Disqus - Latest Comments for cojames

Re: Around the Hall: Crean at Huber’s and more

cojames — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:53:12 -0000

I played basketball in the gym in New Richmond where they filmed some of the "Milan" games in the movie Hoosiers, it was pretty cool.

Re: Emmanuel Negedu to visit Indiana on June 3

cojames — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:33:36 -0000

I read a thread from one of the recruiting analysts on rivals.com saying that Negedu is getting pressure from those closest to him to go to IU. And he said not to count us out for a second. Apparently it looks like we really do have a decent shot at landing him. I will be the first to say that I hope Negedu does what's best for himself and chooses the school that he feels is the best fit or him, although I we be very pleased to see him in the candy stripes later this winter. Just thought I'd give you guys a heads up.

Re: Breaking down Emmanuel Negedu’s possible destinations

B_MD — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:44:02 -0000

Rivals just updated their team rankings for the 2008 recruiting classes. Got to hand it Crean, with the mess he inherited and losing both Ebanks and Holloway, he still managed to 5th best class in the Big Ten.

Re: Breaking down Emmanuel Negedu’s possible destinations

cojames — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:37:50 -0000

No way that Jobe has peaked, he's only been in the states playing ball for 4 years and probably hasn't had much coaching in the lowly juco ranks. I'm really interested to see how Crean can develop him I think he will surprise some people.

Re: Breaking down Emmanuel Negedu’s possible destinations

cojames — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:48:40 -0000

John if you read my post again you will see that I had in fact previously stated that they did have one scholarship open. However with Dozier coming back I believe that Memphis is already going to be deep at the forward position with Taggart and Niles as returning players. Not only would Negedu have to compete for playing time with them, but also with Angel Garcia (top 50 player), Wesley Witherspoon Jr. (top 75 player), and Matt Simpkins (another 4 star PF) who are in the incoming freshman class. IMO that would put playing time at the forward position at a premium and I wouldn't think that would appeal to Negedu as much as the ability to walk into a program and be the #1 scoring option. Of course my logic could be flawed and I could be wrong in all this, but I guess we'll have to just wait and see.

Re: Breaking down Emmanuel Negedu’s possible destinations

john_g — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:37:47 -0000

sorry, cojames but you dont have all the facts. Memphis has a scholarship to offer Negedu. Calipri said as much today when he stated, definitely, that he and Pastner will be pursuing Negedu.

Since Negedu is a direct replacement for Joey Dorsey on the Memphis squad, Negedu already knows exactly how much playing time he will receive.

I'm sorry to tell you Indiana fans, that now Pastner has the blessings from Arizona staff to pursue Negedu, the race is now over. Negedu is coming to Memphis. Good luck next time, guys.

Re: Breaking down Emmanuel Negedu’s possible destinations

cojames — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:52:20 -0000

According to Dozier both himself and Anderson are coming back next to Memphis, which means that they have only 1 scholarship open. So now it apparently is between us and Tennessee for Negedu. Lets go Crean!!!

http://www.sportsline.com/mcc/blogs/entry/62717...

Re: Breaking down Emmanuel Negedu’s possible destinations

cojames — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:42:18 -0000

Ya his guardian lives here, Mark something or other I believe. I agree that he would want to be on the big stage in March and that I think if he comes here we would have a decent chance since the Big 10 isn't the strongest of conferences right now. I also think that if Crean could not only sell him on the fact of being our #1 option next year, but to be the person that carries us on his back to the tourney (possibly even restoring IU to what it once was if he stays long enough) then that could be very intriguing in itself. I think that with all the press coverage we are gonna get with the current situation of all the players leaving, that he could really be a lone bright spot for us next year.

On a side not I just heard that one of the readers posted a comment under the IDS blog article about McGee leaving that was pretty interesting.

"McGee was in my public speaking class. He showed up for class everyday, but was typically 5-15 minutes late and put forth very little effort. McGee was absent today and wide receiver Ray Fisher, whose also in my public speaking class, said (before this report came out) that both McGee and Crawford are leaving."

Don't know how much truth there is to this, but IMO this could really hurt us next year from a winning games standpoint if Crawford is gone. We would greatly miss his scoring ability and playing experience.

Re: Breaking down Emmanuel Negedu’s possible destinations

B_MD — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:28:11 -0000

Tennesee did dismiss one of their top big men from last year, Crews, so that opens playing time up.

I've posted this a few times, but even though we have playing time to offer, these kids want to be on the big stage in March, and of the four IU definitely has to worst case for that. I think if we land him it will have to be because of his familiarity with Bloomington and that his guardian lives there (that's correct right?).

Re: Breaking down Emmanuel Negedu’s possible destinations

Ben_M — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:26:54 -0000

Tennessee....ah come on.....thats for girls......

Re: Breaking down Emmanuel Negedu’s possible destinations

cojames — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:00:51 -0000

I'm also unsure of Tennessee's recruiting class and what players they have returning. I know that they also had two big men coming who ranked in the top 75, but I'm not sure what the immediate playing time situation would like like for Negedu.

Re: Breaking down Emmanuel Negedu’s possible destinations

cojames — Fri, 23 May 2008 12:57:01 -0000

I think that if Dozier comes back with Memphis, and the fact that they already have a top 50 pf coming in this year (Angel Garcia) as well as a 4 star sf ranked in the top 75 that playing time might be harder to come by for Negedu than he would like. Even with the Arizona assistant at Memphis, I think this could end up being more of a two horse race between us and Tennessee. I would think that we would have more of an upper hand on Tenn with all the connections we have established of late. I had originally thought that landing Negedu was a long shot, but the more I think about it the seemingly better chance we have. Lets hope Crean can pull off his biggest miracle yet and land the impact player we desperately need.

Re: Crean dismisses Brandon McGee for ‘negligence’

cojames — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:59:05 -0000

I believe it's Kyle Taber, I've seen it spelled both Tabar and Tabor though several times over the last couple days. And on the note of him leaving I think it was meant as more of a joke since he will be seeing a considerable amount of playing time with all the departures this year.

Re: Crean dismisses Brandon McGee for ‘negligence’

cojames — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:48:32 -0000

I have this feeling that we are going to be hearing the same thing about Crawford leaving in the next couple of days, I hope I'm wrong cause I think we could really use him next year.

Re: Is IU guilty of “failure to monitor”?

Hoosiergirl — Thu, 22 May 2008 12:59:09 -0000

I was just going to post about this. Seen it on Big Ten Fever forums. Prayers sent heavenward for his family/friends.

Re: Is IU guilty of “failure to monitor”?

cojames — Thu, 22 May 2008 12:36:28 -0000

Sounds like a hell of a guy and someone we could all learn a lot from, and it's a tragedy something so unfortunate happened to such a good person. My prayers go out to his family, friends, and the kids whose lives he touched on a daily basis.

Re: Release confirms signing of Tijan Jobe

jgongora86 — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:17:36 -0000

I'm glad we didn't get him. He was a major project, and it gives one major scholarship to go after a big guy in 09 or 10. He was just too skinny for my liking. I wish him the best but I'll admit I'm relieved.

Re: Release confirms signing of Tijan Jobe

cojames — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:57:44 -0000

Just read on the peegs forum it looks as though Sutton will announce that he will be attending Villanova here is the article...

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20080521_6-...

Re: Report: Tijan Jobe to sign with IU today

cojames — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:47:45 -0000

CREAN IS ON FIRE!!!!!!!!

Re: Report: Tijan Jobe to sign with IU today

cojames — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:46:00 -0000

With all that is being said I have been looking at some of his stats and there were several games in which he did not play last year (I'm not sure why) and I've read two conflicting accounts that he avg. 7 minutes a game and he avg. 13 min a game. Either way he still had 3/3/6 while avg. only marginal minutes. The kid has apparently only been playing basketball and been over in the states for 4 years so he has time to improve, and with some coaching who knows potentially what he could do. I would agree lets not judge him or question Crean's recruiting before we even see the kid step onto the floor.

Re: Report: Negedu LOI decision coming today

Ben_M — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:51:56 -0000

might be why they signed him

Re: Report: Negedu LOI decision coming today

cojames — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:34:22 -0000

Could this signing have any affect on Negedus decision, both he and Tijan Jobe are formerly from A-hope and from what I just read it is an African Hoops organization that helps young men get their education. It may be a bit of a stretch but I'm sure it doesn't hurt.

Re: Report: Negedu LOI decision coming today

cojames — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:12:09 -0000

Here is a little bit I've found on him, not much though:

Tijan Jobe: (SO) 7-foot-0 (265) from Gambia, Africa.

played at Olney Central College (Juco) where he avg. 3.0 ppg and 3.0 rpg and about 7.0 min per game

"Tijan is as physically imposing as any player I have ever had here at OCC. Tijan has really improved on the offensive end, but right now his defense and rebounding is ahead of his offensive game," said Burris. "Tijan runs the floor very well and he will see a lot of minutes for us this coming season."

Re: Report: Negedu LOI decision coming today

cojames — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:50:14 -0000

Good stuff neal, I was able to read it now problem. Well looks like its time for Coach Crean to get busy, I hope we can land this kid.

Re: Maurice Sutton and Emmanuel Negedu

cojames — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:06:59 -0000

I can see where you are coming from in that instance. I too believe that Sutton will be more of a project type (I believe more raw than Holman and with less of a ceiling) and won't have much affect (if any) on our team, so it may be better off for us to either lose out on him or wait and try to recruit one of the better available big men for next years class. Although he seems like a good kid (Crean's type of attitude) we are still in the rebuilding process so it doesn't make much sense to waste a scholarship.