HoosierHuddle

I will not pretend to be an expert but I have seen two full games of Malone while he was at Grace College. He's quite skilled. 6'10" and big-bodied. Best comparison I can think of in terms of body-type would be like a 6'10" version of Race Thompson. Doesn't appear to have a plus wingspan (but that's my uneducated eye seeing that). He's not a great athlete and I don't think he'd have much success defending in space. To me, he appears to have pretty high basketball IQ and a good sense of making the right play. He was 37% from three and 81% from the foul line at Grace and is now the school's all-time leader in blocked shots and I think in rebounds. I believe he can help IU and play a role (similar minutes to maybe an Anthony Walker last season...maybe a little more if Ballo is gassed?) but banking on him to play a huge role would be a mistake just in case his game doesn't translate up. There are a lot of examples of good NAIA players carving out really good careers in major college basketball, Malone could be another one. I'd hope his addition does not remove Humrichous from consideration though.

After we think we landed Ballo but he's visiting Louisville so we'll see then no Louisville and we got him then well, still feel good but he's visiting Arkansas to....we think we have him but just waiting for the commitment video to post...I didn't look at the board all morning as I was working and took my daughter on a field trip to a horse farm (no Billy Donovan sightings). Fun to catch up to it at speed ha. So it certainly seems Conwell will not be coming to IU and we know Hickman is not. Focusing on what we do have: -Myles Rice, Oumar Ballo (very likely), Kanaan Carlyle (very likely) Obviously, perimeter shooting is still the major concern. Elijah Malone is an interesting wildcard and coming off the bench could be something he would be open to given the rise in level from NAIA to the Big Ten. Does he solve the perimeter shooting issue at all? Eh...a little bit. He is 6'10" but is willing to step out and shoot it and would at least be a change of pace when he came in. A bit of lineup versatility. IF he committed, that would be eleven scholarships used. I think Ben Humrichous would be the most realistic candidate remaining that could help. He's a very good shooter (and played at the NAIA level himself so maybe a bit of a Malone connection?) and could play next to Ballo quite well. Again, lineup versatility. I know Leland Walker wants to go to IU but outside of spot duty, I don't know what role he fills. If we take any guards beyond Rice and Carlyle, they have to be proven three-point shooters. Love what IU appears to be adding but we are again going to rely on players making a jump in three-point percentage in order to have anything close to adequate spacing. I am confident Myles Rice makes a jump up. I am confident Mackenzie Mgbako makes a jump up (I think he's going to have a monster year). I am confident Malik could make more threes if he increases his volume, not sure on percentage increase though. It's still a lot of just hoping though. Humrichous would at least provide a proven perimeter shooter.

I am going to do a dangerous thing and assume a few things (working off of posts by Chris007 and knowledge from others): Carlyle will commit to IU, likely on his visit, Oumar Ballo will commit to IU sometime in the next day or two. That leaves IU with a roster of: Returning: Cupps, Newton, Galloway, Leal, Reneau, Mgbako Arriving: Bryson Tucker, Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle, Oumar Ballo That would be ten scholarships filled with three remaining. I have heard, as have others, IU did not enter the portal season with intentions to fill all 13 scholarships. That could change but I would be surprised if we had more than 12 players on scholarship. The Connor Hickman versus Ryan Conwell "debate" is somewhat interesting but largely a moot point. It's not a draft and IU has a lot of traction with Hickman while Conwell (who I am 100% sure has been made very aware of IU's very strong interest, plan and offer) is confirmed to be visiting four schools that are not IU. I think very rational arguments can be made that Hickman is way more than just a consolation prize. He is a very good three-point shooter and I think his percentage actually is underappreciated. Bradley was not a shooter friendly system and they played with a ball dominant point guard that didn't set Hickman up. There were not a whole lot of catch and shoot opportunities. I think he could thrive IF (major IF) put into position to succeed as a spot-up shooter in addition to his ability to play as a secondary ball-handler in pick and roll situations with Ballo. I don't have a bunch of inside information but I am told things occasionally, particularly when there are players with strong connections to Indiana high school basketball due to my involvement in it (which feels like a lifetime and a lot of lost athleticism ago)...Connor Hickman has never asked for a promise that he will start. He wants a chance to start, a chance to compete and earn playing time. He wants to know that other guys will not be ahead of them just because the other guys might be promised things. IU has offered him that chance along with, I am sure, a hefty NIL number. Will he choose IU? I hope so. I don't think IU could have done anything differently than what they did to land him. If he joins, you have two scholarships left. I am very surprised by this but I do believe there is a somewhat realistic chance IU lands Payne, in addition to Oumar Ballo. I don't know if that's going to happen and I don't know if that is a great thing. Payne is very intriguing and I like watching him and he'd be a REALLY good backup center that could maybe give us a few minutes as a four in a pinch if he was surrounded by like Rice/Hickman/Mgbako as shooters. I would certainly prefer Humrichous but I don't know if he actually is interested in joining IU in a rotation role. If Payne would do that...I think you take him and then hope we stagger the bigs appropriately.

All of the Payne/Ballo talk might be moot...Travis Branham just crystal balled Ballo to Indiana. Interesting for sure. If Payne would agree to come to Indiana along with Ballo? You absolutely take both but I imagine he'll have opportunities elsewhere to start (if the CB from Branham ends up being correct).

That is perhaps true...there is also a very real possibility IU lands Rice, Carlyle, Hickman and Ballo or Rice, Carlyle, Conwell and Ballo...it'll probably fall somewhere between those multiple scenarios and any of those would be pretty good outcomes for IU, in my opinion. Obviously, there are levels of success and I'd prefer one or two of those scenarios to the Rice/Payne/Hickman outcome but I really don't think IU takes Payne on Saturday if they have a really strong chance to get Ballo a day or two later.

Absolutely...there is essentially no world where Payne agrees to come to IU with the intention of being a backup. Ballo's visit starts on the 14th but you know IU has a very good idea of where they stand with him. Hypothetically, if Payne wants to commit on Saturday, do you take his commitment and then try to sell Ballo that he'll still get his 25 minutes per game? We know Ballo is visiting so you know that Payne is aware of it as well. That would be a very interesting tight rope to try and walk. I think Payne's ability to defend a bit in space would be nice and he does have a nice block rate but Ballo is the much better rebounder, particularly on the offensive end. Ballo is also one of the best pick and roll lob guys as a diver to the rim...something that would work REALLY well with Myles Rice (and could work well with Carlyle and Galloway as well). Ballo is an elite finisher in the post and I think he raises the floor for IU. If that means you slow-play Payne for a couple of days and risk losing him but you have a great shot at Ballo, I kinda think you have to play it that way.

The sniping back and forth and complaining about mods and what is or is not on topic looks a whole like the Peegs boards ha. Regardless, some mostly rambling thoughts on potential roster construction as we see IU's targets emerge and visits scheduled... -At guard, IU is very close to securing a commitment from Myles Rice. Appears we just need to not screw up the visit this weekend. Rice is a very good first domino to fall. He has a great story (cancer survivor), is a sophomore by year but is old by age so you'd hope he can be a leader with maturity, very good at getting to the basket, athletic, his FT% suggests his three-point shooting could improve quite a bit next season, plus-defender with good size. -IU is favored for Kanaan Carlyle. He and Rice are apparently quite tight. High potential with multiple years of eligibility. Not a good perimeter shooter but I do think he helps IU quite a bit. -If we succeed and added Rice and Carlyle, that's a big upgrade in the background and then we can swing big to hopefully land Ryan Conwell. I would imagine that would remove Connor Hickman. Heck, landing Rice and Carlyle might remove Hickman anyway. Conwell is a better player but Hickman would be a nice addition as well. The one thing missing from that backcourt (if adding Rice and Carlyle) is a proven knockdown shooter but the ability to penetrate and get downhill with the ball and have some dynamism from our backcourt is a major upgrade from what we had in 2023-2024. -That brings us to the frontcourt. Nothing is unanimous but nearly all of us want to see IU play more time with one big instead of two. As much as I want to see that for long stretches, it does seem grounded in reality. Mike Woodson told everyone, he believes what IU did systematically on offense worked, we just needed better shooters/guards to execute it. So, with that as a near pre-requisite...I think Oumar Ballo is the best option on the board at center. I know IU's ceiling with him isn't particularly sky-high but he sure does raise the floor (in my opinion). Advanced analytics are not everything but his Box Score Plus/Minus (BPM) is 8.1...the exact same as Ware's was last season. He's a monster physically, an elite rebounder and an above-average rebounder (including a really good offensive rebounder). He's also very good in the lob game on pick and rolls, something that could be really effective with Myles Rice and some with Trey Galloway (don't know about Carlyle with that as Stanford didn't really try that). Ballo is not as good of a passer out of post sets as Amari Williams is but he's better at basically everything else than Williams is (same thing for Payne). The big red flag is FT shooting for Ballo. Ideally, IU lands Ballo and somehow convinces Ben Humrichous to play 20-25 minutes. They could do lineups with Malik-Ballo, Malik-Humrichous, Humrichous-Ballo, Mgbako-Ballo, etc...Lord knows Malik gets in enough foul trouble that there would still be minutes available. Selling Humrichous on that will not be easy though. -If IU added Carlyle/Rice/Conwell, the perimeter defense would be SOOOO much better than it was last season. Whew, that's a lot of rambling and it's likely all for naught anyway as the end result will probably look much different than the expectations anyway. Go Hoosiers.

So IU has reached out to the following big guys, that we know of: Ben Humrichous (Evansville), Amari Williams (Drexel), Bradshaw (UK), Ballo (Arizona), Payne (Minnesota), Elijah Malone (Grace College) Of that group, Ballo is a true center that is a total negative in terms of floor spacing. He definitely has his benefits but he's a dreadful foul shooter and would, in my opinion, be a terrible partner for Malik Reneau. Unless you had three elite three-point shooters surrounding Malik and Ballo, that would be a very clogged lane. Williams would not be great for floor spacing but he's a good passer, very good rebounder and rim-runner. Is he the perfect partner for Malik? No. But I think if he played 20-25 minutes per game, he would be a good addition that positively impacted winning. Pharrel Payne is a tough player, good defender, solid rebounder but again, no real floor spacing with Payne. Aaron Bradshaw is the high-ceiling wild card. He is skilled, athletic, lengthy BUT production was not really there in high school consistently and it has yet to be there at the collegiate level. There are legitimate reasons why that has been the case for him and IU/Woodson has a history now of getting the best out of a similar high-ceiling big man (Ware) but still, it's a concern that he didn't really put it together for Kentucky and they sure could have used him on defense. Humrichous is the best offensive option of the group but his process will take a while to play out as he is determined to work out for NBA teams. He's not a plus rebounder and he would not be a rim protector...at all. Elijah Malone is a complete unknown to me. The little bit of highlights I have seen would suggest he could be productive on offense, struggle on defense. That's such a massive jump up in competition level. My simpleton brain would rank these as follows: Center: Amari Williams, Bradshaw, Payne, Ballo Forward: Humrichous, Malone

You are correct, Williams is an elite or near-elite rebounder. I worded that poorly. On your second point, I don't think he's a strong back to the basket post player and in the multiple games I watched of Drexel and then Williams' highlights, I didn't see the Dragons consistently throwing the ball to him in the post for him to work. It was more pick and roll lobs, drop offs as guards penetrate and then put backs. That's just my opinion though, you may very well be correct.

I am not an expert talent evaluator so this should be taken with a whole container of salt but I think Amari Williams is just about as good of a big-man addition as IU could hope for. Pros -Outstanding defender with good instincts, movement, strength and shot-blocking -Good size at 6'10" with plus-length and a body that should be able to handle the Big Ten -Not an elite rebounder but certainly above-average -Very good passer -Capable ball handler that can "grab and go" off of rebounds, blocked shots or steals -Runs the floor well and finishes around the rim -Consistently stays out of foul trouble Cons -Has not shown the ability to score consistently outside of the paint This could be a pro or a con depending on your outlook: he's not a guy that appears to want or need the ball thrown to him for post-ups. In short, I think Williams could pair well with Malik and help accentuate Reneau's strengths while limiting his weaknesses. He would also pair well with guards that could attack the rim or play well in pick and roll situations (Galloway, Perkins maybe, Conwell maybe, Rice or Carlyle maybe). Give us 20-25 minutes of strong play and then maybe we go small for the other 15-20 minutes with lineups featuring some combination Ben Humrichous/Malik/Mgbako/Tucker or he could pair with Humrichous playing with the stretch 4. Plus, Amari Williams is from England...that'd be a cool addition. I would love him in Cream and Crimson.

Amari Williams, center from Drexel, has scheduled an official visit for Indiana (along with Florida, St. John's and Creighton).

I did not read Tucker's McDonald's All-American practice quotes but I'll take your word for it. I have no doubt Bryson Tucker was promised a certain role and I have no doubt he believes that will happen. It probably will. He will probably be starting. I do think that lots of promises are made, some are kept.

There are lots of things to play out and probably names that will be considered and ultimately choose Indiana that we have not even mentioned or thought about. So, this exercise is entirely pointless other than it serves to allow me to get my rambling thoughts into the ether. Based on what I have read and some reading between the lines, the very optimistic (but not completely delusional) best-case scenario would be something like as follows: -PG - one of Tony Perkins or Myles Rice/SG - Ryan Conwell/Forward - Mackenzie Mgbako/Forward - Malik Reneau/Center - Amir Williams (Drexel) Bench - Trey Galloway, Connor Hickman, Bryson Tucker, Gabe Cupps, Jakai Newton, Anthony Leal, backup big guy Keeping in mind that is a best-case scenario and very unlikely to occur roster, what would that group project to be? Impossible to know but I'd feel comfortable in that group being a top 4-5 team in the league and safely in the NCAA Tournament. Is obtaining a roster like that at all doable for this staff? I guess anything is possible until it gets to be May and we are on options D, E and F to try and fill out the roster. I'll keep on hoping.

Tony Adragna manages that particular site/tracker. Excellent resource and he does great stuff.

I'm not an "expert" like Tyme or NGW or whoever but I do think Myles Rice is very interesting and his three-point percentage is a concern but a bit of context to that could be informative. First, Rice is originally from South Carolina and going from Columbia to Pullman, Washington is interesting. Second, Rice played one game in 2021-2022 and battled and beat cancer. That's awesome! The 2023-2024 season was his first real season of college basketball and he averaged 14.8 points per game, 3.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 43.9% from the field and 81% from the line with 127 attempts. Having three years of eligibility left and already helping lead a team to an overachieving season and NCAA Tournament berth are pluses. A great FT percentage and volume indicate there is runway for growth on his three-point shooting. He had games against high-major competition of 21 points (Mississippi State), 22 (Oregon), 18 (Arizona), 35 (Stanford), 21 (Oregon), 25 (Cal) and several more around 15 points. The negatives would be: what if the three-point percentage does not improve?, his assist to turnover ratio is 3.8:2.6...that's not amazing. All in all, I think the three-point percentage is a major red flag BUT there are lots of reasons to like him as a prospect.

Allegedly because they "did not want to rush the visit" that is April 1 when the dead period begins on April 4...the dead period is not a surprise and the visit has been scheduled for a bit so that reasoning does not really line up logically for me but that is what was posted by Rabjohns.

Roach leaving Duke makes no sense to me. He was a name mentioned by others as a possibility because there were allegedly "Trilly burner" rumors of Roach entering the portal. The guy is a captain at Duke, unless he did not like Scheyer, I don't know why he'd even think about an exit. If he did exit, why would he be referenced with a move to IU? Makes no sense to me. As far as TJ Power goes, that one makes more sense. Duke is bringing in a loaded recruiting class (of course) heavily focused in the frontcourt so Power leaving would make sense. Power was a guy IU really wanted out of high school as a 6'8" power forward. Is he a rim protector? No. He is a modern stretch-four and a good athlete but I've seen him described as a rim protector. I don't know where he fits on IU's current projected roster because he would not be starting over Malik or Mgbako and he's not really a center. If he'd be open to a role as a 20-25 minute guy that we could plug into lineups in relief of Mgbako or Malik or whoever the center is in small ball lineups? That'd be interesting and he certainly has talent. I doubt anything comes of any of it but it was interesting that Eric went out of his way to mention being interested who transfers out of Duke.

I know IU was after Kaiser as a high school recruit and I know players can (and do) improve quite a bit from Freshman to Sophomore seasons but yeesh...Kaiser was really quite bad this past season. He was a net negative for the Terrapins and a liability at times. I don't think he makes any sense for Indiana at this time. There were hints being thrown around by Eric Pankowski on Peegs concerning upcoming portal entries from Duke. Possibilities included guard Jeremy Roach and former IU target TJ Power. That could be interesting.

The excellent Jeff Rabjohns posts that IU is expected to pursue Ben Humrichous, 6'9" transfer from Evansville. He is originally from Tipton High School. 41.4% from 3 and played through a foot injury (I think it was a fracture of some sort) that limited his effectiveness. Humrichous would not solve IU's rim protection issues and he wouldn't help much with rebounding but he would be able to stretch the floor as a perimeter shooter. A really, really good perimeter shooter for a big guy. His exact role in the lineup would be an interesting puzzle piece to figure out. He sure as heck could not start next to Reneau unless there is a level of rim protection and athleticism that he has never shown. He could play some next to Malik for spot minutes with a small ball type lineup that had Malik at the 5 or he could be a sub for Malik as a "stretch 4" type. Interesting one to follow.

You are absolutely correct. The 7 players has now reduced to 6 (assuming Mgbako is back) so hooray! I also think the 6 is highly unlikely. I imagine Mike Woodson is content with having 11 or 12 scholarship players instead of the full 13. Honestly, in today's transfer portal world that is probably a fine strategy to have. I'd be pretty surprised if we actually ended up with a full roster unless we take another freshman or two. Guys like Khani Rooths, the decommit from Michigan that maybe IU gets involved with again or the mystery kid Dimanti from France as a project. In short, I don't think IU will be adding six transfer portal players just to fill the roster and I doubt we can land six that would be legitimately helpful for exactly the reasons you laid out.

If I was one you were referring to as "acting like we could get Tucker, Perkins and Conwell"...that was not my intent. I believe I started the hypothetical with the word "ideally" or something similar. I do not believe it is likely that Indiana gets all three of those guys, although it is possible and it's very possible they could play together and share enough different lineups that it could make sense. Tucker is not going to steal minutes from Tony Perkins at all. There is no overlap between the two really, in my opinion. Tucker appears to be able to handle the ball well but I don't see him as a primary ball-handler at all, Perkins would be. I don't know how any of this is going to play out or who IU will end up with. I doubt it will work out. I was just attempting to lay out an optimistic possibility, one that I don't think is completely "pie in the sky" crazy. I'm glad the staff landed Bryson Tucker, he looks like a very fun prospect that fits well in Mike Woodson's offense (as much as I don't like said offense).

Good question. I am not an expert on Ryan Conwell and don't know as much as someone like Tony Adragna or the guys at Peegs or several other posters on this board so my opinion should be taken with a mountain of salt. That written, I love Ryan Conwell's game and think he would be a really good addition to Indiana. He's 6'4" and well-built with good length. He shoots it well at nearly 42% from three and more than 85% from the line. Conwell is a good rebounder for a guard, a good passer, a plus-defender on the perimeter and a tough player that, to my untrained eyes, is always going full tilt. As a bonus, he has two years of eligibility remaining. Does he average those numbers in the Big Ten? I have no idea. I do think he would be very successful at IU and have a positive impact on winning. We want IU to land a guys that would allow Trey Galloway to be a player that could come in off the bench and I think Conwell would do just that. If Woodson would do it and if those players came to Indiana, we could play lineups like the following: Perkins, Conwell, Bryson Tucker, Mgbako and Reneau with Galloway-Sears or Walker-Hickman-Cupps-portal big off the bench or you could put Galloway in as a third guard and play Mgbako and Malik together, etc. It would be interesting and Conwell would allow for a lot of that. I have yet to see another 2-guard enter the portal or be rumored as a possible IU option that would move Galloway to the bench, making Conwell a major priority (if he enters).

"In contact with" does not mean much, at least in my opinion. IU is going to be "in contact with" north of 50 players during this portal cycle. Some of the players they contact will have no reciprocal interest and things will not progress past the first initial text message or DM. Some of those players will tell IU what they are expecting in terms of role or NIL deal or whatever and it will not make any sense for IU and will not progress any further. Everyone is guessing, guys like Trilly and Rabjohns included, but reading between the lines on the information they have shared has me believing the following is IU's current plan: -PG: serious pursuits right now are Tony Perkins, Sears from UT-Martin, Leland Walker from EKU (unofficial visit this coming Monday) -Guards: Connor Hickman (visit this weekend), Ryan Conwell (has not entered yet but is going to after ISU's season ends...IU has already made him aware that he is a priority as he should be) -Wings: Bryson Tucker (it would be very surprising if he was not at IU for the 2024-2025 season, hopefully with Mackenzie Mgbako staying as well) -Bigs: no clue I am hoping that there are more guys that are currently not public but that IU has traction with...really hoping. If this was it and IU successfully added Perkins, Sears, Conwell, Hickman and Tucker plus a serviceable big man that would be a very unexpected (on paper) successful portal season. I'm not expecting it but it is hypothetically possible I guess.

I keep reading that Bruce Thornton is a better player than Tony Perkins and Gillespie is a better player than Tony Perkins. Thornton absolutely is but he's not in the portal. Gillespie very likely is (you never know when moving up a level but his numbers suggest he's better than Perkins offensively and probably slightly worse on defense) but there never appeared to be traction for anyone but Maryland there. So, if Perkins is the best option, I think there are some real positives. He is capable of playing with real speed with the ball. He is a good distributor. Good creator and can get to the rim. Draws fouls and is a good free-throw shooter. Veteran with a whole lot of Big Ten experience. If he is your starting point guard, you have to surround him with better perimeter shooting than what IU had this past season. A backcourt of Perkins and Galloway for long stretches would be an issue. A hypothetical lineup of say...Perkins/Conwell/Bryson Tucker (getting way ahead of myself here)/Mgbako and Reneau would be interesting. Or, Perkins/Conwell/Mgbako/Reneau and hopefully an athletic center that could rebound well would not suck. Then Galloway, Hickman, Leland Walker, Cupps, Newton off the bench. I think that's a tournament team. That would not be a team that contended for a Big Ten title and it's not good enough for what IU should be striving for but it would be progress, in my opinion.

I had not looked at anything on here since yesterday afternoon and I was surprised to see quite a bit of negative opinion on Tony Perkins as a potential point guard option. He has faults in his game but I'm quite a bit more positive than most, it seems. The comparisons to Xavier Johnson are, in my opinion, way off base. Perkins averaged 1.5 more free throw attempts per game than XJ, shot 79% compared to 68% from FT, averaged 1.8 more assists per game and fewer turnovers per game, doubled Xavier's steals per game, grades out much higher on defensive metrics than XJ and was nearly double XJ's points per game last season. In addition, Tony Perkins is considered a terrific leader and has no injury history, off-court issues or erratic on-court behavior like whacking another player in the groin. The perimeter shooting is a concern, no question. He is not a perfect fit. However, Perkins does offer several positive attributes that would make him an asset for the Hoosiers and an upgrade on the guard play IU had last season. Plus, he's actually in the portal and might be interested in playing at IU...something that can't currently be said about Belmont's Gillespie or Ohio State's Thornton. Also, Hickman is 98th percentile nationally in catch and shoot three-point opportunities (credit to Tony Adragna for showing that stat). He's an asset for the roster. A starter? Hopefully not. A good piece for the roster and a player that could be valuable in helping IU win games? I believe absolutely yes.