BASKETBALL

Indiana basketball ‘still in the building stages’ as it opens up season vs SIUE

Mike Woodson begins his fourth year on the Indiana basketball sideline and looks to compete atop the Big Ten with his most talented team yet.

Published

12 hours ago

November 6, 2024

Alec Lasley

Mike Woodson begins his fourth year on the Indiana basketball sideline and looks to compete atop the Big Ten with his most talented team yet. (Saul Young/News Sentinel-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Mike Woodson enters his fourth season at Indiana basketball, an important season following the failure to reach the NCAA Tournament last year. Wednesday ushers in another new era in Bloomington — one with seven new faces on the roster. After what was considered a very strong and impactful offseason, Woodson is ‘anxious’, like always, to begin the next campaign — this time against SIUE.

“I take it one game at a time … we got SIUE on our schedule next,” Woodson said on Monday. “That’s all I’m thinking about, nothing else.”

Indiana has finished with 21, 23 and then 19 wins in each of Woodson’s first three seasons and went from a 12-seed in the NCAA Tournament to a 4-seed in his first two years. With last year’s setback, Woodson prioritized flipping the roster. Partially because of some of the pieces that left, but also because of the vision he had for a critical year in his Indiana tenure.

He added Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Myles Rice, former top-60 guard and standout freshman from Stanford Kanaan Carlyle, a consensus top-5 transfer in 7-footer Oumar Ballo from Arizona and then sharpshooter Luke Goode from Illinois. Those four players were the key pickups this offseason that will play large roles throughout the 2024-25 season.

“We had to go get seven players,” Woodson said. “We had to fill a lot of different spots. Bigs, wings, and some perimeter guys who can truly handle the ball and make basketball plays. Only time will tell, man. When you assemble a lot of guys on a team, everybody’s gotta learn what’s going on and everybody’s gotta be on the same page in terms of the direction I think this team should go. We’re still in the building stages and taking it one practice at a time and one game at a time. That’s all you can do at this early stage.”

Throughout the offseason, the discussion has revolved around the depth and talent this team has. Woodson didn’t mince words when he said that this year’s roster was the most talented he’s had since he took the Indiana basketball job. In fact, there are six players who have averaged at least 11 points per game during at least one season in college.

Indiana basketball was picked 2nd in the Big Ten preseason rankings as well.

But because of that, there will likely be growing pains that come with the early stages of the season. Part of the good and bad of having so much talent and so many potential options offensively, is the fact that there needs to be selfless play on the floor. There’s only one ball to go around and Woodson is now dealt with making sure the cohesiveness and chemistry of this roster is ready to go.

“I think when you put teams together, the cream will rise to the crop in terms of who will show who’s the leading scorer … it won’t be just that guy,” Woodson said. “The way we’ve kinds built this team, there’s a number of guys who can score the ball. It might not be your night that night. If it’s not, make somebody else’s night better. That’s kinda been my approach with this team because there are so many guys who are used to having the ball and scoring the ball.

“Everybody can’t score it at one time so we’re going to have to learn to share it and when you got opporutntites to score the ball, you score and go back on the other end and play defense and rebound the ball and go back down and see if we can score again. That’s where I’m at with this team because we do have a lot of guys who can score the ball and it can be anybody’s night on any given night.”

With those high preseason expectations and because of the talent, Mike Woodson’s aspirations remain high — a Big Ten title and competing for a National Championship. That’s the goal for him this year, and every year. Indiana hasn’t reached the Sweet Sixteen since 2016 and hasn’t been to a Final Four since 2002.

This team certainly has the talent to make deep run, but ‘only time will tell’ if they are able to put everything together.

The first step begins on Wednesday.

“Every year I think every coach comes into the Big Ten wanting to win a Big Ten title,” Woodson said. “It hasn’t changed since I walked through the door — only time will tell. We are trying to win a Big Ten title. Trying to win a National title. Every year I suit up, that’s all I think about … I’m hoping this team has a shot — a legitimate shot — at winning a Big Ten title.”