Hanner Perea to Indiana

Hanner Perea, a 6-foot-8, 212-pound power forward originally from Colombia, verbally committed to Indiana over Baylor Sunday after a visit to campus.

“Oh, yes I did,” Perea, the No. 4 power forward in the Class of 2012, said by phone.

“I like them,” he added. “The No. 1 thing I like about it is the coach. All the coaching staff and Coach [Tom] Crean. I love the way he coach everything. I love the way he is. I like the team.”

Perea, out of La Porte (Ind.) La Lumiere School, joins 6-2 shooting guard Ron Patterson and 6-11 center Peter Jurkin among Hoosiers’ recruits for 2012.

“He’s extremely athletic and extremely long,” said Mark Adams of Indiana Elite. “He’s 6-8 with a 7-4 wingspan and really jumps extremely well. He’s really athletic and he’s got a high motor.

“He knows how to play. He can shoot from 17 [feet] on in. His outside shot is really coming around. He’s worked on it hard since July. I saw him play in early September. He can face-up, turnaround, hit 17-footers. He really improved his shot. He was hitting everything actually. He’s got a nice little jump baby hook that’s hard to defend because he’s so long and jumps well.

“He’s very talented, very talented.”

Adams said Perea is a natural four-man who would have to “work on his perimeter ball-handling to be a three.”

“I think he can defend the three,” Adams added. “His defense has really picked up.”

Peraa said he hopes to continue to work on his skill set before he arrives at IU.

“I’m trying to be better,” he said. “I’ve been working on my dribble and my shot and all that kind of stuff so that when the time is right for me to come to Indiana for college, I can help a lot.”

The story was first reported by Scout.com.

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