Column: Lessening the Harris Hysteria

A kid playing high school basketball.

That’s who we’re still talking about, right?

Because when Hoosier Hysteria was scheduled Saturday seemingly to accommodate visiting five-star recruit Gary Harris, who had a football game Friday, I had a hard time believing one high school senior possessed so much clout.

No official statement from the Athletics Department or IU men’s basketball team has explained why Hoosier Hysteria will take place Saturday instead of the night prior, as in years past. However, it appears to be a forgone conclusion that the Hoosiers’ annual season kickoff date-change coinciding with Harris’ personal schedule is more than a coincidence.

As a senior in high school I wasn’t allowed to decide what was for dinner, let alone influence the date of when a major college program and its thousands of fans celebrated the start of another season.

But then again, unlike Harris, I wasn’t a sought-after, five-star shooting guard.
I doubt Hoosier Hysteria’s bumped-up start will come as an inconvenience to anyone. And if IU makes the change for anyone it should be Harris, who is the best uncommitted IU recruit in the class of 2012.

The Hamilton Southeastern standout is ranked as the third-best shooting guard in his class by Rivals.com and the top shooting guard on ESPN.com. IU is considered one of the top contestants in the Harris sweepstakes along with Purdue, Michigan State, Louisville and Kentucky.

I’m not bitter about IU being the only college basketball program to schedule its variation of Midnight Madness on a Saturday night. Nor do I hold anything against Harris for playing in his football game and inadvertently influencing Hoosier Hysteria.

This is all part of feeding the college basketball recruiting beast: Fans tracking the process of courting that “can’t-miss” prospect and hanging onto his every word.

“Who’s in his top five this month?”

“He was sighted wearing University X’s sweatshirt. Is he close to a commitment?”

“His mom and dad went to X College, but I heard that’s a non-factor.”

And then comes that euphoric moment when he utters the name of your school, when you can rub his commitment in the faces of the rival schools he turned down.

His recruiting class is seen as a representation of the program’s bright future. Surely the gold stars on his online ranking page shine like the championship trophy he will one day hoist over his head as the school’s fight song plays in the background.

For Tom Crean’s 2012 recruiting class, it started with the modest commitments of center Peter Jurkin and shooting guard Ron Patterson. But then Crean started nabbing the big fish, and a single recruiting class evolved from a rebuilding project into the gold medal volcano at the science fair.

Elite in-state talents Hanner Perea, Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell and Jeremy Hollowell all committed to Crean, and IU’s team rankings shot up the national charts.

The addition of Harris would be adding bacon to the already-juicy double cheeseburger that is Crean’s 2012 class.

The 6-foot-6, 198-pound guard would obviously be a huge pickup and would elevate his class from special to legendary. But by no means should he be considered a necessity in maintaining the quality of the 2012 class.

But let’s say Harris does sign.

After the ticker-tape parade through Bloomington (I’m sure there’s an NCAA violation in there somewhere), one member of the 2012-13 team would need to leave, assuming a non-senior does not open up a scholarship because of oversigning.

Then again, this is Indiana.
 
The championship banners hanging in Assembly Hall are reminders that excellence — no, perfection — is expected.

Why have one of the best recruiting classes in the country when you can have the best recruiting class in the country?