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'07 IN SG Eric Gordon (Indiana Verbal)

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ChicagoSun-Times

Gordon bounces Illinois
Star guard withdraws earlier commitment, chooses Indiana


October 14, 2006

BY HERB GOULD AND MICHAEL O'BRIEN Staff Reporters

CHAMPAIGN -- Bruce Weber no longer has his best recruit.

In a major setback for Illinois basketball, Indianapolis North Central shooting guard Eric Gordon withdrew his verbal commitment to Weber late Thursday and committed to Indiana.
''Both coaches are great,'' Gordon's father, Eric Gordon Sr., told the Indianapolis Star on Friday, indicating that Gordon, who could turn pro after one year of college, decided it would be simpler to stay close to home.
''This will be an easy transition from high school to college. If you say basketball is a wash and you look at the school, the location, everything, he's made the best decision. I have to say Indiana is the best place for him.''
Weber is barred by NCAA rules from commenting. But considering the way the Gordon situation unfolded, Friday the 13th shapes up as one of the darkest days in his four years at Illinois.
Ignoring the commitment Gordon gave to Weber last November after he was hired at Indiana in March, new IU coach Kelvin Sampson, who preached integrity when he was president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, put a full-court press on the 6-4 guard, who is listed as the nation's No. 1 prospect by recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons.
''To lose the nation's No. 1 prospect is totally devastating to Illinois recruiting,'' Gibbons said. ''They had hoped to sign Eric Gordon and [Simeon's] Derrick Rose at one time. Now Illinois has lost them both. The impact is unfortunate because Bruce Weber is a good guy who does things the right way. All he could do was hope [Gordon] would stick to his word. So much for ethics.''
Among the tactics that raised eyebrows, Sampson hired Jeff Meyer, who was the elder Gordon's coach at Liberty University, as an assistant. Sampson, who was sanctioned for breaking NCAA rules at Oklahoma by making myriad recruiting phone contacts, also hired Travis Steele, a coach for the younger Gordon's AAU team, as a video coordinator.
This late defection leaves Illinois, which has recruited two big men and a point guard for the November signing period, scrambling for another shooting guard.
The chances of signing a fourth recruit are remote because at this point, all of the top prospects are taken.
Weber will take a lot of unfair heat from disappointed fans for again coming up short.
Players Illinois coveted but did not land include Julian Wright (Homewood-Flossmoor) and Sherron Collins (Crane), who both chose Kansas; Shaun Livingston (Peoria Central) and Jon Scheyer (Glenbrook North), who both chose Duke; Evan Turner (St. Joseph), who chose Ohio State, and the still-deciding Rose (Simeon), who didn't even put Illinois on his short list of five schools.
But considering that Gordon will be a short-termer in college, the greater damage involves the perception problem as well as missing out on other prospects because Gordon supposedly had committed.
''The only problem now is, he's going to have to answer a lot of questions,'' Gordon's father said. ''The Illinois fan base is going to be disappointed, and he's the kind of kid that's a pleaser, so that's going to be hard. That's one reason this decision was so tough. [But] he had to do what's best for himself.''
Saying the Gordon recruitment is the craziest situation he's seen in the 20 years he has been a recruiting analyst, Roy Schmidt of the Illinois Prep Bulls-Eye Report sympathized with the way the events unfolded.
''None of this was Weber's fault,'' Schmidt said. ''I don't care what school Eric Gordon chooses. This sends the wrong message when it comes to how to recruit any student-athlete. It says that verbal commitments are non-binding. It says you can go back on your word.''

One X factor in the Gordon recruitment was the departure of Mike Davis and the arrival of Sampson, who wasn't going to let a verbal commitment interfere with stopping the flow of prep stars to out-of-state schools. That group includes national prep player of the year Greg Oden and his Lawrence North teammate Mike Conley to Ohio State, Carmel's Josh McRoberts to Duke, Bloomington North's Sean May to North Carolina and Richmond's Dominic James to Marquette.
Weber is likely to take the high road in public encounters with the new Indiana coach.
But the Gordon episode is likely to turn up the heat on the Illinois-Indiana rivalry, which already has had its share of heated moments.
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Among the tactics that raised eyebrows, Sampson hired Jeff Meyer, who was the elder Gordon's coach at Liberty University, as an assistant. Sampson, who was sanctioned for breaking NCAA rules at Oklahoma by making myriad recruiting phone contacts, also hired Travis Steele, a coach for the younger Gordon's AAU team, as a video coordinator.

we shouldn't be surprised, but this is awfully disappointing to read. sampson is immediately creating enemies among the big ten coaches.

stay away from offutt, sampson! :mad1:
 
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that sucks for weber and all of illinois' fans. sampson doesn't seem to have many boundaries that he isn't willing to cross. if it really is true what weber says that it is an unwritten rule you just don't recruit verbals then this makes sampson look like a shade ball.
 
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Sorting out the Gordon situation

There will be a lot of talk about top five prospect Eric Gordon backing off his verbal commitment to Illinois and switching to Indiana. If Gordon follows through and signs with the Hoosiers during the early signing period in November, Illini fans will get the official signal to go into ?We Hate Kelvin Sampson? mode.
But here are some reasons why Indiana?s new coach isn?t entirely to blame in this little soap opera:
Gordon, from Indianapolis, always wanted to play for the Hoosiers. He just didn?t want to play for former coach Mike Davis. And Gordon?s older brother attends Indiana.
Gordon gave his verbal commitment to Illinois before Davis resigned. Once Davis was gone and Indiana hired Sampson, Sampson?s staff made a call to the Gordon family to discuss the guard?s interest. The Gordons didn?t hang up and didn?t say, ?Don?t ever call again.?
Once Davis resigned, Illinois coach Bruce Weber and his staff should have realized that Gordon?s recruitment could re-open. The Illini didn?t come up with a ?what if?? plan in case Gordon changed his mind.
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Bitterness lingers over Gordon saga

By JEFF WASHBURN
[email protected]

CHICAGO -- Bruce Weber tried to remain calm, selecting words carefully while discussing Illinois prize recruit Eric Gordon's 11th-hour change of heart.
The Indianapolis North Central standout guard, ranked No. 1 in the nation by recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons, announced Oct. 13 that he will play at Indiana for new coach Kelvin Sampson.
Sunday morning's Big Ten Media Day was the first time Weber and Sampson have been face to face since Gordon's decision.
"I haven't been around (Sampson), other than sitting in the same room (Sunday)," Weber said. "Obviously, in our case, it wasn't a positive situation. But basketball is competitive, and our business is competitive. You have to move on."
But moving on won't be easy for the former Purdue assistant and Illinois fans.
When Sampson replaced Mike Davis, he hired Jeff Meyer as an assistant coach. Meyer, a North White High School graduate, was Eric Gordon Sr.'s college coach at Liberty.
Sampson also hired Gordon's Amateur Athletic Union coach, Travis Steele, as video coordinator.
The Gordon-to-IU scenario leaves a sour taste in Weber's mouth.
"A lot of things in recruiting in this day and age do," Weber said. "Last year, there was a record number of coaching changes. We need to stick together and help each other, not hurt each other.
"Every year when you don't get a player, you have a knot in your stomach. If (recruiting) was logical, a lot more people would be in this business and would stay in it longer. But recruiting is not always logical."
Sitting at a table far across the room from Weber at the Marriott-O'Hare, Sampson said there's a lot he can't discuss until after Gordon signs an NCAA official letter of intent on Nov. 8.
"I wish I could tell you more," Sampson said. "You want to be the best you can be, but we always will do it the right way."
Recruiting is the lifeblood of every college program. But do coaches stop recruiting a player who has made a verbal commitment, especially to a fellow conference member?
It's a subject open for debate.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo considers Sampson and Weber among his best friends in the profession. Izzo and Sampson were members of Jud Heathcote's staff at Michigan State.
The long-standing friendship between the Purdue and Michigan State coaching staffs began in the early 1980s, when Weber was Gene Keady's assistant.
"When those kind of things happen, and you're getting two different statements from two different people, it's difficult," Izzo said. "I'm sticking up for both because both are good friends of mine.
"I also love this league. I don't want it to change anything, and I don't think it will. It was just a tough situation that maybe could have been handled differently. But let's be sure we don't blame the wrong people."
Weber wishes Sampson had called him to say the Hoosiers were pursuing Gordon, who picked Illinois before Sampson was hired by IU.
"That would have been a better situation," Weber said. "The way I would instruct my staff unless the kid announces publicly that he has decided to de-commit ... only then is he free game again. This is an unusual story because of the quality of the kid."
Izzo said recruiting becomes soiled when too many people become involved.
"From what I've heard, and what I see when I'm out there, the middle men -- AAU coach, high school coach, agent, cousin, neighbor -- is what we forget a little bit," Izzo said.
"That (middle man) is getting to be more of a problem than the other ones. Parents think some of these people are their meal tickets to the NBA."
Purdue's Matt Painter, whose recruiting class for the 2007-08 season is among the nation's best, said recruiting dynamics at IU have changed dramatically since Bob Knight was fired.
"Mike Davis didn't recruit the state as much as coach Knight did," Painter said. "Time will tell with coach Sampson. There's not a coach in America that takes a job and says, 'I'm not going to recruit our state.' "
Plenty of others are recruiting Indiana, too. Iowa coach Steve Alford played at New Castle and IU. Ohio State's Thad Matta coached at Butler and lived in Indianapolis for 12 years.
Matta used his Indianapolis connections to land Lawrence North McDonald's All-Americans Greg Oden and Mike Conley. "I think coaches always will recruit where the best players are," Matta said. "I would love to recruit inside the I-270 beltway in Columbus and be home more. But that's not the way it is."
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November 08. 2006 11:50AM

Gordon signs letter of intent with Indiana


By The Associated Press

Eric Gordon, the top recruit for new Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson, signed a basketball letter of intent with the Hoosiers on Wednesday.

The 6-foot-4 guard at Indianapolis North Central High School made an oral commitment to Illinois almost a year ago but began wavering after Sampson was hired to replace Mike Davis as the Indiana coach last spring. The Hoosiers began recruiting him and he finally made the switch of allegiance three weeks ago, calling Sampson the morning before Indiana's official start of practice.

He attended the festivities that night at Assembly Hall wearing a cream and crimson warmup suit. IU fans greeted him with chants of ''Er-ic Gor-don'' before he reached his seat. One fan even held a sign that read ''Oden Who?'' _ a reference to former Lawrence North star Greg Oden, last year's national prep player of the year, who picked Ohio State over Indiana.

''Everythings done now,'' Gordon said after the signing at North Central. ''It's a big relief. Now I only to have to focus on a couple things before I head to IU.''

Gordon was the only junior on The Associated Press All-State first team last season, when he averaged 26.1 points and led the Panthers to a 20-4 record.

Wednesday was the first day recruits could sign NCAA letters of intent.

Among other Indiana players was Gordon's North Central teammate Adnan Hodzic, who signed a letter to play at Lipscomb University, a Division I school in Nashville, Tenn.

Others included Matt Howard of Connersville, who signed with Butler, and Dairese Gary of Concord, who signed with Iowa. Howard and Gary were both high honorable-mention All-State selections by the AP last season.

Women's Division I signings included Ebony Jackson of Indianapolis Arlington with Indiana, Stephanie Thomas of Avon with Valparaiso, Megan King of Fort Wayne Canterbury with the College of Charleston, and Becca Bruszewski of Wheeler with Notre Dame.

The 6-foot-2 Bruszewski averaged 21.8 points and 10.1 rebounds a game as a junior, her second straight season averaging a double-double.
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""One fan even held a sign that read ''Oden Who?'' _ a reference to former Lawrence North star Greg Oden, last year's national prep player of the year, who picked Ohio State over Indiana.""



That's hilarious. I realize Gordon is supposed to be the savior now, but they might have snagged the Big GO if they got their head out of their own @$$ way before now. Nice little push IU got here, but honestly, the only way to go was up.

BTW, is it just me, or does that guy with the sign smoke some serious left-handed tobacco that we couldn't get in Ohio? Lol. I am kidding.
Guess we'll go to Indiana for that too, hehe. Soon, that feller will remember all about Oden, and why he's so upset still that Oden's a Buckeye.
 
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IndyStar

Best in U.S. still resides right here
North Central's Gordon could be area's 3rd straight national Player of the Year

When talking about his team's postseason prospects, Carmel High School boys basketball coach Mark Galloway noted the Greyhounds would have to beat "the best player in the country" to make it out of the sectional.
After a close victory over second-ranked Pike in the season opener, North Central coach Doug Mitchell said his star player did "what the best player in the country does."
Such comments are again part of the landscape of Indianapolis-area basketball. This time, they refer to North Central senior shooting guard Eric Gordon, considered one of the front-runners for national high school Player of the Year honors.
If he were to win, it would be the third year in a row a winner of one of the major Player of the Year awards came from the Indianapolis area, following Carmel's Josh McRoberts in 2005 and Lawrence North's Greg Oden last year.
Longtime high school basketball followers say they have not heard of one city producing three consecutive national Players of the Year in basketball.
"In my 30 some years, I do not recall that happening," said respected talent scout Bob Gibbons, based in North Carolina. "It's remarkable those three came from the Indy area. Each one is uniquely talented in his own right.
"Greg Oden is on a level to compare with the best of all time. McRoberts is Duke's primary inside force, and I think Eric Gordon is the player who will bring Indiana basketball back."
Gordon, who signed with Indiana University, has his team 2-0 and ranked No. 1 in Class 4A heading into two big games this weekend. Tonight at North Central, the Panthers face Carmel in a rematch of last year's sectional final won by the Greyhounds. Their game Saturday against Dayton Dunbar is the finale of the Circle City Classic Challenge of Champions at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The seven-game event includes five nationally ranked players and 12 who have signed with NCAA Division I schools.
Averaging 34 points and shooting 75 percent from the field, Gordon opened the season with a 36-point effort against then-No. 2 Pike. Then he hit 12-of-14 shots against Broad Ripple.
"When the double teams came, he didn't go with the quick shots," Mitchell said. "Last year, that might have been four or five more misses, which would have been four or five possessions for the other team, and that's big.
"The other thing that's improved is his leadership. This is a pretty talented group we've got, but we graduated seven seniors and six of those guys are playing in college, so these guys don't have much experience. When the best player in the country is working his tail off in practice, you don't have much of a choice."
Gordon is gifted physically. At 6-4, he weighed in at 212 pounds at the start of the season, sporting a body that wouldn't be out of place on an NBA roster. Throw in his quickness, speed, power, an explosive leap and shooting range to 23 feet, and it's understandable why he, like McRoberts and Oden, was projected as an NBA lottery pick under the old rules that allowed the preps-to-pros jump.
"Athletically, he overwhelms any player in the state of Indiana. The only guy who could deal with him was Michael Conley," longtime "Hoosier Basketball Magazine" publisher Garry Donna said, referring to the former Lawrence North point guard now starting for Ohio State as a freshman. "If an opposing coach chooses to play him straight up, it's no contest. He can dominate anybody."
Gordon made his reputation in the summer, leading a team to the title of a tournament on the East Coast and setting the scoring record at the Las Vegas Big Time Tournament in late July. Afterward, he was ranked No. 1 or 2 by nearly every major scouting service.
Gordon attributed Indy's run of top-ranked players to a state whose basketball culture places demands on even its gifted.
"Indiana players play more of an overall game," Gordon said. "You see a lot of states that may have better athletes, but when it comes down to straight basketball, fundamental basketball, I would say Indiana players have the best fundamentally sound overall game and the best understanding of the game."
The three-year run of top-level talent is surprising given the population of metropolitan Indianapolis. Listed at 1.6 million by July 1, 2005, census bureau estimates of metropolitan areas, Indianapolis ranks 34th in the United States, less than 9 percent the size of the New York metropolitan area.
"It is kind of unusual because we are a small area in the real world," said Jack Keefer, who coached Oden and Conley for four years. "But here you've got McRoberts and Conley and Oden and (Gordon) all coming out of the same 20-mile radius. It's quite a phenomenon, really."

Call Star reporter Jeff Rabjohns at (317) 444-6183.

Copyright 2006 IndyStar.com. All rights reserved
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Eric Gordon continues to dominate his games as his NC Wildcats are 3-0 and he is averaging about 33 a game. He's been shooting (and knocking down) a lot of FTs this year. He's just too tough to handle when he drives. He plays with so much control and can do a lot from anywhere on the floor.

Most of his games are in front of standing room only crowds, much like Indiana HS basketball fans have been used to in the past with Oden. It's somewhat difficult to get tickets to one of his games, but I'll hopefully make a few.
 
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Well, I went to go watch him and it happened to be on a night where his team was upset (though the other team is pretty solid). The night before they had played against Lawrence North, which I'm sure they were more amped up for (sort of a rival, plus it was North Central's only loss to date) . Gordon had 37 in the game.

EJ got 34 points on Saturday and played pretty well. He doesn't seem to have much skill when it comes to dribbling, but his size helps to protect some of his bad handles and he can bully his way to the hoop. He can shoot, though not particularly well on that night, his shooting skills aren't really much of a question. He showed some good leadership and looked to bring his team back any time they seemed to be losing momentum. Good player and it's hard to knock a 34 point night.

I'm hoping to go back again to watch him face off with Walter Offutt this Saturday, in what should be a really good game.
 
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