Indiana Basketball Player Report Card: Malik Reneau

Indiana’s season ended Sunday as it was left out of the NCAA Tournament and declined to participate in other postseason events. That means it’s time to reflect on the Hoosiers’ 19-13 campaign, which led to the program moving on from coach Mike Woodson and hiring Darian DeVries.

As the Indiana basketball offseason rolls along, Hoosiers On SI will give out grades for individual players based on their performances in 2024-25. So far, we’ve graded Trey Galloway and Anthony Leal, and next up is Malik Reneau.

Preseason expectations

Reneau was one of the most improved players in the Big Ten last season, going from 6.1 points per game as a freshman to 15.4 as a sophomore. Retaining him was an important part of Indiana’s offseason, as it gave Woodson an efficient interior presence capable of leading the team in scoring on a nightly basis. 

In order for Reneau to take his game to another level and become an All-Big Ten player, he hoped to improve at rebounding and defending without fouling while expanding his perimeter game. He played alongside talented centers like Trayce Jackson-Davis and Kel’el Ware his first two seasons, but as a junior he had to adapt to a different type of center in Oumar Ballo.

How the season went

During nonconference play, Reneau was the player many thought he’d be. He had a pair of 21-point performances in the Bahamas and maintained a high field goal percentage. There were even flashes of improved rebounding and 3-point shooting, with two 10-rebound efforts and going 2 for 3 from beyond the arc against Louisville. The causes for concern were that he continued to be plagued by foul trouble – he picked up four fouls in four of Indiana’s first eight games – and how he fit with Ballo. 

Reneau’s season was derailed on Jan. 2 against Rutgers when he suffered a knee injury on the second possession. He missed the next five games, a stretch that included back-to-back 25-point losses to Iowa and Illinois. When he returned in a Jan. 22 loss at Northwestern, he clearly did not have the same level of quickness and athleticism, going 0 for 6 from the field in 11 minutes. He played limited minutes over the next three games, losses to Maryland, Purdue and Wisconsin, as he worked his way back into shape and regained confidence in his knee.

The 6-foot-9 forward looked back to his normal self on Feb. 8 against Michigan when he scored 16 points, and he followed that up with a 19-point, 12-rebound double-double in a crucial win at Michigan State. 

By then, Woodson staggered minutes between Reneau and Ballo at center, though they still played together in some matchups against bigger teams. Reneau came off the bench in six of Indiana’s last seven games and played between 21 and 29 minutes in each. But that was perhaps his best stretch of the season as he averaged 16.1.

He finished the season averaging a team-high 13.3 points per game, along with 5.5 rebounds, two assists, 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks per game. His 55.2% field goal percentage was nearly identical to his first two seasons, though he wound up only making 3-of-24 3-point attempts after making 15-of-45 last season. He shot a career-high 73.3% at the free throw line. Reneau started 19 games and played in 26, logging 23.2 minutes per game for the 19-13 Hoosiers, a 5.5-minute decrease from last season. He became one of 56 players in program history to score 1,000 points.

Reneau entered the transfer portal a few hours after Indiana announced the hiring of new head coach Darian DeVries. He could still return to Indiana as DeVries said he’d meet individually with players in the coming days.

Player grade

When healthy, Reneau was arguably Indiana’s best player with his efficient inside scoring. But there were also a few negatives to his junior season. He did not develop his 3-point shot or ball-handling ability enough to be a serious threat on the perimeter. He did not improve as a rebounder or shot-blocker, making his game somewhat one dimensional. Reneau only fouled out once compared to seven times last year, though he had four fouls in nine games. The combination of Reneau and Ballo also did not work out as well as Indiana hoped for a long list of reasons, some out of Reneau’s control and some due to his underdeveloped perimeter game.

Grade: B