Woodson in the spring? That’s a scary sight
For the second consecutive offseason, Mike Woodson has landed a commitment from one of the top portal prospects in the country. This year it was Oumar Ballo, last year it was Kel’el Ware.
After losing Liam McNeeley at the beginning of March, Indiana was looking at an empty class for 2024. With players leaving for the NBA, running out of eligibility, or considering transferring, the Hoosiers appeared to be in a tough spot.
Not even two months later, Indiana has two top-20 portal prospects with Ballo and Myles Rice, two guys you can pencil into the starting lineup as replacements for Ware and Xavier Johnson, respectively.
.All of a sudden, things aren’t looking too bleak for Indiana. Two major positions of need have been addressed and there are more prospects scheduled to visit. We could soon see the best starting lineup Indiana has had in years with the depth to match.
The portal can be a high-risk, high-reward way to build a roster, but those who have been paying attention should not be surprised that Woodson has been able to pull this off. Landing high-impact players from the portal has been something this staff has done from day one.
Ten days after accepting the Indiana job, Woodson landed a commitment from portal point guard Xavier Johnson. Injuries and inconsistent play made Johnson’s career harder to evaluate in the long term, but he took Indiana to the tournament in year one and served as Indiana’s de facto lead guard after transferring from Pittsburgh.
Thirteen days after signing Johnson, Woodson addressed the team’s biggest need and grabbed Miller Kopp, who had entered the portal after a few productive seasons at Northwestern. Both Johnson and Kopp would be crucial multiyear players for Indiana.
When looking at last season’s portal haul and the season that followed, the tendency has been to emphasize Woodson’s failure to land any of the top guards. No doubt, Indiana was hamstrung by its roster construction last year.
But things could have been a lot worse. Adding Ware – Indiana’s top scorer, rebounder, and rim protector – helped ease the pain of losing a legend like Trayce Jackson-Davis, while guys like Anthony Walker helped gut out some tough wins over the course of the year.
With plenty of time remaining before the portal closes, Woodson and company have demonstrated that they’ve learned from last year’s mistakes. Indiana had multiple guards on campus before Oumar Ballo, resulting in at least one commitment in Myles Rice.
Not to mention the addition of Bryson Tucker, a McDonalds All-American prospect who will make Indiana longer, more athletic, and versatile on offense.
Woodson’s high school recruiting as a whole has been hit or miss, but Tucker joins Malik Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako on the current roster as elite high school players who committed to Indiana in the spring.
By now, we as Indiana fans should have learned not to panic about the roster until the portal closes. Maybe not even until practices start. Three years into the Woodson era, the spring period has emerged as his most fruitful on the recruiting calendar.
It can be nerve racking to wait so long to see the roster come together, but at this point, when the calendar reaches April, I think we should let Woodson cook.