Luke Goode says an additional year is ‘more than justifiable’ and wants to do it with the IU basketball program

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Following a 72-59 defeat for the IU basketball program, it’s going to be a long 76 hours for the coaches and players as its NCAA Tournament chances are now in the hands of the selection committee, no longer controlling its own destiny.

But, it’ll be even longer for a guy like Luke Goode who isn’t sure if Thursday is going to be his final game of his Indiana — and college — career. Goode, who transferred in to Indiana after three years at Illinois, has the potential to receive a fifth year of eligibility from the NCAA.

Goode suffered a foot injury in the preseason ahead of the 2022-23 season that held him out for all but 10 games. The NCAA requirements for a medical-hardship waiver says that a player can’t participate in more than 30 percent of the number of games and can’t appear after the midpoint of their season. All of his appearances were after the midpoint of the season but he believes he shouldn’t be punished for that, as he missed the first three months of the season. He also played just a hair over the 30 percent requirement — at 30.3 percent.

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Goode was asked about the potential to receive an additional year following IU’s loss to Oregon in the Big Ten Tournament, and he made it clear what his intentions are.

“We’ll start really looking into that after the season. We’re really focused on this (season) right now,” Goode said in the locker room. “I know it’s not the typical situation where people would ask for waivers, but we got some people working on it and I’d be very fortunate to play another year. I think with everything now going on in college basketball and all the extra years they’re giving to Juco kids and non-DI kids and all that, I think only playing 10 games in a season will be more than justifiable.”

Goode has played in 32 games for the Hoosiers this season and averaged a career-best 9.1 points per game while shooting 39.2 percent from three. In 20 Big Ten games, he’s averaged 11.0 points and shot 44 percent from three — cementing himself as one of the top shooters in the league.

He struggled in Indiana’s loss on Thursday, however. He played 33 minutes but was o-of-5 from the floor and 0-of-4 from three, finishing with just one point.

The 6-foot-7 wing grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana and despite spending his first three years at Illinois, always had love for the IU basketball program and the university.

“I’d do anything I can to play in the candy stripes again, man,” Goode added. “Everybody knows my story, but it’s more than special to be able to come represent this jersey. So if I’m fortunate enough to get that year, I’d love nothing more than to represent this university once again. So hopefully people are working as hard as they can to get me another year. So we’ll be looking at that for sure.”

IU basketball finished the season 19-13 and are squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble. The Hoosiers brought in a consensus top-3 transfer class and were a preseason top-20 team.

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