High Quality – IU Recruits For Big Results - Indiana University Athletics

By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It was a fine day for Tom Allen and the Indiana Hoosiers.

A darn fine day.

Another difference-making football recruiting class had been signed (despite no official visits because of COVID-19). Record-breaking Big Ten defensive honors had been announced.

Allen embraced Wednesday's National Signing Day with plenty of reasons to be pumped (a scary thought given his high-energy nature) and this thought:

The real recruiting benefits of this Top-10 season are likely a year away.

"The 2022 class is going to be a big class," Allen said via Zoom press conference opportunity. "We have been planning and building for that.

"That's where I see the true benefit and the change of what we're able to do, and who we attract here based on on-field performance, is the '22 class and beyond."

Still, the immediate focus is this 14-player newcomer group that comes from six states, plus New Zealand. It has nine offensive players, four defensive players and one punter (James Evans from New Zealand).

There is a lot to work with.

IU signed four four-star players (quarterback Donaven McCulley, defensive back Larry Smith III and receivers Jaquez Smith and Jordyn Williams), landed five of the state's 11 best prospects (McCulley out of Indianapolis, Fort Wayne offensive lineman Vinny Fiacable, Valparaiso defensive lineman Cooper Jones, Brownsburg offensive lineman Joshua Sales Jr. and Bloomington tight end Aaron Steinfeldt) and brought in a talented receiver/return specialist transfer in D.J. Matthews from Florida State.

"We are really excited about the quality of the players," Allen said. "We feel that they fit with us off the field with their character and the way they have been raised. The way they play the game in terms of effort, skill and talent, they are guys that fit with us."

That includes Matthews, who in three seasons at Florida State caught 84 passes for 809 yards and five touchdowns, and returned a punt for a touchdown.

"D.J. is a gifted athlete, for sure," Allen said. "He is another weapon to bring to our offense. He is a very skilled punt returner, one of the best in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"He has a chance to compete and make plays. That is what we challenged him to do."

Recruiting experts don't consider this Allen's best recruiting class, mostly because it's small (classes are usually 20 to 25 players), which was by design, especially under pandemic conditions.

That misses the point, which is IU recruits to win games, not ratings. The goal is to get players who best fit the program, and then develop then to elite levels.

Case in point -- Ty Fryfogle, the Big Ten's best receiver this season, was a two-star prospect in 2017. His success highlights IU's development approach and Fryfogle's desire and work ethic.

"Ty came here and he decided, man, I'm going to work my tail off," Allen said. "That's what we expected him to do when he got here, and that's what he did."

Signing McCulley, the state's No. 2 prospect, was big given his dual-threat potential and the fact you can never have enough quality quarterbacks in your program.

At Lawrence North High School, he had career numbers of 6,211 passing yards, 1,274 rushing yards and 47 touchdowns.

He also is an outstanding basketball player and track athlete.

"I had him at camp and saw him when he was young," Allen said. "We were his first offer. I saw that natural, quick release that you cannot coach. He is going to get better and better."

That includes leadership, crucial for a quarterback.

"This is a guy you want leading your program one day," Allen said. "Just the character. You want that competitive toughness and greatness. To be at his best when it counts the most.

"His best football is ahead of him. He is going to come here and have a great career."

As far as signing five of the state's best players, Allen adds, "That is a special thing for me. It's very important. It has been a priority with me from the beginning, to see our best players in the state come to Indiana."

Beyond recruiting, IU had seven players named to the All-Big Ten defensive team, the most in program history.

Linebacker Micah McFadden, defensive lineman Jerome Johnson, safety Jamar Johnson and cornerback Tiawan Mullen made first team, also a program best.

Cornerback Jaylin Williams made second team. Safety Devon Matthews was third team. Linebacker Cam Jones was honorable mention.

Their success, and that of the No. 7 Hoosiers (6-1), reflect an impressive combination of talent, coaching, development and effort.

"What we have done on the field, the things we have been able to do, you think about that list of guys on that All-Big Ten list," Allen said.

"Jerome Johnson had no Division 1 offers out of high school, and he came from a small town in Mississippi.

"I knew his head coach. I recruited that area at Ole Miss and I knew him and we brought him here on an official visit and had not even offered him yet and I convinced everybody here -- I was not the head coach at the time -- to take him.

"We had specific film. I had to pull film from the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star Game, which he played in, and show clips of him playing just to convince the coaches here that, hey this is a guy that I believe has a chance to be a special player here. He had no Division 1 offers at that time. We saw that potential in him and he comes here and he has developed into a first-team All-Big Ten player.

"Micah McFadden was not a highly recruited guy. He had two Power Five (conference) offers, and we were one of them. He has come here, now he is a first-team All-Big Ten linebacker.

"Tiawan Mullen is another guy that, he is undersized (5-10, 176 pounds), but he had a lot more going on in recruiting for sure (a four-star prospect), but a kid that just bought in and believed in this program. He came here with a different edge about him, and now he is first-team All-Big Ten.

"Jamar Johnson had offers and all but was not like some national guy. He believed in us and we believed in him. He came here and he made some positive changes in the way he did things on and off the field. He has developed into a great player."

Add it all up and IU is positioned to earn a New Year's Day bowl bid for the second-straight season. That announcement will come Sunday.

As Allen said, "It's a big day for the Hoosiers."

High Quality – IU Recruits For Big Results

Players Mentioned

James Evans

Vince Fiacable

Ty Fryfogle

Jamar Johnson

Jerome Johnson

Cam Jones

Cooper Jones

Devon Matthews

D.J. Matthews Jr.

Donaven McCulley

Micah McFadden

Tiawan Mullen

Joshua Sales Jr.

Jaquez Smith

Larry Smith III

Aaron Steinfeldt

Jaylin Williams

Jordyn Williams