Life without Glenn Robinson III begins for the Lake Central High School boys basketball team this season, though the prognosis doesn't look too bad.
The 6-6 Robinson is starting as a freshman at Michigan, but Lake Central returns a strong core from a team that finished 21-3 and advanced to a regional for the first time in 15 years.
"Obviously we would have liked to hang on to Glenn for a fifth year if we could, but we feel like we have a nice nucleus coming back," said Lake Central coach Dave Milausnic. "We operated with a little bigger lineup last year. This year we feel like we'll be a little quicker and shoot the ball better and be able to play multiple guards at the same time."
The Indians will still have plenty of size. Tyler Wideman, a 6-6 junior with offers from Ball State, Purdue and Xavier, is a load inside. Milausnic said Wideman is in better shape than he's been at any point in his high school career. Wideman, who also has interest from DePaul, Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee and Wake Forest, averaged 13.1 points and 7.3 rebounds as a sophomore.
"I don't know if people will recognize him in his jersey," Milausnic said. "His explosion is as good as it's been, and he's playing his best basketball for us. We need him to pick up his rebounding, and he'll have some scoring opportunities this year, but we have other guys who can score, too."
Lake Central also returns key players in 5-10 junior guard Tye Wilburn and 6-5 senior Mike Miklusak. Wilburn has an offer from IPFW and interest from Central Michigan, DePaul and others, while Miklusak has offers from Chicago State and Texas-Pan American.
"I'm anxious to see people's reaction to Wilburn this year," Milausnic said. "He was coming off a knee injury and wasn't 100 percent. Now he's getting to the rim more often and has a ton of confidence."
Lake Central's schedule includes a visit from Hamilton Southeastern (Nov. 24) and a trip to Tech to face Cathedral (Feb. 2).
"We see that Cathedral game as a win-win," Milausnic said. "If we pull out a win, great. If we don't, it'll give us something to work on and set the bar for the tournament."
Coleman gets new offer
Cathedral sophomore guard Jalen Coleman picked up a scholarship offer from Ohio State on Wednesday, adding to an impressive list. The 6-2 Coleman, who averaged 12.1 points as a freshman, is ranked as a top-50 national recruit in his class by Rivals.com and Scout.com. Coleman also has offers from Indiana, Purdue, Cincinnati, Illinois, Notre Dame and Providence.
IUPUI adds a player
IUPUI picked up a commitment from 6-9 Josh James, a 2012 Andrean graduate. James, who is attending prep school at Quakerdale Academy (Iowa) this year, averaged 13.1 points and 8.1 rebounds as a senior at Andrean. He also had interest from Eastern Illinois and Chicago State.
"They like me at (power forward or center), and I think my game is pretty versatile, which they like," James said.
"I had a really good visit there and loved the city and the school."
Etc.
Three-sport Zionsville standout Parker Dunshee has committed to Wake Forest for baseball. Dunshee, a quarterback on the football team and guard on the basketball team, hit .336 with two home runs and 39 RBIs as a junior and was 7-1 as a pitcher with a 2.27 earned run average. He suffered a knee injury at the end of football season and is out indefinitely for basketball. . . . John Roberts, formerly of Pike and now a junior at God's Academy (Texas), picked up an offer from Sam Houston State. . . . The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette reported this week that Fort Wayne Canterbury guard Austin Hatch returned to practice, 17 months after he was seriously injured in a plane crash that killed his father and stepmother. Hatch, a junior after being granted another year of eligibility by the Indiana High School Athletic Association, is a Michigan recruit. It is unknown whether he will return full time to the court this season.
