While Indiana basketball has seen a lot of struggles up to this point in the year, there have been a few positive areas on this roster with sophomore center Kel’el Ware, being one of them. With his improvements that he has made since his freshman season at Oregon and the overall constant force he has been for Mike Woodson and the Hoosiers this year, Ware has see his name pop up on multiple NBA mock drafts.
He lately has seen his name finally reach back up to the lottery in the latest 2024 NBA mock draft by Bleacher Report, which see him going No. 14 to the New Orleans Pelicans. Despite the current state of the Indiana basketball program, Ware continues to show Mike Woodson’s ability to develop talent and reach their full potential.
“Indiana losses have overshadowed Kel’el Ware’s strong play lately, as he’s been consistent enough individually to avoid criticism for the team’s lousy conference record,” Bleacher Report Lead Scout/NBA Draft Insider Jonathan Wasserman said. “Averaging 15.1 points, 9.4 boards and 1.7 blocks on 13-of-31 from three, he’ll be on first-round boards before the predraft process, when he should be able to rise even further with workout settings that will illuminate his excellent tools, athletic abilities and shotmaking touch.”
Ware is coming off his best performance of season in Indiana basketball’s win over Wisconsin Tuesday night. In that game, the ‘big fella’ finished with a double-double of 27 points on 11-of-12 shooting, 11 rebounds, and five blocks. He was one point away from tying his career high of 28 points, which he did this past December in Indiana’s win over Harvard.
“It was unbelievable. He had a man’s game. He really did,” Woodson said about Ware’s performance. “… Maybe we didn’t go to him enough, but he was fantastic tonight. We needed every bit of it in order to win this game.”
Ware has taken a major leap in his sophomore year than where he was he freshman season at Oregon. Viewed as ‘one-and-done’ type of player, for whatever reason, he did not live up to those expectations. Last season saw him only average 6.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.3 blocks per game.
This season, Ware is averaging a team second-best 15.6 points behind fellow frontcourt running Malik Reneua (16.0 ppg) and is leading the team in rebounding at 9.5 per game.
Mike Woodson has been able to unlock more from Kel’el Ware than what Oregon was able to. He has once again showed his ability to development big men just as we saw with Trayce Jackson-Davis and currently with Kel’el Ware.
“Just pushing him,” Mike Woodson said this past December. “I mean, again, I’m not knocking where he’s been, the coaches that coached him, but I coach a different way. You know, I mean, that’s not even knowing how the other coaches coach when they’re in practice. You have to come to practice with energy. You have to play hard. That was a knock on him. He is starting to figure that part of it out. So far this young season he’s been playing well for us.”
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