Inability to successfully recruit more people in 2024….
The day following Selection Sunday for the NCAA tournament, on Monday, March 18, is when the college basketball transfer portal opens.
And Indiana, after collecting only one commitment in the class of 2024 thus far, will need a good portal season to create a squad for the 2024-25 season.
For over two years, the Hoosier staff actively sought for players for the 2024 class, signing McDonald’s All-American Liam McNeeley in the fall of last year.
However, Derik Queen’s recent pledge to Maryland has limited Indiana’s recruiting choices for 2024.
After a coaching change, Indiana has secured a spring commitment from a high school player in each of the previous three recruiting seasons. However, the program cannot rely on that to occur once again. It is also possible that a reclassification from a 2025 prospect will take place, but this should not be expected.
Examining Indiana’s recruiting efforts more thoroughly, the Hoosiers made 31 offers to high school prospects in 2024, according to the 247Sports database. Currently, ten of the prospects are listed in the top thirty.
Mike Woodson gave a speech at Huber’s Winery in Borden, Indiana, last spring. He discussed the directive he gave his employees to focus on the nation’s top prospects.
“I expressed to them my desire to
Woodson remarked, “I told them that I wanted to be able to compete with teams like Kentucky’s, Kansas’, Duke’s, and sit at the table with the top players.” “And all the recruits can do is decline our offer. However, we had to get there and have made some progress there, so it is all good.
Sadly for Woodson, in 2024 the majority of recruits declined to join the Hoosiers. The Hoosiers missed out on point guard Boogie Fland, who committed to Kentucky in the fall, in addition to Queen.
The transfer portal, where all of the greatest programs will be fighting for the best players, will become even more important as a result of the shortage of committed players for the upcoming season.
Under Woodson, Indiana’s gateway has had varying degrees of success.
Although the number of places Indiana needs to fill this spring is unknown, there are obvious needs in terms of roster building.
Even with McNeeley joining the team, the Hoosiers still require a starter point guard and several shooters for the upcoming campaign. In addition, there will probably be frontcourt needs because Ware may consider entering the NBA draft.
