James Blackmon Re-Opens Commitment
Mar 28, 2013; Washington, D.C., USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Tom Crean reacts in the first half against the Syracuse Orange during the semifinals of the East regional of the 2013 NCAA tournament at the Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Some bad news for the Hoosiers today as James Blackmon Jr has decommitted from Indiana. The 2014 recruit originally agreed to play for Indiana way back before the start of his freshman season in high school.
The son of a former Kentucky star, who was also named James Blackmon, the younger Blackmon is a slick shooter who has the ability to fill up the scoring sheet in a hurry. Now that he is once again available, he should start getting a lot of offers from the top teams looking to boost their perimeter scoring.
Reports are saying that Blackmon will now sign with a team in the fall and that he is still considering Indiana. Giving himself that much time before committing certainly does not bode well for Crean and the Hoosiers but at least they still have a glimmer of hope that this is just a bit of cold feet for the young player.
Ranked 33rd in the nation by Rivals, Blackmon had a tremendous performance at the Nike Global Challenge and showed that he can really keep up with the best players in his class.
This is yet another example of why players should avoid committing to a school too early. What a person might think he will want in four years and what he does want in that span of time is usually wildly different. Expecting a 14 year old to keep a commitment like that for four years is asking a lot. Sure, some do end up attending those schools but so many more don’t. Ultimately when the player re-opens his commitment, it leaves fans upset and teams scrabbling to fill the hole. Maybe schools will eventually move away from offering so early but I doubt the Blackmon situation will be the deal breaker.