'We're the city's team': IUPUI basketball hoping to rebuild and recruit more Indy talent

IUPUI men's basketball's best teams, under coaches like Ron Hunter and Bob Lovell, were made up with talented homegrown Indianapolis players. Names like George Hill (Broad Ripple), Aldray Gibson (Manual), Alex Young (Northwest) and Jesse Bingham (Manual) helped set the standard for the program.

And few will know that better than IUPUI's first-year head coach Matt Crenshaw. Crenshaw, a former Jaguars point guard and longtime assistant.

Crenshaw says he understands just how important recruiting Indianapolis is to turning around an IUPUI program that hasn't had a winning record since 2010-11 (Hunter's final season), and is picked to finish last this season in the Horizon League.

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"Indiana is home for us," he said. "Indianapolis, Indiana, we're the city's team. So for us, that's our No. 1 recruiting priority. We have to recruit the state of Indiana, the city of Indianapolis.."

Coaching changes usually lead to some reshuffling of the roster. The Jags have seven players returning from last season but lost their top three scorers and will likely turn to several young or inexperienced players to fill out the rotation. Unlike years past, this year's active squad will not have a scholarship player from Indiana.

Former HSE star Zach Gunn transferred to IUPUI to play for Crenshaw, his former assistant coach at Ball State, but the former Indiana All-Star will miss the season after suffering a knee injury during practice. Guerin Catholic grad Kaleb Edwards and former Greenwood Christian guard Derek Petersen are freshmen walk-ons.

"That's the one thing that we need to do again, we to re-establish ourselves in the city of Indianapolis and in the state of Indiana," Crenshaw said. "We all know Indiana is viewed as a basketball state from the understanding of basketball, talking, little nuances of the game. We get an Indiana kid, they're going to be well coached and ready to impact your program Day 1 as a freshman. You're not going to have do a lot of teaching things that you would need to do for some of these other players."

The Jags are hoping a mix of freshmen and an incoming transfer can be foundational pieces. Freshman guard Boston Stanton III is a 6-5 point guard from Denver who can handle and shoot with range. Freshman Chuks Isitua is a long, 6-11 center from Texas by way of Lagos, Nigeria with athletic ability. Grad transfer B.J. Maxwell, a 6-5 guard, averaged 18.6 points last season at Division II St. Edward's (Texas) University. Junior guards Nathan McClure (4.4 points per game) and Mike DePersia (5 ppg) are the Jags' only returning starters.

"We really have guys from everywhere, a couple from Texas, I'm from New Jersey, but no matter where we're from, we all come here to Indiana to come together and find a common goal," DePersia said. "We all just want to win at the end of the day. That's all that matters. So we've all got to come together and create a new culture here. That's what coach Crenshaw is trying to do."

With so many players stepping into new roles, Crenshaw takes time during practice to stress the fundamentals and defense. If a drill is not run to his liking, the team will stop, run sprints and start over. Crenshaw said he's not as animated as his mentor Hunter, but his tough love side will come out when necessary.

The former hard-nosed defensive player of the year knows getting picked last in the conference combined with several years of sub-par performances could led to apathy from fans and alumni. Crenshaw said anyone down on the program should come watch and then make a decision about where the program is headed.

Rebuilding the program will take time, but a renewed emphasis on keeping recruits home and a coach with a first-hand experience of what it takes to win at a program like IUPUI could be the first step in the right direction.

"I challenged the young men when (the preseason poll) came out — this should be a motivation every day," Crenshaw said. "Coaches don't play, players play. I just want to put us in situations to win."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IUPUI basketball: Jaguars hoping to recruit more Indianapolis talent