Indiana's Mr Basketball - When is it selected and just how likely is Crawford a real contender for it?

[WestCoastBilliken]

nm

[bbtds]

From wikipedia:

The Indiana Mr. Basketball honor recognizes the top high school basketball player in the state of Indiana. The award is presented annually by The Indianapolis Star.^[1] The first Indiana Mr. Basketball was George Crowe of Franklin High School in 1939.^[2]

^{From the Indy Star:}

Coaches and media members will begin voting for the IndyStar Mr. Basketball on March 19.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013303150070

Voting for Mr. Basketball will open next week with ballots sent to high school coaches and media. Fans will also have a chance to be a part of the process as well this year in an online vote conducted by the All-Star games. The player who receives the most votes online will be awarded one vote toward the final tally.

Though there is no specific list of final candidates — every basketball-playing senior in the state at an Indiana High School Athletic Association member school is eligible — here is a look at a few names that will earn some mention:

Mike Crawford, Tipton

Pros: The 6-5 shooting guard is riding some serious momentum going into the Class 2A semistate game against Gary Bowman this weekend. The St. Louis recruit scored 26 points, including the game-winning tip-in at the buzzer, in the regional championship against Wapahani. He is Tipton’s all-time leading scorer with 2,064 points and has possibly two more games to make an impression. Crawford is averaging 27.2 points and 8.6 rebounds this season.

Cons: Crawford’s name hasn’t generated much Mr. Basketball buzz until recently. The only other Mr. Basketball from a 2A school in the 15 years of class basketball was Deshaun Thomas(Ohio State) of Fort Wayne Bishop Luers in 2010

http://www.indystar.com/interactive/article/20130312/SPORTS02/303120073/

In 2010 these were the dates and in 2013 the dates should be close to these:

For those interested, I saw the dates for these announcements in an article today. Mr Basketball will be announced on Apr 10th and the All-Star team on Apr 14.

[billikenbill]

Don't want to take away from the excitement of a double championship season, but got to looking ahead to next year's roster. Seems like we have only 9 scholarship players and 4 of them are seniors.

Hope there are some decent Spring signees out there who can help us. We've got to get this coaching situation straightened out soon. I admire the unrelenting focus on getting through the season before discussing the job, but it seems to me we're not doing ourselves any favors out on the recruiting trail. Got to cash in on the pub, ie, strike while the iron is hot, so to speak.

[ACE]

Don't want to take away from the excitement of a double championship season, but got to looking ahead to next year's roster. Seems like we have only 9 scholarship players and 4 of them are seniors.

Hope there are some decent Spring signees out there who can help us. We've got to get this coaching situation straightened out soon. I admire the unrelenting focus on getting through the season before discussing the job, but it seems to me we're not doing ourselves any favors out on the recruiting trail. Got to cash in on the pub, ie, strike while the iron is hot, so to speak.

We actually have 10 scholarship players. You may be forgetting about Austin McBroom, who is redshirting. IMO, he will be a real big key next season. We need to continue to have an outstanding guard rotation and with the loss of Carter, McBroom will really be counted on. We will also have 5 seniors next season.

Being a Top 25 team should greatly open some doors with spring recruits regardless of who winds up being our coach. Landing a big who can contribute next season will be the biggest priority. We still figure to be very strong at the guard and 3 spot.

[SLUDrew]

Evans, McCall, Jett and Loe is a core group most coaches would kill for. The problem is that after them the whole thing appears to fall off a cliff. We have no depth with any experience for next season and God only knows what kind of team we will put on the floor in 2014

[jimbofive]

Evans, McCall, Jett and Loe is a core group most coaches would kill for. The problem is that after them the whole thing appears to fall off a cliff. We have no depth with any experience for next season and God only knows what kind of team we will put on the floor in 2014

mcbroom and barnett, ******. grandy's been starting, too, hasn't he? we could use a good big recruit.

[SLUDrew]

I do like what Barnett can bring off the bench but would not be thrilled with him starting. McBroom doesn't have any experience with this team outside of practice and Grandy plays hard but come on, you think we will be "fine" if he is our 5??

[billikenbill]

Embarrassing, I was doing it in my head here at work and left DE off the list. So I guess I feel a little better about it but still we need some recruits and got to start getting some big ones. Carter leaving was a big loss. Seemed to me he was going to be really good, potentially even better than our guys now.

[ACE]

I do like what Barnett can bring off the bench but would not be thrilled with him starting. McBroom doesn't have any experience with this team outside of practice and Grandy plays hard but come on, you think we will be "fine" if he is our 5??

I think Manning can provide what Corey has provided. I know KM has been playing great lately, but I think with the improvement of our returning players plus the addition McBroom, our guard play can be just about as good. The biggest hole is at the 4 spot and trying to replace Cody. Just having him out there really gives us the ability to space the floor and creat driving lanes as well as space for Dwight in the paint.

[billikenbill]

We actually have 10 scholarship players. You may be forgetting about Austin McBroom, who is redshirting. IMO, he will be a real big key next season. We need to continue to have an outstanding guard rotation and with the loss of Carter, McBroom will really be counted on. We will also have 5 seniors next season.

Being a Top 25 team should greatly open some doors with spring recruits regardless of who winds up being our coach. Landing a big who can contribute next season will be the biggest priority. We still figure to be very strong at the guard and 3 spot.

Embarrassing, I was doing it in my head here at work and left DE off the list. So I guess I feel a little better about it but still we need some recruits and got to start getting some big ones. Carter leaving was a big loss. Seemed to me he was going to be really good, potentially even better than our guys now.

[WestCoastBilliken]

You forget John Manning, who I believe will be great for us when he gets comfortable minutes. We also have Mike Crawford (which is up for Mr. Basketball in Indiana) that will be a nice guard/small forward for us. I think Carter was a huge loss, but I do believe we will get a few good players once this season is over.

I am hoping for a banger etal Willie Reed type player.

[TxBills1101]

I believe Crawford went off for 40 points in the state semilfinal loss...got to think a sweet 16 will open some recruiting doors for us. Agreed our starting 5 will be dynamite next year, bench will be suspect, this year we went 9 deep, next year lucky if we have 7/8 contributors (DE, MM, JJ, RL, JB, JM?, GG?, AMB?)

[Taj79]

Manning is a classic five ---- slow, interior big man who might be able to step out to 15 feet for the occasional jumper. Given this league, that does not bode well for us against teams like VCU, La Salle, Temple, Xavier, Dayton, Duquesne and Richmond. It would seem to work against teams like Rhodey, GeeDub, Charlotte, St. Joes, etc. (Knowing of course that will not be the makeup of the A10 next year but just to illustrate the point). I don't know how we can make a leap of faith reference him getting the so-called "comfortable minutes."

If McBroom can play, we still have the four guards with Jake off the bench. Loe and Evans will be fine; hopefully Grandy gets even better. I hear Drew CAN play but only time will really tell. One can only hope Crawford makes some splash. We will be okay next year (to quote a well-placed athletic department source) and I won't worry about the rest until all the dominoes fall and are in place where they need to be.

Don't get ahead of this year just yet.

[jbizzle09]

Manning is a classic five ---- slow, interior big man who might be able to step out to 15 feet for the occasional jumper. Given this league, that does not bode well for us against teams like VCU, La Salle, Temple, Xavier, Dayton, Duquesne and Richmond. It would seem to work against teams like Rhodey, GeeDub, Charlotte, St. Joes, etc. (Knowing of course that will not be the makeup of the A10 next year but just to illustrate the point). I don't know how we can make a leap of faith reference him getting the so-called "comfortable minutes."

If McBroom can play, we still have the four guards with Jake off the bench. Loe and Evans will be fine; hopefully Grandy gets even better. I hear Drew CAN play but only time will really tell. One can only hope Crawford makes some splash. We will be okay next year (to quote a well-placed athletic department source) and I won't worry about the rest until all the dominoes fall and are in place where they need to be.

Don't get ahead of this year just yet.

I think the main reason that many think this is basically this; he is going to have no choice but to get substantial minutes next year. Cory and Cody's departures pretty much guarantee that. Now, perhaps you don't feel comfortable thinking he will be a contributor due to his small body of work. But to think that Manning is still going to get junk time as a junior, while Loe and Glaze play all of the minutes at the 4 and 5, is kind of silly.

[Box and Won]

I honestly think Manning will be fine once he's able to log more minutes. He's displayed flashes of skill, along with the cluelessness that comes from receiving sporadic playing time.

[drkelsey55]

I honestly think Manning will be fine once he's able to log more minutes. He's displayed flashes of skill, along with the cluelessness that comes from receiving sporadic playing time.

Manning will be fine next year as long as they don't yank him every time he makes a mistake like they did this year!

[SLUDrew]

Wow, you guys saw a lot more promise from Manning than I did. He is going to be a Junior next year and he couldn't find minutes on a team on which he is the only true center? Maybe I am wrong about him. I certainly hope I am

[billiken_roy]

Wow, you guys saw a lot more promise from Manning than I did. He is going to be a Junior next year and he couldn't find minutes on a team on which he is the only true center? Maybe I am wrong about him. I certainly hope I am

+1

i love our big three returning juniors and i can accept loe for what he is he has had his moments. after that, i am in the mindset that we need a huge summer either in the gym and training room or at the aau tourneys.

[WestCoastBilliken]

Wow, you guys saw a lot more promise from Manning than I did. He is going to be a Junior next year and he couldn't find minutes on a team on which he is the only true center? Maybe I am wrong about him. I certainly hope I am

I find solace in the fact RM said Manning is an NBA caliber kid. Everything RM has said to date about his players eventually comes true (some would like it all to happen ASAP).

[almaman]

He looked better last year but I too think he'll do better when he gets more minutes. We sort of didn't really need much out of him this year and that's about what we got. Sure he's important in practice. they should have him in platform shoes to mimic that 89 inch lump of protoplasm that is their center.

[doowop]

I find solace in the fact RM said Manning is an NBA caliber kid. Everything RM has said to date about his players eventually comes true (some would like it all to happen ASAP).

Crews said Manning would play BIG minutes next year. How would he know this? Maybe he alredy knows he will be returning as coach next year.

[Quality Is Job 1]

I find solace in the fact RM said Manning is an NBA caliber kid. Everything RM has said to date about his players eventually comes true (some would like it all to happen ASAP).

I don't believe that's what he said. I believe what he said was something to the effect of, "If there's anyone on the team who has NBA potential, it would be Manning because of his height."

[Schasz]

We did not need John Manning to be a key role player this year, but unless we get a real good big in the spring recruiting period then by default he is going to get more PT next season. As to Rob Loe he had some games that I really liked, the LaSalle game was the most recent one. I would like for Rob to work hard on the weights and his inside game. I cannot tell anyone on this website how many times I yelled at my TV...Rob go hard to the hole and dunk it. I would love to see him become more aggressive next year. I hope McBroom can log some decent minutes. If not, we better bring in another guard.

[WestCoastBilliken]

I don't believe that's what he said. I believe what he said was something to the effect of, "If there's anyone on the team who has NBA potential, it would be Manning because of his height."

I could have sworn he was talking about JM's playing ability, not height. If it was height that allows JM to have NBA potential then why was there nothing said about Rob Loe (same height) or the other 6'11+ guys out there who never make it to the NBA?

I was trying to find the interview / press conference of RM talking about JM being potential NBA talent one day, I came across this post by Tonka in 2012: http://www.billikens.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=22692&page=4

So, I know I am not crazy, just cant find the video haha.

BTW - I ran across this in Google. It is from JM's high school coach about RM and JM-- Good story that I havent seen on here:

http://evobball.com/new-website/

[Quality Is Job 1]

BTW - I ran across this in Google. It is from JM's high school coach about RM and JM-- Good story that I havent seen on here:

http://evobball.com/new-website/

Great find! Thanks.