Visits, contacts and more for the Hoosiers this past week.
Indiana’s had a quieter week, at least outwardly, in the portal than the first seven days.
Which, frankly, is natural. A lot of guys were going to enter that first week and that’s since slowed to players entering the portal here and there. If it sounds like they’re reaching out to less entries, it’s because of a lack of new names.
There’s also the fact that not every contact is going to be made public like this. Some prospects like to be quieter about that sort of thing.
Let’s talk about how they’re doing:
Departures
Indiana has had some movement over the last two weeks:
- C.J. Gunn committed to DePaul out of the transfer portal
- Payton Sparks committed to Ball State, returning to play for Michael Lewis
- Kaleb Banks remains in the portal
- Kel’el Ware declared for the NBA Draft
Indiana also got back a key piece from last year’s team as Mackenzie Mgbako announced his return for the 2024-25 season.
We never wanted to speculate on names who could depart one way or another, it’s not fair to the athletes or the program. Retaining both Reneau and Mgbako is big as Indiana builds for next season though.
Contacts & Notes
A few new names in the portal have reportedly heard from the Hoosiers, we’ve updated our transfer portal target tracker to try and keep up to date.
Again, Indiana is reaching out to a lot of guards. Which, yeah, the downfall of last year’s roster is that the only reliable scorer in the backcourt was Trey Galloway. He had his moments and took over as the team’s point guard, but really could’ve used someone next to him.
They’re also looking for something in the frontcourt given that spot is pretty much just Reneau right now. Mgbako can play some power forward and Bryson Tucker will probably exclusively be a wing, but it’ll be interesting to see how that ends up.
They want defense at the five, that much is clear from how they’ve used Trayce Jackson-Davis and Kel’el Ware.
- Indiana had an in-home visit with local prospect and Bradley guard Connor Hickman on Tuesday, according to Jeff Rabjohns of Peegs.com. It’s the first reported visit of any kind to be completed.
- Eastern Kentucky guard Leland Walker will look to reschedule his visit to Bloomington, also per Rabjohns.
- Indiana reportedly had a visit lined up with Louisville transfer Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, but that was quickly cancelled.
The Hoosiers have yet to earn a commitment out of the portal, but it’s still only April. There’s plenty of time and work to do, much of it happening behind the scenes. Plus, they just netted another five-star, so it’s not like they haven’t been busy.