Indiana basketball came off a disappointing third season under coach Mike Woodson, missing the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in six years and knowing it would need to rebuild its roster following the departure of a handful of key players, such as potential NBA lottery pick Kel’el Ware at center. Within weeks of the end of the season, the Hoosiers had seven open scholarship spots and only six returning players, with no freshmen signed for the incoming class.
Less than three months later, however, the Hoosiers have nearly filled their roster, bringing in a talented freshmen and five potential impact players from the transfer portal. They’ve set themselves up for a bounce-back campaign in a make-or-break year for Woodson.
Here’s where IU’s roster stands heading into the 2024-25 season.
Additions
Guards: Myles Rice (transfer from Washington State), Kanaan Carlyle (transfer, Stanford)
Wings: Luke Goode (transfer, Illinois), Bryson Tucker (freshman)
Centers: Oumar Ballo (transfer, Arizona), Langdon Hatton (transfer, Bellarmine)
Departures
Guards: Xavier Johnson (eligibility expired), CJ Gunn (transfer to DePaul)
Wing: Kaleb Banks (transfer, Tulane)
Forward: Anthony Walker (eligibility)
Center: Payton Sparks (transfer, Ball State)
Projected depth chart
Starting guards: Trey Galloway, Myles Rice OR Kanaan Carlyle
Reserve guards: Myles Rice OR Kanaan Carlyle, Anthony Leal, Jakai Newton, Gabe Cupps
Starting wing: Mackenzie Mgbako
Reserve wings: Luke Goode, Bryson Tucker, Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal
Starting forward: Malik Reneau
Reserve forwards: Mackenzie Mgbako, Luke Goode, Langdon Hatton
Starting center: Oumar Ballo
Reserve centers: Langdon Hatton, Malik Reneau
Open scholarships: 1
Greatest strength: Experience
Unlike last season, when the Hoosiers spent most of the season starting two freshmen and two sophom*ores, none of whom had extensive time as a starter, this year’s group is loaded with players who have proven their mettle on the court.
Of the 12 scholarship players on Indiana’s roster, seven were full-time starters for teams last season, Cupps started half the season for the Hoosiers, and Leal and Goode were key rotation players who have a combined seven years’ experience in the Big Ten. Only Tucker, a true freshman, and Newton, who redshirted last season as he recovered from a knee injury he suffered in high school, truly come into the season as college basketball neophytes. Neither of them will be expected to play heavy minutes immediately.
While there are advantages to building through high school recruiting, using the transfer portal as IU has means a young team can get old (or at least mature) in one offseason.
Biggest question mark: Shooting
This annual issue wasn’t addressed in the offseason – outside the addition of Goode, who is not expected to play huge minutes – and is enough to send many IU fans into a cold sweat. Indiana’s problems on offense last season largely came down to an inability to shoot from the outside, clogging the lane for its talented interior players, Ware and Reneau.
The same could happen this year with Ballo and Reneau, after IU added a pair of guards in Rice and Carlyle who shot 27.5% and 32.0% from beyond the arc last season.
However, it’s possible this area could be improved through repetition. Players often show significant shooting improvement in their first full collegiate offseason, which could mean a leap for Rice, Carlyle or Mgbako (32.7% last season), each of whom have good mechanics. Galloway is unlikely to shoot 26% as he did last season – he hit 46.2% the year before. If even one or two of those four can hit 35% from deep, IU will probably be fine, but there’s work to do to get there.
Potential breakout player: Mackenzie Mgbako
Mgbako, a top-10 recruit in the 2023 high school class who chose the Hoosiers over Kansas, entered his freshman season with sky-high hype and proceeded to look lost on both ends of the floor through the first month of the season.
Rather than taking him out of the starting lineup, Woodson stuck with the freshman and Mgbako improved significantly. He scored 20 points three times in a five-game stretch in late February and March on the way to co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors.
The 6-foot-8 Mgbako is the type of long, floor-stretching wing who can create matchup problems for most teams and he’ll have the ball in his hands more often this season as a primary scoring option following Ware’s departure. He’ll need to get more efficient (a repeat of his 39.5% field-goal percentage won’t cut it), but Indiana (not to mention Mgbako’s NBA draft stock) could rise or fall on his ability to get his own shot when the offense bogs down.
Team outlook
This is the deepest and most coherent roster in Woodson’s four seasons with the Hoosiers. There is experience and talent at each position and also a viable backup in each spot. The amount of options on the roster will give Woodson a chance to mix and match with different lineups until he finds a group that maximizes the strengths of Ballo, an All-Pac-12 center who was the No. 2 player in the transfer portal this offseason, per 247 Sports, and Mgbako.
Woodson successfully rebuilt Indiana’s roster this offseason and momentarily quieted critics who wanted him fired in March. Now, he has to lead the Hoosiers to a top-three finish in the Big Ten and reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. This roster is capable of doing it.
