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Hoosiers add preferred walk-on point guard

Zach Osterman
zach.osterman@indystar.com
Indiana coach Tom Crean added preferred walk-on Harrison Niego out of Illinois.

Indiana's freshman class grew by one walk-on this weekend, when La Grange (Ill.) Lyons Township senior Harrison Niego agreed to join the Hoosiers for next season.

Niego had full scholarship offers from Northern Illinois, Dartmouth and Illinois-Chicago. He will be given a preferred walk-on spot at Indiana.

"He really liked Indiana as a school, and the basketball program down there," said Lyons Township coach Tom Sloan. "He likes the opportunity that he's gonna have."

A point guard by trade, Niego comes from the same high school program as fifth-year grad transfer Nick Zeisloft, who spent three years at Illinois State before joining IU via transfer last summer.

Sloan said Zeisloft and Niego share several traits, including a strong shooting touch and good leadership skills. Niego holds records for career assists and made 3-point baskets, the latter of which he took from Zeisloft.

"Harrison is a fundamentally sound player, a 6-2 guard who can handle the ball as a point guard," Sloan said. "He can shoot it, so he can really play either guard spot."

Indiana began recruiting Niego before his sophomore season, and he visited Bloomington before committing.

Given the departure of Stanford Robinson -- and the likelihood that IU will start three of the four guards currently on scholarship next season -- Indiana could use depth in the backcourt. Troy Williams will also likely spend time handling the ball on offensive.

Whether Niego sees regular playing time or not, his presence will provide the Hoosiers more bodies where they are needed. And IU offers him the biggest stage, even as a walk-on.

"He wants to have the opportunity to be at a program that has national championship aspirations," Sloan said. "That's one really attractive part of it."

Niego averaged 20 points, five assists and four rebounds per game as a senior.

SPEAKING OF GUARDS

We did a quick numbers check on Yogi Ferrell during the season, and with his return official, I thought it prudent to dive briefly back into those numbers. Why? Because Ferrell has a good chance to finish his IU career among the most productive players, statistically, in program history.

Let's assume that he replicates all of his totals from last season -- starts, points per game, assists, etc. Here's a look and where he'd rank at this time next year:

This has been repeated a few times, but IU only needs to keep Ferrell healthy and match its total number of games from this season (34) for him to become the program's leader in starts and games played. Former teammates Christian Watford (130) and Jordan Hulls (135) lead in those categories, respectively. Ferrell has appeared in 102 games, all of them starts.

Ferrell scored a career-best 555 points as a junior. Repeating that number next winter would see him finish his IU career with 1,934 points, good for seventh all-time, just behind Alan Henderson. Ferrell would need to average 18.3 points over 34 games to become the sixth IU player ever to reach 2,000 for his career, though if IU played more games -- say, 37 -- he'd only need to average 16.8 to hit that milestone.

Another 166 assists (Ferrell's junior total, also a career-best) would push him to 604, easily an IU record. Michael Lewis currently holds that mark, with 545. That total would also place Ferrell seventh all-time in Big Ten history.

His 82 made 3-point field goals were not a career best, but a repeat of Ferrell's junior season would push the Park Tudor grad to 275, second all-time in that category, only eight made 3s behind A.J. Guyton. His active streak of 65-consecutive games with a made 3-pointer is already an IU record.

Ferrell made 111 free throws as a junior. Doing it again would push him to 415 for his career, just outside the top 10 in program history. Broad Ripple grad Mike Woodson is 10th overall, with 419 career made free throws.

There's always still the question of hardware, of course. Ferrell will be remembered as much for any team achievement next season -- and for coming back to steer the Hoosiers toward it -- as he will for individual contributions.

But if he stays healthy and the numbers continue to trend as they should, then there will be a strong argument by the end of his career for Ferrell as one of the most productive point guards in IU history.

Follow Star reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.