Why the Indiana Hoosiers Should Target In-State Recruits

After Kelvin Sampson's debacle, the once proud program fell all the way down the mountain to last place in the Big 10. And, despite great effort by Tom Crean to get the Hoosiers back, the past two seasons have been disappointing at best.

With that said, there's a lot of room for improvement. Maurice Creek returns after a season ending injury last season. In his performances early in the season, Creek showed that he can be a special player for Indiana as they continue their rebound.

Also, the Hoosiers bring back team leader in Verdell Jones III, Christian Watford and Derek Elston off of a good freshman season, and just about everyone else.

However, this team right now can not get the Indiana Hoosiers back to the national success that they used to enjoy. In order to that, they should start targeting recruits within the state of Indiana.

Last season, Butler proved that the heartland can produce great talent, as the Bulldogs went all the way to the Final Four with 10 of the 15 players from Indiana. Matt Howard and Gordon Hayward are from Connersville and Brownsburg, both cities in Indiana.

It's fair to say that the Hoosiers have missed out on great talent from within their boundaries, but if they start finding the top recruits there now, they could be on their way back.

The 2011 recruiting class consists of great talent from Indiana, including five players in the first 35 of ESPNU's Top 100 Recruits.

It's safe to say, that if the Hoosiers sign all of them, they'd be on their way to success.

However, for the 2011 class, Indiana is currently targeting Branden Dawson, Michael Chandler, Cody Zeller, all in the ESPNU Top 100, and Jeremiah Davis, a three star prospect.

All of them currently reside in Indiana.

So, if Indiana does start to do this, which they appear to be doing right now, it could be another step to rebuilding them back to national prominence.

This solution is just a part of what they have to do to get there, but the road is getting smaller and smaller as Tom Crean has the Hoosiers heading in the right direction.