Hummel Set To Announce Decision

It’s decision day for one of the top players in the state of Indiana.

Valparaiso H.S. forward Robbie Hummel – the 60th-ranked player in the nation according to Scout.com – has scheduled a 3 p.m. press conference to announce whether he’ll play his college basketball at Purdue and Indiana.

“Indiana and Purdue are both great schools,” Hummel said. “They have great coaches, great facilities, it’s just going to come down to my gut feeling.”

Most think Hummel’s gut feeling will direct him to Matt Painter’s Boilermaker program. The second-year Purdue coach has cultivated a strong relationship with Hummel since he arrived in West Lafayette in 2004 as the heir apparent to Gene Keady. That’s the same approach Painter took with Franklin Central’s JaJuan Johnson and East Chicago Central’s E’twaun Moore, two other top-100 in-state players who recently pledged to play in West Lafayette.

If Purdue does in fact get a commitment from Hummel, four of the state’s five players ranked in Scout.com’s top 100 will have made verbal commitments. In addition to Hummel, Johnson (No. 79) and Moore (No. 39), North Central H.S. standout Eric Gordon (No. 6) verballed to Illinois last fall. After this afternoon, only Valparaiso’s Scott Martin (No. 47) will remain available. A sixth in-state player ranked in the top-100 – Ft. Wayne’s Eshaunte Jones (No. 89) – is expected to reclassify and be part of the Class of 2008.

If Indiana misses out on Hummel, its hopes of bringing in some in-state talent in the ’07 class isn’t lost. The IU staff has been showing interest in Indianapolis Pike point guard Jeff Teague, Anderson Highland center Gary McGhee and Connersville forward Matt Howard. It is also holding out hope Gordon will re-consider his commitment to Illinois.