It was an ushering in of a new era this offseason for the Indiana basketball program. In total, seven players departed from last season including four starters. While it was a successful season, it was one that had a feeling of wanting more and what could have been.
Indiana lost one of its most decorated players in program history with Trayce Jackson-Davis and also lost Big Ten Freshman of the Year in Jalen Hood-Schifino. That’s not only a lot of talent to replace, but also a lot of production.
With that, however, Indiana went out and landed three key transfers including former five-star center Kel’el Ware in the portal. That was a much-needed jolt to the offseason.
Then, the Hoosiers landed 2023 five-star prospect Mackenzie Mgbako in the spring — marking the third straight spring commitment for the Indiana basketball program.
So, where does that leave things for Indiana heading into the season. Well, a lot of untapped potential and still some questions.
“It’s a completely revamped team and while I like the accumulation of talent here … I don’t know. I think time will tell,” Field of 68 co-founder Jeff Goodman said. “I’m all about roster construction and I’m not sure if I love the roster construction because I’m all about shooting. And, if you don’t have enough perimeter shooting, I think you’re going to be in trouble when it matters most in the NCAA Tournament.”
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Indiana shot 36.8 percent from three last season but ranked 353rd nationally in attempted 3s per game (15.5) and 334th in made 3s per game (5.7). Those numbers translated into the fourth best percentage in the Big Ten, but the least amount of made 3s on the season.
The leading-returning shooter is Trey Galloway. And while he ranked second in the Big Ten in three-point percentage (46.2 percent), he also ranked 63rd in total made 3s on the season.
Galloway hasn’t been known as a legit knockdown and high volume shooter for the majority of his career. While he flashed some ability last season, some of that may have been due to the opportunities he had with the talent — and more importantly production — around him.
This season, while there is talent, a lot of it has yet to be proven on the college level. And, there is no proven post player like Indiana had in Jackson-Davis.
Another potential hurdle is the lack of proven versatility from the IU frontcourt in its ability to step out and be a stretch forward to open up the offense.
“Sometimes I think Mike Woodson is coaching like he’s back in the 80s or 90s instead of moving forward with the way basketball has adapted here. He’s not adapting with the game a little bit. We’ll see,” Goodman said.
“Mbgako, Ware — to me, I don’t know if they fit together with Reneau on the front line. I don’t think Mgbako is a 3, I think he’s a 4. I don’t know who can guard a 3 and who can step out. The court is going to be a little clogged and if X (Xavier Johnson) isn’t making shots and Galloway goes back to what he was which was an average three-point shooter… they’ll win games but they won’t do anything in the tournament … They are versatile bigs in a way, but can any of them step out and legitimately be a threat to space the court as a face up 4 or 5? They haven’t shown that yet.”
The front court will once again have all eyes on it because of the expected talent level, much like last season. But, the return of Xavier Johnson can’t be underestimated in its importance. Johnson will clearly have the keys to the car. While the talent level has never been in question, the consistency has.
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Will Johnson be able to be the all-around point guard Indiana needs?
“He can be erratic. No doubt about it. But he’s old now,” Goodman said of Johnson. “Is he thinking it’s his team? His upside is there, we know that. When he played well in the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament (in 2022), they were pretty good. If he plays at a high level, he’s the x-factor. If he doesn’t play well, they are in trouble. He has to play well scoring the ball and keeping everyone involved. He has some mouthes to feed and trust me, those dudes are all playing for the NBA. All three of those big guys are thinking, going into the season, thinking they are first round picks.”
Indiana went 23-12 a season ago and ended the season with a Round of 32 loss to Miami. That was back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances after zero for six straight years.
“They’re a tournament team. I would say if this team finishes in the top four or five in the Big Ten and gets two wins in March, that’s a really good season,” Goodman said. ” … they have talent to be relevant, that is key … you’re still relevant. You lost a ton. You lost a (just outside) lottery pick and the second best player in college basketball. You’re still nationally relevant for the second straight year at Indiana basketball and they haven’t done that in a while.”
There is still a good amount of talent on the Indiana basketball roster. The question remains, however, does it all fit together?
“You can accumulate talent all you want but if you don’t have the right pieces, I don’t care how much talent you have.”
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