It's Mike Woodson's Turn Now

Previewing the 2023-24 Indiana Basketball Season

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by Jordan Beckley

Indiana said goodbye to an All-Time great Hoosier in Trayce Jackson-Davis in what was a legacy defining season. With the most memorable players from the Archie Miller era in TJD and Race Thompson gone, we have officially fully entered the Mike Woodson era.

The first two seasons of Mike Woodson’s coaching stint at IU have been primarily determined by players retained from Archie Miller’s tenure. Trayce Jackson-Davis was an All-American who powered the Hoosiers the past two seasons, Race Thompson was a steadying presence, and Trey Galloway was a work ethic-setting and culture defining player. The rest was filled in by Mike Woodson’s eye for talent. Xavier Johnson was a floor-raising impact transfer from day one. Miller Kopp brought necessary floor spacing. Highly rated recruits like Malik Reneau and Jalen Hood-Schifino elevated the Hoosier’s ceiling with their pedigree of talent.

This blend of Archie’s players, Woodson’s guys, and most importantly Woodson’s coaching instead of Archie’s has put Indiana Basketball back on the right track finally. Indiana went from sub .500 and 10th in the Big Ten in Coach Miller’s last year to 21-14 and making March Madness in year one under Woody to 23-12, 2nd in the Big Ten and a 4 seed in March Madness in year two.

The return to relevancy has been great for Hoosier morale, but perhaps the most crucial success of Woodson’s two seasons has been against their Arch rival Purdue. Coach Woodson going 3-1 against the Boilermakers after Archie Miller’s abysmal 0-7 record and Tom Crean’s unfortunate 5-10 record has brought some real swagger and bragging rights back to the fans even if Purdue has had better seasons. This past year an Archie player in Trayce Jackson-Davis powered the Hoosiers past Purdue in Bloomington and Woodson’s first NBA player in Jalen Hood-Schifino stole one in West Lafayette.

Replacing someone as unstoppable and historic as TJD isn’t easy, but Mike Woodson is trying his hardest. The only thing more celebrated than the banners from 4 decades ago in Bloomington are their recruiting battles, and Woodson has been working nonstop to secure them.

Last year, Woodson brought in a pair of Montverde teammates in Hood-Schifino and Reneau. He just landed another 5-star from Montverde in Liam McNeeley earlier this month. McNeeley will join up next year, but Woodson did bring in two 5-star talents this offseason in Kel’el Ware, a transfer from Oregon, and Mackenzie Mgbako, a decommit from Duke. Both players highlight Woodson’s NBA acumen, charm and fast action as Woodson moved quickly to secure their commitments once they were left without a team. Ware and Mgbako are building blocks for this team which will be a new period as Indiana will have teams fully assembled by Woodson.

So far, Woodson has checked all the boxes IU fans could have hoped for. However, the Hoosier faithful won’t be patient and accepting of a plateau. The recruiting wins are fun, but Indiana fans remember unfulfilled high ratings of Noah Vonleh in Crean’s run and Romeo Langford with Archie and the ultimately disappointing seasons from them.

Mike Woodson has done what he has needed to do to get Indiana on track. The fans will be expecting the program to continue to ascend. After losing an All-American in Trayce Jackson-Davis and a first round player in Jalen Hood-Schifino, can Coach Woodson take the next step and win a Big Ten Championship or make a deep run in March?

Roster Breakdown

Guards: Xavier Johnson, CJ Gunn, Jakai Newton, Gabe Cupps

Pittsburgh transfer Xavier Johnson returns this season for one more go round. After receiving a medical hardship for his injury shortened season (11 appearances) last year, X will likely get to 150 career starts this season. This IU roster will desperately need that experience as well as his maestro pick and roll efforts. Many avatar-less Hoosier fans are convinced that X is an All-Big Ten candidate, but realistically Johnson is just a guard who does everything pretty well.

While Xavier Johnson will command most of the minutes at point guard, 4-star freshman Jakai Newton figures to be the backup point guard. Newton is a bulldog that dispatches defenders on the way to the rim. His athleticism and attacking style earned him his recruiting ranking, but it will be up to his playmaking, defense and shooting to earn him minutes this year.

Another backup guard is CJ Gunn. The 2nd year player from Lawrence North in Indianapolis did not get much run behind Tamar Bates and JHS last year. Gunn is a player capable of scoring in bursts, but he was unable to convert that as a freshman. For him to earn more minutes he will need to take a step up from the 2-24 he shot behind the arc last year.

One player who has no issues with threes is Gabe Cupps. The 4-star recruit from Ohio is a “put a hole in the net” type of shooter. He will immediately step into the floor spacing role that Miller Kopp occupied last season. Cupps likely will get the most minutes of him, Gunn and Newton as his skill will be much needed on this roster. How ready will the young man be to play Big Ten Basketball?

Wings: Trey Galloway, Kaleb Banks

I’m sort of cheating here, but Indiana is like Rutgers and Michigan where they just have forwards and no wings. Yes, Galloway is a guard, but I have him listed as a wing because he often occupies that third guard role. Woodson has plenty of decisions to make as far as a starting lineup, however Galloway has proven time and time again that he should be one of them whether it is at the 2 in big lineups or the 3 for quicker lineups. While Galloway won’t ever be a double digit scorer and his box scores might not jump off the page, his impact on the game does when you watch how all the little things he does add up.

Kaleb Banks is a sophomore who was buried behind senior players last year. Perhaps nobody was more adversely affected by the transfer portal than Banks as Sparks and Walker have likely forced Banks to upshift in position. If the 6’7” forward is to earn minutes he will need to do so at the 3. What I loved about Banks’ tape out of high school was his defense, length and his jumpshot. He hit 2 of his 5 threes last season and those attempts will need to skyrocket while keeping similar efficiency or he will likely be buried on the depth chart.

Bigs: Kel’el Ware, Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau, Payton Sparks, Anthony Walker

Indiana’s frontcourt is crowded but quite talented. Kel’el Ware will be the starting center after the former top 10 recruit transferred to Bloomington. Ware had an unspectacular first season at Oregon after being buried behind N’Faly Dante. Still, the bones of a spectacular modern big man are there. He stands 7’0” tall with arms that go forever and a keen ability to use them to stop opposing shot attempts. Ware has real rim-running energy, but also the modernity to his game appears in his willingness to let shots fly from beyond the three. It is exciting to think about his two man game with Xavier Johnson, but his efficiency (53% from 2, 27% from 3) will need to improve.

Mgbako fell to Indiana after decommitting from Duke following the returns of Kyle Filipowski and Mark Mitchell. Like Ware, he is also a top 10 overall recruit and the 6’8” forward’s best skill is his smooth stroke from range. Mgbako’s tape is filled with catch and shoot threes, pick and pops and more. His shooting form could unlock incredibly lengthy lineups if he can play the 3 and Reneau and Ware can play next to him.

Reneau might be my favorite player that the casual basketball fan doesn’t know yet. Reneau was immediately a capable scorer averaging over 11 ppg in his first 5 career games. His back to the basket ability and low post presence will be needed without TJD and the less traditional bigs around him. It will be important for him to be able to hit the corner three to blend in with lineups that feature him, Ware and Mgbako.

If Reneau doesn’t break out, Payton Sparks will be there. The Ball State transfer is a two-time All-MAC performer and a brute in the post. He will fill in for all of the backup center minutes. Do not expect him to stretch the floor.

Miami grad-transfer Anthony Walker rounds out the crowded frontcourt rotation. Walker is a long quick cutting forward with real defensive chops. Walker goes to the basket hard, but is not the type of player to stretch the court. He will likely be a backup power forward who grabs about 15 minutes a game.

Overall, Indiana’s roster is quite unproven this year. The Hoosiers have four upperclassmen that will see minutes this year. After that there are 7 underclassmen who will be needed to make major contributions. There is plenty of talent with almost every player being a Top 125 level recruit, but that talent still is unrealized.

Indiana has two proven rocks in the backcourt with X and Galloway, but they will need at least two of Cupps, Newton and Gunn to be ready to rumble to accomplish what they want to do this season. In the frontcourt, there is an abundance of skill but zero experience together. Chemistry will be a major concern all season.

There is tremendous defensive potential for the Hoosiers with a fearsome frontline of Mgbako, Reneau, and Ware. However, most of the lineups that have the most talent on the court will require several players to make leaps from behind the arc to work.

What is Woodson Made of?

We will learn a lot about Mike Woodson this year. There will be impactful decisions about play style, personnel and player development.

How fast will this team play? What sacrifices are made? Does Woodson go small with three guards or big with three forwards? Does he lean into better defensive units or better offensive ones? How much does he lean on the experienced players compared to letting younger players learn? Has he made promises to Mgbako and Ware to come to Bloomington? Will he keep those promises if it isn’t working?

For the past two years the Hoosiers had an obvious engine in Trayce Jackson-Davis. Woodson just had to build the car around that engine. Now, Coach Woodson will have to pick out the driving force of his team. Ware, Mgbako, and Reneau are nice pieces, but are any of them ‘Number one options’ on a really good team?

Potentially muddying the waters is Mgbako’s arrest over the weekend. The incident certainly doesn’t seem serious enough to be worried about future involvement or suspension, but with games just two weeks away he certainly hasn’t put his best foot forward.

I think if you gave truth serum to IU fans and asked them how they feel about Tom Crean’s tenure you would give a very different answer than their public answer. Having players like Victor Oladipo, OG Annunoby, Thomas Bryant, Yogi Ferrell, James Blackmon, Cody Zeller etc. come thru campus gave the fans real guys to root for. There was real regular season success and promise for more even if they fell in short in big games.

Did they give up on Crean too quick? Probably not.

Are the expectations (especially post-season) they have for the program too high? Definitely. But would they admit that? Maybe not even with the truth serum.

So far, Coach Woodson has proven to have the right blend of recruiting and results that Hoosiers fanatics crave. Unfortunately, those results will need to continue to improve year after year to satiate the Hoosier fans’ banner obsessed expectations.

Turning the program back around and bringing in NBA talent along with fan-favorite players wasn’t enough to save Tom Crean’s job.

Coach Woodson has already turned the program around and brought in his own next level guys. Now, it is Woody’s turn to show what Indiana can achieve under his guidance.

It’s Mike Woodson’s Turn Now