Andy Proffet
Tribune-Star Correspondent
BLOOMINGTON —
There’s no catchy name for this year’s IU recruiting class, á la last year’s “Movement.”
That doesn’t mean these players don’t have game, though.
Five players signed national letters of intent on Wednesday to play basketball at IU next season, with a sixth planning to sign next Monday.
The top name in the class is 6-foot-9, 222-pound forward Noah Vonleh, a Haverhill, Mass., native who signed his letter of intent during a webcast from New Hampton Prep in New Hampshire.
Vonleh, ranked seventh in the nation by Rivals.com, doesn’t want his size to preclude him from playing any position with the Hoosiers.
“I don’t want to have any numbers on my position,” he said. “I want to be a basketball player.”
Vonleh has the potential to be a one-and-done player in college, but he said, “However long it takes me to get to the NBA is however long it takes me. My goals will be to win a national championship and try to get myself high in the mock drafts.”
Before Vonleh’s late commitment to IU, the top commit in this year’s recruiting class for the Hoosiers was 6-6, 190-pound forward Troy Williams from Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. He is expected to sign his letter-of-intent Monday.
He’ll join a class heavy on big men. Also signing with IU on Wednesday: 6-10, 215-pound center Luke Fischer of Germantown, Wis.; 6-6, 200-pound forward Devin Davis of Warren Central; 6-7, 200-pound forward Collin Hartman of Cathedral; and 6-4, 185-pound guard Stanford Robinson out of Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nev.
The class is ranked No. 3 by Rivals.
The biggest question is how the Hoosiers will fit the six newcomers into the 13-scholarship limit. Only three Hoosiers — seniors Jordan Hulls, Derek Elston and Christian Watford — are guaranteed to leave Indiana after this season.
That would still leave 16 scholarship players on IU’s roster, although there’s speculation that Cody Zeller could leave early for the NBA, other players might transfer, and some of the newcomers could go to prep school before coming to IU.
The Hoosiers won’t have to resolve the oversign situation until classes begin in fall 2013.
