It’s a new era of college hoops and Mike Woodson is ready for it.
It can’t be overstated how much different the college basketball landscape is from just five years ago.
The old way was recruiting entirely through the high school ranks, both stars and role players, while adding occasional transfers here and there to plug gaps. Some schools still do this, adding the occasional transfer here and there if there’s a need.
But there’s a path to building through the transfer portal rather than using it to fill out a roster. Some coaches have dipped into it already, with Mike Woodson adding his name into that mix with a statement 2024 portal class.
There isn’t a long list of examples of teams built through the portal because of how new this all is. Last year’s Kansas, NC State, Villanova, Illinois, Alabama and Arkansas teams come to mind.
“Built” isn’t necessarily the right term though. Many teams just add onto existing talented, combining players recruited and developed over time with portal additions, which is what Indiana is doing. Mind you it’s to a larger degree due to having just one high school signee on the way.
The results have been a mixed bag. Arkansas ended up being enough of a disappointment that it led to a coaching change, one way or another. Illinois went on its deepest run in march in well over a decade. Alabama was in the Final Four.
You can’t really say that adding that many players in the portal is good or bad. Most teams that add six or more transfers are doing so because a new coach is in town. Indiana, is likely to add five at the most, not quite the complete overhaul that’s happened at places like Penn State, St. John’s and others.
In modern college basketball you’d rather have a known commodity, particularly at the high major level, than a freshman coming in unless that guy is top-10 and ready made to produce.
Indiana tried to get those high-end freshmen. It just didn’t work out.
I can’t speak for Mike Woodson and the staff’s plans for the past calendar year. It was clear that they shot for the moon with the 2024 class, which ended in seemingly disastrous fashion once longtime target Liam McNeeley decommitted.
But that approach came with a built-in cushion through the transfer portal. In the event of a miss, the Hoosiers could turn their attention to experienced transfers to reload the roster, and they’ve done that.
This is not to say the staff will ignore the high school ranks moving forward. Indiana has made the talented in-state class of 2025, guys like Trent Sisley, Jalen Haralson and Braylon Mullins, a high-level priority. It’s no small gesture to have the entire staff in tow for recruiting visits, which the Hoosiers conducted in the past month.
But the portal’s always gonna be there. Indiana’s the kind of program that can use it to fill gaps, a luxury, or to reload the roster, where it’s found itself. Indiana has excelled in reloading this offseason, which is where Woodson seems to thrive.
Woodson comes from the NBA level, where free agency negotiations are swift and decisions are made quickly. Teams keep an eye on available talent and move quickly to secure players once they become available.
He’s done this, landing late spring recruits in every one of his offseasons in Bloomington so far. Two of those guys, Malik Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako, will have huge roles on next year’s team.
The program didn’t cast a particularly wide net in the portal either, zeroing in on guys and getting them on campus. The four additions have typically committed the next day, Indiana being their only visit.
It can be weird for a fanbase to have a team with so many new faces every year, but that’s just the way the sport works now. Indiana can excel through the portal and it has so far.
With the portal, Woodson is in his element. He’s shown results year after year and, while waiting on late results can be nerve wracking for a fanbase, at some point you have to trust that he’s been there before and done good work.