AH1971

A lot of teams play “inside out” (see Purdue or UConn last year). It becomes irrelevant if you don’t have competent guard play.

Not a chance. We were outplayed in the back court by the opposition in 90% of our games this year; including the low majors. Many times significantly. Guards are everything in college basketball.

Marcus Domask was rated in the 140's and someone like Brice Williams was rated in the 170's. Neither were even the highest rated portal grabs on their respective teams this year. Now the staff's evaluation of talent is a completely different subject, however. We'll save that for another time lol.

Imagine IU last year with Brice Williams and Marcus Domask (two random B10 guard transfers that weren't highly sought after) at the expense of Ware who was a top 5 portal entrant. IU with Domask and Williams wins 23-24 games this year and is comfortably in the tournament. There's a Domask or a Brice Williams every portal cycle, multiple of them. Construct the roster properly this year and go from there.

Wasn't expecting Ware back. I would have traded Ware for two higher end guards this year and wouldn't have thought twice about it.

I get the sentiment of having a lot of raw talent, but all three of our 5* were underclassmen and the two sophomores didn't play a whole hell of a lot the year prior. Someone like a 23-year-old Boo Buie is much better and much more valuable than any underclassmen 5*. Reality is that the roster was so poorly constructed last year, and the back court was in fact, just not any good. IU is a tournament team this year with a competent lead guard and they're a top 25 team with two. Getting two good guards in the portal changes everything for next with the pieces that are expected back. Obviously easier said than done, but it's doable. I want Woody gone as much as the next guy, but not going to let it cloud my judgement strictly in terms of next season. I hate the trajectory of the program but am never going to root for the demise of the team.

Not technically in the portal yet

Saw where he clarified on X he wasn’t “officially in the portal” (direct words) which I thought was an odd way to word it. Guessing he’s waiting to see who OK State hires?

Javon Small and Jalen Blackmon. Both Hoosier natives who could get big $$$ to come here. Add a rim protector who can play 20-25 mpg and you can go a variety of line ups with either Galloway as a 3rd guard or coming off the bench.

I don't know if you part ways with him but I would agree that he's not the type of player that you can play alongside another big for 30 minutes a game. And that's an honest conversation the staff probably needs to have with him.

Too many defensive break downs with guys guarding outside of their natural positions. It took well into late January for MM to get comfortable guarding at this level and Reneau simply cannot guard out to the perimeter.

Possibly but May is really betting on himself getting the IU job one day if so. He's pretty much won with the same group of players the last 2-3 seasons. He's not going to have those players forever.

Plot twist: Shrews lands commitments from both Mullins and Sisley and they follow him to Bloomington along with Markus Burton. I wouldn't hate it and gun to my head I'd probably take Shrews over May anyway. I understood the idea of May if he was able to bring his core over from FAU, seeing as those guys only have a year of eligibility left, I'm pretty stale on him starting in 25-26. He's not exactly being coveted as hard as I thought he would be by some of the other job vacancies.

Big time scorer out of Hofstra in the portal. Good 3 point shooter. Originally started his career at Iowa State.

Javon Small publicly stated an hour ago that he’s not officially in the portal so maybe something to keep an eye on. Oklahoma State did just recently part ways with Mike Boynton.

This one here could be a sleeper in the portal. High level shooter from Wake Forest who missed most of this season recovering from an injury that occurred at the end of the 22-23 season. Played sparingly the last month of the season in a reserve role. Averaged 13 points as a junior and shot 40% from 3 on 8 attempts a game.

My fear as well but figured a name to keep an eye out on him considering we recruited him pretty hard out of high school. When I saw him play for Malel in a tournament here in Indy a few years ago he instantly reminded me of Branden Dawson from Michigan State. Could be a solid player if he fits your system.

Kalen Glenn in portal, believe we recruited him pretty hard out of high school. Pretty underwhelming freshman year considering how bad Louisville was this season, but did start the last third of their season and had a couple high scoring games. Offensive skillset doesn't impress me and he's not a threat from the perimeter at all, but he's got some length and strength that could make him an elite inside out defender. Believe we will see several more Louisville transfers by end of day, something to keep an eye out on if Woodson does indeed hire his buddy Kenny Payne.

There will be better guards in the portal but beggars can't be choosers and Small would be a solid pickup and instantly upgrade the backcourt. Wouldn't mess around here.

-Virginia is probably the one team who I felt didn't deserve to be in. -FAU and MSU were both criminally overseeded -Mountain West as a whole got shafted with seeding.

I really like Javon Small from Oklahoma State (native Hoosier) the more film I watch. Guard who can play off and on the ball and is a solid rebounder. Shoots well from three on volume and has a scorers-first mentality.

Are we sure Florida Atlantic is in? Decent metrics and NET but 2 quad 4 losses and a quad 3 loss. In over a team like Providence?

They’re an 8 or 9 seed in the tournament. Hardly “good”.

Would you say it's fair that bracketologists (at least the ones we give credibility too) put more emphasis on the NET when picking and seeding teams because it's the one tool that's made available to the public that we know the committee takes into consideration? It's been a really long time since I've gotten into the hoopla of constantly tracking Lunardi's reveals, but has there ever been a team in recent years to make the field as an at-large and be off the radar seemingly how IU is this year? Didn't Rutgers make it a few years back with a NET in the high 80's? Were they squarely on the bubble come Selection Sunday or did they come out of nowhere?

Jake Davis former Mercer and Cathedral alum in portal. Solid freshman year shot 39% from 3 on high volume. Reminds me of a more physical Miller Kopp. Probably a role player at this level but good shooter nonetheless.