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The Hoosiers are heading into a crucial season for the program, but before they get there - Coach Crean and company are trying to fill out the 2015 recruiting class. As things stand right now, the Hoosiers have only one open spot in the 2015 class on paper (and that is assuming the 13th scholarship is not used in 2014 on someone other than a 5th year transfer). In reality, the Hoosiers should end up with another scholarship or two to use on this class. It seems almost certain Peter Jurkin will graduate after the 2014-2015 season, and it is really hard to believe he would return to the team upon graduation as little as he has been able to play due to medical issues throughout his career. In addition, Kevin Yogi Ferrell or Troy Williams or James Blackmon could go pro early, and there is always the transfer possibility as the Hoosiers have found out the hard way this offseason.
Given the above, I have to believe Crean is targeting 3 players in the 2015 class and it could be more than that as he hasn't been shy when it comes to over signing in the past. It is still pretty early in the recruiting period, but Indiana has not landed a commitment yet. The Hoosiers have, however, offered a ton of players - 28 to be exact according to 247sports. Six of these players have already committed elsewhere - Duke, Syracuse, Illinois, Baylor, Arizona, and Georgetown. So that leaves 22 offers still outstanding for potentially three spots. To further narrow done where things stand as of today, I utilized the 247Sports "Interest Level Index" which is split into four categories - Cold, Warm, Warmer, and Favorite. The Hoosiers currently have 0 targets in the "Warmer" or "Favorite" category, and only have 10 targets in the "Warm" category. For sake of this article, I am only going to look at the 10 prospects who are considered warm at this point in time.
C Stephen Zimmerman - 6'11", 225 pounds
- From Las Vegas, NV
- Ranked #5 overall in 247Sports Composite Index
- Crystal Ball - 50% Arizona, 42% UNLV, 8% Kentucky
- Other offers from Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, UNC, UCLA
SF Derrick Jones - 6'6", 180 pounds
- From Wayne, PA
- Ranked #15 overall in 247Sports Composite Index
- Crystal Ball - 93% Syracuse, 7% Kentucky
- Other offers from UConn, Indiana, Kansas, Arizona
C Daniel Giddens - 6'10", 235 pounds
- From Marietta, GA
- Ranked #30 overall in 247Sports Composite Index
- Crystal Ball - 100% Ohio State
- Other offers from Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas
PG Jalen Coleman - 6'3", 160 pounds
- From Indianapolis, IN
- Ranked #36 overall in 247Sports Composite Index
- Crystal Ball - 92% Michigan, 8% Michigan State
- Other offers from Illinois, Indiana, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue
PG Perry Dozier Jr. - 6"5", 180 pounds
- From Columbia, SC
- Ranked #37 overall in 247Sports Composite Index
- Crystal Ball - 94% North Carolina, 6% South Carolina
- Other offers from Clemson, Indiana, Duke
PF Alex Illikainen - 6'9", 210 pounds
- From Grand Rapids, MN
- Ranked #65 overall in 247Sports Composite Index
- Crystal Ball - 83% Minnesota, 17% Creighton
- Other offers from California, Indiana, Iowa State
PF Raymond Spalding - 6'9", 200 pounds
- From Louisville, KY
- Ranked #75 overall in 247Sports Composite Index
- Crystal Ball - 93% Louisville, 7% Indiana
- Other offers from Butler, Xavier
PG Hyron Edwards - 5'11", 160 pounds
- From East Chicago, IN
- Ranked #83 overall in 247Sports Composite Index
- Crystal Ball - 100% Purdue
- Other offers from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State
PG Austin Conway - 5'10", 170 pounds
- Aurora, CO
- Ranked #156 overall in 247Sports Composite Index
- Crystal Ball - 31% Nebraska, 31% Indiana, 23% Undetermined, 15% Colorado
- Other offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Harvard, Stanford
PF Jarred Reuter - 6'8", 225 pounds
- From Marion, MA
- Not Ranked in 247Sports Composite Index
- Crystal Ball - 67% Providence, 33% Indiana
- Other offers from Boston College, UConn, Florida
As you can see above, there appear to be two themes - find a replacement at point guard for Yogi Ferrell and find a star big man. Only Derrick Jones doesn't fit one of these two categories. The most likely to be the first commit of the 2015 class is Austin Conway, who recently visited Indiana on May 19th with star big man 2016 recruit De'Ron Davis who is Conway's teammate in AAU. Both appear to be very high on Indiana after that visit which is why the Hoosiers have tied up Nebraska in the crystal ball standings for Conway's services. Outside of Conway, the Hoosiers are significantly trailing at least one school, and in most cases multiple schools, for the services of the 9 other players. This obviously has Hoosier fans a little worried at this point, but it is still very early in the process and we should have a much clearer picture by the end of the summer as to how the class is progressing. With Noah Vonleh likely to be a Top 5 draft pick this year, Coach Crean will have a good story to tell all of these big men targets, and he just needs one of them to bite on that story to get a good start on this class.
In summary, are the Hoosiers in great shape with anyone besides Austin Conway? No, not really - but it is early and Coach Crean has some time to try and rectify that problem. There is no need at this point for the Hoosier faithful to start getting restless about this class, but if it remains the same in a month or two, my opinion will likely change on that. The Hoosiers have not yet been able to capitalize on the momentum of back to back Sweet 16 appearances as well as being ranked #1 for the majority of the 2012-2013 season, and if they let the 2015 class slip away, one has to wonder if that momentum will come back anytime soon.