'09 IN SF R.J. Mahurin (LOI)

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Or maybe it comes down to the kid wanting to play here in Terre Haute, where he has grown up a huge ISU fan and watching the Sycamores play ball. A place his parents and grandparents can come and watch him play every home game.
 

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Here's hoping he stays with his commitment. :pray:

I hear he is a fantastic role model for the young kids in Rockville. Takes the time to talk with them, and they worship him up there. Never saw any of Kelvin Sampson's recruits doing that in Bloomington. They were way too into their street cred... :mad:
 
School major options should favor the Sycamores. He's says he's leaning towards business or (less likely) teaching/coaching. Pharmacy and engineering are out.

The whole recruiting process has been interesting to watch. It's such a huge decision for a kid, and these recruits are still kids. The lure of the "big time" and the consistent advice from friends, fans, and schoolmates can affect a decision such as RJ's. Couple that with outside "interest" and it's pretty tough. He's getting hit hardest by mid-majors...Illinois State, Miami of Ohio, and UT Chat, but there has also been some interest by Tennessee, Northwestern, and Purdue.

Obviously, he wants to stay close to home. However, I get the sense that, most importantly, he wants a chance to win at the college level. Coach McK's recent moves make ISU look more like they're going to be a winner. The Sycamores needed to be bigger, stronger, and more athletic; it looks like we've headed that way.

The allure of the packed gyms, big time games, and an NCAA tourney run could all happen here. Some of us have seen it a few times before. Having been both an RJ fan for years and an ISU fan even longer, I'm just hoping things work out!
 
I have heard the Spiece Indy Heat team is getting beaten on a regular basis! Wasn't RJ on a good team last year? Why the change??? He looks like he's strugging on this team, not a lot of ball sharing going on, very sad! RJ is still one of the better players on this Spiece Squad, but the team looks to be having problems competing in the big games!
 
what??? other schools still sniffing around?????

after the eric gordon situation last year between indiana and illinois, i am surprised -- shocked!!!! -- that schools would still pursue a high school player after he had verbally committed to attend another college.

sadly, such is life in big time college sports nowadays.
 
bm78sycamore said:
I have heard the Spiece Indy Heat team is getting beaten on a regular basis! Wasn't RJ on a good team last year? Why the change??? He looks like he's strugging on this team, not a lot of ball sharing going on, very sad! RJ is still one of the better players on this Spiece Squad, but the team looks to be having problems competing in the big games!
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Hard to call Indy Spiece a "bad team." They've made the championship game of two of the five tourneys they've entered. They did lose one of those championship games to last year's team...(the old SYF who is now also a Spiece team) by 3 points. It was a decent game that could have gone either way.

If you understand big time AAU basketball, you'll note that winning isn't what things are about. The current team is a very high profile group of all-stars who play that way. They do not practice, and it's all about firing up shots. There is no strategy or game planning involved. If you've got it, shoot it!

Like SYF, the current squad is hampered by guard play. They have no distributors...only scorers. The guards don't even realize they have DeSahwn Thomas on one the wing (not to mention Mahurin on the other). Lots of wild, double pump, throw it up over our head shots get taken..some even go in.

However, Mahurin likes this team, coaches, and situation much better than last year's. Both have been good experiences for him.

Check the Rockville website...lots of chances to see him play in June for the RHS team. Big games against TH North, Kokomo, TH South, etc... Tourneys at Rose Hulman. ISU, Purdue, Wabash, and DePauw. The July AAU schedule is also there.

More info at www.eteamz.com/rockville/
 

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I'm in no way saying that they are a bad team, they have, without a doubt plenty of talent to be on top all summer. They just didn't look like they worked well together as a team. And understand, that's just my opinion, not the gospel! My opinion and $4.25 will buy you a mocha cappacino with a squirt of almond syrup!

I just thought the team he played on last year played much better together, but that was a year ago, I could be way off base about that too.

I'm close (geographically)Terre Haute, so I'll have a chance to watch him and the Haute kids play on a regular basis. Really looking forward to it! June is here, summer leagues are a plenty!
 
The team RJ Mahurin played on last year isn't doing nearly as well. It's now a Spiece team too. He didn't play a great deal, and he was looking for a team most of the school season.
 
According to Indiana Scouting Report...

Top Small Forwards Pos. Ht. / Wt. Summer Team
1. D.J. Byrd (4 stars)
North Montgomery SF / 2G 6'4.5 / 210 Indiana Elite ONE
(Verballed to Purdue)
2. Kelsey Barlow (3.5 stars)
Indianapolis Cathedral SF 6'6 / 185 Spiece Rising Stars
(Verballed to Purdue)
3. R.J. Mahurin (3.5 stars)
Rockville SF 6'7.5 / 195 Spiece Indy Heat
(Verballed to Indiana State)
4. Morgan Newton (3.5 stars)
Carmel SF / 2G 6'4 / 225 SYF Players
5. Errick Peck (3.5 stars)
Indianapolis Cathedral SF / PF 6'5.5 / 210 Spiece Rising Stars
6. Charlie Duffy
Hamilton Southeastern SF 6'6 / 190 Indiana Premier
7. Drew Schauss
Centerville SF 6'4 / 200 Spiece Gym Rats
8. Marcus Jackson
Lawrence North SF / PF 6'5 / 205 Meanstreets
9. Stevie Loveless
Frankfort SF / 2G 6'5 / 185 Indiana Premier
10. Austin Whited
Columbus East SF 6'4 / 200 Indiana Premier
 
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Were the Rose Hulman summer league games re-scheduled by chance? I couldn't even get half way there due to the flooding? I am assuming these games were cancelled, but I would like to know if Rockville will be playing at Rose again soon due to this past "wet" weekend?

Thanks
 
No word on make-up dates. However, I'd expect Coach Shaw to try to throw something together!
 

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I stopped by there this afternoon, and they are going to try and get something re-scheduled soon! Thanks!

B Mo
 
Did he play in the Jr-Sr All-Star game at Washington last nite?
 
Went to the game...nearly didn't get home because of high water! RJ got to play about 10 minutes. Junior coaches stuck mostly with the core 6 players and treated the game more like a regular season game than an exhibition. It's really hard to play 12 kids meaningful minutes in a game, but some kids only played about half as much as RJ did. Needless to say there were some hard feelings after the game.

RJ looked nervous, especially at first, and only got two looks at the basket. Made a strong penetration move to the basket for his bucket and was fouled on a three. He missed two of his three free throws.

He had a blocked shot and defended pretty well overall. He seemed a little disappointed, like the other non-core players, that minutes were so few. However, in an interview he showed class...talked about the honor of being selected and thanked everyone involved.

He also scored 41 against TH North last night in a 8 point loss to the Patriots. It was the Rox's first chance to have their entire team together since baseball ended for the season.
 
Thanks for the report. Some seem to think he has some "athletic limitations" and he may. However, if he does, I don't believe they are that significant. AND, he can really score! I like is shot-blocking ability too. I've said it before: he blocked more shots last year than the two big kids combined at Washington.
 

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I get your drift on the "limitations." I'm starting to read that a lot on these web sites. However, I have no idea where the alleged "hip disorder" came from that I read about on another site...someone made that one up! Basically, he's a big kid with average quickness...and he's never really wanted to play much defense! His strength and athleticism have not quite caught up with his rapid growth, but those areas are improving each week right now.

Playing small high school basketball also hurts only because it makes the transition to these higher level events a little more overwhelming the first time or two he participates in them. There is also an adjustment in the speed, strength, and athleticism he encounters.

The only thing I know is that he is the best big man/swing man in west central Indiana and easily one of the top 10 juniors in the state of Indiana. No one seems to dispute those facts. Most of the other athletes in the program Monday night were committed to Indiana, Purdue, Butler, and other top flight D1 programs.

When I go to the AAU events and all-star IBCA events, he is the only athlete associated with the ISU men's program. It seems to me that he is the highest profile recruit ISU had landed in a while. However, the proximity to Terre Haute may have turned into a negative thing. It might be that going elsewhere would be a better solution. RJ gets bashed from players and AAU coaches for selecting ISU, and he gets bashed from ISU fans as not being good enough to play here. It's kind of an odd situation.

Being close to the family makes reading a lot of this stuff hard, but I also think it's wearing on RJ and his clan. It may be that the childhood dream of playing at Hulman Center could be better fulfilled as an opponent coming back to Terre Haute. There are at least two MVC programs drooling at the chance to scoop RJ up if he de-commits. Living the "Hoosiers" movie out in real life isn't all it's cracked up to be!

I'm not saying RJ is the next coming of Larry Bird, but there are a few similarities. Wasn't he a slow white kid from a small school who couldn't guard anyone but could score 40 on you? I wonder what all the experts said about him going to ISU?

No one ever knows how any recruit will ever pan out. RJ is a quality kid and a great high school player. I hope he sticks with his decision and gives us a chance. If not, I'll go watch him wherever he ends up.
 
He belongs at ISU and let nobody who has no idea about him change his mind! Most (99.9%) ISU fans I talk to want him here!!!!! And I talk to a whole hell of a lot of them!
:sycamores:
 
RJ, YOU BELONG AT ISU! LIVE YOUR DREAM AND HELP MAKE OUR COME TRUE, TOO!!! DON'T LISTEN TO ANYONE BUT COACH MCKENNA - HE'LL TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOU. AND ALWAYS REMEMBER - ISU FANS WANT YOU HERE!!!

WELCOME TO THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE TREE!!!
 
sycamore fan said:
and he gets bashed from ISU fans as not being good enough to play here. It's kind of an odd situation.
Click to expand...

If by ISU fans you mean a handful of fans on this message board then you're correct, some of them have said that he isn't good enough. I'd say over 95% of the board is excited about the prospects of him playing for ISU...I know I'm looking forward to seeing him wearing the blue of Indy St.

And I think the AAU guys who bust him out for not going BCS will soon find that maybe they could have made a bigger name for themselves as a Sycamore.
 
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