Indiana State

I am not buying every program mentioned is spending too much time in Indiana and that explains this plague on Indiana schools this year.

There are good coaches at these schools and hard working staff.

Besides, Butler and others have done well at times in the last 10-15 years.

I have no answer why it's this year.

Did someone say research project? It's snowing and work is slow .... so, here you go with a LONG post
First, the top 10-15 players in the state typically go to IU, PU, Notre Dame, Louisville, Xavier ... sporadically to other schools. We got Boogie out of the top 15 and KJ and Hazen ... after they transferred.
So the high major in-state or close to in-state schools that recruit Indiana are (number of players and record below)
Purdue - 19-3 with 11 players from Indiana including 3 of their top 6 scorers
TSIB (do we still call them that) - 16-5 with 6 Indiana players including their top scorer
Notre Dame - 15-7 with 2 Indiana players - one of which is Derrick Wesley's son
Buttler (are they high major?) - 11-10 and 4 Indiana kids
Louisville - 11-11 - 3 IN kids
Xavier - 15-5 - top 2 scorers are their IN kids


For the instate mid/low major teams
Us - 10-11 - 4 Indiana players. Sparks
Indiana State - 9-12 - 4 Indiana players - Nease is their leading scorer
IUPUI & Evansville only have 3 Indiana players each. IPFW and Valpo only have 2 each

As for the MAC
Toledo - 18-4 has Kooper Jacobi
Akron - 13-6 has 2, including Ali Ali
Miami - 9-11 has 4 including Mekhi Larry
WMU - 4-17 has 3

Other mid-majors with multiple Indiana players (this is the wild part)
Bellarmine - 14-8 (7-1 in conference) has a whopping 8 Indiana players including kids from Loogootee and Barr Reeve ... of course they are the only school in the country that still runs an organized offense and doesn't rely on athleticism and ball screens - there is a cool Youtube video on their offense)
Drake - 17-6 with 4 IN kids - including 3 starters and top 3 scorers
Loyola Chicago - 16-4 - 3 IN kids. Only Tate Hall contributes at this time
Army - 13-9 with 5 IN kids.

Other than that - there are 74 active, scholarship players at mid/low major schools. Of those - the highlights are:
Jalen Moore - 15 ppg at Oakland (16-5)
Jalen Adaway - 16.6 ppg at St. Bonaventure (12-6)
Garrett Covington - 10.3 ppg at Youngstown State (12-10)
Jack Ferguson - 12 ppg at Colgate (10-11, first in conference)
Josh Jefferson - 13.7 ppg at Middle Tennesee St (14-6)
Charlie Yoder - 13 ppg at Incarnate Word
Kevin Easley - leading rebounder, third leading scorer at Duquesne
Justin Roberts - 12 ppg at Georgia St
DeAndre Gholston - 15 ppg at Milwaukee

So to try to answer the questions:
Do the top 10-15 go high major - YES, typically - unless there is an issue with the player (see Boogie and grades)
Are the in state schools spending too much time recruiting Indiana? I'd say no. We have 4 Indiana players but are struggling with coaching, not talent. No other school has more than 4 players either (which I find super surprising). That could be why they are struggling??
Are there players outside the top 10-15 that we don't get that are worth going after? Yes, see Ali Ali, Mekhi Larry, Jalen Adaway ... etc
Can schools be successful leaning heavily on Indiana talent? Sure - see Bellarmine and Drake.

My opinion, you have to keep recruiting in state. That has to be your top focus. You can't let the talent in state go elsewhere, especially in conference. It always hurts a little more when we get killed by a player from Indiana who is playing elsewhere. Do you need all of your players from Indiana ... absolutely not, but we need to stay focused on our own state for sure. There is still a ton of talent even if it is just roll players and shooters. You need those players on a roster too.
Our problem isn't with talent and recruiting (other than a lack of PG play and quality big men over the past 9 years) it is with coaching and player development.

Just like at BSU, it's not about the players as much as it is about the coach.

It’s absolutely about the coach. Whitford has recruited players who should have ascended and just didn’t. We’ve had freshman of the year players who never got better. Hyped transfers who never really made the expected impact. Bigs who never develop. Guys who looked really good as soph/jrs and fell off the clifff as seniors. We’ve had and have kids who barely get off the bench, ever. Players come and go. The coach? Same one for 9 years now. The results with all those ballyhooed All Stars?  Meh. 

Throwing conversation about Sparks in here too. Sparks has been a huge surprise to EVERYONE, including the staff. Having said that, the kid has shown a very high motor, passion, and fiery competitiveness. Y'all really think he stays here with a low key coach who is more interested in trusting the 'process' and "doing things the 'right' way than winning at a high level?

Let's be honest... this kid probably won't develop a whole lot here unless he does it on his own, nor will he win anything of significance as long as Whitford remains in charge. As far as I'm concerned, he's likely already gone and just auditioning at this point. I think Sellers is likely gone too.

Davenport is a smart and humble dude.

Looking at all those mids in Indiana, the common denominator is recent coaching change save for us and Valpo who seem to be on the same 10 year plan for success. 

jAnd that work up there ^^^^^^ is really good. Coaches from all over the country still look in Indiana for players even if they are not like  Jack Owens with deep Indiana ties. We have role players and leaders with Basketball Smarts all over the place.