Kouts' Conor VanDyke and Matt Morgart try to stop Bowman's Elijah Ray in the third quarter Friday night during the sectional semifinal at Bowman Academy in Gary March 4, 2011. | Jeffrey D. Nicholls~Sun-Times Media
There was never much of a doubt for Elijah Ray. It was pretty much IUPUI in a landslide.
The 6-6 forward from Bowman became the third Eagles’ player to verbally commit to a Division I school when he announced for the Jaguars this weekend after his official visit.
It was the second visit to the Indianapolis school, which plays in the Mid-Continent Conference.
The only solid offers Ray had were from Valparaiso and IUPUI, but the Jaguars were always the team that had recruited him the hardest and they were always the team to beat. Plenty of other schools, mostly Ivy League types like Princeton, Brown and Cornell were interested and it’s likely that Ray would’ve had more offers if he waited out the season.
But Ray wanted to end his recruitment and get on with the basketball season so he can focus on bringing another state title to Bowman.
Ray, who has relatives in the Indianapolis area, will also be close enough to home for his parents to watch him play.
In the end, Ray was sold because of first-year coach Todd Howard and his comfort level wit the school. With a 3.8 GPA, Ray intends to major in Sports Medicine and then continue on to become an Orthopedic Surgeon.
“I just love coach Howard,” he said.
The other factor that piqued his interest was four seniors are departing IUPUI after this season. That means there should be plenty of minutes available.
“I should be able to get playing time,” Ray said.
Bowman coach Marvin Rea called Ray the “poster boy for student athletes” at Bowman. Ray injured his knee his freshman year and missed most of the season. His development sky rocketed last year when he averaged 17 points per game and shot 55 percent from 3-point range.
“I’m totally excited for Elijah,” Rea said. “He paid his dues in the class room and on the basketball court. The coaches at IUPUI got a great low maintenance player.”
Ray said he’ll probably play either the small forward or the power forward position for IUPUI, a team that likes to run.
The Jaguars were coached by Ron Hunter, who stepped down after 17 seasons to take a new job at Georgia State. Howard had been an assistant under Hunter for all 17 of those seasons and was their top recruiter.
The other two Bowmna players to commit to D-I schools are DeJuan Marrero, who announced for DePaul in August, and Stephen Hawkins, who is headed to Robert Morris.
Rea wanted to have all three kids commit early so they could focus on the upcoming season.
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