Four-star guard Shake Milton recaps IU visit

  • 06/17/2014 12:38 pm in

Shake Milton, a class of 2015 guard from Owassa (Okla.), had his first opportunity to experience Indiana basketball up close on Monday.

It’s fair to say he came away impressed with his unofficial visit to Bloomington. Milton, the Gatorade player of the year as a junior in Oklahoma, recapped the trip in an interview with Inside the Hall on Monday evening.

“I knew it was a basketball tradition (type of) town,” he said. “But when I got here on campus, I could actually see it in person. It was crazy. The facilities were really nice.”

Milton toured the campus with Tom Crean, associate head coach Steve McClain and the coaching staff. McClain previously recruited a lottery pick in Alec Burks from Morgan’s AAU program, MoKan Elite, when he was at Colorado.

Indiana is recruiting Milton as a true combo guard as the staff views him as being able to handle either backcourt position.

“They see me as being a guard who can play multiple positions and who can do multiple things on the court,” Milton said. “Not only shoot it, but making plays for my teammates and passing the ball as well.”

As a junior at Owasso, he averaged 28.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game and shot 63 percent on 2s and 88 percent from the free throw line. Milton has continued his strong play into the spring with MoKan Elite, where he’s averaging 11.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game in Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL).

That type of production has moved him up to a four-star prospect according to the 247Composite. His recruitment has also taken off as he reeled off a list of schools that included Indiana, Oklahoma, Baylor, Kansas, Texas, SMU, Wake Forest, Wichita State and UCLA.

The Hoosiers have been coming strong after Milton in recent months and the visit only helped strengthen their position.

“They’re definitely one of my top schools,” he said. “I like the relationship I’ve built with coach (Tom) Crean and the coaching staff. I like the way it’s going.”

Academics are also an important piece for Milton, who has a 3.94 GPA, is a member of the National Honor Society and enjoys doing volunteer work in his free time.

“My dedication for academics definitely comes from my mom. She always pushes me to do well with my academics,” Milton said. “She gets mad if I get a B in a class. So I’m definitely held to a high standard. As far as community work, so many people have helped me in my life, so any chance I get to give back, I enjoy that. Whether it’s camps for little kids or helping little kids, I like that type of stuff.”

Milton has a busy July coming up as he’s expected to participate in a couple of Nike camps as well as the Peach Jam finals in North Augusta, South Carolina. Ultimately, Milton said the relationship he forms with the coaching staffs that are pursuing him will have the biggest impact on his decision.

“I’m basically just looking at the relationships the coaches have with the players, how they use their players and how the players interact with one another,” he said. “Coach Crean has a good relationship with all of his players. On the court he’s going to push you no matter what, but off the court he’ll treat you right.”

Filed to: