Big Ten awards announced.

The Big Ten announced its postseason awards today. Here's the link. The Hoosier highlights:

• DJ White was named Big Ten player of the year, apparently unanimously, by both the media and coaches.
• Eric Gordon was named Big Ten freshman of the year, apparently unanimously, by both the media and coaches.
• White and Gordon were both named to the all-Big Ten first team. The reason I said "apparently unanimously" above is because the link indicates that all caps denotes a unanimous selection. While White's name is in all caps as Big Ten POY, it is not for First Team. Is it possible that White was the unanimous Big Ten POY but not unanimous first team all Big Ten? Odd. Gordon and Robbie Hummel of Purdue were both noted as unanimous first team selections.
• Armon Bassett was selected to the third team by both the media and coaches.
• Jamarcus Ellis was honorable mention by the media.
• Eric Gordon was a unanimous all-freshman pick, along with Hummel and E'Twaun Moore of Purdue, Kosta Koufos of Ohio State, and Manny Harris of Michigan (all unanimous).

The plot thickens.

Like NBC's ER, the melodrama gets ever more unrealistic, except this is really happening. Hoosier Scoop (see sidebar and below for the link, I'm rushed) reports that six Hoosiers (DJ White, Armon Bassett, Deandre Thomas, Brandon McGee, and Jordan Crawford) are not at practice. If my math is correct, that means that four active scholarship players (Eric Gordon, Lance Stemler, Mike White, and former walkon Kyle Taber) are practicing, along with walkons Brett Finkelmeier and Adam Ahlfeld and the ostensibly injured Eli Holman. I'm not jumping to any conclusions, and there are any number of innocent explanations, but this is worth following. Per the H-T, Ray McCallum is also absent, and Dan Dakich is leading the practice, and made a statement at the beginning of practice that seemed to confirm that Sampson is out and Dakich is in.

Coming in from the ledge, cautiously: DJ to play?

On his Monday radio show, per Hoosier Scoop, Kelvin Sampson said that DJ White should play tomorrow. Who knows?

Posted from the ledge: DJ White unlikely to play this week.

From Inside the Hall from Fox Sports from Sampson, DJ White's MRI revealed no damage but White's sprained knee may keep him out of IU's games this week at home against Purdue and at Northwestern. Has IU basketball ever had a worse week?

US defeats Panama, finishes fifth in Pan-Am Games.

Do we get the canal back? The US team did recover nicely from the two early losses, although they needed a comeback to defeat Panama 77-74(box score in .pdf). DJ White scored 14 points on 10 shots (6-10 from the field, 2-5 from the line), 6 rebounds and two blocks in 27 minutes. He did commit four fouls. Now DJ gets a couple of weeks off before IU begins practice in mid August in preparation for the Bahamas trip.

DJ playing well in Rio.

USA Basketball once again is out of medal contention, but after dropping the first two games, the US beat Argentina 74-71 last night, led by DJ's 22 points. Here's the box score (pdf). White managed 22 points on only 14 shots (8-14) and went 6-8 from the line. The ESPN story says 13 rebounds but the box score says 7. The US now advances to play the US Virgin Islands in the consolation bracket.

DJ White makes the Pam Am Games roster.

I have to confess that I didn't even realize that the Pan-Am Games were still around. Perhaps they were never a big deal at all, but I just remember them such because the 1987 games in Indianapolis were considered such a huge part of the redevopment of downtown Indianapolis. In any event, DJ White has made the roster and will play for the United States in Rio De Janiero in late July. Here's the roster:

Roy Hibbert (Georgetown), Wayne Ellington (North Carolina), Shan Foster (Vanderbilt), Kyle Weaver and Derrick Low (Washington State), Eric Maynor (VCU), Bryce Taylor and Maarty Leunen (Oregon), Josh Carter (Texas A&M), D.J. White (Indiana), Drew Neitzel (Michigan State), Scottie Reynolds (Villanova), James Gist (Maryland) and Joey Dorsey (Memphis).

DJ will get to team up with MSU's Neitzel, one of the Big Ten's top returning players, and Scotty Reynolds, a Kelvin Sampson recruit released from his LOI by Oklahoma after Sampson left for IU.

EDIT: Apparently I'm jumping the gun. Two more players will be cut from the roster.

On the road again, and basketball and recruiting(!) miscellany.

This isn't exactly breaking news, but it's worth noting that for the first time during his tenure at IU, Kelvin Sampson is on the road during the summer recruiting season. Keep in mind that Oklahoma's self-imposed sanctions kept Sampson at home before his last season there, so he hasn't been to the summer camps since 2004. He took some well-deserved jabs from Rick Barnes and Tubby Smith:

"Where have you been?” joked Barnes. "Call me sometime.” "Still got the ankle bracelet?” added Smith.

Despite recruiting with one hand tied behind his back, Sampson certainly hasn't been hurting for recruits. He landed what Rivals ranks as the #9 recruiting class without leaving campus. Still, both for IU's recruiting advantage and for moving beyond the taint of NCAA-sanctioned misconduct, this is good news.

Other items:

• Again, I'm not one for following whether we are on a prospect's top 5 list or his lukewarm eight. My interest in recruiting is sporadic. One thing I would like, however, is for IU to someday land a blue-chipper from Lawrence North (no offense, Todd Leary). Hopefully, Stephan Van Treese will be the one. Here's a nice Cincinnati Enquirer article about him.
• The Bloomington Herald Times does a great job covering IU athletics, and I have previously noted my admiration for the Hoosier Scoop blog written by Doug Wilson, Chris Korman, and occasional others. Unfortunately, the H-T's excellent coverage is behind a subscription wall, but occasionally Doug and Chris let us take a look at what they are writing. Here's a well-done article about DJ White. This non-White-related item from the story was worth a chuckle:

  One of the new post players, DeAndre Thomas, has been working the hardest in the gym this summer, according to White. Thomas, who arrived from Chipola junior college weighing more than 350 pounds, is trying to shed at least 50 pounds. He and Sampson can often be seen walking from Assembly Hall to Sampson’s house and back. That’s an eight-mile trip.

• The White article also mentions something I don't know that I have mentioned before, which is that NCAA rules allow IU ten full-fledged practices before the team heads to the Bahamas for a Labor Day weekend tournament. This is a perfect move for this team. Certainly, we have some fine experience players returning, but several newcomers (Eric Gordon, Jamarcus Ellis, possibly Eli Holman and/or Deandre Thomas) will have to play well if IU is to end its season in San Antonio. While the Final Four is not an unrealistic goal given the talent and experience (either at IU or at junior colleges) on this team, these guys have never really played together. The Bahamas trip should provide a great opportunity for these guys to begin to learn playing together, and it also gives the coaching staff a chance to put things in place for the season fairly early.