Indiana Roster 2023-2024

[KoB2011]

5 minutes ago, IowaHoosierFan said:

Honestly i am expecting a down year next year with what we loss and most likely changing how we run our offense.  But that is ok if we continue to have a good recruiting cycle and target the portal.  Anything above 7th in the B1G and making the dance would be ok with me.  I have lowered my standards for success these days.

It's definitely possible (likely maybe a better word) that we take a step back, but I really want to get to the point where we are like MSU and a "down" year is a 7 seed with a good chance to make the second weekend like they did this year.

That takes time to get there, but as much as I can't stand Izzo the on-court part of MSU is exactly what I want for us as a program. 

[KoB2011]

1 minute ago, Steubenhoosier said:

touched on this in the Miami postgame thread and thought it was better placed here.

Assuming that XJ does get a medical redshirt, is it safe to assume he returns to IU? He would be returning to a rebuilding team and I could see him wanting to play his last collegiate season on a title contender.

 

I personally think it's safe to assume he will be back. 

[Parakeet Jones]

14 minutes ago, IowaHoosierFan said:

Honestly i am expecting a down year next year with what we loss and most likely changing how we run our offense.  But that is ok if we continue to have a good recruiting cycle and target the portal.  Anything above 7th in the B1G and making the dance would be ok with me.  I have lowered my standards for success these days.

I personally don’t think that’s lowering your standards to look/hope for that in a retooling year. If that’s all we ever aspired for, that would be different. 

[5fouls]

24 minutes ago, Steubenhoosier said:

touched on this in the Miami postgame thread and thought it was better placed here.

Assuming that XJ does get a medical redshirt, is it safe to assume he returns to IU? He would be returning to a rebuilding team and I could see him wanting to play his last collegiate season on a title contender.

 

This actually briefly crossed my mind.  But, I think X probably feels like he owes it to Coach Woodson, who stuck with him a couple of times when he didn't have to.  And, until we see what IU gets in the portal, I'm not ready to call next year 'rebuilding'.  A lot of teams that are left in the Sweet 16 fit the 'old' definition of rebuilding, but not the 'new' one.  The portal is officially the era of the reload, not the rebuild.  

Edited March 21, 2023 by 5fouls

[Madison22]

4 hours ago, DC2345 said:

I expect it to look something like this as of now. However things could still change.

Cupp 

Newton

Reneau

Galloway

Leal

Gunn

Banks

X???

And 5 or 6 other new players depending on the NCAA's decision on X.

Thanks, DC!  Appreciated.

Regarding the names not on the list:  I'd trade all of them for one Connor Essegian.

One known talent vs a bunch of maybes.

So often, we as fans describe players as glue guys, role players, someone who might make a big jump next year, might contribute by his senior year, or my personal nails-on-blackboard:  a kid who "just needs confidence."

While there are many examples of players who did develop and even went to the NBA, there are lots who just took a roster spot for 4 years with almost no on-court contributions.

I like Cupps and Newton, but there are big questions for both.  Wasn't Newton injured for an entire year?  He played at the end of this season, but he's an unknown.  I'm glad Cupps is coming.  Great kid.  But is he big enough for the BigTen?  We may not get production from either of them.  We'll see.  (Disclaimer:  I thought Steve Alford would be a total bust.)

Lots of questions.  But right now, we are weak at every position.  Really weak.

Good news is I expect Woodson has known this for months. 

 

[DC2345]

1 minute ago, Madison22 said:

Thanks, DC!  Appreciated.

Regarding the names not on the list:  I'd trade all of them for one Connor Essegian.

One known talent vs a bunch of maybes.

So often, we as fans describe players as glue guys, role players, someone who might make a big jump next year, might contribute by his senior year, or my personal nails-on-blackboard:  a kid who "just needs confidence."

While there are many examples of players who did develop and even went to the NBA, there are lots who just took a roster spot for 4 years with almost no on-court contributions.

I like Cupps and Newton, but there are big questions for both.  Wasn't Newton injured for an entire year?  He played at the end of this season, but he's an unknown.  I'm glad Cupps is coming.  Great kid.  But is he big enough for the BigTen?  We may not get production from either of them.  We'll see.  (Disclaimer:  I thought Steve Alford would be a total bust.)

Lots of questions.  But right now, we are weak at every position.  Really weak.

Good news is I expect Woodson has known this for months. 

 

Agreed. I know some people don’t want Essegian because he’s not a Miami level athlete but if we had a guy like him to pair with TJD the last 4 years IU would’ve won a lot more games. Guys like him help to balance out the roster and he’s a guy I’d take in a heartbeat. 

[DC2345]

45 minutes ago, KoB2011 said:

I personally think it's safe to assume he will be back. 

I never assume anything when it comes to the NCAA

[HoosierDPU95]

1 hour ago, KoB2011 said:

Why? Our roster isn't complete, but I think we need a skill upgrade more than a size upgrade with the current pieces in place. 

Exactly. I think FDU and Miami proved that size isn't everything

 

P.S. I've been trying to say that all my life 😜

[Parakeet Jones]

50 minutes ago, 5fouls said:

This actually briefly crossed my mind.  But, I think X probably feels like he owes it to Coach Woodson, who stuck with him a couple of times when he didn't have to.  And, until we see what IU gets in the portal, I'm not ready to call next year 'rebuilding'.  A lot of teams that are left in the Sweet 16 fit the 'old' definition of rebuilding, but not the 'new' one.  The portal is officially the era of the reload, not the rebuild.  

Exactly. Iowa St went from 2 wins to the sweet 16 in a season due to the portal. Kansas St used the portal to retool into a sweet 16 team this year. There is no reason we can’t pair guys to fill gaps from the portal with our returning players and have a good season next year. 

[IU Scott]

2 hours ago, DC2345 said:

I think Duncomb and Geronimo have been gone for a while. Bates I think ends up going closer to home. 

K-State

[Artesian_86]

2 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

K-State

I’d take take former K Stater, Nijel Pack…

[Cbp4IU]

1 hour ago, DC2345 said:

Agreed. I know some people don’t want Essegian because he’s not a Miami level athlete but if we had a guy like him to pair with TJD the last 4 years IU would’ve won a lot more games. Guys like him help to balance out the roster and he’s a guy I’d take in a heartbeat. 

He’s basically replacing a Kopp which is not a bad move. I mean every team like it or not needs a Kopp. He may not move the needle by himself by can win you a couple games shooting. In this case Essegian is a better scorer. 

[Purdue7]

52 minutes ago, Cbp4IU said:

He’s basically replacing a Kopp which is not a bad move. I mean every team like it or not needs a Kopp. He may not move the needle by himself by can win you a couple games shooting. In this case Essegian is a better scorer. 

Luckily announcers never did Cop 👮‍♀️ jokes 

[Steubenhoosier]

2 hours ago, DC2345 said:

Agreed. I know some people don’t want Essegian because he’s not a Miami level athlete but if we had a guy like him to pair with TJD the last 4 years IU would’ve won a lot more games. Guys like him help to balance out the roster and he’s a guy I’d take in a heartbeat. 

And this is what gripes me. The northern part of the state puts out some darned good talent up here that gets ignored/overlooked/whatever, and when they do well, all of a sudden we are interested. Meanwhile, kids who were recruited above/ before them sit on the bench. 
The argument is that northern Indiana is Purdue territory. I’d argue, and in one case I know it’s a fact, that IU basically ignores or at least doesn’t prioritize recruiting up here 

[13th&Jackson]

15 minutes ago, Steubenhoosier said:

And this is what gripes me. The northern part of the state puts out some darned good talent up here that gets ignored/overlooked/whatever, and when they do well, all of a sudden we are interested. Meanwhile, kids who were recruited above/ before them sit on the bench. 
The argument is that northern Indiana is Purdue territory. I’d argue, and in one case I know it’s a fact, that IU basically ignores or at least doesn’t prioritize recruiting up here 

It just seems like those kids go to Purdue or Michigan St. IU just hasn’t had much success there for whatever reason. There’s a strong IU following in The Fort, but it doesn’t translate 

Edited March 21, 2023 by 13th&Jackson

[Steubenhoosier]

4 minutes ago, 13th&Jackson said:

It just seems like those kids go to Purdue or Michigan St. IU just hasn’t had much success there for whatever reason. There’s a strong IU following in The Fort, but it doesn’t translate 

Lack of attention. Painter is up here every year for alumni club functions. I cannot remember the last time a basketball head coach came up here. It’s not just PU and MSU. Essegian went to UW. There were 2 kids who went to Louisville within the last few years. DeShauhn Thomas to Ohio State. Warsaw had a point guard-Nick Moore maybe, that played at SMU but somewhere else I think. 
 

I never have inside information up here, but I do know someone who was very connected to the Blackhawk Christian program when Furst was there. Caleb was ours for the taking until Archie stopped paying attention to him. CAM assumed he was coming to IU and didn’t need to continue recruiting him. Lost a recruit that could have helped out immensely with Race’s injury and to spell TJD a few minutes 

[5fouls]

44 minutes ago, Steubenhoosier said:

 

I never have inside information up here, but I do know someone who was very connected to the Blackhawk Christian program when Furst was there. Caleb was ours for the taking until Archie stopped paying attention to him. CAM assumed he was coming to IU and didn’t need to continue recruiting him. Lost a recruit that could have helped out immensely with Race’s injury and to spell TJD a few minutes 

CAM screwed up a lot. 

[MoyeCowbell]

I know that recruiting isn't an exact science (far from it) but it's absolutely amazing to me when I read/hear that coaches relax on a player, assuming that they have it in the bag. Just like in the game, play until the clock strikes double zero. At the very least, if you think you have said player, give them the respect and encouragement to see it all the way through. It's like running a race and celebrating with 10 meters to go... and getting passed at the finish line. Stupid.

[MoyeCowbell]

1 hour ago, Steubenhoosier said:

And this is what gripes me. The northern part of the state puts out some darned good talent up here that gets ignored/overlooked/whatever, and when they do well, all of a sudden we are interested. Meanwhile, kids who were recruited above/ before them sit on the bench. 
The argument is that northern Indiana is Purdue territory. I’d argue, and in one case I know it’s a fact, that IU basically ignores or at least doesn’t prioritize recruiting up here 

There's no doubt that good talent can be found up in the northern part of the state. Playing Devil's Advocate here, given the more 'national' recruiting scope that IU has/commands, I think there are better areas to "prioritize". Should the program ignore the area? Absolutely not. But given the time and resources, there are areas (Indy, Chicago, DMV, Atlanta, NYC) that have historically produced more & higher quality players that are a better play for the staff.

[IUJoe]

2 hours ago, Steubenhoosier said:

Lack of attention. Painter is up here every year for alumni club functions. I cannot remember the last time a basketball head coach came up here. It’s not just PU and MSU. Essegian went to UW. There were 2 kids who went to Louisville within the last few years. DeShauhn Thomas to Ohio State. Warsaw had a point guard-Nick Moore maybe, that played at SMU but somewhere else I think. 
 

I never have inside information up here, but I do know someone who was very connected to the Blackhawk Christian program when Furst was there. Caleb was ours for the taking until Archie stopped paying attention to him. CAM assumed he was coming to IU and didn’t need to continue recruiting him. Lost a recruit that could have helped out immensely with Race’s injury and to spell TJD a few minutes 

I’ve been told we could have had Goode as well.

[Steubenhoosier]

1 hour ago, MoyeCowbell said:

There's no doubt that good talent can be found up in the northern part of the state. Playing Devil's Advocate here, given the more 'national' recruiting scope that IU has/commands, I think there are better areas to "prioritize". Should the program ignore the area? Absolutely not. But given the time and resources, there are areas (Indy, Chicago, DMV, Atlanta, NYC) that have historically produced more & higher quality players that are a better play for the staff.

Can’t remember the last player from the Chicago area that played for IU. My point is that now folks are wanting to get in on kids like Essegian that we probably could have had, had we paid attention. Meanwhile, we have an Indy kid from the same class who barely saw the floor this year 

[Artesian_86]

1 minute ago, Steubenhoosier said:

Can’t remember the last player from the Chicago area that played for IU. My point is that now folks are wanting to get in on kids like Essegian that we probably could have had, had we paid attention. Meanwhile, we have an Indy kid from the same class who barely saw the floor this year 

Just to name a few….

Isiah Thomas, Eric Anderson and Daryl Thomas, there are a few more, but these are most notable. 

[Steubenhoosier]

34 minutes ago, IUJoe said:

I’ve been told we could have had Goode as well.

Yes I think his dad played football at IU

[Steubenhoosier]

2 minutes ago, Artesian_86 said:

Just to name a few….

Isiah Thomas, Eric Anderson and Daryl Thomas, there are a few more, but these are most notable. 

Yes, I know. How about in the last 25 years?  The post was that we are prioritizing certain areas. If Chicago is one of them, maybe it’s time to reevaluate.

[AxnJxn]

I think there's reason to be concerned for next year, but there's also reason to be positive. Yes, there are holes, but there are also ways to fill those holes with the portal, and I believe Malik was a late recruit(?), so there might be that option as well - I'm not that familiar with how that whole process went. If XJ returns, we're in good shape at PG, and we have some decent pieces in Trey and Malik who are two somewhat malleable guys that make it easier to build a roster, and we saw some potential out of some of the others that got on the court. Also, remember that most P5 programs are going to have similar issues - in some cases, the majority of the roster could hit the portal. 

There's an opportunity to get talent in here and build a roster that can compete, maybe not for a B1G title, but a double bye in the BTT isn't unreasonable, IMO.