Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Ranked 18th In ESPN.com Preseason Poll
8/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Aug. 19, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana is ranked 18th in ESPN.com's Sizzling Summer 50 college basketball programs. ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz had this to say about the Hoosiers.
"The Hoosiers could have one of the top frontcourts in the country with Auburn transfer Marco Killingsworth, D.J. White and Robert Vaden, with Ben Allen coming off the bench," Katz wrote. "We're banking that Killingsworth and White can lead the Hoosiers back to the NCAAs."
The Hoosiers return a number of players, including four starters from last season's team. Leading the way is White, who was tabbed the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-American last season. The National Player of the Year and All-American candidate returns as the team's leading scorer (13.3), rebounder (4.9) and shot-blocker (2.2).
White is joined by Vaden, A.J. Ratliff and Marshall Strickland as returning starters, each of whom posted impressive numbers from a season ago. Vaden returns as the team's second leading scorer and rebounder, with averages of 10.2 points and 4.3 boards per contest. Ratliff led the team in three-point percentage (.436), while Strickland was the team-leader in assists per game (3.4).
Killingsworth and White could form one of the nation's top frontcourt duos. Killingsworth is coming off the Big Ten Foreign Tour where he led the team with 15.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest. He became only the third Indiana player in Tour annals to lead the squad in scoring after tallying double figures in all five contests to post a team-best 76 points (1991 - Greg Graham, 19.0 and 1992 - Matt Nover, 17.3).
Joining Killingsworth will be a group of talented newcomers joining the Hoosiers in 2005-06. Killingsworth's teammate Lewis Monroe was a three-year starter at Auburn and was the team leader in the Tigers' 2003 Sweet 16 appearance. Junior college transfer Earl Calloway was tabbed an Honorable Mention National Junior College Association of American (NJCAA) All-American and Georgia Junior College Athletic Association (GJCAA) All-Conference performer out of Georgia Perimeter College.
Two true freshmen in Joey Shaw and Allen also bring impressive resumes to IU. Shaw was selected as the Northwest Region Player of the Year and ranked 19th in the nation among guards according to noted recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons. He averaged 17.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists, while shooting .530 from the floor last season at Deer Valley High School. Allen is coming off a solid performance with the Australian U-21 National Team at the FIBA World Youth Championships, helping the "Crocs" to a fourth-place finish at the event. He competed at the Australian Institute of Sport, the same program that produced the 2005 NBA No. 1 overall draft pick Andrew Bogut, where he averaged 23.5 points, 15.5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2.5 blocks a game.
The Hoosiers will open the regular season with a home game against Nicholls State on Nov. 18. IU will host two exhibition games prior to the regular-season opener against Saint Joseph's (Ind.) on Nov. 4 and the University of Indianapolis on Nov. 11.
