In the second post of my "Off Season" series, previewing the 2012-13 Indiana Hoosier basketball season, I'm going to go through some possible scenarios that Coach Crean will consider with regards to the team's current scholarship situation. With the return of both Christian Watford and Cody Zeller (see my reaction here), as well as, the arrival of The Movement, the Hoosiers will have 14 scholarship players. That is one more than the 13 scholarships that the NCAA allows.
Had a similar situation happened over the last four years, I could easily give a laundry list of players that I would prefer to see transfer or give up a scholarship to make room ... but this year, not so much. For the first time that I can remember, the Hoosiers have 12 legitimate D1 players on their roster. In all likelihood, we will have potential future first round draft picks coming off the bench next year. I don't want to see any changes to our current roster, but something obviously has to give. Below, I will go through a few possible solutions, how I would react to those solutions, and how likely I think they will happen.
1. Austin Etherington gives up his scholarship. When you look up and down the returning scholarship players on the roster, Etherington stands out as the player who didn't get as much playing time or make that much of an impact. I know a lot of people will throw out the suggestion to just red-shirt him for his sophomore year. The assumption people make here is that because he doesn't play his scholarship won't count. Wrong. Players that red-shirt who receive a scholarship still count against the maximum amount the NCAA allows. I do think this makes the most sense based on the amount of playing time, or lack there of, Etherington will see next year ... but I think this is the least likely thing to happen. Tom Crean is as loyal as they come. Etherington was the first domino to fall in the 2012 class and as soon as he committed he devoted his time to recruiting Cody Zeller which ultimately lead to The Movement. How much impact Etherington had recruiting Zeller? No one for sure knows, but I expect Crean to honor Etherington's commitment before the resurrection occurred.
2. Cody Zeller gives up his scholarship. Let's crunch some numbers real quick. Zeller has two older brother's. Both of them received full rides to Notre Dame and North Carolina respectively. Tyler will be making six figures in the NBA next season. Cody is already projected to be the #1 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft and will himself be making six figures. You would think if there was one player on the Hoosiers current roster that would not be affected financially by giving up a scholarship it would be Zeller. It also wouldn't be first time we've seen the star player of a collegiate team make this kind of sacrifice. Freshman center and highly touted recruit Andre Drummond decided to walk on to Connecticut's basketball team, just last season, rather than take a scholarship that a teammate had to have given up . He knew that he would be entering the NBA Draft the following year and didn't want to take anything away from someone who was probably staying all four years. I don't know how likely this scenario is, but I do know that if it does happen, it's a sign pointing to the fact that Zeller will be entering the draft after next season.
3. Someone from The Movement attends a prep school. Let me be more specific, it would either be Peter Jurkin or Ron Patterson. Of those two I would say the more likely to happen would be Ron Patterson based on depth. Had Remy Abell not come on late in the season and proven himself to be a viable back-up this would be a little bit more cloudy for me. But when you look at the Hoosier's depth in the front court I think it's safe to say that Peter Jurkin needs to be on our roster. Right now our front court is Cody Zeller, Hanner Perea, which Perea could find himself in the starting lineup at some point during the season. Should that happen, that would only leave Derek Elston on the bench as a back up. In a crunch situation, Watford could play the 4, but after his best season in candy stripes playing his true position, why would we ever put him back down low?
Anything at this point is just pure speculation. Without a doubt I think Crean has more than earned the trust of Hooiser Nation which is why there is nothing close to panic regarding this situation. However this situation works itself out, the Hoosiers are on their way to their first preseason number one ranking since the 1979-80 season and a lock for their first top five preseason ranking since 1992-93. It only took Crean 4 full seasons to bring the Hoosiers back into the national spotlight. In my opinion, it was well worth the wait.
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