Apollo's Eli Wright gets IU offer

Apollo High School shooting guard Eli Wright, a member of the Class of 2016, received a scholarship offer from Indiana University on Tuesday during his visit to the school.

Wright's guardian, Ben Moss, said it was a memorable visit among the many he and Wright have taken.

"It was a lovely visit. I truly, really liked the visit," Moss said. "The staff was good and paid him a lot of attention, and (coach) Tom Crean was right in the middle of the whole thing. We had a great visit."

Wright was able to play pick-up games with the Hoosiers, and Moss said he was impressed with how Crean's staff interacts with the team.

"What stands out is how their staff runs things, does things, how they treat their players and how they demanding they are of their players," Moss said. "They're one unit out there. They have a lot of good veterans on their staff, and (the players) go after it in practice.

"We've been on a lot of visits, and this was just one that stuck to you a little bit more."

Moss continued: "IU isn't but about 2 1/2 hours away (from Owensboro). A lot of schools make him feel wanted by making him offers, but you could feel he's important to them. It was just a great visit all the way around."

The 6-foot-5 Wright, a candidate for 2016 Mr. Basketball honors, has seen an already busy recruitment really pick up this month. He also received offers from Oklahoma State, Purdue and Winthrop, to go along with previous one from Mississippi State, Western Kentucky, UAB, Northern Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky.

Moss said Wright is likely to visit Mississippi State - the first major-conference school to make him an offer - again soon. He visited there last fall. West Virginia and Florida State also want him to visit soon.

Wright visited Louisville and played pick-up with the Cardinals two weeks ago.

IU figures to be a contender moving forward.

Crean told Wright it was a "no-brainer" to make him an early offer and that he would be watching him next month while he plays with the Lexington-based Hoop Dreams club.

"He likes how he moves without the ball, likes his athleticism," Moss said. "He really thinks he has a chance to grow with his game. He just believes in him and sees the growth in his game from where it was.

"He wants to get in on him early."

Steve Jones can be reached at (502) 582-7176 and followed on Twitter at @SteveJones_CJ.