Indiana basketball reaches out to transfer forward Michael Ajayi — a popular prospect in this portal cycle

The transfer portal officially opened up on Monday and already a handful of major impact players have entered their names. For Indiana basketball, there will be numerous players of interest at multiple positions.

There have been a few names that Indiana has reached out to already with Penn guard Clark Slajchert and Furman guard Marcus Foster. On Monday, 247Sports national basketball analyst Travis Branham reported that Indiana basketball was one of a handful of teams to reach out to Pepperdine forward Michael Ajayi. Ajayi is expected to be one of the top prospect in the portal at his position.

At 6-foot-7 and 220 pounds, Ajayi spent just one season at Pepperdine after transferring in from Pierce (Wa.) junior college. This past season, Ajayi was named to the All-WCC First Team after averaging 17.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. He had 15 doubles-doubles on the season.

Ajayi isn’t a traditional post player and is much more of a hybrid wing. He also shot 47 percent from three, albeit on 1.2 made 3s per game. For reference, Mackenzie Mgbako led Indiana with 50 made 3s. Kel’el Ware attempted just 1.3 3s per game for Indiana this season and Malik Reneau attempted 1.4 per game. They combined for 32 made 3s this season while Ajayi had 39 himself. Trey Galloway made just 26 3s.

Overall, Ajayi shot 46.7 percent from the field and 70.9 percent from the foul line.

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Some notable performances include 14 points and 14 rebounds against Gonzaga, 16 points and 13 rebounds against New Mexico, 17 points and seven rebounds against Louisville and 25 points against Indiana State.

In total, Ajayi had 11 games with at least 20 points and two 30+ point games.

At Pierce, Ajayi averaged 20.4 points and 11.3 rebounds in 2022-23.

“Ajayi is a big, strong and versatile wing with a seven-foot wingspan who impacts the game in just about every way,” Branham wrote. “He can slash, make shots, rebound and defend multiple positions.”

Kansas, Arizona, Baylor, Ole Miss, Gonzaga, Arkansas and UCLA are among the programs who have reached out.

Ajayi has one year of eligibility remaining.

SEE ALSO: ‘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

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