Indiana Basketball: Archie Miller’s in-state recruiting is taken for granted

Many Indiana Basketball fans complain instead of appreciating Archie Miller.

I’ve been critical of many decisions Archie Miller has made (or not made), but one thing is undeniable. His recruiting has been nearly flawless.

One of the main reasons Tom Crean was fired was his lack of desire to acquire local athletes. Indiana is a gold mine for high school talent, yet Crean often missed out on the best player in the state. In fact, he often didn’t even put much effort into recruiting them to Bloomington.

Jordan Hulls (2009) and Cody Zeller (2011) were the only two Indiana Mr. Basketball players to play under Tom Crean in eight seasons. Deshaun Thomas, Gary Harris, Zak Irvin, Trey Lyles, Caleb Swanigan, Kyle Guy, and Kris Wilkes are all Indiana Mr. Basketballs who went to other schools. Even worse, many of them went to in-conference rivals. It peeved Indiana Basketball fans for years that these home-grown talents were slipping away with very little resistance.

However, since Miller became coach, he has secured more commitments from Indiana Mr. Basketballs than Tom Crean did in half the amount of time. In fact, had Khristian Lander not reclassified to the class of 2020, Miller would likely have four in a row.

For all the flack Miller gets, no one can deny that he has lived up to the words he said at his very first interview as head coach of the Hoosiers:

"“The term that we’ll use is called inside-out. We have to start inside this state of Indiana, and we have to start moving outside very slowly, because the footprint is there. The inside-out approach means that we have to dedicate ourselves to the high school coaches in this state, the high school talent in this state, the grass-roots programs in this state, and they must feel like they’re being dominated by Indiana University. You’re not going to get every player; you understand that. But if we want them, we should have a great chance of getting them because of the commitment level that we’re putting forth 24 hours a day at home.”"

Miller has thoroughly accomplished every word of that through three seasons. Getting local talent, especially the Indiana Mr. Basketball, is something necessary to the catharsis of being an Indiana fan. The state lines of Indiana mark the borders of sacred ground for the game of basketball. It’s crucial to funnel the most elite players carrying out that sacred tradition to the state’s main university.

Miller has, of course, had recruiting misses. Every coach will. Keion Brooks went to Kentucky, and Minnesota prospect Dawson Garcia committed to Marquette despite desperate pushes from Miller. The streak of Indiana Mr. Basketballs attending Indiana University must be broken eventually.

However, as of now, an unshakable foundation has been placed in the state by Archie Miller. He understands the traditions of the state and what is important to the fans. Despite other flaws being present, fans should be gushing over his success recruiting top in-state talent.