IU basketball’s three-man recruiting class for 2017 is now down to one.
Forward Clifton Moore and guard Al Durham have both reportedly requested a release from their National Letters of Intent.
Mike Miller of the Bloomington Herald-Times was the first to report Moore’s request for his release. Al Durham Sr., Durham’s father and coach of the AAU team Southern Stampede, confirmed his son’s release request with the Indiana Daily Student Monday.
Both requests come on the heels of IU firing former head basketball coach Tom Crean last Thursday.
Moore is a 3-star recruit out of Horsham, Pennsylvania, and is the 143rd-best prospect nationally, according to 247 Sports.
Moore told the Indiana Daily Student in October that Crean and assistant coach Chuck Martin were high on him during the recruiting process and the coaches were the main reason why he chose IU.
He was a bit of a secret in the recruiting world with only four total offers from major conference schools and also said he liked the idea of Crean and his staff developing under-the-radar players.
Durham is a 3-star recruit out of Liburn, Georgia, and is ranked as the 50th-best point guard in the nation, according to 247 Sports. Durham was on hand for IU’s regular season finale at Ohio State and the NIT loss at Georgia Tech.
“The culture change to the coaching staff was the main reason for why he asked his release from his national letter of intent from Indiana,” Durham Sr. said. “And Crean and his coaching staff was 99 percent of the reason why we chose Indiana.”
Durham posted a note on Twitter on Monday night to thank the Hoosier program for the support and said Crean and the rest of the coaching staff were a major part of why he chose IU. Durham Sr. confirmed that his son is opening back up his recruiting but would give the next IU coach a chance to recruit him as well.
As of now, no school has emerged as an early favorite for Durham according to his father.
The third member of the recruiting class, Justin Smith out of Lincolnshire, Illinois, has not yet requested a release from his NLI. His high school coach Patrick Ambrose told the Indiana Daily Student that he is not sure what Smith is going to do yet in regards to his commitment.
IU Athletics Director Fred Glass said last Thursday that the department had reached out to all three of the signees of the 2017 class.
