Recruiting - Indiana Hoosier Scholarship Chart Review

As we head into another evaluation period, I thought it would be a good time to look at where Indiana stands with scholarship counts for the next three seasons to give fans a better idea of what Coach Crean is trying to accomplish. Here is where the Hoosiers currently stand:

One very noticeable item from above is there are no seniors currently on the Indiana roster for the upcoming 2014-2015 season. I am not going to go into the expected depth chart in this article as I have already done that here, but given the perceived weakness down low for the Hoosiers this year, it is no wonder why Crean is after so many 2015 big men on the recruiting trail. If Indiana is able to retain the top players from the upcoming season and add a talented big man down low, the 2015-2016 Indiana Hoosiers could be competing for titles again, and that is exactly what the fan base is hoping happens.

While there is only one spot open on paper next year, I think it is reasonable to assume not everyone is going to come back. Yogi Ferrell, Troy Williams, and James Blackmon are all prime candidates to leave early if they have great seasons. There is also a high likelihood that one or two players will decide they can get more playing time somewhere else. The Hoosiers have five freshmen coming in this season and one of them could decide this environment is not what he was looking for. Bottom line - things happen and I would be surprised if there are not at least 3 freshman team members in Bloomington next year. Outside of the obvious need down low, I believe Coach Crean will be looking to land a point guard to take the reins from Yogi as well as another wing player given some of the early departure possibilities there.

However, the scholarship numbers above do prove why Coach Crean seems to be focusing a little more on the 2016 class. There are simply more spots open that year. Indiana reportedly has 21 offers outstanding for the 2016 class which is probably about right for needing to land at least 4 players (and likely more due to transfers and early departures). Given how far away Indiana is from this class as well, they really can't narrow down need by position either. Indiana would obviously like to have another talented big man in this class, but they also have several needs at the guard and wing positions, especially if the Hoosiers are in the same camp as me in thinking Troy Williams and James Blackmon won't be around by 2016-2017.

If the current year's team does all decide to return next season, the Hoosier faithful will get a chance that not many college fan bases get today - and that is to watch consistency. There is something to be said about watching an entire team grow up together and eventually have success. I think that is one of the main reasons the Sweet 16 runs were so special for many Hoosier fans - it was primarily the same players that had struggled mightily their first couple of seasons. The team stuck together though and eventually had success. To many fans, that route is much more rewarding than having success every year, but also having 75% turnover each season. There would obviously be many fans that disagree with that statement, but I think there are clearly two separate schools of thought out there.

What do you think of Coach Crean's scholarship management? Let us know in the comments section!