer is that they haven’t been able to gain the exposure they had hoped for.

Along those lines, New Jersey forward Trey Patterson stated this week that he will announce his commitment on June 18.  Patterson has been to IU and the Hoosiers have been on the top tier for a long time.  But most reporting suggests that the 6-foot-8 top-40 Patterson will end up at Villanova.

Finally, Memphis, Tenn. forward Mason Miller continues to be a top target for IU.  His father, long-time NBA player Mike Miller, announced this week that he will no longer be an assistant coach on the Memphis staff.  While that decision does not mean anything is imminent with Mason, it would seem to take Memphis off the table as a contender.

A couple Rivals analysts plugged in IU as the most likely destination this week, but this recruitment could still have a long way to go.

HOOSIERS OFFER FIRST TRUE POINT GUARD IN 2022 CLASS

Point guard is a high priority position in the class of 2022, and Archie Miller likely just identified his highest priority recruit for that role.

Milton, Georgia based point guard Bruce Thornton is someone that IU has had their eyes on for a long time and planned to watch extensively this spring and summer.

Although Miller typically likes to watch players live before offering, he made the call for Thornton on Friday after watching film,

The Daily Hoosier will have a story with his high school coach’s take on Thornton’s game, as well as the back story on the recruitment on Monday morning.

2020 SIGNEE KHRISTIAN LANDER JUNIOR SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

Of course you know by now that five-star point guard Khristian Lander has reclassified into the class of 2020 and will join the IU basketball team for the 2020-21 season.

Lander’s junior season highlight reel was published this week.

It is a good look at many aspects of the 6-foot-2 point guard’s game, including his downhill speed, ability to blow by defenders off the bounce, and score from all three levels.

Lander was averaging 21 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists for his junior season at Evansville Reitz. The Panthers (17-7) had advanced to the Class 4A Seymour Regional before the 2019-20 campaign was canceled.

IN-STATE PLAYER IN NATIONAL RANKINGS FOR FIRST TIME

Rivals released their most expansive class of 2022 basketball rankings this past week, and versatile Evansville Bosse guard Julian Norris made the cut in the top-150 list.

Clearly on the national radar, Norris was a player that many expected to have a big spring and summer playing AAU basketball.  IU is involved in his recruitment and had planned to watch him.

In 23 games as a sophomore at Bosse, Norris averaged 12.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and .9 steals per contest.  An efficient scorer, Norris made 56 percent of his attempts overall including 48 percent (42-of-87) from behind the three-point line.

The Daily Hoosier had more on Norris in April including sophomore season highlights here.

A 7-FOOT OFFENSIVE TACKLE?

As it does each week at this time of year, Indiana made several football scholarship offers, but one player stood out above the rest.  Literally.

The Hoosiers offered 7-foot offensive tackle prospect Harlan Obioha this week.  Hailing from Hoxie, Kansas, Obioha earned all-state honors in both football and basketball.  He averaged 21 points per game for his high school basketball team.  Playing basketball in college is not out of the question.

On the football side Obioha has now earned multiple power five offers.  In addition to playing tackle, he could end up being a major factor on special teams blocking field goals and punts.

IU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PICKS UP TWO COMMITS

The IU women’s basketball program continues to recruit like a team on the rise.

The Hoosiers earned their second and third commitments for the 2021 class this past week, and both players will arrive in Bloomington with impressive credentials.

Alabama point guard Kaitlin Peterson is the No. 31 player in the country according to Prospects Nation and No. 44 according to All Star Girls Report. She became IU’s top rated recruit in the class with her commitment on Friday.

Another guard, Keyarah Berry committed to IU earlier in the week.  An ESPN top-100 prospect, Berry has scored 2,437 career points already for her Rockmart, Georgia high school.

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