(Photo: IndianaHQ)
In January of 2016, Tom Crean added a fourth member of his 2016 recruiting class with the addition of New York area guard Devonte Green. The three-star, top-200 guard from Luther High School (LuHi) in Long Island chose Indiana over other schools. Specifically he mentioned that “[Coach Crean] told me he sees something special in me. He told me that he wouldn’t have given me the offer if he didn’t… I really like the school, coach Crean and all of the coaching staff.”
The guard position was especially critical given Indiana’s four-year starter Yogi Ferrell would be graduating and begin his interesting journey to the NBA.
The Indiana road for Devonte Green has bumpy and not been easy by any means. *You can insert your own pot hole joke here.*
After just one year and a roller-coaster ride of a season that ended in the first round of the NIT, the coach that once recruited him, believed in him, and was one of the reasons he chose to play for the Hoosiers was fired. A new coach, with opposite floor-priorities took his place. A world of offense and speed transformed into one that was defensively-schemed and more intentional.
With an obvious lack of point guards on the Indiana roster, Devonte Green played as more of a true point guard due to his size, whereas he fits more naturally and comfortably as a shooting guard, or even combo guard.
The change was hard for Devonte Green. Archie Miller mentioned on a number of occasions about his conversations with Devonte Green. The new defensive play style is not easy to learn. Not all players have the unique characteristics that make them effective in a pack-line scheme. While he could have easily given up and sought transfer opportunities, Green wanted to improve, wanted to not give up, and most importantly he wanted to help out his Indiana team.
This past season, where the Hoosiers started off strong with a 12-2 opening, Devonte Green struggled to find consistency in the early stages of the season. If you take away performances against Chicago State, Jacksonville, and Central Arkansas, Green struggled to tally more than 6 points in any of the fist stanza of the season.
Of course we all know about the incident mid-way through the season where Devonte Green was suspended for a three-game period for “not meeting the standards expected of members of the [Indiana Basketball] program.”
