Quick Observations: Thoughts on new Indiana basketball commit Bryson Tucker at McDonald’s All-American Game

The 2024 McDonald’s All-American Game has now passed and if you can take away anything from the game and the weekend as a whole — it’s a competitive group of prospects at the top of the class. For Indiana basketball commit Bryson Tucker, the experience that he gained this weekend will look to be carried over into the summer when he steps foot on campus.

After winning the scrimmage over the weekend on a game-winning buzzer beater, the East looked to back that up on Tuesday during the game. And, it did just that, winning 88-86. The West and Texas signee Tre Johnson had a shot to win it at the buzzer, but it hit off of the back iron.

While Indiana basketball commit Bryson Tucker played sparingly in the game itself, he became the 34th McDonald’s All-American in program history.

It’s an all-star game so there aren’t a lot of takeaways you can truly have — but because this is the first time a lot of Indiana fans are getting a look at Tucker, here are some quick thoughts on the 6-foot-7 wing following Sunday’s scrimmage and Tuesday’s game.

Tucker isn’t going to force the issue. While it was reported that Tucker was hunting shots in some of the early practices, in both the scrimmage and the game, he let the game come to him. With his length and versatility, he also didn’t settle for contested shots and let the flow of the game show him open shots. He mixed in a few mid-range jumpers with 3s. In the scrimmage he had five points (unofficial) and hit one three. On Tuesday night, Tucker hit his first three of the game — and first shot — on his first touch at the top of the arc. He only attempted seven shots in both games combined and was 3-of-7 from the floor. In a weekend where you can clearly be tempted to force things with so many talented players, scouts and coaches watching, in addition to potentially limited time on the floor, it was good to see Tucker trying to settle in the game before getting up a bunch of shots.

Cutting without the ball could be an underrated part of his game. Because Tucker played off the ball and didn’t have the ball in his hands a lot, he looked to get involved with purposeful cuts. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the flash and the star power of the ball handling and explosive plays at the rim, but Tucker showed an IQ and a strong ability to get open off of the ball. A lot of his cuts were decisive and with purpose that could have easily translated into some buckets at the rim with better passes — or passes all together. It’s something that is easily translatable to the next level and with a lot of stagnant offense with Indiana basketball at times in the half court, his ability to potentially provide another dimension off the ball is a nice sign.

His shooting stroke is nice. Just because he didn’t attempt a lot of shots doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a nice stroke. Tucker has great size and length that allows him to shoot over defenders, and he did that in his few 3s. He was able to create space coming off screens and then had a very repeatable release that was extremely smooth. At times it looked a bit rushed from 15-feet when he had a few looks in the scrimmage, but overall he shows a very translatable shooting stroke to the next level. Now it’s about becoming consistent.

This isn’t the setting for Tucker, but he clearly deserves to be in this national conversation. All-Star games are fun for the flashiness but that’s not what Tucker is. That’s not his skillset, so it’s not going to translate to that type of setting. Tucker isn’t going to be the most explosive athlete on the floor. He’s a smart, high IQ player who is extremely competitive, but seemed to work better off the ball this weekend. The top scorers, and most consistent overall players this weekend were the ones who were ball dominant players — outside of the stellar play of Derik Queen on both ends. At the end of the day, Tucker is a high-level player who will be able to produce right away. His floor seems to be very high in terms of his all-around floor game. That’s something that is difficult to get from a freshman.

Key Notes and Quotes from a national perspective: 

• On3.com national analyst Jamie Shaw on Wednesday morning: “Tucker has a strong and physical frame, and he uses that to probe the defense and find open space in the half-court. He is at his best in the mid-range, especially getting to the elbows. He showed very well on the defensive this week as well.”
• On3.com national analyst Jamie Shaw on Monday: “Bryson Tucker played with a lot of confidence today. He had a good feel on the ball, probing in the half-court getting in the mid-range and elevating from the elbows. Tucker has impressed this weekend on the defensive end. He has played physically with good athleticism. Tucker’s jump shot has improved, while still a little bit flat. He is better at knocking down shots off the bounce, especially in the mid-range. He is comfortable on the ball and plays with good balance.”
• 247Sports national analyst Travis Branham on Sunday morning: “Fresh off his Indiana commitment, Tucker struggled on Sunday morning. He was hunting jumpers both from mid-range and from three but couldn’t find the bottom of the net. He did have a flush in transition and flashed his versatility but overall he hunted jumpers and couldn’t connect.”
• Bryson Tucker describing his skillset on Monday: “A hard worker, three level scorer, defensive guy. I’m just here to help the program get better. That’s it really.”
• Kel’el Ware had eight points and 10 rebounds in 2022, while Mackenzie Mgbako was scoreless last season. Tucker played 12 minutes — the lowest out of those three players — and had three points.