Mike Woodson continuing to navigate ever-changing landscape of recruiting as he builds each Indiana basketball roster

Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson grew up with a different college basketball — not the money-driven and transfer portal oriented league that is here now. Over the last few years, NIL and the transfer portal have made recruiting and building rosters extremely difficult. Add in the covid year that will see its final class this season, and it has put high school recruiting on the back burner.

How you build programs has become who can recruit the transfer portal the best, and more importantly, who can keep their roster intact.

For Mike Woodson, coming from the NBA to college was an adjustment in itself. But, adding in the last three years and the changes that have hit the college basketball world, and it put an even greater learning curve for the veteran basketball mind.

During his three offseason at Indiana, Woodson has built his team both through the portal and through high school classes. So, is there a route he prefers to go — or is it all year-by-year?

“It’s what it is. You just don’t know. I would love to grow a team with high school kids, they stay with me for four years, man, but those days are gone, man,” Woodson said at a fundraising event last week at Huber Winery. “You’ll get a player that’s disgruntled and (they’ll say) ‘hey, I want more minutes.’ I’m trying to put together a team where you can’t worry about minutes. It’s gotta be about team and you gotta commit to the team because then everything else takes care of itself.”

Putting together a roster has been a mixed bag for Woodson at Indiana, however. His first summer he inked commitments from three transfers — Xavier Johnson, Miller Kopp and Michael Durr. He also had a rollover transfer in Parker Stewart who committed to IU under Archie Miller in the winter semester and stayed on board when the new staff took over. Both Johnson and Kopp were valuable members of the roster during their time in Bloomington, albeit inconsistent for Johnson.

The following year, Woodson took four high school commits and no transfers. Two of the four transferred out of the program this offseason while Jalen Hood-Schifino left after one year for the NBA. Malik Reneau is the lone member of the 2022 class remaining.

Last year, Woodson brought in six new faces, three from high school and three from the portal. All three high school prospects are back this year, while all three transfers are gone — by route of the NBA, transfer portal and graduation.

Related: Mike Woodson used an old NBA approach, which led Indiana basketball to find success in the transfer portal this offseason

This offseason, Mike Woodson had to fill seven openings after five-star prospect Liam McNeeley decommitted in the winter. He did so by bringing in five transfers and the No. 2 overall transfer class, in addition to five-star freshman Bryson Tucker, who signed in the spring.

Woodson feels this year he finally has the roster he wants and thinks can compete. But, it hasn’t been an easy route navigating everything the portal has to offer.

“That’s what you gotta navigate because everybody wants to play, everybody wants to go to the NBA. Well, shit that’s not realistic,” Woodson said. “You can’t play everybody 40 minutes. Everybody is not going to play in the NBA. And that’s being real from a guy that spent 34 years of his life there. It’s what it is.”

As the last covid class wraps up this upcoming season, there will likely be more of an emphasis on high school recruits. That also coincides with the best in-state class in recent years in Indiana. The Hoosiers are currently heavily involved with most of the top talent in the state, including Jalen Haralson, Trent Sisley and Braylon Mullins.

And for Mike Woodson and Indiana basketball, he’s always going to prioritize high school prospects — even more so this upcoming class because of how talented they are.

“I’m not going to stop recruiting them,” Woodson said. “I think they’re (2025 class) talented enough to help us here in the future. So we’re still on their doorstep, we’re still going to AAU games and I’m on the phone constantly communicating because we’d like to see them stay here in the state.

“But again, it’s up to these guys. They’ve been offered the scholarship, I don’t know what more we can do. We can keep hammering home, say ‘we want you in the uniform and come see us, can we come see you’ and they could still tell us no.”

At the end of the day, Mike Woodson knows things are different than when he played. He’s still learning and adjusting to the ever-changing landscape of college basketball.

Unfortunately, however, things won’t be reverting back to when he played in an Indiana basketball uniform. He’s realizing that and is doing what he can to continue fielding a competitive team and one that can compete for Big Ten and National Championships each year.

“I convert back when Coach Knight asked me to come here and play, it wasn’t so much for the university, I came here for Bob Knight. Hell, he asked me — gave me an opportunity and shit I didn’t mess around, ‘I’m coming coach. I’m there, I’m going to be there wearing an Indiana uniform.’ So those guys have that opportunity because I have offered them scholarships and I do want them here.

“I just gotta keep recruiting them. I can’t quit. And hopefully one or two will say ‘yes I’m coming.’”

SEE ALSO: Mike Woodson has been trying to emulate his Knicks style of play with Indiana basketball and thinks ‘we can this year’

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