Indiana just used Syracuse against Syracuse to try and land Kyle Filipowski. He is rated as the 58th best player in the country, and is one of the most intriguing prospects in high school recruiting. This week Mike Woodson and his assistants hopped on Zoom to reiterate their interest in him, and IU highlighted the players he coached during his NBA coaching career. Woodson offered Carmelo Anthony as a comparison, remembering his time as the Knicks head coach. Flip’s head coach detailed the presentation to Inside the Hall.
‚ÄúHe didn‚Äôt say ‚ÄòKyle, you‚Äôre exactly this guy or exactly that guy.‚Äô He picked a couple of players and the others were Carmelo Anthony and Amar‚Äôe Stoudemire. There were a couple of clips of (Steve) Novak shooting the ball and knocking down some shots… And then Carmelo, he said you have a really high skillset like Carmelo did and a real knack for scoring. And then with the Amar‚Äôe thing, it might take some people by surprise, but when Kyle is around the basket, he makes some really athletic plays.” – Filipowski’s head coach Mike Mannix
First Keith Smart and now this? That’s fighting dirty. Woodson may have coached Melo in the NBA, but Jim Boeheim of course had him in college. Filipowski’s frame and athleticism elicits a lot of comparisons. He‚Äôs 6‚Äô10‚Äù, 215 lbs. and has the frame to bulk up even more. He has slick footwork, and a coach that will tell you his superstar is something of a unicorn.
“People are just enamored that at 6-foot-10, he can stop on a dime and make a 17-foot pull-up jump shot. Or come off of a ball screen and knock down a 3 if a guy goes underneath a screen. And he goes into the post and has incredible footwork in the post. But you can also see that when he gets in a tight area around the basket, he can jump with anybody.” РMike Mannix to Inside the Hall
The schools that are enamored? Syracuse, Connecticut, Creighton, Georgetown, Illinois, Indian, Iowa, Louisville, Maryland, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Stanford, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Xavier… and others. SU was pursuing Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and once he chose Tennessee, seemed to pivot to Flip.
It’s only been a week since the Orange offered Filipowski, but he’s sounded excited about that opportunity from the start. Indiana has been battling SU already for point guard Zion Cruz, and now they are reaffirming their interest in Filipowski.
Of all the schools recruiting Flip, the Hoosiers are the only one with a coaching change. Archie Miller out, Woodson in. And since there’s change on the bench, the IU staff needed to cement their interest in Flip. Woodson used his NBA experience as a recruiting tool, just as we assumed he would with Cruz and other players.
“According to Mannix, the new Indiana staff provided a ‘really nice presentation’ that included a look at some of the players that Woodson has previously coached in the NBA.” – Inside the Hall
Filipowski had gotten familiar with Indiana from Miller’s efforts in recruiting and had been feeling good about the previous staff. Then Woodson came in and Mannix says “there was a pause.‚Äù
But this week the Hoosiers extended the scholarship offer again over Zoom. Filipowski also knows assistant coach Dane Fife, because of Fife‚Äôs time at Michigan State. Syracuse has some major competition on its hands for Filipowski. They’ll have to remember to bring up that banner that hands in the Dome, courtesy of Carmelo.
