As we have come upon the first true AAU weekend of the spring and summer there are still some key players that Indiana fans should pay some attention. Indiana has mostly filled its classes through the 2013 season (will likely add one more with the oversign) but that doesn’t mean that the Hoosiers will stop looking. The thing with good recruiting classes is that it provides a volatile mix of uncertainty in reference to the future of the program. Someone in 2012 could have a monstrous freshman year and leave early. We could see Cody Zeller take a leap to the big leagues next season. Maybe someone is unhappy and chooses to transfer. College basketball rosters are volatile and fluid so it pays dues to keep looking and talking with the potential next target.
Before we go into guys that are still uncommitted for people to watch for this spring and summer, we have to address the ones that are already locked up. The 2013 class last year did not have the greatest of AAU seasons. Injuries slowed Colin Hartman and Devin Davis and Luke Fischer was still learning to play with his newly acquired 6’10" frame. Now that the school year is over with and the three have made their ways through the season mostly unharmed and healthy, they have the opportunity to prove/re-prove themselves on the AAU circuit to the national scouts.
Colin Hartman, the wing out of Cathedral High School had a tough AAU season last summer. He dealt a lot with back issues and it affected his play throughout the evaluation seasons. In turn, his rankings with the recruiting services dipped as well. It wasn’t really his fault, injuries happen and if you don’t play you don’t get ranking hype. Such is the system. However, Hartman made a nice recovery in the school season becoming a leader on his Cathedral team.
Certainly he still has the capability to score at a high level when it is asked of him, but he became more of a facilitator in the Cathedral offense. He did what was needed of him in the school season and despite dropping 20+ on and off through the season he doesn’t really do the things most fans see as "sexy". He rebounds, plays defense and is the floor general of his squad.
Going forward into the AAU season where he is playing on an incredibly balanced and wing heavy team I don’t think we’re going to see the insane scoring outputs that we saw in his freshman/sophomore summers. Look for Hartman to take a different role on his stacked EG10 team. It is a star studded team with most of the top talent in the Indiana 2013 class looking to prove themselves nationally. Hartman will likely take a back seat to that.
What Hoosiers fans should look for in Hartman is not his scoring, he’ll get his if the opportunity comes, we should look for him to start running the show. Hartman needs to be that leader of the pack. There are plenty of guys on EG10 and on the future IU team that can fill up the bucket, Hartman needs to step up and be the guy that keeps everyone in line and running an offense. Watch how Hartman’s back problems have affected his shooting and if he is taking a leadership role on his AAU squad. If both of those show improvement, it likely won’t help him in national rankings but it will certainly make him a must have at the college level.