Which members of the Hoosiers’ 2024-25 roster have NBA upside?
Indiana men’s basketball has had three players picked in the NBA Draft in the past two years. Jalen Hood-Schifino and Trayce Jackson-Davis were picked by the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, respectively, in 2023 while Kel’el Ware was selected by the Miami Heat this year.
They were the first Hoosiers to hear their names called by commissioner Adam Silver since Romeo Langford in 2019. Mike Woodson has set the bar high in terms of the talent he’s bringing to Bloomington and has proven results to point to with recruiting prospects.
That being said, who could be next? There’s no obvious answer like with Ware’s projections last year. His talent alone made him a near first round lock. Who else sticks out on the current roster?
A few names offer interesting possibilities.
If there was an obvious one, it’s Mackenzie Mgbako. The rising sophomore joined the Hoosiers with stated expectations of leaving for the NBA eventually.
His career had a bit of a rocky start and he had trouble staying on the floor late in games. He’d look lost on the defensive end of the floor while struggling to find his offense on the other end. But Mike Woodson didn’t just keep him on the bench, instead letting him learn through those mistakes.
By the end of the year, Mgbako looked much better on defense and turned into one of the Hoosiers’ most reliable offensive players, even winning Big Ten Freshman of the Year at the end of the day. That didn’t ultimately make up enough time to be a factor in this season’s NBA Draft, but there’s always the possibility that Mgbako continues this improvement into his sophomore season.
The NBA loves tall guys who can shoot. At 6’8”, Mgbako is definitely the first. If his shot starts falling at a more reliable rate as a sophomore, that’ll go a long way to boosting his draft stock.
Another way Mgbako can help his case is on defense. Woodson being a defensive-minded coach should help him here, he came a long way in understanding and operating in that system during the season and could make even more progress as a sophomore.
Kanaan Carlyle comes to Indiana after being asked to be The Guy on a Stanford team that finished outside the KenPom top-100. He won’t be asked to do nearly as much in Bloomington and has a chance to approve his less-than-ideal efficiency as a result.
Carlyle was called a potential first rounder when he was coming out of Overtime Elite as a high schooler. He has a really, really high motor and is wired to put the ball in the basket in a few different ways.
At Stanford, he was probably asked to be that guy, an elite scorer, a bit too much too early. He has a tight handle and great speed to get past the defense on the perimeter and will rise and fire if he’s open, be it in the midrange or from deep. He’s the perfect guy to go to when a play breaks down and the shotclock is ticking down.
If he can clean up his stat profile, become more efficient and improve defensively, where his length and athleticism give him a ton of potential, he’ll absolutely play games in the NBA.
Those two are the biggest, soonest possibilities on the roster. Aside from them, a few others stick out:
- I wouldn’t be surprised if Oumar Ballo earns a Summer League invite or an undrafted signing. He’s just too experienced and does too many things well to not get something of a look.
- If Luke Goode has a good shooting year I wouldn’t be surprised if he pops up in the summer league a la Miller Kopp, whose role Woodson sold him on out of the transfer portal this offseason.
- I’d expect Myles Rice to be a college player until he exhausts his eligibility, but can see a scenario where he plays efficient basketball as an upperclassman and ends up at the next level in some capacity.
- Bryson Tucker will be a name to watch for a while. He’ll almost certainly have a bench role this coming season but could blossom into a focal point in time. He has a high basketball IQ and his work ethic just tells you he’s going to keep getting better.
- It’ll take time, but Jakai Newton could end up being something of a prospect. He has really high-level athleticism and upside on defense, but he’ll be heading into what will essentially be his freshman season.