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Collin Hartman was an early 2013 commit with lots of potential. Despite his do it all play style he's a good shooter and has the intangibles that give him that leadership quality that anyone would want in a player. Hartman is a guy that I describe as a concession stand guy because he does everything in the game of basketball including making the popcorn at halftime. He's the vocal leader of the preseason #1 Cathedral. He rebounds, he scores when he has to, he facilitates when that's the better option. He defends well in the post and can step out and guard the perimeter. The kid just does it all.
Unfortunately the guy can just not catch a break. Hartman for the second time in 7 months is fighting concussion symptoms after taking a hard fall and hit to the head in practice last week. Because of this Hartman was forced to miss the first weekend of the season which included a battle with fellow IU commit Devin Davis and his Warren Central Warriors. Hartman also missed a Saturday game against Broad Ripple high school. He is expected to be back for Cathedral's showdown with IU decommit Trey Lyles and his Arsenal Tech squad.
This series of injuries aren't just head injuries. Hartman also was slowed and missed a portion of last season with lower back issues which has also hampered his development. Because of these issues he's had some inconsistencies in his game and when fully healthy he was the 5th option on a stacked AAU team. This obviously leads to a drop in his ranking as he is now an unranked 3-star for the 2013 class. But don't let the rankings fool you, Hartman is going to be valuable to the future of the Indiana program.
For those of you that haven't seen Hartman play, I encourage you to go check out a Cathedral game this year and you'll immediately see what he brings to the game. Despite likely never being asked to be the go to scorer in college he does all the little things right. He's a coach on the court and an all around gamer. Don't let some tell you that he's been recruited over or the odd man out in 2013. He's going to contribute. Probably not so much early in his freshman career but with some time and growth I wouldn't be surprised to see him starting as an upperclassman. Hartman is the type of tough it out guy that every program will wish they had when they have to face off with him.