Prime Indiana Recruiting Target Noah Clowney Pushes Back Commitment Announcement

Noah Clowney, a highly coveted 6-foot-10 big man from Roebuck, S.C., has Indiana on his list of final four schools and he was scheduled to make his announcement on Oct. 31. But he's decided to push it back now, just a day to Nov. 1.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana basketball fans are waiting anxiously for 6-foot-10 big name Noah Clowney from Roebuck, S.C. to commit to a school. He has the Hoosiers on his list of four schools, and he'll make his last official visit this weekend.

But now, fans will have to wait a little bit longer.

Clowney, a consensus top-60 player in the nation, tweeted on Monday that he's moving his announcement back from Oct. 31, but just one day, to Nov. 1. He gave no reason why.

The South Carolina product has already taken official visits to Florida, Virginia Tech, and Indiana. Clowney has an official visit planned at Alabama this weekend. The early signing period begins on Nov. 10. 

Clowney and his family visited Indiana in late August, and had a wonderful time. Indiana coaches also visited with him, his family and his coaches in South Carolina a few weeks later.

Indiana was his first official visit. Alabama will be his last before commitment day. 

“The coaches I’ve talked to, they have really good energy. But I need to go see how it feels in person, the facilities, see how I like the team,” Clowney said of his upcoming visit to Alabama in an interview with BamaCentral.com, the Alabama website on our Sports Illustrated/FanNation network.

Clowney's visit to Bloomington went great. He and his family all talked about how impressed they were with the basketball energy at Indiana, and all the love they got from coaches, players and fans during the visit.

“It was really nice, when we really sat down and talked, especially with the coaches, coach Mike Woodson, he seems very genuine,'' Clowney told Inside the Hall last month. "He’s not just feeding me some BS. I feel like he’s talking to me straight up. He means what he says. The whole staff, even the academic director with athletes, they seem like genuine people. I felt great vibes the whole time I was there.''

Clowney's head coach at Dorman High School, Thomas Ryan, said his star player was blown away by all the love he received during his official visit to Indiana. 

“We met first thing Monday morning, he got back Sunday. He used words that it was phenomenal, had a great visit, enjoyed everything about it,'' Ryan said. "He was blown away by just the fans, the rabid fans, and the people he met. 

"And then coach (Mike) Woodson and the staff did a fantastic job of showing him the campus and how they plan to play basketball and how they think they can use Noah. His skill set fits perfectly with what they’re trying to do and him bringing the NBA game to Indiana.”

Indiana's 2022 class already includes point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, shooting guard C.J. Gunn, and small forward Kaleb Banks. Banks and Gunn were both on campus during Clowney’s visit, and have remained in touch with him throughout the process.

Indiana's recruiting class currently ranks No. 11 in the nation according to the 247Sports composite rankings. Getting a commitment from Clowney, their first big-name target for the Class of 2022, would certainly put them deep in the top-10.

Woodson and his staff think Clowney has the perfect skill set for offensive and defensive schemes he's brought to Indiana. Clowney even said so after his visit.

“Basically he told me I’m like an ideal four man, the kind of four man he really wants. He showed me a lot of film of how he plays bigger people,” Clowney told Jeff Rabjohns at Peegs.com. "He showed me a lot of Trayce Jackson-Davis in the Bahamas. I got to see how he coaches his teams. When I saw the college clips, it made a big impression. He said the best pick-and-pop guy he coached was Amar’e Stoudemire. He said he thinks I can get to that point. I’m not there yet, of course, but I can get there.”

Woodson and his assistants have been able to recruit two five-star athletes already, current guard Tamar Bates and Hood-Schifino in next year's class. 

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