Basketball recruits sign letters of intent

The Movement is official, minus Gary Harris.

All five commits from the class of 2012 sent in their national letters of intent to IU on Wednesday.

Harris, the top-ranked uncommitted player in Indiana, made his decision Wednesday evening, committing to Michigan State.

Throughout the past month, Harris took four official visits to Purdue (Oct. 1), IU (Oct. 15), Kentucky (Oct. 22) and Michigan State (Nov. 5). Having the last visit proved to pay off for the Spartans, as they landed the No. 12 prospect in the Class of 2012, according to Scout.com.

Even without Harris, the class is still ranked in the top five by nearly every recruiting service and has all five positions on the floor.

All five athletes also play for the Indiana Elite AAU program.

The first member of the class of 2012 was 7-foot center Peter Jurkin, who committed to the Hoosiers in August of 2010.

The lone member of the class who doesn’t reside in the state of Indiana, Jurkin plays high school basketball at United Faith Christian Academy in Charlotte, N.C.
Jurkin is coming off an injury-plagued summer when he did not play for his Indiana Elite AAU team.

A week after Jurkin committed to the Hoosiers, shooting guard Ron Patterson joined the “Movement,” a term Patterson coined on Twitter.

Patterson hails from Indianapolis and turned down offers from Illinois, Ohio State and Tennessee, among others.

“The thing that stands out the most about Ron Patterson is his ability to defend the ball,” Evan Daniels of Scout.com said. “He does a great job on the defensive end and is a tough, hard-nosed kid. He’s also a pretty solid spot-up shooter and has really developed his long-range shot.”

IU once again delved into the Indiana Elite pipeline during Halloween last year when power forward Hanner Perea pledged to the Hoosiers.

This marks the second year Perea has played at La Lumiere High School in
 La Porte, Ind.

Daniel said Perea is a bit raw offensively, but it will be hard to keep a high-flyer like him off the floor.

“At the defensive end is where he’s going to be most effective,” Daniels said. “He’s going to have to develop his game offensively, but anytime you have athleticism like Hanner has, you can find ways to be effective.”

As Thanksgiving approached, point guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell became the second Indianapolis native to commit to IU Coach Tom Crean.

Ferrell is going for his second straight 2A State Championship this year at Park Tudor School and averaged 18.7 points per game along with 6.6 assists last season.

Ferrell, who plays for former NBA coach Ed Schilling at Park Tudor School, has been considered one of the top players in his grade ever since elementary school, when he was ranked the No. 1 fourth grader in the nation by recruiting analyst Clark Francis in 2004.

The proximity to home played an important role for Ferrell, along with the ultimate goal of playing at the next level.

“One of the main things was location,” Ferrell said. “I wanted my family to come down. I just liked pretty much what the coaches said. I feel like they can get to me to reach my goals and where I want to be. I want to be a part of the program and rebuilding it.”

Last spring, small forward Jeremy Hollowell became the fifth commit to the Class of 2012 when he chose IU instead of Illinois or Ohio State, among others.

He has an older brother who plays at Eastern Illinois University.
Hollowell averaged 18.9 points and 7.1 rebounds a game for Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis.

“He’s a guy that I’ve been really impressed with throughout the course of his high school career,” Daniels said. “He’s not the most athletic, not the fastest, but he’s skilled and finds a way to put the ball in the hole.”

Daniels said the Hoosiers finished with the nation’s No. 2 class, with Ferrell, Hollowell and Perea earning four-star rankings.

“Tom Crean really made it a point to keep the local kids home, keep the homegrown kids home, and that’s what this class is about,” Daniels said. “Four of these guys play their high school basketball within the borders, and I think this is a big deal. I think it’s a class he needed.”


The 2012 class

Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell
SIZE 6-foot, 180 pounds
HOMETOWN Indianapolis
HIGH SCHOOL Park Tudor School
RANKING No. 3 point guard in 2012, No. 32 overall
ANALYSIS Evan Daniels of Scout.com about Ferrell: “Yogi is a guy that is probably the future point guard of the Indiana Hoosiers and a guy that can step in, maybe as a freshman, and really fulfill that role.”

Ron Patterson
SIZE 6-foot-3-inches, 180 pounds
HOMETOWN Indianapolis
HIGH SCHOOL Broad Ripple High School
RANKING No. 24 shooting guard in 2012
ANALYSIS Evan Daniels of Scout.com about Patterson: “Anytime you can defend the ball the way Ron Patterson does, you’re going to find ways to get on the basketball court.”

Jeremy Hollowell
SIZE 6-foot-6-inches, 190 pounds
HOMETOWN Indianapolis
HIGH SCHOOL Lawrence Central High School
RANKING No. 7 small forward, No. 36 overall
ANALYSIS Evan Daniels of Scout.com about Hollowell: “He is kind of quiet from a personality standpoint, but once he gets on the court, he brings it with his game pretty loud. He’s one of the best perimeter scorers in the country. He’s skilled. He shoots the ball quite well, and he’s got pretty good range on his shot as well.”

Hanner Perea
SIZE 6-foot-8-inches, 190 pounds
HOMETOWN La Porte, Ind.
HIGH SCHOOL La Lumiere School
RANKING No. 6 power forward, No. 31 overall
ANALYSIS Evan Daniels of Scout.com about Perea: “Hanner is an elite-level athlete. He’s at best when he’s in run-and-jump situations. He’s a terrific shot-blocker, one of the best ones in the class. He can rebound. He just uses his athleticism.”

Peter Jurkin
SIZE 7-foot, 220 pounds
HOMETOWN Charlotte, N.C.
HIGH SCHOOL United Faith Christian Academy
RANKING 3-star ranked center prospect
ANALYSIS Evan Daniels of Scout.com did not comment about Jurkin because he hasn’t seen him in a few years. Jurkin sat out the 2011 summer due to injury.