International recruits have always been around college basketball, including at Indiana, but the drive to look elsewhere for talent has only increased in recent years.
The growth and development of the international game has been one of the most widely tracked and covered phenomena in all of basketball for decades now.
It started when the United States’ overall dominance in FIBA and Olympic competition became threatened in the 2000s and led all the way up to now. From the Dream Team to the Redeem Team up to the 2024 gold medal-winning Team USA squad, the game’s popularity abroad has only grown. The skill and development have grown with it.
In the modern era, around a quarter of the talent pool in the NBA hails from international sources. All 30 teams began the 2024-25 season with at least one international player on the roster. Names like Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid dominate MVP discussions and every year’s draft features international talent right around the top.
With the advent of NIL, the idea of college basketball has become more attractive for top international prospects on NBA Draft boards. Play in the United States around other talented athletes and you’ll be more easily accessible to league scouts and front office personnel while leveraging a college staff’s connections to the NBA ranks.
Sure, there have always been talent evaluators stationed in Europe and the college game has long been an option for international players. But it’s undeniable that it’s easier for a general manager or top scout to hop on a flight to the Midwest or Southeast than, say, one to Serbia or France. And top talent hasn’t had much of a reason to consider the college route previously with the lack of payment.
Then NIL happened. Revenue-sharing is on the way too. There’s a few more hoops to jump through for international talent when it comes to NIL but if you can land a top player, you gladly jump through said hoops.
Now there’s a clear reason to head to the states a bit earlier, as Illinois’ Kasparas Jakučionis did last offseason. He was already projected as a potential first round pick before committing to the Illini and landed at a program that’s an extremely short flight, or even a drive, away from countless NBA franchises.
So, all that being said, should Indiana have a dedicated focus on international recruiting under new head coach Darian DeVries? Yes, absolutely.
The Hoosiers should absolutely maintain a focus on recruiting through high school and transfer portal pipelines, but it’d likely be well worth the investment to dedicate resources to scouting and forming connections internationally as well.
Everyone’s doing it these days, just look at the likes of Illinois, Arkansas and others. If Indiana hesitates to explore the international talent pool it could find itself playing a ton of catch-up in the future when other programs have dived in and excelled in that area.
Indiana is no stranger to international talent either. Bob Knight’s program featured players like Mangus Pelkowski and Uwe Blab. More recent talent includes OG Anunoby, Oumar Ballo and others.
This isn’t to say that Indiana should focus solely on or build around an international recruiting approach.
Stars are stars and talent is talent. If someone is out there that would fit DeVries’ style of play and the culture he’s looking to build in Bloomington, Indiana should be prepared and have the infrastructure in place to pursue and land a commitment from them.