Indiana Basketball: Five questions the Hoosiers answered this offseason

The summer phase of the offseason is about to ramp up and with the transfer window officially closed and the team pretty much set, Mike Woodson and Indiana can start working with the pieces they have for the upcoming 2023-24 season.

With only one scholarship left, Indiana basketball had major success in the spring portion of the offseason being able to bring a total of four new faces to go along with their already signed freshman guards, Gabe Cupps and Jakai Newton. Indiana also added 2023 five-star forward Mackenzie Mgbako to incoming freshman class as well.

In the portal, the Hoosiers added Payton Sparks, Kel’el Ware, and Anthony Walker.

With summer workouts and newcomers arriving on campus soon, it is a good time to look at the questions and topics that Mike Woodson and Indiana answered.

Frontcourt replenished, now has depth

Going into this offseason, this quickly became an area that Indiana needed to turn their focus too. The Hoosiers, in total, lost four of their five front court rotation pieces.

With Trayce Jackson-Davis heading to the NBA, Race Thompson out of eligibility, and both Jordan Geronimo and Logan Duncomb opting to transfer, that left Malik Reneau as the lone front court option for Indiana to build around.

Luckily, Mike Woodson and the Hoosiers wasted very little time in filling up the front court as they were very aggressive in the transfer portal knew what they needed. The first addition to the front court came in April from Ball State transfer center Payton Sparks followed by Kel’el Ware, a transfer center from Oregon, and then lastly veteran power forward Anthony Walker from Miami (FL). If you were to throw in Mackenzie Mgbako, who can play both the three and four, the Hoosiers now have a solid, athletic 4/5 man rotation in their front court.

While it will be extremely hard to replace the production and leadership that players like Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson provided, the Indiana basketball staff did an outstanding job bringing in high-upside replacements in the their front court. Except to see a much different, athletic style in the Indiana front court than what fans have seen in the past few years.

A true playmaker on the wing

At last, Mike Woodson has seemed to have found that athletic, playmaking wing he has been searching for since he took over as Indiana head coach two seasons ago. With the late addition of 2023, five-star forward Mackenzie Mgbako, Indiana’s perimeter play gets a much needed boost.

It was clear in the past few years, Indiana basketball was in desperate need of shooting and a legit playmaker on the wing. While Mike Woodson tried many different pieces to fill that role, there was really never one that stuck. Miller Kopp was the guy on the wing for the Hoosiers the last two seasons, but inconsistency in shooting, not having the ability to make plays on the ball, and lack of usage from Indiana never really made him a true threat from the perimeter.

Mgbako, a McDonald’s All-American, comes in as the highest rated recruit that Indiana has seen in awhile. He can create on the ball, shoot it well from the outside, defend multiple spots, and so much more that fans have not seen in such a long time.

Mike Woodson got his wing.

Experience and leadership

When you look at this Indiana team on paper, this is an overall young Indiana team that is leaning on ‘untapped potential’ next season. However, while they don’t necessarily have the amount of experience they had last season, the Indiana staff did a good job of filling each spot with experience whether that be from the players that are returning or who they got from the transfer portal.

In the portal is where Indiana brought that leadership and experience to their frontcourt with additions of Miami transfer senior power forward Anthony Walker and Ball State junior center Payton Sparks.

Walker comes in having competed in 125 games in his four seasons at Miami averaging 15.1 minutes, 4.9 points, and 2.5 rebounds per game while also knowing what it is like to be a part of a team that made a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Sparks, on the other hand, comes in having averaged 13.4 points and 8.6 rebounds in 62 career games for Ball State. Both are expected to be important contributors in the front court rotation.

The returning experience and leadership came mainly from the backcourt with guys like Xavier Johnson, Trey Galloway, and even Anthony Leal all back for the Indiana Hoosiers. Both Johnson and Galloway bring back tons of experience for the Indiana backcourt and will be looked at as the leaders to help bring the young backcourt of CJ Gunn, Gabe Cupps, and Jakai Newton along and ready to contribute.

This team may be on the younger side, but Indiana basketball does have enough experience and leadership at almost each position to make these pieces work next season.

Their starting point guard

While the frontcourt was one of the bigger areas that Indiana needed to address this offseason, the most important spot on the floor that the Hoosiers needed to fill was their point guard spot.

Thankfully, the return of senior point guard Xavier Johnson, after his medical hardship waiver was approved, helped Mike Woodson and Indiana fill their biggest need on the floor and ensured the Hoosiers had their starting point guard figured out.

After suffering a broken foot on Dec. 17 against Kansas, Johnson missed the remainder of last season season which allowed him to earn a medical hardship. While this was not exactly an “addition” as Johnson has already two seasons at Bloomington under his belt, this was arguably the best move of the offseason for Indiana.

Johnson’s return next season gives Indiana a true ball-handler and playmaking guard as well as allowing the younger guards like Gabe Cupps to slowly be brought along and not thrown into the fire right away.

The return of Xavier Johnson is so, so significant for Indiana.

Recruiting not a concern, Hoosiers have two McDonald’s All-Americans on their roster

Going into this offseason, the recruiting class of 2023 for Mike Woodson and Indiana was topic of concern with the frontcourt being imploded with no commitments of a true post players and only two guards, Gabe Cupps and Jakai Newton, coming in. It was no secret, the Hoosiers were going to be heavily active in the transfer portal.

After the addition of Ball State transfer center Payton Sparks, Indiana made a their first huge splash off the offseason with them adding former McDonald’s All-American and five-star center Kel’el Ware from Oregon. The Ware addition was much needed for the Hoosiers as they got a versatile, athletic post player to pair with Malik Reneau in the frontcourt.

However, just when many thought Mike Woodson was done making splashes in the offseason, 2023 five-star forward Mackenzie Mgbako decommitted from Duke and fell into the lap of Indiana. After Mgbako’s visit, the Hoosiers were able to add yet another McDonald’s All-American as well as beef up their incoming freshman class with Cupps and Newton.

Both Ware and Mgbako come in with untapped potential and the opportunity to be major factors for the Hoosiers in the 2023-24 season. This is also the first time since the 2016-17 season that IU will have multiple McDonald’s All-Americans on the roster.

The concerns of Mike Woodson recruiting should honestly not be a concern anymore at this point. In his first three seasons, Woodson has been able to get late commitments in the Spring with Tamar Bates and Malik Reneua coming before Mgbacko.

On paper, Woodson has once again done an excellent job this offseason.

SEE ALSO: ‘The program is only going up from here’: Jalen Hood-Schifino, Trayce Jackson-Davis excited about path of Indiana basketball

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