Indiana men’s basketball recruiting: January notes and updates

Follow the Hoosiers on the recruiting trail.

It was a bit of a quiet month on the recruiting front for Indiana men’s basketball, but that’s to be expected in the thick of conference play.

But the Hoosiers weren’t just sitting on their hands. Head coach Mike Woodson took an off day for players to fly across the country and watch some prospects in person.

Let’s get into the details:

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Derik Queen

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This is the obvious one to keep an eye out for. He has a final four of Indiana, Maryland, Kansas and Houston but the decision day keeps getting pushed back.

Which, and I cannot stress this enough, good for him. He’s making probably the biggest decision of his life that will affect the entirety of his future and deserves to take all the time he needs or wants to pick.

Indiana went hard here, having a consistent presence for him, and Hoosier signee Liam McNeeley at Montverde. McNeeley is always around to pitch the program to Queen and has spoken openly of his desire for the latter to join him in Bloomington.

We won’t know about a decision until we do and it could be a while. Kansas has Flory Bidunga signed at center and Houston is having one of the best seasons in the country. Both Indiana and Maryland are down. Anything can happen.

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Woodson on the recruiting trail

Indiana’s head coach was spotted on the recruiting trail in Charlotte to take in some Overtime Elite action:

As stated above, it was an off day for the program that Woodson used to his advantage. One of the prospects he was there to watch, as stated, is 2025 forward Bryson Tiller, a top-10 overall recruit.

It’s worth noting that Woodson said he’d recruit some prospects for 2024 as well.

Indiana currently has just one signee, McNeeley, but with the amount of spots that will likely become available in the offseason I’d expect the staff to add onto that. The process isn’t over for 2024 and ideally they snag at least one guard.

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Liam McNeeley named McDonald’s All-American

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Indiana has signed a McDonald’s All-American for two consecutive years.

Liam McNeeley, in the middle of a stellar high school season at Montverde Academy, was named to the All-Star game roster this month. Competing against some of the best players in the country, he’ll be more than ready for Big Ten play next year.