Go North Young Man! Players from the B1G footprint still in the tournament
One of the stories of the tournament for me are the seemingly large number of kids that got away--players that weren't even recruited by the major schools in their home state that are now playing and in some cases starring somewhere else.
There are the obvious, of course: GR3's father's jersey hangs from the rafters at Purdue. Traevon Jackson's father's jersey hangs from the rafters at OSU. Frank Kaminsky only got a single out-of-state offer and Illinois showed no interest, now he's blocking six shots in a Sweet Sixteen game.
But it's more than that. There are six Indiana players with significant roles for teams still in the tournament at this late stage--they've combined for 144 minutes, 55 points and 25 rebounds per game. No Indiana school even made the tournament.
Five Illinois players are stil in, combining for 126 minutes, 54 points, 15 rebounds and a couple of blocks per game. No Illinois school made the tournament.
OSU is gone but nine Ohio players are still in, combining for 201 minutes, 90 points, 34 rebounds and 13 assists per game. Sibert transferred to UD from OSU, OSU whiffed on Payne and Nigel Hayes, but the other six they didn't even offer.
Here's the full list of players from the B1G footprint that are still in the tournament, have averaged at least five minutes per game and aren't playing for their home B1G school. Iowa doesn't get dinged for players at Iowa State--that's an in-state power-conference team and they deserve their share. But OSU gets fully dinged for losing players to an in-state mid-major.
If Illinois and Indiana and Purdue want to know what's gone wrong, they can start right here. OSU might want to pay attention too.
(And Pennsylvania is not in the B1G basketball footprint.)
Illinois:
Wayne Blackshear
19.5 minutes, 6 points, 1.4 rebounds
refused Illinois offer
Ryan Boatright
39.5 minutes, 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
no Illinois offer
Ben Brust
27 minutes, 14.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists
no Illinois offer
Frank Kaminsky
29 minutes, 15.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 2.3 blocks
no Illinois offer
Kendall Pollard
11 minutes, 4.7 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1 steal
no Illinois offer
Indiana:
Spike Albrecht
9.5 minutes, 2.5 points, 1 assist
no Indiana or Purdue offer
Branden Dawson
30.5 minutes, 18 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1 steal
refused Indiana and Purdue offers
Gary Harris
31.5 minutes, 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals
refused Indiana and Purdue offers
Zak Irvin
14.5 minutes, 3 points
refused Indiana and Purdue offers
Glen Robinson III
35.5 minutes, 14 points, 6 rebounds, 1.5 steals
Purdue legacy
no Indiana or Purdue offer
Stephan Van Treese
22.5 minutes, 4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks
no Indiana or Purdue offer
Michigan:
Monte Morris
33 minutes, 14 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.5 steals
no Michigan or MSU offer
Devin Oliver
29.7 minutes, 10 points, 7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1 steal
no Michigan or MSU offer
James Young
35 minutes, 10 points, 6.5 rebounds
refused MSU offer
Ohio:
Nigel Hayes
16.7 minutes, 7.3 points, 4 rebounds, 1.3 assists
refused OSU offer
Traevon Jackson
29 minutes, 13.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists
OSU legacy
no OSU offer
Matt Kavanaugh
20.3 minutes, 7.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1 steal
no OSU offer
Caris LeVert
32.5 minutes, 10 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists
no OSU offer
Adreian Payne
27 minutes, 26.5 points, 6 rebounds
refused OSU offer
Jalen Robinson
11.7 minutes, 3 points, 2.3 rebounds
no OSU offer
Terry Rozier
12.5 minutes, 2 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1 steal
no OSU offer
Jordan Sibert
28 minutes, 12.3 points, 4 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.3 steals
transferred from OSU
Travis Trice
23.5 minutes, 12 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists
no OSU offer
Wisconsin:
Phillip Nolan
8 minutes, 3.5 points, 2 rebounds
no Wisconsin offer
Matt Thomas
11.5 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist
refused Wisconsin offer
Caris?
Adding him now. He was the very first one I put on, and somehow he must have gotten cut in a cut-and-paste.
Thanks for the heads up.
No worries at all. It is an interesting analysis to see players who left their home states. The Indiana players are especially intriguing to me since IU and Purdue both missed the NIT this year.
And Valpo. And Ball State. And Evansville.
I'm pretty sure IPFW was the only Indiana school to win a game in a postseason tournament (I mean post-conference-tournament-tournament). They beat Akron in the CIT.
This was just players averaging >5 mpg in the tournament, so no McGary.
As for GRIII:
"We recruited him, and we actually ran out of scholarships," Painter told reporters Monday during a teleconference. "We really liked him, he was a good player, he really made strides from his sophomore to junior year (of high school). ... He's a great kid. He's really worked hard. He has a good feel and knows how to play.
Morris was a Michigan offer. IIRC, it was 3 offers to Demetrius Jackson, Walton, and Morris. Whoever committed first got the spot.
There might have been other stories like this on here too. I pulled the offer lists from Rivals, and there's no distinction there between an offer that's pulled and one that's never made--they're both invisible. Maybe the accurate thing to say in each case would be "no offer on the table when he committed."