A bit of historical analysis that I believe reflects how recruiting the state of Indiana has changed in recent years:
From 1939 - 2000, there were 64 Indiana Mr. Basketballs. Guess how many went to Notre Dame OR a B1G school other than Purdue or Indiana? Only ONE, in 1985, when Jeff Grose from Warsaw went to Northwestern. (The linked article below shows that Grose didn't get an IU or Purdue offer.)
Now from 2001 - 2015, there were 15 Mr. Basketballs. SEVEN of those 15 went to Notre Dame or a B1G school other than Purdue or IU. (Notre Dame's first Indiana Mr. Basketball ever wasn't until 2001!)
So it went from 1 in 64, to 7 in 15. That is a dramatic shift, and it's been a direct benefit to Notre Dame and B1G schools such as Michigan State, Ohio State and Michigan. And it's been a direct detriment to Purdue and IU, because whereas before they had an imperfect but pretty good grip on in-state talent, it's definitely been slipping in recent years.
I post this because I feel like some of our younger fans may only remember a time when MSU or OSU or Michigan could come into the state of Indiana and pull out a great recruit that IU and Purdue want. But in reality that was very very rare before Izzo, Matta and Beilein, in fact almost non-existent. Now it's commonplace. And that's a problem.
Grose didn't get a Purdue or IU offer
From 1939 - 2000, there were 64 Indiana Mr. Basketballs. Guess how many went to Notre Dame OR a B1G school other than Purdue or Indiana? Only ONE, in 1985, when Jeff Grose from Warsaw went to Northwestern. (The linked article below shows that Grose didn't get an IU or Purdue offer.)
Now from 2001 - 2015, there were 15 Mr. Basketballs. SEVEN of those 15 went to Notre Dame or a B1G school other than Purdue or IU. (Notre Dame's first Indiana Mr. Basketball ever wasn't until 2001!)
So it went from 1 in 64, to 7 in 15. That is a dramatic shift, and it's been a direct benefit to Notre Dame and B1G schools such as Michigan State, Ohio State and Michigan. And it's been a direct detriment to Purdue and IU, because whereas before they had an imperfect but pretty good grip on in-state talent, it's definitely been slipping in recent years.
I post this because I feel like some of our younger fans may only remember a time when MSU or OSU or Michigan could come into the state of Indiana and pull out a great recruit that IU and Purdue want. But in reality that was very very rare before Izzo, Matta and Beilein, in fact almost non-existent. Now it's commonplace. And that's a problem.
Grose didn't get a Purdue or IU offer
