One would think the Indiana Hoosiers would be cleaning up on the high school recruiting trail by now, especially after having gone 16-0 en route to their first national championship in program history. While Curt Cignetti and his staff are proficient in attacking the transfer portal ferociously, they have work to do in the high school ranks. As of Wednesday afternoon, IU has the No. 48 class for 2027...
While Indiana is poised to finish with a better record than at least 40 of the teams ranked ahead of them easily, this is the last area where Cignetti and his staff really need to establish order to be truly proficient in this new day and age of college football. Monshun Sales may be their biggest target for this cycle out of Indianapolis, but this is all about getting the right guys who want to be here to start.
So what we are going to do now is look at a few prospective recruits who are slated to be taking official visits to Bloomington within the next month, and see who is more likely than not to commit. More so than ever, an Indiana offer is such a precious commodity. As long as Cignetti is in charge, the Hoosiers are going places. He might not be overly youthful, but this program has become a buzz saw.
Let's start with an in-state prospect who stars at a position group that Bryant Haines is going to love!
3. EDGE Ifeanyi Emedobi (Northrop HS, Fort Wayne, IN)
Ifeanyi Emedobi is a three-star edge rusher from Fort Wayne. The Northrop standout will be making his official visit to Bloomington on June 12. He has a visit coming up with Minnesota on May 29, Penn State on June 5, and one with Michigan after his Indiana visit on June 19. How does Indiana stack up for his three-star commitment? On3/Rivals has Indiana as the slight favorite over Penn State for him.
According to the 247Sports Composite, Emedobi is the No. 10 player from Indiana, the No. 37 edge rusher in the country, and the No. 435 player in his class. While Indiana may be too good to regularly land three-stars now, do not get greedy. Keep in mind that Notre Dame wants him pretty badly too, as the Fighting Irish are also in-state. He may not have a visit scheduled to South Bend yet, so that helps.
To be quite frank, how his Penn State visit goes might determine if Emedobi chooses Indiana or not.
2. RB TJ Lewis (Bolingbrook HS, Bolingbrook, IL)
Three-star running back TJ Lewis may not be making his official to Indiana until June 19, but the chances of IU landing him are through the roof! The Bolingbrook standout is seen as a gargantuan favorite to commit to Indiana over the likes of Illinois, Michigan, or whomever. He took a visit to in-state Illinois back in April, but that did not seem to tickle his fancy. The allure of Indiana is palpable!
According to the 247Sports Composite, Lewis is the No. 23 player from Illinois, the No. 42 running back in the nation, and the No. 605 overall recruit in the country. While 247Sports still has Oklahoma listed as "warm" for him, this really does feel like a two-team race for Lewis' services. With all the momentum in the Hoosiers' favor to land him, it is only a matter of time before he commits to Indiana.
Anything other than Lewis committing to Indiana this summer would be a total shock to the system.
1. CB Chris Bradley (North College Hill HS, Cincinnati, OH)
If there is one player who is slated to commit between now and this time next month, it would have to be cornerback Chris Bradley. This underrated cornerback recruit out of Cincinnati is a three-star on some recruiting services, but not everywhere. He has an official visit lined up with Indiana on June 12. The other team who is vying for his commitment would be Miami (OH), who he is visiting on June 5...
The good news for Indiana is that while other schools such as Toledo, Temple, and Kent State are all looking hard at him, Indiana is the only one competing at the Power Four level. Again, they have already offered him, and he is visiting in less than a month. If he likes the vibes of Bloomington and gets along with Cignetti and his staff alright, he could become the latest player to sign up with IU.
To be quite frank, the only team who could beat out Indiana for him might be in-state Ohio State...
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