# Recruiting plea to Lansing...



## Jason Svoboda

Please quit spending so much time in Iowa and start hitting our backyard harder. There is way too much talent in the state, specifically the Indy metro area to look past for kids we have no chance with out of Iowa. I'm sure that was a McKenna directive, but it needs to change.

We're not Creighton. We're INDIANA STATE!


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## IndyTreeFan

I know a few coaches over here (Indy) who are very high on Coach Lansing.  Not sure how they felt about KMac, 'cause his name never came up.  When I talked about ISU to them, they always said, "Greg Lansing is a great coach.  Nice guy, too."  Seriously.  Heard that all the time.  Hopefully, he'll use those warm-fuzzy feelings to our benefit.


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## SycamoreinTexas

Amen!  Way too much talent in the Indy area to not get a couple from there.


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## BlueBleeder

Jason Svoboda said:


> Please quit spending so much time in Iowa and start hitting our backyard harder. There is way too much talent in the state, specifically the Indy metro area to look past for kids we have no chance with out of Iowa. I'm sure that was a McKenna directive, but it needs to change.
> 
> We're not Creighton. We're INDIANA STATE!




Lansing recruited Iowa because he has good relationships there and knows the territory.  He was an assistant coach at Iowa under Alford and recruited the state hard then....now that he has come back to ISU and alredy had the connection in Iowa.....why not keep the pipeline open to a known coach?  I see no problem recruiting Iowa however, i do agree we need to spend more time on locals and the Indy Metro area....there is a lot of talent here!


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## Jason Svoboda

BlueBleeder said:


> Lansing recruited Iowa because he has good relationships there and knows the territory. He was an assistant coach at Iowa under Alford and recruited the state hard then....now that he has come back to ISU and alredy had the connection in Iowa.....why not keep the pipeline open to a known coach? I see no problem recruiting Iowa however, i do agree we need to spend more time on locals and the Indy Metro area....there is a lot of talent here!


What have we landed out of Iowa?


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## SycamoreBlue3209

Jason Svoboda said:


> What have we landed out of Iowa?



Printy and almost clayton vette. lol


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## 4Q_iu

Jason Svoboda said:


> What have we landed out of Iowa?



Nate Green


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## Jason Svoboda

So 2.5 players in almost 10 years? On a limited recruiting budget? Yep, let's keep going in Iowa -- full steam ahead!


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## 4Q_iu

Jason Svoboda said:


> So 2.5 players in almost 10 years? On a limited recruiting budget? Yep, let's keep going in Iowa -- full steam ahead!



Nah -- I'm just messing with ya!!   I don't WHERE we get the players from; Wabash Valley ties are great as are kids from Indiana -- I just want legit MVC, Div I talent;   as few headcases as possible, good citizens, zero thugs.

So, if Lansing has to use his connections back to Iowa to grab better talent than he can recruit here -- so be it.

Don't misunderstand -- I don't want to miss out on a kid from Greencastle or Crawfordsville or The Haute who CAN and WANTS to be a Sycamore, I just want legit talent -- tired of .500 seasons (or .450...)


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## Jason Svoboda

Just about every year there are double the 3-star or higher prospects from Indiana that there are in Iowa. Over the last 5 or so years, Indiana averages 12-14 3-star or higher kids and Iowa has 6 to 8 -- I'm going off memory here. Cascade this down and you can see the impact. Additionally, I'm fully confident in stating that the kids in Indiana are much better than the Iowa kids.

I'm not saying completely ditch Iowa. I'm just saying that Indiana should be the primary focus and other midwestern states should be secondary. This should be understood when you realize how our recruiting budget pales in comparison to Valley foes, let alone bigger programs.

If there is a MVC-level kid from Indiana, do we have a better shot getting him head-to-head against Evansville and Southern Illinois over say a MVC-level kid from Iowa that has offers from Northern Iowa and Creighton?


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## TJames

*i'm sure greg will recruit inside out.....*

indiana first and foremost...and then branch out.....illinois...ohio...iowa...michigan.....kentucky.....and on from there......


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## Gotta Hav

IndyTreeFan said:


> I know a few coaches over here (Indy) who are very high on Coach Lansing.  Not sure how they felt about KMac, 'cause his name never came up.  When I talked about ISU to them, they always said, "Greg Lansing is a great coach.  Nice guy, too."  Seriously.  Heard that all the time.  Hopefully, he'll use those warm-fuzzy feelings to our benefit.



And all those guys said the same thing about Royce too.


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## Ong Hop

Assistant coaches do most of the recruiting. There is not another good recruiter on the staff to replace Greg once he's Head Coach. Soooo, there will have to be a change on the staff. A bulldog of a recruiter. PLUS, this coaching change will make getting key recruits you guys all want more likely.


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## Bally #50

Ong Hop said:


> Assistant coaches do most of the recruiting. There is not another good recruiter on the staff to replace Greg once he's Head Coach. Soooo, there will have to be a change on the staff. A bulldog of a recruiter. PLUS, this coaching change will make getting key recruits you guys all want more likely.



Chinaman, obviously, you know Greg and are confident with him. I am too, although I barely know him. I was hoping he would get the job a few years back and I too, have heard positive things from central Indiana coaches, but we'll have to see how that pans out. Thanks for your insightful comments. I clearly understand what you have been saying all along and I simply hope you are RIGHT~


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## bent20

We also just got a kid from Wisconsin. I say recruit where we can. I haven't heard that it costs us that much to recruit Iowa or any of the other states we've tried. A few drives and several long distance phone calls. What's that really amount to?


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## Jason Svoboda

bent20 said:


> We also just got a kid from Wisconsin. I say recruit where we can. I haven't heard that it costs us that much to recruit Iowa or any of the other states we've tried. A few drives and several long distance phone calls. What's that really amount to?


Apparently enough that Prettyman told McKenna to cut it back per Golden's Down in the Valley article.


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## Jason Svoboda

Ong Hop said:


> Assistant coaches do most of the recruiting. There is not another good recruiter on the staff to replace Greg once he's Head Coach. Soooo, there will have to be a change on the staff. A bulldog of a recruiter. PLUS, this coaching change will make getting key recruits you guys all want more likely.


This is good to hear if I think it is what I've had emailed to me this evening.


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## 4Q_iu

Gotta Hav said:


> And all those guys said the same thing about Royce too.



remind me again, the 'problems' with Royce?


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## SycamoreSage

Jason Svoboda said:


> What have we landed out of Iowa?



Though Jake Kelly is from Terre Haute/Marshall/Carmel, I doubt very much that he would have returned to Indiana State from Iowa if it were not for Greg Lansing


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## SycamoreBlue3209

Jason Svoboda said:


> This is good to hear if I think it is what I've had emailed to me this evening.



Can you reveal what this email consisted of? lol.


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## Sackalot

I still say that one of the best recruiting tools we have is the massive amount of teachers we have in this state and we don't use that resource well.  I don't have the answer to that, but it is reality.  You would be hard pressed to find a high school in Indiana that doesn't have a teacher that is an ISU grad...we need to reconnect with those teachers.  Sure the athletes are more likely to listen to coaches than a typical teacher, but it wouldn't hurt to have someone on the "academic" side supporting and suggesting that students and athelets attend ISU.


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## 4Q_iu

Sackalot said:


> I still say that one of the best recruiting tools we have is the massive amount of teachers we have in this state and we don't use that resource well.  I don't have the answer to that, but it is reality.  You would be hard pressed to find a high school in Indiana that doesn't have a teacher that is an ISU grad...we need to reconnect with those teachers.  Sure the athletes are more likely to listen to coaches than a typical teacher, but it wouldn't hurt to have someone on the "academic" side supporting and suggesting that students and athelets attend ISU.



maybe so but all of the ISU-alumni teachers I had in school were pushing kids to go to IU...  I'm still waiting for someone to explain that to me


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## Eleven

4Q_iu said:


> maybe so but all of the ISU-alumni teachers I had in school were pushing kids to go to IU...  I'm still waiting for someone to explain that to me



It's a problem... We need to get all of those teachers back on campus so that they can see the improvements to the ISU campus themselves.  It's time to reconnect with all of our alumni... talk to as many people as you can about coming to homecoming in the next couple of years.  Make plans to be in Terre Haute with them... get them to stay in the downtown hotel... 

We are going to have to start being the voice of the campus, talking to anyone that has "not so great" memories of Terre Haute, and get them to come back and see how much has changed... the city, downtown and ISU.

Starting with posts on message boards, and in talking to any alumni friends.... and emphatically correcting anyone that says bad things about ISU, instead of just letting it go.  All colleges have their problems, but we tend to let the bad be spoken without any recognition of the good things.


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## SycamoreBlue3209

Okay, so with verbals from Gant and Devonte Brown, I believe we still have two scholarships availiable for this class. What do you guys think we should be targeting the most??


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## pbutler218

Athletic big men please for a change!!!!


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## Callmedoc

pbutler218 said:


> Athletic big men please for a change!!!!



Two thumbs WAY WAY UP!


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## Little Eddie

I'd say another wing, preferrably a 6'5" or better 3 man to take the place of AC (Sr) and then Carl Richard (Jr)...w/ the other I'd go after a big man possibly but you do have Gant/Kitchell for four years (at least) and Walker for two years. Maybe get a combo guard would be more suitable? That way you have a back up to McW or Odum if they get hurt and then you have depth at both the 1 and the 2...

I guess I'm saying if they miss out on another big it's not the end of the world considering who they already have in the cupboard.


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## SycamoreBlue3209

It would be nice to have another small forward to replace Carter.  I would also like to see a true center to go behind Walker his senior year, you can then leave Gant at hisnatural positin, power forward.


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## sycamorebacker

I would say athletic wings or shooters.  
If you can't get a center that projects to be better than what we have, don't sign one.  We don't have a history of athletic big men and I don't think that is going to change soon.  Right now, I'm happy with what we have inside with Walker, RJ, Kitchell and Gant.  How many bigs do you people want????


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## bent20

sycamorebacker said:


> I would say athletic wings or shooters.
> If you can't get a center that projects to be better than what we have, don't sign one.  We don't have a history of athletic big men and I don't think that is going to change soon.  Right now, I'm happy with what we have inside with Walker, RJ, Kitchell and Gant.  How many bigs do you people want????



Good point. We've had a lot of big centers over the years who didn't have much talent and rarely saw any playing time.


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## SycamoreBlue3209

I was talking about another Walker type...  After he leaves you have Kitchell, Gant, and RJ.  Sorry, but I want to add a banger in there.  (Like Walker)


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## Sycamore Proud

We certainly could use a young Clyde Lovellette.  If Terre Haute gets another like Clyde, I hope we can keep him in town.


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## 4Q_iu

Sycamore Proud said:


> We certainly could use a young Clyde Lovellette.  If Terre Haute gets another like Clyde, I hope we can keep him in town.



they had Gred Oden and they couldn't get him to stay in town for High School! 

Looks like a bright future for the Trees!


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## Sycamore Proud

4Q_iu said:


> *they had Gred Oden and they couldn't get him to stay in town for High School!*
> 
> _Looks like a bright future for the Trees!_



*Hope we can do better next time.*

_Yes it does!  I think Lansing is the man to keep it looking up_


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## SycamoreStateofMind

4Q_iu said:


> they had Gred Oden and they couldn't get him to stay in town for High School!



Haha - why would he have stayed in town? He made the best possible decision he could for he and his family. Very similar to his decision to enter the NBA draft, yet again the best possible decision he could have made for himself and his family. For the most part his life has been full of good decisions you know - a few nude pictures online. He is a good kid and everything has worked out ok for him. Now if he could just stay healthy he'd have it figured out. 

As for the Sycamores - I think we are always looking for that diamond in the rough big guy that can come in and make a difference. I really like what they did this past year with Walker, JC is a great place for us to look for these guys. We are going to be hard-pressed to get a 6"9 plus All Star type player to come to Indiana State, it's just a rare breed and rare occasion that we get that kind of kid. The one's we have had in the past have flopped. 

I would take another 6"5 player that can shoot the ball - prefer them to very athletic. I think Jake Odum's size will surprise some of you. He is going to come in this year listed at just under 6"5 and he has great length. For a PG he has excellent hight and he should do just fine... The kid has for sure grown since high school.


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## 4Q_iu

Morgan said:


> Haha - why would he have stayed in town? He made the best possible decision he could for he and his family. Very similar to his decision to enter the NBA draft, yet again the best possible decision he could have made for himself and his family. For the most part his life has been full of good decisions you know - a few nude pictures online. He is a good kid and everything has worked out ok for him. Now if he could just stay healthy he'd have it figured out...



I have no idea why he left The Haute for HS in Indy; doesn't affect me in the slightest... But at his size (physically and talent-wise) -- he'd have been 'found' in The Haute...

Was he also the 'main / sole breadwinner' in the family when he was in HS??

Most of the HS kids I know don't make decisions for the family and if he already had his OWN family...   typically teenagers make rotten parents


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## sycamorebacker

Morgan said:


> I think we are always looking for that diamond in the rough big guy that can come in and make a difference. I really like what they did this past year with Walker, JC is a great place for us to look for these guys. We are going to be hard-pressed to get a 6"9 plus All Star type player to come to Indiana State, it's just a rare breed and rare occasion that we get that kind of kid. The one's we have had in the past have flopped.
> 
> I would take another 6"5 player that can shoot the ball - prefer them to very athletic.



Great minds think alike.


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## SycamoreStateofMind

4Q_iu said:


> I have no idea why he left The Haute for HS in Indy; doesn't affect me in the slightest... But at his size (physically and talent-wise) -- he'd have been 'found' in The Haute...
> 
> Was he also the 'main / sole breadwinner' in the family when he was in HS??
> 
> Most of the HS kids I know don't make decisions for the family and if he already had his OWN family...   typically teenagers make rotten parents



Well I guess when you are on free or reduced meals in middle school and your mom doesn't have a job and she has a brother to raise besides you, then you make the best decision for your family... Because maybe in the "bigger" city a job awaits or mother and it's not a matter of being discovered, rather a matter of carving a legacy as one of the best high school basketball players in the state of Indiana (not to get into a debate about that, we have an outstanding history of highschool hoop starts).

But we have had this discussion before - in attempt to keep things on topic. We are bringing in Gant and the PG/SG from Texas - what would you like to see us bring in next 4Q?


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## sycamorebacker

It's not that we have everything, but aren't we in a position to take the best available?  I don't think we have any holes to fill for this year or next year.


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## SycamoreBlue3209

Morgan said:


> I would take another 6"5 player that can shoot the ball - prefer them to very athletic. I think Jake Odum's size will surprise some of you. He is going to come in this year listed at just under 6"5 and he has great length. For a PG he has excellent hight and he should do just fine... The kid has for sure grown since high school.



Are you saying he was a good red shirt?! LOL.


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## give me heart

How many bigs do you people want????[/QUOTE]

As many as it takes.  Thats how many....If your bigs are playing the 4 and 5 and you want a back up for each then you need to at least have four.  Using the same equation for the guards playing the 1 and 2 you only need 4 of them.  Does that mean that the rest are all going to be 6 5" wings.  I think not.  BIG is BIG and hard to find.  Look and look until you find another.  That competition in practice won't hurt anyone. Neither will sharing game time.

And as a side note are we sure we have two scholarships available and not just one?


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## sycamorebacker

give me heart said:


> How many bigs do you people want????



As many as it takes.  Thats how many....If your bigs are playing the 4 and 5 and you want a back up for each then you need to at least have four.  Using the same equation for the guards playing the 1 and 2 you only need 4 of them.  Does that mean that the rest are all going to be 6 5" wings.  I think not.  BIG is BIG and hard to find.  Look and look until you find another.  That competition in practice won't hurt anyone. Neither will sharing game time.

And as a side note are we sure we have two scholarships available and not just one?[/QUOTE]

Well,  I still think we have everything we need. If we would have a chance to sign another big that's better than what we have, that's fine.  But we are in much, much better shape than we have been for a long time, if not forever. 
I think we had 4 schollies, Brandt's and the 3 seniors.  If we weren't so danged lazy, we could count them.


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## give me heart

Well,  I still think we have everything we need. If we would have a chance to sign another big that's better than what we have, that's fine.  But we are in much, much better shape than we have been for a long time, if not forever. 
I think we had 4 schollies, Brandt's and the 3 seniors.  If we weren't so danged lazy, we could count them.[/QUOTE]

hmmm, lets see are we stooping to name calling...if we weren't so danged stupid we would look a little deeper into the question.  Are you so sure that we will be entitle to the scholarships that we should have?  Or should I get off my lazy butt and spell it out for you.


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## sycamorebacker

give me heart said:


> Well,  I still think we have everything we need. If we would have a chance to sign another big that's better than what we have, that's fine.  But we are in much, much better shape than we have been for a long time, if not forever.
> I think we had 4 schollies, Brandt's and the 3 seniors.  If we weren't so danged lazy, we could count them.



hmmm, lets see are we stooping to name calling...if we weren't so danged stupid we would look a little deeper into the question.  Are you so sure that we will be entitle to the scholarships that we should have?  Or should I get off my lazy butt and spell it out for you.[/QUOTE]

I guess you took that wrong.  I'm wasn't trying to be atagonistic.  Didn't think I needed a smiley face.  Maybe you should read again.


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## 4Q_iu

Morgan said:


> Well I guess when you are on free or reduced meals in middle school and your mom doesn't have a job and she has a brother to raise besides you, then you make the best decision for your family... Because maybe in the "bigger" city a job awaits or mother and it's not a matter of being discovered, rather a matter of carving a legacy as one of the best high school basketball players in the state of Indiana (not to get into a debate about that, we have an outstanding history of highschool hoop starts).
> 
> But we have had this discussion before - in attempt to keep things on topic. We are bringing in Gant and the PG/SG from Texas - what would you like to see us bring in next 4Q?



Check your PMs WRT Oden

I don't care who/what Lansing and staff brings in, they know the holes to fill and how to do it, I don't care about a kids rep or recruiting profile -- I wait and see how they do once they get to school; I want good kids who want to be Sycamores; who have the skills and talent to play in the MVC; we'll likely never become a magnet for 'one and dones' and I'm fine with that.

I want hard-nosed, gritty, players who play hard, compete to the best of their skills/talent and get it done; I want good characters and good students; they don't have to be straight-A kids but I don't eligibility issues for grades, drugs or other 'character' issues.

I've no room for 'Eddie Haskells,'  'Derrick Colemans' or 'Shawn Kemps' -- I want a team to be proud of in the classroom AND the community as well as on the court.


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## Sycamore Proud

"I want hard-nosed, gritty, players who paly hard, compete to the best of their skills/talent and get it done; I want good characters and good students; they don't have to be straight-A kids but I don't eligibility issues for grades, drugs or other 'character' issues."

4Q_iu


We are in agreement 4Q.  There are a lot of kids like that, and we need to find them.  Off hand I can't think of a one and done who fits many of your criteria.  It's a shame that the one and dones get more PR than the kids you are talking about.  And I wonder how many here remember Eddie Haskell, especially the Eddie of the first time around?
:sycamores::sycamores::sycamores:


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## 4Q_iu

Sycamore Proud;56779...We are in agreement 4Q.  There are a lot of kids like that said:


> I think we have very few character issues; have had our share in the recent past, at times too many...  Hopefully, they remain in the past
> 
> I think Lansing and staff can / will find them; success breeds upon itself -- look at UConn (before Jim Calhoun); look at Duke (for the most part) before Mike Krzyzewski...
> 
> I'm not trying to make a direct comparison but Krzyzewski was close to being run out of town; you can point directly at his 1982 and 83 classes; Amaker, Dawkins, Alarie, etc -- MAJOR components of finishing 2nd in 1986; success breeds success.
> 
> As to Eddie Haskell... what was that line from June about the Beaver...


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## Little Eddie

4Q_iu said:


> I think we have very few character issues; have had our share in the recent past, at times too many...  Hopefully, they remain in the past
> 
> I think Lansing and staff can / will find them; success breeds upon itself -- look at UConn (before Jim Calhoun); look at Duke (for the most part) before Mike Krzyzewski...
> 
> I'm not trying to make a direct comparison but Krzyzewski was close to being run out of town; you can point directly at his 1982 and 83 classes; Amaker, Dawkins, Alarie, etc -- MAJOR components of finishing 2nd in 1986; success breeds success.
> 
> As to Eddie Haskell... what was that line from June about the Beaver...



Little Eddie...I wonder where that came from...  It was actually a nickname given to me by Kev's teammates at Creighton back in the late 70's. He was known as "Eddie" or "Fast Eddie"...I remember John C. Johnson calling me Little Eddie or Little Edwin. So Kev did have a sneaky side to him back in the day...


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