Indiana University’s Archie Miller said recently that there are no days off as a Division 1 college basketball coach. If you have followed Miller’s travels across the state of Indiana and beyond during the month of March, you know he isn’t kidding. On what seems to be a daily basis, the leader of the IU program and his staff are seen somewhere watching someone play.
And there is good reason for that — the Hoosiers have holes to fill, including in the upcoming class of 2018. As we mentioned in our recap of the top off-season questions, there could be as many as two open scholarships in the 2018 class, depending on what Romeo Langford does and whether Zach McRoberts takes a well deserved free ride.
Archie Miller hasn’t been acting like someone who is comfortable with where things stand for 2018. The Hoosier staff has been active in an evolving transfer market that is beginning to resemble NFL free agency. There are also still possibilities with unsigned high school talent and JUCO transfers for the 2018 class as well.
Here is a summary of the people who we know of that Miller has at least expressed interest in for 2018:
Romeo Langford. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, this one requires no elaboration. It’s down to Indiana, Kansas and Vanderbilt and the announcement will be made in late April. There were some interesting quotes from Langford yesterday at the McDonald’s All-America game media availability however, where Langford spent more than an hour answering questions.
While some worry about Langford’s relationship with Vanderbilt commit Darius Garland, Langford said he has developed a similar relationship with McCutcheon guard and IU commit Robert Phinisee.
He also had this to say about his impression of Archie Miller and Indiana this year:
“They showed me how (Miller) knows how to get the most out of his players and develop them,” Langford said. “(Indiana) didn’t have the best year but he got his players ready for the big games. It showed me how he can get the best out of his players.”
Langford also made it clear that he was sticking with his three finalists despite the news that Chris Mack will be taking over at Louisville. The Cardinals were thought to be in the lead for Langford prior to the dismissal of Rick Pitino.
Ryan Taylor. We featured the Evansville graduate transfer last week. Taylor was first team all-MVC this year and is a hot commodity. Reports have dozens of programs expressing interest. As a strong 3-point shooter, Taylor would fill an immediate need for the Hoosiers. For the 2017-18 season he averaged 21.3 points per game while shooting 42.6% from the field overall and 42.4% from distance. He added 3.8 rebounds per game.
Devonte Bandoo. Archie Miller visited the Hutchinson, Kansas JUCO prospect. Reports have indicated the Indiana has offered Bandoo, but according to 247 Sports, no offer has been extended. Bandoo is a 6-3, 195 pound shooting guard from Toronto. He averaged 16.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.9 assists while shooting 49.6% overall from the field and 43.8% from distance.
Isaiah Tisdale. Miller was seen watching the Vincennes JUCO prospect. The 6-1 guard from Lexington, Kentucky averaged 17.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists while shooting 49.6% from the field. An offer has not been extended at this time. Vincennes is a JUCO powerhouse that has produced NBA players including Bob McAdoo, Rickey Green, Shawn Marion, and Carl Landry.
Trey Porter. Indiana is evaluating the 6-10 graduate transfer from Old Dominion. He averaged 13.2 points and 6.2 rebounds last year.
James Akinjo. Following the firing of UCONN head coach Kevin Ollie, Akinjo backed out of his commitment with the Huskies. Indiana was a finalist before the 4-star point guard from California committed to UCONN. With Rob Phinisee already signed, file this one away in the highly unlikely category.
OTHER RECRUITING NEWS AND NOTES
Former Indianapolis Tech High School point guard C.J. Walker has announced that he is transferring from Florida State. Reports have indicated that Indiana, Butler and others have all already expressed interest or are otherwise evaluating Walker. Walker will be required to sit out the 2018-19 season and will then have two years of eligibility remaining. As a sophomore, Walker started 34 games for the Seminoles this season and averaged eight points and 2.4 assists per game as FSU made it to the Elite Eight.
Something else interesting to at least keep an eye would be any fallout associated with Chris Mack leaving Xavier for Louisville. Former IU recruiting target Paul Scruggs was a freshman on this year’s Xavier team. Scruggs averaged 4.9 points in 16 minutes per game during his freshmen year.
Another name to watch related to Xavier is Evan Boudreaux. He is a graduate transfer from Dartmouth that had committed to Xavier but reopened his recruiting in connection with Mack going to Louisville. He is an Illinois native that averaged 17.5 points and 9.5 rebounds last year. While he hasn’t been connected to IU, he was previously recruited by Purdue and may land in the Midwest.
Indiana has also expressed interest in McNeese transfer Kalob Ledoux. Ledoux averaged 15 points and 4.3 rebounds per game for the Cowboys as a sophomore. He shot 37.4-percent from three and 80.3-percent from the free throw line.
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Main photo credit – McDonald’s
