TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State head basketball coach
Greg Lansing announced today (Nov. 8) that Blake Brinkmeyer has signed a National Letter of Intent and will join the Sycamores in time for the 2018-19 season.
Brinkmeyer is a 6-9, 205 power forward who hails from West Des Moines, Iowa and attends Valley High School where he plays for head coach B.J. Windhorst. Last season, Valley High School reached the Iowa Class 4A State Championship Game to cap off a terrific 21-5 campaign. He scored 4.5 points per game on 65.3 percent shooting, adding 63 rebounds and 11 blocks as Brinkmeyer split time with a pair of seniors.
"We are very excited about Blake and his family joining ours," ISU head coach
Greg Lansing said. "They are wonderful people and Blake was raised the right way to say the least. We knew of Blake because he had been offered by UNI early but we hadn't gotten to see him much. His high school coach, BJ Windhorst, is a good friend that I recruited when I was at South Dakota. Blake didn't play a lot as a sophomore or junior because good players ahead of him on a very good team."
In addition to his time playing at Valley High School, Brinkmeyer spent last summer playing for head coach Jake Sullivan with the Kingdom Hoops program. He averaged a double-double for coach Sullivan on the AAU circuit. Brinkmeyer got a later start to his basketball career as he didn't start playing until sixth grade and made his AAU basketball debut in the summer of 2016 when he played for the Iowa Cornsharks.
"He came into his own playing for another friend and former Iowa State player, Jake Sullivan of Kingdom Hoops, in summer AAU," Lansing said. "Marcus and I saw him and instantly loved how hard he played and his potential. He is athletic, really works hard and runs very well and his skills are good and will only get better. He plays with no fear and is a terrific fit for our program. Marcus worked very hard to get him and we feel very fortunate to get back into Iowa and get a very good player."
Of course, the Sycamore Basketball ties with the state of Iowa run deep. Coach Lansing graduated from Harlan HS and was a high school basketball coach in Des Moines to begin his collegiate career. There he coached Nate Green, a native of Des Moines, who went on to become the 2000 Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year and led the Sycamores to the 2000 Missouri Valley Conference title as well as a berth into the NCAA Tournament. Also from the state of Iowa is Jordan Printy who hails from Marion and connected on 215 3-pointers during his career -- second-most in the history of the program.
Indiana State opens the 2017-18 regular season on Friday, November 10 when they travel to Bloomington, Ind., to take on the Indiana Hoosiers. Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm (ET) on Big Ten Network Plus and can be heard live on WIBQ-FM as well as a link on GoSycamores.com.
Â
