BROOKLYN — Indiana coach Tom Crean says that the additions of Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten will help his team’s recruiting efforts.
“All these moves with Rutgers and Maryland, we’re ecstatic about that,” Crean said after No. 1 Indiana won the Legends Classic Tuesday night over Georgetown. “I mean, it’s going to be great for our fan base, great for our recruiting. We hadn’t really been in this area since we played in the Garden a couple years ago.”
Like most top programs in the nation, Indiana recruits the DMV area. Their current roster includes junior guard Victor Oladipo, who played at DeMatha (Md.) Catholic, and they were also involved with Beejay Anya, a 6-8 center from DeMatha who ended up signing with N.C. State.
Indiana has nobody on its current roster from New Jersey or New York, but this area is fertile recruiting ground.
The way Crean sees it, with Maryland and Rutgers in the Big Ten beginning in 2014, his team will now be able to sell recruits in the DMV and New Jersey/New York on playing league games in their home area.
“Selfishly this will be great for our recruiting since we recruit a lot of kids in the area,” he told Andy Katz. “Now we can build in a trip home depending on how the schedule shakes out. This is the way it is in college sports. The Big Ten has always had a business plan and it is following it.”
