Hello, me again.
I spent Saturday basically loitering at practice for the Indy Heat grassroots program's 15- and 16-and-under programs' practice, but also jumping over to Noblesville for one game of Cooper Koch's and Flory Bidunga of Indiana Elite's 2024 team.
This was mostly just to watch and stuff, but I'll have a couple stories on Koch and Trent Sisley to come, but here are a couple of quick notes or whatever ...
The game I saw Koch play in was not peer-level competition, a classic lots-to-little warmup weekend fodder, it's not hard to figure out why Koch is gonna be as highly recruited as he is. He's a legit 6-8 probably, 195 pounds, and can play inside and out. He looks great shooting threes, he can post, he can handle, he makes the right passes and he can post. Fundamentally sound young man who seems to 'know how to play.'
I saw Koch last summer too in Birmingham not knowing who he was and he jumped off the page then.
My personal opinion is that not only might it be difficult for him and his family to say no to Iowa, but it might be even harder to say no to Iowa and go somewhere else in the Big Ten. He says his family's committed to him doing whatever he wants, whatever he thinks is best.
Koch visited Purdue twice during the season and said of all his visits to Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana this season, Purdue was the best environment.
The Purdue 2025 target is playing up with Indy Heat's 16U team.
He's sort of like Koch as a player — multi-faceted forward who can shoot, handle and post and has some maturity to his game. We'll see where Sisley ends up physically. Right now, he's probably 6-6, 6-7, but his brother, Blake, is at least 6-8, and his father's probably around there, too. Sisley is pretty far along from a skills perspective, I suspect, and now it's a matter of his body developing. Obviously, he's really young. He has Purdue and Indiana offers already. We'll see what happens this spring and summer once people see him play. Few have to this point, most likely.
Sisley is one of two 2025 in-state players with Purdue offers already who are playing up with Indy Heat's 16s team, the other being Jalen Haralson of Fishers, who is just a grown man and bound to be a national recruit. He's all of 6-5 and a legit point guard. Really advanced player.
Also on Indy Heat's 16U team is Brownsburg's Kanon Catchings. I'm not sure I see a world in which Catching isn't a high-major, Purdue-level target, but he's still a work in progress. Unbelievable height and length with good athleticism, a good-looking shot and incredible genes. Seems to try hard and has some defensive instincts. Body has to develop, but me being about to call a high school sophomore a "late bloomer" tells how ridiculous this projection game is haha.
Lastly, another look at Flory Bidunga, the Congo native who goes to school in Kokomo.
He's not nearly as raw as a lot of big guys who come over are, and he's got a really strong body, which also belies the norm for players of his circumstances. He's really active, really sudden, seems really enthusiastic. He doesn't fight the ball as much as some guys who are just learning to play do.
No one's really recruiting him yet beside Purdue and Indiana having gone to watch him play. He'll get 20 offers this summer, if you ask me.
I spent Saturday basically loitering at practice for the Indy Heat grassroots program's 15- and 16-and-under programs' practice, but also jumping over to Noblesville for one game of Cooper Koch's and Flory Bidunga of Indiana Elite's 2024 team.
This was mostly just to watch and stuff, but I'll have a couple stories on Koch and Trent Sisley to come, but here are a couple of quick notes or whatever ...
The game I saw Koch play in was not peer-level competition, a classic lots-to-little warmup weekend fodder, it's not hard to figure out why Koch is gonna be as highly recruited as he is. He's a legit 6-8 probably, 195 pounds, and can play inside and out. He looks great shooting threes, he can post, he can handle, he makes the right passes and he can post. Fundamentally sound young man who seems to 'know how to play.'
I saw Koch last summer too in Birmingham not knowing who he was and he jumped off the page then.
My personal opinion is that not only might it be difficult for him and his family to say no to Iowa, but it might be even harder to say no to Iowa and go somewhere else in the Big Ten. He says his family's committed to him doing whatever he wants, whatever he thinks is best.
Koch visited Purdue twice during the season and said of all his visits to Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana this season, Purdue was the best environment.
The Purdue 2025 target is playing up with Indy Heat's 16U team.
He's sort of like Koch as a player — multi-faceted forward who can shoot, handle and post and has some maturity to his game. We'll see where Sisley ends up physically. Right now, he's probably 6-6, 6-7, but his brother, Blake, is at least 6-8, and his father's probably around there, too. Sisley is pretty far along from a skills perspective, I suspect, and now it's a matter of his body developing. Obviously, he's really young. He has Purdue and Indiana offers already. We'll see what happens this spring and summer once people see him play. Few have to this point, most likely.
Sisley is one of two 2025 in-state players with Purdue offers already who are playing up with Indy Heat's 16s team, the other being Jalen Haralson of Fishers, who is just a grown man and bound to be a national recruit. He's all of 6-5 and a legit point guard. Really advanced player.
Also on Indy Heat's 16U team is Brownsburg's Kanon Catchings. I'm not sure I see a world in which Catching isn't a high-major, Purdue-level target, but he's still a work in progress. Unbelievable height and length with good athleticism, a good-looking shot and incredible genes. Seems to try hard and has some defensive instincts. Body has to develop, but me being about to call a high school sophomore a "late bloomer" tells how ridiculous this projection game is haha.
Lastly, another look at Flory Bidunga, the Congo native who goes to school in Kokomo.
He's not nearly as raw as a lot of big guys who come over are, and he's got a really strong body, which also belies the norm for players of his circumstances. He's really active, really sudden, seems really enthusiastic. He doesn't fight the ball as much as some guys who are just learning to play do.
No one's really recruiting him yet beside Purdue and Indiana having gone to watch him play. He'll get 20 offers this summer, if you ask me.
