Where’s Jeremiah April?
Fourteen Hoosiers — including Jordan Fuchs, who officially joined the program that morning — took the court. April wasn’t one ?of them.
The program quickly announced on its Twitter account that April was sick and had been left in ?Bloomington.
That fact probably didn’t affect his playing time against Maryland, though.
The freshman center has barely seen the court in an IU uniform.
He’s appeared in just three of IU’s 25 games this season and none since Dec. 9. None of his 14 career minutes have come in a Big Ten game.
April’s path to playing time hasn’t exactly been blocked by his teammates. At 6-foot-11, he’s the tallest player on an undersized roster. Behind starting forward Hanner Mosquera-Perea, the Hoosiers have turned to 6-foot-7 freshman Emmitt Holt and 6-foot-7 sophomore Collin Hartman, a natural wing player, in lieu of April.
IU has almost no ?viable post depth, and it’s left a 6-foot-11 center on the bench. Even when Mosquera-Perea missed seven games with a knee injury, April stayed on the sidelines.
The question that popped up Wednesday is just as applicable to the entire season: Where’s ?Jeremiah April?
April was hampered by an ankle injury in the preseason and didn’t play during the Hoosiers’ trip to Canada in August.
He sat out of practice until just before the season started and didn’t put the injury fully behind him until December.
On a radio show early this season, IU Coach Tom Crean said he was excited by how April had progressed after being cleared to ?participate fully.
“A couple things I like about him right now, No. 1 is he’s working extremely hard,” Crean said. “And the other part of it is, his teammates are starting to see his potential, they’re starting to get after him in practice ... ?I like that.”
Crean hinted that April might have been ready for IU’s game the next day against Pittsburgh. April didn’t play. He did take the court in each of IU’s two games after Pittsburgh but hasn’t played since.
Fuchs’ arrival may have signaled the end of April’s 2014-15 season and possibly his IU career. Fuchs, a 6-foot-6 forward who also plays tight end on the IU football team, figures to muddle further the Hoosiers’ frontcourt situation.
With IU oversigned by two scholarships for next season, at least two current Hoosiers will have to leave the program.
None will graduate this year, and it looks unlikely that any current player will leave school for the ?NBA Draft.
That leaves transfers.
In 2014 alone, five Hoosiers transferred to finish their college careers ?elsewhere.
At this time, there’s no indication that April — or any Hoosier — plans to transfer. Crean said last month that he still hopes to see him help the team this season.
“Jeremiah’s learning a lot, and hopefully he’ll be able to contribute this year,” ?Crean said.
Crean said playing time is still a possibility for April, however unlikely it seems. There’s one condition to that happening, though.
“He’s got to work harder.”
