Indiana men’s basketball: Don’t overlook Bryson Tucker

Tucker was a key addition this offseason as a freshman, keep him in mind on the roster.

Indiana men’s basketball dove into the transfer portal and emerged with the No. 1 class in the country, plugging almost every hole on the roster with proven contribution at the college level.

Oumar Ballo gets boards and buckets in the post, Myles Rice has the speed and experience to be Mike Woodson’s next lead guard, Kanaan Carlyle has the versatility to be one of the best offensive players on the team and Luke Goode brings the shooting the fanbase and media have been clamouring for.

But those aren’t Indiana’s only additions from the offseason. They’re the focus right now because that’s how the news cycle works, but don’t let incoming freshman Bryson Tucker get lost in the mix when you’re talking about the roster. He could be the most intriguing addition at the end of the day.

Here’s what Woodson had to say about him when he officially signed:

“Bryson has a chance to be impactful for our ballclub right away. He has a polished offensive game with the size and strength to get to his spots on the floor. His midrange game is very impressive, and he has the athleticism to get to and score efficiently at the rim. He is a talented young man that we cannot wait to work with when he gets to campus.”

He’s an interesting prospect because he’s listed as a wing, but probably has the skill and handle to slide over to shooting guard in certain lineups.

Also, he’s not a non-shooter. The 3-ball is very much part of his game and he can hit them off the catch. He probably isn’t gonna hit 40% of them as a true freshman and frankly he won’t be asked to, which will be helpful for everyone.

But he lives in the midrange, which Woodson has familiarity with from his time in the NBA and working with Jalen Hood-Schifino at the college level. He can post up from that guard spot and get a shot up with a few different moves in his bag or dribble into the midrange.

He can run the floor and Woodson will let him bring the ball up the court, I’d imagine.

Him posting up like that is really, really intriguing because it’s the kind of offense that Micah Shrewsberry ran with Jalen Pickett and Brad Underwood replicated with Marcus Domask after getting some additional advice from Jay Wright. It can work in the Big Ten we’ve seen it before.

This guy is a McDonald’s All-American, one of the best prospects coming out of the class of 2024. He’s gonna see the floor and be an impact player when he does. Having him coming off the bench would be huge for Indiana, the kind of thing they haven’t really had in Woodson’s first three seasons.

Don’t overlook him on next year’s team.