08-18-2005, 10:37 AM
*meant to say : "FORMERLY verballed to UB"
this guy was originally going to be UB's gem of this upcoming recruiting class. now look at what's transpired:
While Rush is still on, Hoosiers also court European big man
Aug. 17, 2005
By Gregg Doyel
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
While Indiana has been competing with Kansas and Illinois in a very public recruiting battle for Brandon Rush, the Hoosiers have been working behind the scenes on an international recruit who could have a similar impact -- this season.
His name is Cem Dinc, he's a 6-foot-10, 255-pound athletic marvel of Turkish-German descent, and if he's not a household name in your household ... don't feel bad. Dinc has spent less than six months in the United States, and never played organized basketball in this country. He was enrolled last fall at Brewster (N.H.) Academy but left in November with a broken finger, returning to Germany and earning his high school degree.
"When he returned to Germany, he literally fell off the map," Brewster coach Jason Smith told CBS SportsLine.com on Wednesday night. "Everyone forgot about him."
Smith says Indiana coach Mike Davis must have learned about Dinc through Turkish national coach Bogdan Tanjevic, who coached Davis in the 1980s in Europe. Recently the Hoosiers have been recruiting Dinc quietly but furiously, believing he could be the missing piece on their otherwise loaded roster. Indiana has guards galore with Lewis Monroe, Marshall Strickland, Robert Vaden and A.J. Ratliff, and they have skilled forwards in 6-7 Marco Killingsworth and 6-9 D.J. White.
But Indiana doesn't have a center like Dinc, whose arrival could push the Hoosiers to the top of the Big Ten. Dinc told Smith on Wednesday that he will visit Indiana early next week. Dinc also is being courted by North Carolina, Smith said, and could visit the Tar Heels next week as well -- but a visit to Indiana is the only one Dinc has arranged.
Smith is holding out hope that Dinc will play this season for Brewster. Whoever gets him, Smith said, is getting a physical specimen.
"In terms of athleticism, Cem is phenomenal," Smith says. "He runs like a guard, is an explosive athlete, and has great footwork and great hands."
However, Dinc is still a mystery -- even to Smith.
"You can't judge heart and work ethic, because you just don't know," Smith says. "Nobody over here has seen him for a full year."
Few U.S. college coaches know Dinc as well as ex-Western Carolina coach Steve Shurina, who hosted Dinc on an official visit to WCU last year. Shurina feels he probably would have signed Dinc had he not been let go after the 2004-05 season.
"I'm like just about everyone else over here -- I've never seen him play -- but everyone says Cem is an unbelievable athlete for his size," Shurina says. "The people we spoke to in Turkey, our contact, said he's a freak -- literally. He was raw, but they'd never seen a guy his size do the thing he does."
Dinc's injury last year, and subsequent return to Europe, weren't the only reason he has been under the U.S. recruiting radar. Shurina says the schools that did know about him were led to believe Dinc would spend the 2005-06 season at a prep school, thinking it would be his best route to the 2006 NBA Draft.
Now, Smith says, Tanjevic is pushing Smith toward Indiana. Even if the Hoosiers land Rush, they would have a scholarship available for Dinc because redshirt freshman center Lucas Steijn is expected to transfer to a junior college.
Smith said Dinc should have no trouble getting eligible. For one thing, Smith said, Dinc was a terrific student in Germany who has aspirations of becoming a doctor after his basketball career is finished. For another, Smith said, Dinc's involvement with German club teams was limited to second-division squads that didn't compromise his amateur status with the NCAA.
this guy was originally going to be UB's gem of this upcoming recruiting class. now look at what's transpired:
While Rush is still on, Hoosiers also court European big man
Aug. 17, 2005
By Gregg Doyel
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
While Indiana has been competing with Kansas and Illinois in a very public recruiting battle for Brandon Rush, the Hoosiers have been working behind the scenes on an international recruit who could have a similar impact -- this season.
His name is Cem Dinc, he's a 6-foot-10, 255-pound athletic marvel of Turkish-German descent, and if he's not a household name in your household ... don't feel bad. Dinc has spent less than six months in the United States, and never played organized basketball in this country. He was enrolled last fall at Brewster (N.H.) Academy but left in November with a broken finger, returning to Germany and earning his high school degree.
"When he returned to Germany, he literally fell off the map," Brewster coach Jason Smith told CBS SportsLine.com on Wednesday night. "Everyone forgot about him."
Smith says Indiana coach Mike Davis must have learned about Dinc through Turkish national coach Bogdan Tanjevic, who coached Davis in the 1980s in Europe. Recently the Hoosiers have been recruiting Dinc quietly but furiously, believing he could be the missing piece on their otherwise loaded roster. Indiana has guards galore with Lewis Monroe, Marshall Strickland, Robert Vaden and A.J. Ratliff, and they have skilled forwards in 6-7 Marco Killingsworth and 6-9 D.J. White.
But Indiana doesn't have a center like Dinc, whose arrival could push the Hoosiers to the top of the Big Ten. Dinc told Smith on Wednesday that he will visit Indiana early next week. Dinc also is being courted by North Carolina, Smith said, and could visit the Tar Heels next week as well -- but a visit to Indiana is the only one Dinc has arranged.
Smith is holding out hope that Dinc will play this season for Brewster. Whoever gets him, Smith said, is getting a physical specimen.
"In terms of athleticism, Cem is phenomenal," Smith says. "He runs like a guard, is an explosive athlete, and has great footwork and great hands."
However, Dinc is still a mystery -- even to Smith.
"You can't judge heart and work ethic, because you just don't know," Smith says. "Nobody over here has seen him for a full year."
Few U.S. college coaches know Dinc as well as ex-Western Carolina coach Steve Shurina, who hosted Dinc on an official visit to WCU last year. Shurina feels he probably would have signed Dinc had he not been let go after the 2004-05 season.
"I'm like just about everyone else over here -- I've never seen him play -- but everyone says Cem is an unbelievable athlete for his size," Shurina says. "The people we spoke to in Turkey, our contact, said he's a freak -- literally. He was raw, but they'd never seen a guy his size do the thing he does."
Dinc's injury last year, and subsequent return to Europe, weren't the only reason he has been under the U.S. recruiting radar. Shurina says the schools that did know about him were led to believe Dinc would spend the 2005-06 season at a prep school, thinking it would be his best route to the 2006 NBA Draft.
Now, Smith says, Tanjevic is pushing Smith toward Indiana. Even if the Hoosiers land Rush, they would have a scholarship available for Dinc because redshirt freshman center Lucas Steijn is expected to transfer to a junior college.
Smith said Dinc should have no trouble getting eligible. For one thing, Smith said, Dinc was a terrific student in Germany who has aspirations of becoming a doctor after his basketball career is finished. For another, Smith said, Dinc's involvement with German club teams was limited to second-division squads that didn't compromise his amateur status with the NCAA.