Indiana lands 2012 top 10 prospect

Anybody who follows college basketball recruiting knows just how loaded the state of Indiana is over the next few years. Of course, nobody knows better than Tom Crean and he's doing his best to lock as much of it up as possible. While Colombia native Hanner Perea isn't a homegrown prospect, he's at an Indiana high school and plays for powerful Indiana Elite on the summer circuit.

After Sunday's verbal commitment, Perea will now play his college ball at Indiana.

The subject of an intensely scrutinized recruiting battle between Indiana and Baylor, the 6-foot-8 power forward from La Porte (Ind) La Lumiere who lives in Bloomington during the summers decided it was time to end his recruitment.

"I decided to commit to IU," Perea told Mike Pegram of Rivals affiliate Peegs.com. "I have been thinking about it the last few days and I just knew this was the place I wanted to go."

An intense competitor with long arms and big time athleticism, Perea has earned a top 10 ranking and five-star status in the class of 2012. He runs the floor, owns his area on the glass and is developing into a crafty scorer.

Counting class of 2011 commitment Austin Etherington and Perea, all four of Indiana's 2011 and 2012 commitments have hailed from the Indiana Elite program (2012's Peter Jurkin and Ron Patterson are members as well).

The Hoosiers hope that luck with Indiana Elite continues in the near future. 2011 five-star big man Cody Zeller was on campus for his official visit and is expected to decide between the Hoosiers and North Carolina within the next week.