Here’s the hard truth about recruits from the state of Indiana historically, particularly since the beginning of the 21st Century and maybe forever: they either aren’t that good, or they want to leave the state.
They’ll go anywhere to get out of Indiana. They’ll go to Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, anywhere. Historically, if a coach from outside of the state could sell an Indiana recruit on their program’s rise, they likely had a better shot at landing the recruit than any school in Indiana — except Notre Dame, of course. Austin Mack, Ben Skowronek, Hunter Johnson, Pete Werner, Markese Stepp, Dawand Jones, and Cole Brevard are just some of the top in-state recruits who have left the state and played since 2016, whether out of a lack of recruitment from in-state schools or because there was simply better opportunity at other programs not named Notre Dame.
Parachuting, or swooping in for a state’s best recruits in any given class, was always a simple task in Indiana. But that’s beginning to change, as has been evidenced by three 2022 four-star commitments to Indiana from within the Hoosiers’ own state — the latest being Fort Wayne offensive lineman DJ Moore, who selected Indiana on Monday afternoon over offers from Ohio State, Oregon, Arizona State, Penn State, and others.
Of course, Indiana shouldn’t be expected to regularly compete with blue-blood programs like Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, etc. just yet, but Tom Allen has been fighting the Indiana in-state stigma for quite some time. He has repeatedly made it known since being named Indiana’s head coach after the 2016 season that he wants to bring Indiana recruits to Indiana, and he’s followed through on those claims. He takes his crimson helicopter to Indianapolis several Friday nights per season to see recruits play, and he travels to Fort Wayne, a growing market for football talent that was rarely picked before Allen made the effort — Moore’s first college visit was to Bloomington when his Snider teammate, Randy Holtz, also visited. Allen also signed a contract extension and has incessantly worked to create his own brand for the program, which is clearly and directly tied to his values within the sport.
However, this hasn’t always paid off. Ky Montgomery signed with Missouri, Rodney McGraw flipped to Penn State, Josh Fryar remained steady with Ohio State, Zen Michalski committed to Ohio State almost immediately after receiving the offer, David Bell (who did stay in-state) eventually settled with Purdue. No recruit was a bigger in-state recruiting loss, though, than Deontae Craig. The Indiana fanbase watched as Allen repeatedly put himself out there for the defensive end — even pictured hanging out with Craig at an IU Basketball game — but the D-lineman out of Northeast Indiana remained strong with Iowa. That loss, even given all of the wins (Sampson James, Reese Taylor, Beau Robbins, Donaven McCulley, Cooper Jones), seemed to place a ceiling on Indiana’s potential within the state.
This recruiting cycle, though, has blown all of that to pieces. Flipping national top-50 prospect Dasan McCullough from Ohio State could be seen as an anomaly, given how his father, Deland, accepted the position as running backs coach this offseason, but no one can deny the new painting of reality that the commitments of Moore and Lawrence North wide receiver Omar Cooper create.
Obviously, this doesn't happen without Indiana’s success on the field. When the state’s flagship program vaults into the top-10 and records its first eight-win season since 1993, recruits are going to listen when Allen or another recruiter enters the room.
But in a day when Indiana finds its football talent increasingly stronger with each cycle, it would almost be acceptable for Indiana to miss on some of these prospects. They most likely will, as the in-state stigma continues to fade, but that stigma fading at all is worth celebrating. Now, these kids know there’s a place to go — a place where they can play on national television, win against major opponents in the Big Ten, and potentially go to the NFL — if they have talent and/or aren’t recognized by Notre Dame. Indiana’s newest commits were telling that to Moore, and Moore recognizes it himself.
----
• Talk about it inside The Hoops Forum or The Football Forum
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Follow us on Twitter: @IndianaRivals
• Like us on Facebook.
