July 8-10, 2002 The Hoosier Shootout was moved from Indianapolis to Bloomington this year to take advantage of the facilities in the Bloomington Sports Complex. The NCAA certified summer event allowed recruiting evaluation but no contact by college coaches. The coaches were carefully segregated in folding chairs beneath each goal and behind crime scene tape. Above the designated coaching seating area were large signs specifying that this was a no contact period. NCAA observers wandered between courts making sure no hanky panky was taking place.
There were no breathtaking recruiting revelations to be found this week. I scouted a few different teams just to get a feel for some of the other players in the state. I came away with the distinct impression that Indiana's class of 2003 is not nearly as deep as 2002. Having said that, several of the state's better players were at the Nike camp in Indianapolis. I bumped into Pedro Spicer again. Pedro wanted me to know that a recruiting guru's assertion that Ball State had backed off of his son Chaz was false. He said that Coach Buckley is still recruiting Chaz. He also set the record straight… Pedro stands 6'11" tall. [view all photos taken at the Hoosier Shootout this year] First Impressions:Note: Click on a player's name to see all photos of that player in the database Anthony (Tony) Passley (class of 2004) - Reggie Tisdale of Indiana Basketball News has reported recently that Ball State is actively recruiting Tony. For more on Tony's recruitment, I recommend a subscription to Reggie's recruiting service. Reggie is expanding his coverage to include Illinois, so Indiana Basketball News has become my primary source of subscription based recruiting information. Anthony Passley is a power forward trapped in a shooting guard's body. His work around the basket and utilization of short power drives to the rim is fantastic. Tony is what I have in mind when I talk about the post up skills of big guards. He would eat up most MAC guards in the paint and probably demand a double team. Tony has a respectable face up jump shot, but as with his forward mentality, his first thought when coming off of a pick is to attack the basket instead of shooting a jumper. Tony is a good athlete with fair speed… he has good size for a guard but a little undersized for a forward. I don't want to start unfair comparisons, but when I watch Tony's play near the basket, I am reminded of Chandler Thompson. AJ Ratliff (class of 2004) - AJ is well thought of in recruiting circles. AJ has a very nice jumper with three-point range and very good speed. He made difficult plays seem routine. He is athletic enough to dunk off of the break. NaQuan Jackson (class of 2003) - Obscenely long arms help NaQuan be more effective in the paint than he normally should be at his height. He is fairly athletic with decent ball handling skills. He is able to attack the basket with authority. My impression of NaQuan was that he plays with a great deal of emotion... sometimes good or sometimes bad depending on the situation. NaQuan is well regarded in most recruiting circles, but his jumper did not seem to be falling on Monday or Tuesday. NaQuan is a D1 recruit for his ball handling, physical & athletic attributes even if he had a couple bad games offensively. Tyrone Miller (class of 2005) - Tyrone will only be a sophomore next season but his development merits study. His athletic ability and speed caught my eye in the first game. He took over the second game and led his team to victory. Then in the third game, he laid an egg. When focused, Tyrone is a one man, press-breaking speed merchant, with a good jumper and a nice eye for the assist. He was scary good in the second game I saw… I hope it wasn't just an aberration. Tyrone will need to refine his ball handling somewhat to take his game to next level. Bil Duany (class of 2004) - Bil sat out of school for an entire year due to back surgery. He has been granted a redshirt year by the IHSAA so he is now a member of the class of 2004. Bil has two older brothers that played D1 college basketball. I did not notice any significant residual issues from Bil's surgery aside from the fact that he didn't get as much playing time as I would have hoped. Bil has a decent looking jump shot and he is fairly athletic. He was able to penetrate on his defender on occasion. At this stage in his development Bil is a solid mid major 2 or 3 recruit. Rodney Wash (class of 2003) - Very similar in build and height to Bil Duany, but Rodney is more refined at this point. Never heard of or had seen Rodney prior to Monday… I was pleasantly surprised. Rodney is somewhat skinny and a little small for a college level small forward, but he makes up for his shortcomings with athleticism, a nice jumper and a surprisingly effective low post game. Sam Pharr (class of 2003) - Built like a NFL defensive end… well muscled and big boned. At his current level of competition, opposing players bounce off of Sam like balls in a pin ball machine. He has a tendency to pick up fouls because in every collision Sam is both the unstoppable force *and* the immovable object. Sam makes a good target in the low post. He has a nice drop step toward the baseline. When he pivots in the other direction, towards the center of the paint, he has a tendency to put up a lower percentage one-handed floater. Sam is fairly athletic for his mass, but his size limits his vertical jumping ability. Effective free throw shooter. Needs to develop his jumper further to make opposing defenders play him honestly. Jason Okrzesik (class of 2003) - Harv Schmidt of Illinois Bullseye Prep Report has mentioned that Coach Buckley and his staff have targeted Jason. It is hard to comment on Jason's offense when he played a very unselfish point guard game for his team. I only saw Jason shoot a few times. At the end each quarter, he was very effective at getting enough space and putting down last second shots. Jason has adequate speed and decent athletic ability.
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