Purdue RB recruit: Choosing Purdue over IU was a 'no-brainer"

I grew-up in South Florida as a huge sports fan in the 1970's, played three sports competitively -baseball, football and soccer- and was the Team Manager for two North Miami Beach Senior High School teams that won the Florida State championship.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Miami_Beach_Senior_High_School
(I wrote about 80% of the above Wiki definition.)


To see Street Scene of NMBHS: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=North+Miami+Beach+Senior+High+School&ie=UTF8&ll=25.934659,-80.174553&spn=0.008684,0.010343&t=h&z=16&layer=tc&cbll=25.929149,-80.175365&panoid=iSypIXGVnW7S2RAEg6qT5A&cbp=1,0.6870095273476409,,0,5


The first State Championship was Boys Soccer in 1975 under head coach Vic Cappillo, and then Girls Gymnastics in 1979 under Pete Saponaro, two wonderfully talented and enthusiastic men whom I admired and respected enormously.
For all those reasons, by the time I graduated from NMB in 1979, I had many talented friends around the greater Miami area who were fortunate enough to be offered -and accept- D-1 college athletic scholarships in myriad sports.


Because of those factors, more than most people, I was very familiar with the enormous football talent pool around here, and foresaw the inevitable rise of the Hurricanes, Seminole and Gators' football programs to where we became accustomed down here to the idea of the three of them being ranked in the Top Ten at the beginning and end of every college football season.
To me, it was completely predictable.

So with that in mind, while I was at IU from 1979-83, I was continually frustrated at the number of very talented kids from South Florida -and Central Florida, too- who'd wind up going to smaller schools like the Central, Western or Eastern Michigan, or the like.

Kids who'd be just the sort who'd give IU some much-needed depth so they wouldn't have the sort of second-half collapses against good teams as has long been the norm in Bloomington.
And I wasn't alone in my frustration.

Not to name drop, per se, but Jim Thomas of FT. Lauderdale the-then IU basketball team was a good friend of mine at the time, despite Jim's living over at Teter Quad while I was at Briscoe Quad., near the IU Fieldhouse and Assembly Hall.
(Jim and I were friends despite his single-handily knocking off my school, North Miami Beach, in the state playoffs, at his school's gym, the one year we were arguably THE best team in the state of Florida and favored to win the state championship.)

As both students and sports fans who loved IU, we'd continually bemoan IU's chronic inability to get South Florida kids up to Bloomington, who, while perhaps not stars, were exactly the sorts of very solid, well-rounded kids that make the difference between a solid 7-4 or 8-3 team, and a floundering 5-6 team that raises more questions than they answer.
(Like are they really a 4-7 team that simply got lucky?)

All this frustrating talk of ours was conducted in an era when Michigan had a bona fide South Florida superstar like wideout Anthony Carter and Michigan State had RB Lorenzo White, each of whom were winning games of national importance.
I understand implicitly why someone of their unique caliber were, necessarily, out-of-reach for IU in the Lee Corso years, but must everyone down here with any talent remain un-touchable?

Having finally gotten Direct TV before last Fall, and the Big Ten Network, it's very discouraging as a Hoosier fan to see so many South Florida kids performing for not only Big Ten schools, of course, but, also seeing them play Michigan and Michigan State as the pride of Ypsilanti or Mt. Pleasant, MI, too.
Kids who could've been making a difference in Bloomington, but weren't.


Logically, why in the world should Eastern Michigan continually have better luck at recruiting kids in South and Central Florida than IU? Or Western Michigan for that matter?
And yet... http://www.miamiherald.com/620/story/561110.html

There were opportunities aplenty for IU and Coach Lynch a few months ago, when former NMB QB/DB Doug Wiggins, the Dolphins' 2006 Miami-Dade Player of the Year, was looking to transfer from the U-M. http://hurricanesports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/wiggins_doug00.html
So, what happened with Wiggins?


From my perspective, someone who attended his first Canes game at the Orange Bowl in 1971, last year was littered with lots of broken promises and self-evident poor coaching moves, as Randy Shannon constantly showed his multiple weaknesses as a head college football coach, showing himself as a Coordinator who's now out of his depth.

Against a middling North Carolina State team at the Orange Bowl, U-M completed exactly one pass in the entire game, even putting a WR behind center three times to try to get some offensive momentum generated.
In fact, by the middle of the third quarter, if not earlier, the Wolfpack defense was actually daring the Canes to pass -and they couldn't!
So naturally, after the season, whom did Shannon fire?
Yes, that's right, the Defensive Coordinator whom he'd personally promoted from DBs coach, even though the defense has been sliding steadily for four years due to lousy LB play while Shannon was the D-Coordinator.


Hmmm...
http://ncaabbs.com/archive/index.php/thread-273456.html
Miami Herald quote:
" U-M's Randy Shannon has a good relationship with most local coaches, but North Miami Beach's Jeff Bertani said, "It would be difficult for me to send a kid to UM now. The trust is broken.''Bertani said former NMB standout Doug Wiggins -- who transferred to Western Michigan -- ''was told he had a torn hamstring, which he did not have, because they needed a reason to redshirt him after he played [the first two games].'' Shannon's response? "I don't know anything about that.''

Honestly, a school in IU's iffy position in the football world should've been ready to pounce on him in a second when he decided to transfer out, since he wasn't likely to play a lot at the U-M as a freshman, anyway, despite having been rated the nation's No. 4 cornerback and the No. 33 overall prospect by Rivals.com two years ago.
Instead, now Wiggins will be at Western Michigan and in two years will likely be MUCH BETTER than any defensive player IU has.

I'd be willing to bet that there are probably kids at Immokalee HS right now, up near Lake Okeechobee, that could play or start at IU, and yet based on experience, there seems very little chance that IU will even take a chance on them.
Why?


What's this great strategy at Assembly Hall to become a better and more competitive football team without getting a lot more talented players from Florida?
Sounds like the sports equivalent of Obama somehow imagining he'll win the Electoral College without the state of Florida?
Well, all empirical evidence suggests that both approaches, if continued, are destined to failure.

At a certain point, you don't have to be an IU-trained optometrist to know that something is short-sighted with their current approach, which as always, has them with few dependable playmakers.

I'd be very interested in knowing if any of you are familiar with anything that's been written within the past ten years that details how IU has continually missed the boat on Florida kids who could've added something positive to the campus and to the football program.
If so, please drop me a line with the appropriate URL, so that I'm no longer in the dark.


If not, I may just have to chronicle that sad story myself.


Just in case I didn't make my point strongly enough above, consider the following.
The second day I was ever in the state of Indiana, having flown up by myself from Miami on a late August Thursday afternoon in 1979, days before moving into Briscoe Quad and while checked into the Holiday Inn on S.R 37, I spent most of that afternoon watching the IU football team practice from up in the stands at Memorial Stadium, surrounded by a handful of devoted and curious Hoosier fans, male and female, in various shades of Cream and Crimson.
Yep, that's me.


Sadly, the Miami Herald article below speaks for itself, and is more of the same ol' bad news for Hoosier fans.
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http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/story/596825.html
Columbus wideout Bush commits to Purdue
Posted on Mon, Jul. 07, 2008
BY DAVID QUINONES



LARRY BLUSTEIN'S COMMENTS
Gary Bush, Columbus
Known for his tremendous speed, here is a player who certainly came into his own over the past year. While his quickness and ability to break receptions for long scores has been a lure for colleges, his knowledge of the game is also something that has played in his recruitment as well.



In this Hoosier-state recruiting battle, score one for the Boilermakers.


Columbus' Gary Bush, a 6-1, 180-pound wide receiver, orally committed to attend Purdue University on Sunday night. His decision came after campus visits to Indiana and Purdue two weeks ago.


For Bush, West Lafayette was the clear winner between the two.


''It was really a no-brainer,'' Bush said. "Me and the coach [Joe Tiller] just bonded. It felt like the right place for me to be. Indiana was nice, it was a lot like Purdue, but in the end I chose Purdue.''



He added that he and his parents talked about the long-distance move, but that he has family in nearby Indianapolis and that his folks "supported my decision.''


The explosive Explorer also received attention from Ole Miss, Boston College, Alabama-Birmingham, Troy State and Vanderbilt before ending his recruitment experience early.



The rising senior is a three sport-star who transferred to Columbus from Southridge after his sophomore year. In the 2007-2008 season, Bush was among the Explorers' leaders in receptions -- usually of the breakaway-variety -- while also earning a Miami Herald All-Dade honorable mention for basketball and a second-team slot on the All-Dade Track and Field team.


In a midseason game against Miami Beach, Bush put the game out of reach with a 38-yard touchdown catch against the smaller Hi-Tides secondary. He recorded a 33-yard TD a month later against South Miami. Columbus' deep-threat paced the team with 21.3-yards per catch on the season.



Bush runs a 4.5-40 yard dash and his leaping ability (23-10 long-jump) at 6-1 makes for a huge downfield target. His second place long-jump finish helped Columbus secure the District 15-4A championships in April.


Strength might be an issue, as Columbus coach Chris Merritt says ''there is no offseason'' for the multi-sport Bush to devote lots of time to the weight room.



''For a guy like him, it's more about just maintaining. It's hard with his schedule,'' said Merritt, who describes Bush as an "all-around Division I athlete.''


But Bush says he has a plan for that dilemma.



''We don't start camp for a little while, so right now I'm just in the weight room, doing the work,'' he said.


Bush insisted the answer is not to give up on his other athletic pursuits. He is quick to note that while he and the staff at Purdue talked about the possibility of playing hoops, "Track is a definite. I'll definitely be jumping.''

Reader comments are at:
http://pod01.prospero.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?msg=49813&nav=messages&webtag=kr-miamitm

Bryan Payton to Terry Hoeppner: "We're Going to Play 13!"

Photo of Terry Hoeppner from http://newsinfo.iu.edu/pub/libs/images/usr/2245_h.jpg

Hoosier Bryan Payton's comments in college football blog of The New York Times, The Quad.
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http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/22/a-hoosier-reflects/index.html?ex=1353474000&en=7465f0ee0e04813a&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

The New York Times

A Hoosier Reflects

By Bryan Payton

November 22, 2007

It has been quite a year for the Indiana football team. In June, Hoosiers Coach Terry Hoeppner died after an 18-month fight with brain tumors. Earlier this month, the Hoosiers (7-5), now coached by Hoeppner’s former assistant Bill Lynch, became bowl eligible for the first time since 1994 with a victory over Ball State.

Indiana running back Bryan Payton has written for The Quad before, reflecting on the impact Hoeppner had on his players and the legacy he left.

Today, Payton takes a look at the Hoosiers’ season, from early practices in 100-degree heat to Austin Starr’s winning kick in last Saturday’s 27-24 victory over Purdue in the annual Bucket Game. This Thanksgiving Day essay is offered instead of The Quad’s usual morning links.

By Bryan Payton

Being bowl eligible is an amazing accomplishment for this football team. After everything that we’ve been through it would have been easy to lose games and make excuses about how emotionally exhausted or distracted we were. The thing is, we knew that’s not what Coach Hep would have done. That’s not what he would want. Hep was the ultimate role model in showing us how to handle adversity. That is part of what defines us as people. Becoming bowl eligible is dedicated to him. We’re finishing what he started; we’re going to play 13!

The regular season has gone by so fast. It seems like just yesterday we working through team drills in 100-degree heat. One of the things my teammate and friend Terrance Turner said after the win against Purdue was, “Camp was hot!” I laughed, but what he said has stuck in my mind.

When things get hard it’s good to remember how hot camp was or how we felt after our eighth gasser, or how cold and dark it was when we awoke at 5:30 a.m. for winter conditioning.

All of that was intended to make us successful, and to help us ultimately earn a trip to and win a bowl game.

In a regular season of big plays, record-breaking feats and clutch performances, I’ve had the most fun I’ve ever had playing football. I think most of my teammates would tell you the same thing.

My favorite play of the season was, of course, Austin Starr’s game-winning kick in the Bucket Game. But a close second was Kellen Lewis’s “pass to himself” and flip into the end zone against Iowa. Priceless.

From opening night against Indiana State to the amazing sellout against Purdue, there was no doubt in our minds that we would achieve our goal of “Playing 13.” I may never experience a moment like what went down against Purdue. The atmosphere was amazing, “The Rock” was packed and the weather was perfect. We were more ready than ever before because the stakes were high, but not as high as our confidence level.

I guess it was fitting for the game to come down to a game-winning kick. The crowd rushed the field and we were so happy that many of us simply cried. The scene in the locker room was one of jubilation. We couldn’t contain ourselves from dancing, singing, crying, hugging each other and praying. There were so many people in the locker room. Everyone wanted to be a part of the celebration, and I don’t blame them. It had been a long time coming.

Fittingly, Jane Hoeppner was the person who placed the block “I” on the Bucket. It was a Kodak moment. She deserved to be involved in our celebration. She is our heart. She is everything that Coach Hep embodied. The win was dedicated to her and her family.

I will never forget that game for as long as I live. I will never forget all of those who played a part in this season, whether the person is a player or not. Saturday, Nov. 17, was the day we accomplished the goal Coach Hep set for us. We now wait to figure out where we are going and heck, we might as well win the bowl game!

It’s all for you, Coach Hep. We love you and miss you. You’re in our hearts forever.

_______________________________________________________________

Earlier this summer I saw an interesting story in the Indianpolis Business Journal about the proposed commuter train feasibility study, which would, theoretically, connect large parts of the Hoosier State in a logical way that, frankly, should've been done years and years ago.

Like before I ever even got there in '79, considering how many medium-sized Hoosier cities seem to be just a couple of hours from one another.

If such a train had existed back then, it might've made me a little bit more eager to travel on weekends to parts of the state I never visited, especially in the NW towards Fort Wayne.

It certainly would've been fun to have been able to visit places with friends for a long weekend if I could just catch a train back when I felt like leaving, and not been dependent on a friend's driving ability after a very long weekend home, with us leaving late Sunday afternoon.

It'd be an understatement to say that it'd have been a huge boon for college students all over the state of Indiana on sporting weekends in the Fall and Winter, to catch ballgames.

Certainly would've made the prospect of going up to South Bend or West Lafayette much more appealing!

In that same issue as the discussion of a commuter train within the state was another nice piece in the IBJ on IU head football coach Bill Lynch, which I commend to you now, just a little more than 72 hours before IU plays Oklahoma State in Tempe at its first Bowl game in a VERY long time.

In retrospect, it speaks well to the wisdom of IU's having named him head coach after the passing of Terry Hoeppner. http://www.ibj.com/html/detail_page.asp?content=03930

Titled "Lynch isn’t Hep," but he’s a coach you can root for, it's written by Bill Benner, who's now with the Indy Convention & Visitors Association and a former sports columnist for The Indianapolis Star.

The telling comment, which really got me, was this one:

"I called Lynch on the telephone to do the predictable column about dealing with adversity and losing. He couldn’t have been more cooperative or open. His tone was one of determination, not self-pity. He blamed no person or circumstance. It was on him. It says something about a man who, in victory, deflects the credit but, in failure, accepts all responsibility. Most of all, in the thrill of a high or in the depths of a low, Bill Lynch was one and the same..."

Bill Lynch holds Hoosier reins through 2012; Kirby Freeman's future

While I support the decision by IU President Michael McRobbie to give Coach Bill Lynch more time to develop the Hoosier football team into the sort of program that we would all like to see: consistently good, clean and exciting, as a reward for the splendid job he's done of keeping everyone involved in Hoosier football on the same page since Coach Hoeppner's untimely death this past summer, that doesn't mean I think it was quite the 'no-brainer' that I've read and heard many Hoosier fans and columnists say it was since their exciting win over Purdue last Saturday.

IU press release and transcript of Bill Lynch press conference:
http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/ind/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/LynchHC and
http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/112607aae.html

Letters to the Indy Star re Lynch's future at IU: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071125/SPORTS/711250389/0/LOCAL

Terry Hutchens' take on the contract extension at the Indy Star: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/SPORTS0601/711260393/0/LOCAL

Ditto, Doug Wilson's take on it at the Bloomington H-T: http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2007/11/26/iusports.qp-1049475.sto

Frankly, all these weeks later, I'm STILL trying to digest and make sense of IU's very frustrating 36-31 homecoming loss to Penn State on Oct. 20th, in what was a very winnable game. http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/102007aae.html
A classic "trap game" for Penn State one week before their home game against Ohio State.
A win would've gone a long way towards confounding the low expectations that so much of the country still has for the program, especially after a bad 52-27 loss at Michigan State.

(My feeling following that loss to the Nittany Lions was the exact opposite of my mystification at the Hurricanes' improbable victory over FSU up in Tallahassee that same weekend: pleasantly surprised!
Honestly, as a devout Hurricane fan since I was ten-year old in 1971, attending my first 'Canes game, the infamous "Fifth Down" Tulane game, I ask this question: has anyone ever fallen out of favor quicker at the U-M with coaches and fans, and gone straight to 'goat' status quicker than erstwhile 'Cane QB Kirby Freeman after the FSU victory, wherein he was hailed after being pummeled on his winning TD toss, but then could only muster one completed pass a week later at home in the Orange Bowl against a middling North Carolina State team? I think not!

For my two cents, I still think Freeman can contribute, but my suggestion is that he do so by putting on some weight and trying to channel former Dolphin TE -and Boston U. QB- Jim Jensen, one of Dan Marino's favorite targets for so many years, who as any Dolphin fan can tell you, was always clutch with a capital "C."
See Dave Hyde's 1992 Sun-Sentinel piece on Jensen's indispensable role with the team and why fans embraced him: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-dolphinsteamjensen07,0,6981786.story
It may come to pass that Kirby Freeman finds that his emotions work better for him as the recipient of a completed pass, rather than as the man behind center. I hope so.)

I'm still upset with Coach Lynch and IU's offensive coordinator , together, channeling former Dolphin head coach and current University of Pittsburgh head man, Dave Wannstedt, late in the second quarter when trailing 20-14.
Pocketing three timeouts while running two ineffective running plays in a row to end the first half, knowing that YOU have to kick off to Penn State to start the second half?
What?

The rather predictable result of this bad strategy after Penn State's first drive of the second half, suddenly trailing 23-14 -and lost momentum!
It's really not brain surgery.

It reminded me of Wannstedt's infamous clock management skills and overall conservative play-calling, which befell the Dolphins so many times over the years.
In particular, it reminded me of a game at Minnesota in 2000 against a terrific Vikings team just beginning to show their offensive prowess, with Daunte Culpepper, Chris Carter and Randy Moss.

It was the second game of the season and I was temporarily in South Florida for a week, after flying to my dear friend Shannon's wedding near Dallas, where it was only near 110 degrees everyday in the shade, before heading back up to my life in Washington, D.C.
Now any honest and realistic Dolphin fan -not always the majority to be sure- would've told you before the game that IF you could hold the high-powered Vikings to a single field goal in the first half, you'd have taken that in a heartbeat, and taken your chances in the second half.

And that was exactly the situation the Dolphins found themself in, trailing 3-0 with about two minutes to go in the first half.
Close to mid-field right before half-time, Wannstedt pocketed time-outs rather than putting the team in a position where Olindo Mare could at least try a field goal on the last play of the half to tie it, which would surely have given the team a much-needed if only temporary morale boost.
Long story short, Daunte Culpepper, in his second career start, threw for 355 yards in a game the Vikings narrowly won by a margin of 13-7.
It was yet another of a series of never ending missed opportunities I witnessed with the Dolphins, Redskins, Orioles and Hoosiers of that era.

Roughly at the same time as the Penn State loss, I also failed to note the pride I felt in seeing the two lengthy CBS News segments that examined the IU football team's role in the Sideline Response System (SRS), research being done in Bloomington on head injuries and concussions. http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/102307aab.html

The official CBS version of this, complete with video, is titled "An Electronic Eye On Hard Knocks, New Helmet Can Detect Concussion By Measuring G-Force — And Alerting Doctors" is well worth seeing.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/17/eveningnews/main3378662.shtml?source=search_story

I first heard about this development in this Ken Kingery story on January 26th, right before the Super Bowl down here between the Colts and the Bears.
http://uits.iu.edu/~ocmhp/2007/01-26/story.php?id=1081
"IU’s squad now equipped with helmets that gauge impact"

See this story, with an excellent photo, in M.I.T.'s Technology Review magazine:
http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/19356/?a=f

Odds and ends for Hoosier and Hurricane fans

Received an email this afternoon via my Hoosier mail announcing that the new football coach's radio show has found a permamnent venue with a schedule to boot.
Inside IU Football with Bill Lynch can be heard Monday evening at 7 p.m. throughout the football season.
http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/082007aaa.html
If you haven't already seen it yet, there's a good profile on Head Coach Bill Lynch at
http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/lynch_bill00.html

Quite by accident, while looking for some info on early 1970's 'Canes football teams, I came across http://www.answers.com/topic/miami-hurricanes-football

Interesting at first glance but I will endeavor to check it out completely for any obvious factual mistakes -there's always a few I find in anything about the U-M- or dangling explanations that beg and demand more helpful context, and suggest you check it out before the season and see how it looks.