BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It’s been a busy month of recruiting for coach Mike Woodson following the 2023-24 season, and the results have been viewed positively from a national perspective.
After missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three seasons under Woodson, Indiana lost six players. Xavier Johnson and Anthony Walker exhausted their collegiate eligibility, and starting center Kel’el Ware left for the NBA as a projected first-round pick. Three bench players entered the portal, with CJ Gunn heading to DePaul to play for former Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann, Payton Sparks transferring back to Ball State where he began his career, and Kaleb Banks committing to Tulane.
Rebuilding the roster started with landing five-star freshman wing Bryson Tucker, followed by commitments from Washington State transfer guard Myles Rice, Arizona transfer center Oumar Ballo and Stanford transfer guard Kanaan Carlyle. That transfer class is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation by 247Sports, and the overall class, including freshman recruits, is ranked No. 9.
Those newcomers join a returning core of Hoosiers including Trey Galloway, Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau, Gabe Cupps, Anthony Leal and Jakai Newton. Through all these changes, Woodson’s offseason recruiting and roster retention has led to Indiana rising in various 2024-25 preseason top-25 rankings.
Indiana is ranked as high as No. 16 by ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, who previously had the Hoosiers unranked. Borzello tabbed Indiana as “the biggest riser” in his rankings.
“The winners of the first wave of portal season,” Borzello wrote of Indiana. “The Hoosiers landed Arizona transfer Oumar Ballo, the top-ranked player in the portal, as well as top-15 guard transfersMyles Rice (Washington State) and Kanaan Carlyle (Stanford). Three starters also return: Malik Reneau, Mackenzie Mgbako and Trey Galloway. Without adding more shooting, though, Indiana could run into some of the same offensive issues as last season.”
Indiana came in at No. 20 overall by Jon Rothstein, who projects a starting lineup of Rice, Carlyle, Mgbako, Reneau and Ballo. And John Fanta of Fox Sports ranked Indiana No. 25.
Woodson still has three open scholarships to work with. Indiana recently hosted a visit for Florida Gulf Coast transfer forward Zach Anderson and Grace College transfer center Elijah Malone, and Illinois transfer wing Luke Goode begins his visit to Bloomington on Thursday.
There’s still a long way to go before the 2024-25 season starts, but Woodson’s offseason work has created optimism heading into his fourth season.
