Here’s what the Hoosiers could use out of the portal.
Indiana men’s basketball has the No. 1 overall class in the transfer portal as of writing with impressive additions in Oumar Ballo, Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle and Luke Goode. Combine that with incoming five-star freshman Bryson Tucker and the Hoosiers have two scholarships remaining for next season.
They’ll likely fill at least one but could leave the other open if the right fit doesn’t present itself. This drew ire last season when they really could’ve used that spot on a guard, but would make substantially more sense with this year’s roster and is an overall common practice in the sport.
But how could they fill that last spot, at the very least? It’s gonna be a frontcourt player.
Right now the only true frontcourt guys on the roster are Malik Reneau and Ballo, who will likely start at the four and five, respectively. You can slide Mgbako to the four but last season made it pretty clear that Indiana sees and intends to use him at the wing.
If Woodson has shown a value for one thing through three seasons, it’s rim protection. He helped unleash Trayce Jackson-Davis to become a monster as a shot blocker before getting Kel’el Ware and now Ballo to fill that role. He’d probably like some height and length on the bench behind Ballo, even if it doesn’t come with a ton of scoring.
They’d have to sell that guy on a bench role, which they were able to get last season with Anthony Walker thanks in part to a few pre-existing relationships such as a friendship with Xavier Johnson.
I’d expect that to be Indiana’s priority. But if they fill both spots? More shooting.
I’m gonna say Indiana probably has good enough shooting from long range after adding guys like Goode and Carlyle with a jump incoming for Mgbako. But you can never add enough so IU might just find a guy who can hit 3s at a reliable rate.
Mind you, the end of Indiana’s bench is not very likely to see minutes behind all that guard depth so that spot will be extremely hard to fill. Which is why I think they probably end up leaving it open.