‘The bottom line is we’ve got to get better’: Mike Woodson enters offseason knowing what’s at stake for Indiana basketball with critical few months upcoming

The 2023-24 season for the Indiana basketball program came to a crashing end on Friday night as a 27-point loss to Nebraska put a cap on what was an extremely disapitning year.

Indiana will likely be declining any NIT bid, with Friday’s loss ending postseason play. So, year three of the Mike Woodson era ends with a 19-14 record overall, 10-10 in Big Ten play and then 1-1 in the conference tournament.

Following Friday’s loss, Indiana’s 14 losses came by an average of 14.8 points per game. It had five losses by at least 20 points.

“Every loss is frustrating because you go in the game with the game plan and you try to get your team to play at a high level,” Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson said postgame. “I know when they do, we’re a pretty good basketball team, and we’re very competitive. Tonight they were a step ahead of everything that we wanted to do, and you’ve got to give them credit. We’ve just got a lot of work to do this summer to get back and get our team back on top.”

So, with the offseason expected to begin right away, what’s next? The transfer portal.

The transfer portal officially opens up on Monday morning and Indiana will be among the most active over the next few months. Indiana will be losing Xavier Johnson and Anthony Walker to graduation and likely Kel’el Ware to the NBA. Then, questions are still there about the future of Malik Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako. Finally, rotational players like CJ Gunn and Kaleb Banks saw their minutes cut drastically come Big Ten play to either playing inconsistently from game to game or to falling out of the rotation all together.

It is likely Indiana heads into the offseason looking to fill six scholarship spots. And, without a single 2024 commit in the fold, this spring is of extreme importance.

“We’ve been — we always meet every day, guys,” Woodson said of his staff and players. “We spend a lot of time, the coaches and I, together, and we talk about the what-ifs because you just don’t know based on the new system and the portal, you know, who’s going to be on your team, who’s not. Who are we going to entertain once the portal opens up?

“So I mean, it’s going to come very quickly, and we’ve got to be in position to do our homework and our due diligence on these players based on who we might want to come in to fill a spot to help us move forward next season.”

The skillsets Indiana will target? It’s clear — dynamic and playmaking guards, shooting and rim protection.

Indiana shot 32.4 percent from three this year, ranked 255th in the country. Even worse, it ranks 352nd overall in three-point rate and 355th in total points from three.

Indiana currently has an offensive efficiency ranking of 106th, the worst since 2014 when it finished 126th.

“The bottom line is we’ve got to get better,” Woodson said. “From a talent standpoint, this summer will be spent watching a lot of film on players because we’re going to lose some players, I’m sure, and we’re going to have to build around the core guys that are coming back.”

Those players who are coming back? Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal and likely Gabe Cupps, Payton Sparks and Jakai Newton. Outside of that group — it’s still very much in question.

Galloway will return as the most tenured of the group and is someone who has played a lot of different roles throughout his Indiana basketball career. Going into his final season, he is willing to do whatever it takes to win and that means helping the coaching staff put together a roster that can do just that; win.

“I have to be the biggest recruiter because I want to win,” Galloway said following IU’s loss. “We have to find guys and keep guys that want to be here — that want to play for Indiana and want to win. I’m going to try my best to help our coaches to get guys that want to win. Whatever it takes. Whatever they need me to do, I’ll do it. The portal is so big right now. It’s not heading (anywhere), so we need to get some giuys.”

Indiana has had success in the portal under Woodson, landing players like Kel’el Ware, Miller Kopp and Xavier Johnson. But has also whiffed on players who were expected to play significant roles.

That can’t happen this summer.

So, as Indiana will sit and watch the remaining of the season from home — it will also see its worst final ranking in numerous overall metrics since the second season of the Tom Crean era when it finished 10-21.

The next few months will absolutely determine the future of this program and is the most critical offseason, in my opinion, in nearly a decade for Indiana basketball.

“We’ve just got a lot of work to do this summer to get better,” Woodson added. “I don’t want to sit here this time next year and not be playing in the (NCAA) tournament.”