Mike Woodson lands his shooter.
Indiana men’s basketball landed a commitment former Illinois wing Luke Goode out of the transfer portal on Friday.
It’s obvious why he’s in Bloomington now, to shoot 3s. Goode hit on 38.9% of his attempts from long range this past season and 42.1% the year before that. The Hoosiers needed shooting, now they have it.
He’s an Indiana product too, out of Homestead High School in Fort Wayne. Wasn’t offered by the Hoosiers under Archie Miller, but Mike Woodson jumped at the chance to get him out of the portal, landing his first (now only) visit.
Scouting report
He’s a shooter.
The downside? He can’t really create his own shot. He can do a few things when he has the ball to dribble against a closeout and get an opening, but he’s not gonna break a guy down and get more room in isolation.
Which is fine! Because Indiana’s real biggest issue last season, more than shooting, was a lack of creation and reliable ballhandling. The Hoosiers went after that in the portal first, as they should have, and landed two creators in Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle.
Add in Galloway off the bench and Reneau’s ongoing development? There’s going to be plenty of ways for Goode to get the ball.
His shot is the biggest thing, obviously. He doesn’t have a long windup and can get the ball off in decent time off the catch, getting the better of any closeouts. It’s not the fastest shot, but it’s more than good enough for what Indiana needs.
He’s able to get the ball up in transition off the catch and very occasionally off the dribble if he’s in good position. Mike Woodson lets more players than just his point guards bring the ball up the floor, so Goode could get a few opportunities in these situations.
Goode isn’t asked to score at the rim much, but does a decent job doing so when it happens. He’s 6’7”, so he’ll have the size in those situations.
Imagine, if you will, one of Carlyle or Rice driving to the paint and drawing the defense to the interior. Goode puts his hands up, gets the ball, splash. Reneau draws the double off Goode’s man? Same thing. That’s the value he’ll add with the kinds of guys Indiana has around him.