Recruiting Roundup: Vijay Blackmon joins the Hoosiers, IU goes Italian and Jay-Z

With a couple open roster spots, Archie Miller and the Hoosiers have went into the summer not only looking at future classes, but also looking at this season.

Most notably, the team welcomed Vijay Blackmon, brother of James Blackmon, to the team this summer. Many will remember the Hoosiers recruited Vijay during his early years of high school, but IU’s interest waned before Tom Crean and his staff moved on.

After high school, Vijay briefly attended IMG Academy in Florida before withdrawing and returning to Indiana after a month. He then attended St. Francis, an NAIA school in Fort Wayne with a strong basketball program, but his playing time decreased the deeper into the season the team went and Blackmon eventually left the program and school.

Blackmon originally discussed joining the program with former assistant coach Tim Buckley and once Crean left, Blackmon reached out to the new regime who expressed interest in having him come to Bloomington.

Blackmon will join the team in Bloomington on June 16 to begin off-season work.

Davide Moretti

The Hoosiers aren’t only looking to make waves in America. Italian point guard Davide Moretti visited the campus as part of a four-school visit tour this week. Moretti also scheduled visits with UConn, Texas Tech and Utah.

At the 2016 FIBA u18 European Championships, Moretti averaged 14.8 points and 5.0 assists, helping Italy take third. Moretti spent last season with Universo De'Longhi Treviso as the team went 22-9 and finished third in the league.

Moretti played 36 games and averaged 28 minutes a night, averaging 12.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists, hitting 37.1 percent from deep.

On the u18 team, Moretti played a bit of point guard and shooting guard. In an interview on DraftExpress back in December, Moretti said he was 6’2” with a 6’2” wingspan.

Miller has a history of diving into the international market, having landed Kostas Antetokounmpo at Dayton, thought he attended high school in Wisconsin. Antetokounmpo was forced to sit out last season for Dayton.

Nahziah Carter

Maybe the most interesting recruitment development over the past week was that of Nahziah Carter. Once a Dayton commit, Carter’s stock has risen dramatically this summer as he’s been doing things like this.

That would be Marvin Bagley, a five-star power forward ranked number one in the Class of 2018 by 247Sports, that Carter put on a poster.

That’s not his only victim this summer.

That is Bol Bol, son of Manute Bol and 247Sports’ No. 14 player in the 2018 Class.

Carter decommitted from Dayton when Miller left and has taken visits to Georgetown and Boston College recently. Miller reached out to Carter once a scholarship opened up, Carter recently told Bleacher Report.

B/R: With Archie Miller at Indiana and the Hoosiers having an open scholarship, are you on their radar as well?

NC: Yeah, [Miller] and I talk here and there. Once they had a scholarship open, they reached out to me with a little more interest, I think.

B/R: What other schools are at the top of your list right now?

NC: I really like Georgetown. I like Washington too because I know Coach [Mike] Hopkins when he was [an assistant] at Syracuse. Indiana, of course, because of Coach Miller. And South Carolina has expressed some interest too. I'm just focused on making sure I make the right decision, even if that means not going to college this year.

What makes Carter particularly intriguing is his willingness to potentially reclassify to the Class of 2017. Carter is currently slated to be a 2018 recruit, but has shown a willingness to reclassify.

Oh yeah, and his Jay-Z’s nephew.

Jay-Z recently made a surprise appearance at Carter’s game in L.A. and really kick-started the buzz around Nahziah. While Bloomington is a far cry from L.A., having Jay-Z in Assembly Hall would make IU pretty cool.

Carter is listed as a three-star small forward by 247Sports and is outside of their top 300, but is flying up recruiting boards. At 6’6” and 185 pounds, Carter admits to needing to bulk up, but clearly has the athleticism to compete at the next level.

He has not visited Indiana, but has taken unofficial visits to Georgetown, St. John’s and UMass.

The recruitment of Carter and Moretti raise some questions as to what Indiana might do with the one open scholarship. Both could be options should they come to IU this year. Moretti fills the need of a point guard with Robert Johnson and Josh Newkirk both being seniors while Carter provides athleticism that Miller clearly liked at Dayton.

The option remains that the Hoosiers use the scholarship on current walk-on Zach McRoberts, who will be a redshirt junior next season and proved his value in sorts last season.

Or, Indiana could simply hold onto the scholarship this season and use it as extra ammunition for the Class of 2018 that is loaded not only with talent, but in-state talent.

As always, keep up to date with our ever-changing recruiting board.