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Sunday, Feb. 16
The Indiana Daily Student

sports

Nation's best prep stars invade Bloomington

Potential Hoosiers play in Adidas Classic

Though basketball season won't start for another six months, recruiting season is heating up as Bloomington played host this weekend to the Adidas May Classic, Friday through Sunday at the Bloomington Sportsplex, both Bloomington high schools and Assembly Hall.\nA total of 72 teams competed in the tournament in three age brackets, 17-under, 16-under and 15-under.\nLast year at the Classic, IU picked up a verbal commitment from incoming freshman Robert Vaden.\nThis year there weren't any verbal commitments for the Hoosiers this year.\nSince IU coach Mike Davis has taken over, the long, athletic player has been a hot commodity for the team as they brought in sophomore Pat Ewing Jr., incoming freshmen James Hardy, D.J. White and Robert Rothbart.\nHigh school senior-to be Julian Wright fits Davis' long, athletic mold. Wright is a 6-foot-8 small forward out of Flossmoor, Ill. During the summer he plays for the Illinois Warriors, who traveled to Bloomington this weekend for the event.\nWright used his athleticism, quickness and acrobatic dunks to lead his team in its opening game win over the Common Bond, 90-59.\nAmong the schools interested in Wright are Arizona, DePaul, Duke, Illinois, Kansas and IU. Wright's interest was confirmed in April when coach Davis paid him an in-home visit. The two talked about the Hoosier basketball tradition and how he might fit in at IU, Wright said.\nThough some of the top seniors have began to commit, Wright said he's going to take his time.\n"I would like to start taking visits and start figuring it out by mid-June," Wright said. "I'm looking at making a decision in the early fall. Right now all the schools are even."\nA pair of teammates from the Spiece Indy Heat team were the buzz of the tournament; 2006 classmates Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. \nThe duo play basketball for Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis and guided the team to a 29-2 record and the 4-A state championship last season.\nOden, a 7-foot center, has been on the recruiting radar since his freshman year. Oden dominated play throughout the tournament, using strong moves and overpowering his opposition. Though Oden didn't list any schools, he has been linked with IU interest in the past.\nWith the recent influx of high school players declaring for the NBA Draft, Oden said he isn't concerned about it at this point in his career.\n"There is a lot of pressure (about the NBA)," Oden said. "I don't really think about it."\nConley Jr., plays point guard and is considered among the best of the 2006 class.\nOden powered his way to a double-double with 22 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks against Mean Streets during the event's championship game. Though Conley Jr.'s numbers weren't big, he sank two free throws to ice the game, along with four assists and three steals.\nIn Conley Jr.'s recruiting, proximity to schools could be a factor, as he said he would prefer to stay close to home.\n"I've looked at a few schools, Wake Forest, IU, Michigan State and Xavier," Conley Jr. said. \nTogether the two combined with 2005 class member Josh McRoberts to overpower the Mean Streets team from Chicago, 61-57.\nOden and Conley Jr. have already won the state title and captured the Adidas May Classic together, whether or not they continue after high school is unknown, Conley Jr. said.\n"We haven't talked about it much yet," Conley Jr. said with a smile. "Maybe next season we can talk about it a little more."\nFor the past two years the tournament had been held during Memorial Day weekend and called the Nike Memorial Day Classic. The Nike MDC attracted strictly Nike traveling teams, while the Adidas Classic brought traveling teams from Adidas, Nike and Reebok.\nThe event was moved to earlier in the month and is now called the Adidas Classic, which is also IU's new sponsor for athletic apparel.\n-- Contact staff writer Dan Click at daaclick@indiana.edu.

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